Rising Food Prices Due to Climate Change
Extreme weather events are driving unprecedented food inflation.
Recent Trends in Food Inflation:
- The Food Price Index of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that food prices are at their highest level in a decade.
- December 2021 was the ninth consecutive month to show double-digit percentage growth in India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI). Analysts attribute these trends to extreme weather events.
- There have been three major incidents of significant increases in food prices globally over the past six decades. These are: 1970s, 2007-08 and 2010 to 2014.
- The rise in food-prices was also driven by factors such as increase in oil prices, interference in trade policy, etc.
How climate change affects food production:
- The yields of major crops such as wheat, maize and soybeans are declining as a result of climate change.
- Rising heat and rain are rapidly eroding the land. Due to this, the productivity of the soil is continuously decreasing, which affects the yield of the crop.
- Rising temperature is causing infiltration of salt water. This has created a permanent flood-like situation in the croplands.
Measures taken by India:
- The National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture has been launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
- National Innovation in Climate Resilient Agriculture project has been launched.
Suggestion
- There should be adequate funding for research and development to develop more resilient/tolerant crops.
- Ecological restoration and restoration of natural resources should be done in degraded areas.
Source – The Hindu
