Water stress can be tackled with existing solutions

Increasing the efficiency of water use and distribution is one of the most effective approaches to combating water stress. Drip irrigation is an example of a technological solution that saves water for crops by dripping water slowly to the roots of plants through a network of small pipes. Where traditional canal infrastructure is in place, water losses can be significantly reduced by lining the drain-ways with an impermeable barrier. Various programmes for managing the operation and use of underground water supplies have also proven to function in highly arid environments such as Mauritania.

See Full Page on Climate Change and Agriculture

Multiple stresses will limit the world’s ability to meet growing food demand

Across fisheries, crops, and livestock, the global availability of food will be under further stress due not only to climate factors. Agricultural production is currently expanding around the world as a result of increases in living standards in developing countries, particularly in Asia, but also because of sustained global population growth. These trends will continue alongside climate stresses that sap more and more agricultural productivity, causing price increases across key foodstuffs like wheat to potentially triple by 2050.

A young boy eats locally grown rice in Banaue.

Photo Credit VJ Villafranca/IRIN, IRINNews.org

See Full Page on Climate Change and Agriculture

Negative effects on agriculture hit poorest regions the hardest

Unfortunately, regional changes are most adverse in tropical or sub-tropical parts of the world that are home to the majority of the world’s poorest groups. Low-latitude regions are expected to experience negative yield impacts for major cereals such as wheat and rice. The loss of water resources in areas that already experience high levels of water stress and low precipitation can have significant negative effects on agriculture. Marginal growing conditions in these areas also mean fertility benefits from higher CO2 on which plants feed are unlikely to be realizable in practice.

Jean-Paul Remanoby, widely regarded as the best farmer in the small community of Anjavelo in southern Madagastcar was chosen by his peers to be the first member of a programme offering new farming techniques and inputs such as improved seeds and alternative drought-resistant crop varieties. Photo Credit: Tomas de Mul/IRIN, IRINNews.org.

See Full Page on Climate Change and Agriculture