The effects of climate change due to the interplay of El Niño (flooding) and La Niña (drought), together with heat waves and storms, are agents of food chain supply disruption. Against denialists’ assertions, climate change is compromising the global agricultural system. Rising food prices are endangering the livelihoods of people in rural areas, even though these areas are the food baskets of their regions. The World Bank projects that 943 million people are expected to face severe food insecurity by 2025. Collective efforts are needed to address the crisis.
China hosted the 2024 World AgriFood Innovation Conference to address global food security and agricultural resilience ahead of the 2025 food supply challenges. The conference concluded that without addressing the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 17 (global partnership), in food availability, affordability, quality, and accessibility, climate-resilient food systems may not materialize.
Creating greater food security involves more than building basic infrastructures; the ability to cope with extreme weather is equally important. Africa, known as the last destination of food production with 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, is contending with religious extremism, banditry, terrorism, soil degradation, extreme weather patterns, and poor economic systems that encourages migration. The politics of ethnicity and a neo-liberal economic approach to development are also antithetical to a food-secured environment. The U.N. estimates that by 2030, 118 million Africans will face droughts, floods, and extreme heat waves. This will have enormous implications for global food security.
Moreover, grain supplies from Ukraine and Russia to Europe, Asia, and Africa are at risk while the Russo-Ukrainian war persists. The Donald Trump administration could bring about peace between the two nations that, combined, export about 30% of the world’s wheat, 60% of the world’s sunflower oil, and about 20% of the world’s corn.
Unless appropriate technologies that are environmentally compatible with high-yield crops, along with advanced irrigation systems, are in place to cushion the effects of climate change, the world food security may be in grave danger.
Recommendations for Policymakers
In 2025, well-resourced farming in rural areas should be encouraged. If the Western states, along with India and China, transform their agricultural systems and are willing to partner with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the most recognized agricultural network, it could go a long way in alleviating global hunger. CGIAR focuses on reducing poverty in rural areas, sustaining human health through quality food and nutrition, and managing natural resources sustainably.
Joint research in disease-resistant varieties of seeds and farming practices that will reduce tillage and increase water efficiency will help in withstanding climate shock and reduce food insecurity in 2025.
Ceres2030 – a partnership between Cornell University, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development – brings together academia, civil society, and economists. Policymakers’ increased focus on this project would help to end hunger and promote small-scale farmers, who are the main source of food security.
Supporting the development of sustainable biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and climate-smart agriculture would enhance sustainable food security in 2025.
Food insecurity is a global crisis, like a pandemic. It can have a devastating impact on life and quality of life. But a unified global response can guarantee security for all.
Kit, who works for Feed Iowa First, tends to land in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Aug. 14, 2023. Food insecurity has been an increasing problem throughout the state of Iowa, between the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change causing more drought and violent storms. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
