Threats to Food Security

It is less expensive to protect the planet now than to repair it later.

Dubbed a "global food crisis" by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the 2007 global surge in food prices vividly illustrated the thin line between eating enough and going hungry for many low-income populations. As a result of high food prices, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the number of chronically hungry people in the world rose by 75 million in 2007 to reach 923 million.

A number of causes contributed to the jump in the cost of food: low levels of world cereal stocks; crop failures in some major exporting countries and export restrictions in others; increased demand for meat in East Asia; rapidly growing demand for agricultural commodities for biofuels; and rising energy and agro-chemical prices. Although such dramatic price hikes have now eased, prices still remain high in many developing countries despite record production. Worse, global food prices appear to be on the rise once again, with the December 2009 FAO Pood Price Index registering four straight monthly price increases.

A Threefold Balancing Act

• The EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a powerful tool within the EU to safeguard food security, but it will also need to contribute to efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
• Globally, investment and research are needed to promote climate-friendly productivity increases. Barriers to efficient production in developing countries must be dismantled by improving infrastructure, knowledge, and access to inputs and credits.
• An effective multilateral framework for global trade is vital. Trade opportunities stimulate production; trade restrictions discourage it and lead to anxiety in the food market.

EU-FAO Cooperation

The EU is one of the FAO's most steadfast partners in promoting sustainable rural development to improve the lives of the poor. The EU and the FAO work together to fight poverty at its root by partnering on the ground in developing countries, improving food security in emergencies, promoting research to foster food safety and quality, sharing information and know-how, and involving partners in policy-making.

Balancing Food Security and Climate Change

According to FAO estimates, food production must increase by at least 70 percent to meet the growing demands of a world population expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050, Meeting that demand is further complicated by the world's changing climate, which poses severe risks to food security and the agriculture sector.Changing weather patterns can be expected to lead to increased temperatures and rainfall; severe droughts and flooding; shorter growing seasons; changes in ocean temperatures and fish stocks; heat stress on crops and animals; changes in disease patterns; and reduced crop yields. Some poor developing countries could suffer disproportionately from the impacts of climate change because temperatures and precipitation are often already close to the tipping points beyond which crops fail or animals die, despite having contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). For example, Africa is responsible for a mere 4 percent of global GHG emissions, but the potential impact of climate change on the African continent could be devastating. Through its Action Plan on Climate Change and Development, the EU will ensure that climate change is incorporated into all aspects of its development cooperation policy; it will support adaptation and mitigation efforts in developing countries and help develop administrative capacity in vulnerable nations. In 2007 the EU launched the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA), to strengthen political dialogue and cooperation on climate change with the most vulnerable and poorest developing countries. GCCA helps integrate climate change adaptation measures into developing countries' policies by supporting capacity-building programs, improving their knowledge of the impacts of climate change, effectively integrating climate change vulnerability into development plans and budgets, and identifying and preparing GCCA activities in particular sectors, especially agriculture and water. Implementation of improved farming practices, for example, includes promoting sustainable land management, land tenure, soil erosion and flood control, water management in coastal communities, and hazard mapping. The EU is also committed to contribute substantially to the costs of climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. By 2020, this could require some $100 billion annually, which would need to be met through a combination of domestic finance (developing countries themselves), the international carbon market (trading/purchasing emission allowances), and international public finance from developed countries. International public support to jump-start the response to climate change over the next three years is critical. At the December 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, the EU committed itself to contributing 7.2 billion Euro (S10 billion) of a total S30 billion fast-start financing in 2010-2012 and to an equitable share oflong-term funding to help poorer nations deal with global warming. Farming is not only affected by climate change, but also contributes an estimated 14 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with close to 70 percent of this amount coming from the developing countries. There is considerable potential for GHG mitigation in the agriculture sector and a combination of incentives and monitoring procedures could lead to win-win scenarios that reduce net emissions and support sustainable development objectives for the poor

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