JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) – Up to 25 million more children will be malnourished in the next 40 years because of climate change, with sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia the worst affected.
A new report, released by the International Food Policy Research Institute and detailing the impact of climate change on agriculture, says without climate change about 113 million children younger than five will be malnourished by 2050.
However, that number is expected to rise dramatically because of the ravaging effects of global warming on food production around the world, the institute said.
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“Crop yields will decline, production will be affected, crop and meat prices will increase and consumption of cereals will fall, leading to reduced calorie intake and increased child malnutrition,” the report said.
The institute said food prices would rise even without climate change, but the added effect of global warming would worsen the problem.
“Without climate change, 2050 wheat prices will increase globally by almost 40 percent. With climate change, wheat prices will increase by 170 to 194 percent,” it said.
“Rice is projected to increase 60 percent without climate change, but it will go up 113 to 121 percent with climate change.”
The institute said global warming would push corn prices up by 148 to 153 percent.
The institute said African countries were especially susceptible to global warming because of their dependence on rain-fed agriculture, higher levels of poverty and poor infrastructure.
Agricultural jobs
In most sub-Saharan African countries, agriculture accounts for more than a quarter of gross domestic product, as well as a large chunk of export earnings and jobs.
Gerald Nelson, a senior research fellow with the institute and lead author of the report, said increased funding of up to $7 billion US a year to help farmers raise productivity and adapt to the effects of climate change could avert the climate change impact.
“Investments are needed in agricultural research, improved irrigation and rural roads to increase market access for poor farmers,” Nelson said.
World leaders recently pledged to step up efforts to reach a United Nations deal to fight climate change, but critics say the pledge is not enough.
Approximately 190 countries will gather in Copenhagen in December to try to reach an agreement on how to slow global warming, replacing the emissions-capping agreement known as the Kyoto Protocol.
