Countries must prepare for more frequent food shortages, says task force

Extreme weather linked to global warming will trigger more frequent food production “shocks” this century, worsening poverty and nutrition security, experts predict.

Substantial falls in crop yields and spikes in food prices would occur far more often and be widely destabilising in an increasingly interconnected world, they said.

People in sub-Saharan Africa, where most food is imported, would be among those hit the hardest, and other countries in the Middle East and north Africa that depended heavily on imports could see more social unrest, concluded a new report from the Taskforce on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience.1

The United Kingdom, United States, and Europe would be less directly affected but would be vulnerable to “indirect” risks, …