Excerpt: "Climate change will make global food shortages three times more likely, which a joint U.S.-British task force cautioned could cause civil unrest in low-income countries as a result of production shocks and price hikes."



Activists display banners calling for action on climate change and against world poverty in St Peter's Square in Rome on Sunday. (photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)

Report: Climate Change Will Cause Food Shortage, Civil Unrest

By teleSUR

Food shortages, price hikes and market volatility are likely to occur every 30 years by 2040, researchers say.

limate change will make global food shortages three times more likely, which a joint U.S.-British task force cautioned could cause civil unrest in low-income countries as a result of production shocks and price hikes.

In the face of global population increase, from over seven today to nine billion by 2050, food production will need to increase by more than 60 percent, according to a report by the Task Force on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience.

Food shortages, price hikes and market volatility are likely to occur every 30 years by 2040, the report said, which warned this would mostly impact import dependent countries from the Global South.

"In fragile political contexts where household food insecurity is high, civil unrest might spill over into violence or conflict," the report said. "The Middle East and North Africa region is of particular systemic concern, given its exposure to international price volatility and risk of instability, its vulnerability to import disruption and the potential for interruption of energy exports."

Researchers said this could come as a result of extreme weather events in North and South America and Asia, which produce the world's four major crops: maize, soybean, wheat and rice.

Agricultural sustainability and resiliency to climate change supported by public and private investments were suggested as actions to take by the report.