Impending Disruption to Global Food Supplies: Climate Crisis, Water Scarcity, and Poor Farming Practices Threaten Agriculture
NEW YORK: The global community is poised to experience a severe upheaval in food supplies well before the projected 1.5°C temperature rise, as warned by Alain-Richard Donwahi, the president of the UN’s desertification conference. Th climate crisis, water scarcity, and unsustainable farming methods are placing global agriculture in perilous jeopardy.
Donwahi, a former Ivory Coast defence minister, who organized the UN summit on desertification, articulated that the impacts of drought are manifesting more rapidly than anticipated. He likened climate change to a pandemic demanding swift action, emphasizing the alarming pace of climate degradation. Everyone is fixated on 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and it’s a very important target. However, the grim realities of soil degradation, water scarcity, and desertification could unfold long before reaching that threshold, he cautioned.
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The multifaceted challenges posed by escalating temperatures, heatwaves, intensified droughts, and floods are undermining food security in numerous regions. Donwahi emphasized the broader consequences of droughts, including their role in driving population migration and inflation. He underscored that we could witness an acceleration of adverse effects beyond mere temperature fluctuations.
The global food supply is also being compromised by unsustainable agricultural practices. Donwahi pointed out that soil degradation often stems from detrimental habits in farming. He noted poor soil management practices directly impact agricultural yields. Once the soil is compromised, crop productivity suffers.
Donwahi called upon private sector investors to participate actively and seize opportunities for profitability while contributing to sustainable solutions. The private sector has a vested interest in agriculture and optimizing soil usage. We are discussing improved yields and agroforestry, which provides the private sector with avenues for returns on investment,” he emphasized. “Innovation is key; we must discover novel financial mechanisms.
While governments worldwide committed to combat desertification through a treaty signed in 1992 alongside the UN framework convention on climate change and the UN Convention on Biodiversity, the desertification issue often receives less attention.
Donwahi reiterated that the world cannot afford to disregard desertification. The interlinked challenges of desertification, drought, climate change, and biodiversity loss necessitate collective solutions. Desertification and drought contribute to climate change and biodiversity depletion. These factors precipitate droughts, floods, and storms.
He emphasized the global nature of the challenge, stressing that food security is a universal concern transcending borders. “Climate change, droughts, storms, and floods do not discriminate based on nationality. They do not require visas to traverse borders,” Donwahi concluded. As the world grapples with these complex issues, a united and innovative approach is essential to secure a sustainable future for agriculture and food security.
