Interactive map shows climate change’s effects on food security

Online | 1 June 2016
Climate change is a multifaceted global challenge that directly affects population and their livelihoods. Most vulnerable are rural populations that depend on agriculture, the ones that also produce the majority of food supply for their countries and the world. Farmers are struggling to adapt to the climate impacts and need support to build resilience if they are to meet the growing food demand.

The Paris Climate Agreement recognised that climate change affects food security and prioritising food security safeguards was seen as a breakthrough by the international community. A resilient and sustainable agricultural sector is the first step to ensuring food security; at the same time this sector is also in part responsible for climate change. The World Economic Forum report on the topic explores the complex linkages between food security and climate change. The agricultural industry needs to adapt its practices, while increasing production to feed the increasing population, but also climate change adaptation efforts need to directly address the vulnerability of the sector to extreme weather events and climate change.

The World Food Programme and the Met Office in the UK jointly developed an interactive map to outline the problematic relationship and the possible developments in the next couple of decades.