It’s no coincidence that 27 of the 35 countries most impacted by climate change also suffer from extreme food insecurity. The world’s poorest people — who have done the least to cause climate change — are the most affected by the crisis.
Examples of the consequences of climate change are everywhere — and they are growing in severity and frequency. In South Sudan, flooding has destroyed crops and killed livestock. In Somalia, the worst drought in 40 years has left thousands on the brink of famine. In Haiti, diseases like cholera are spreading due to rising temperatures and unsafe water conditions. In Pakistan, rising sea levels have caused saline levels in the soil to increase, making it more difficult for crops to grow.
If the world warms by just two degrees Celsius, 80 million more people will face hunger by 2050, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Central America. This month, world leaders have an opportunity to take action to change this dangerous trajectory and save lives. COP27 takes place from November 7 through November 18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and brings together key stakeholders to discuss and make commitments to address climate issues.
Rising temperatures and sea levels, as well as frequent extreme weather events, threatens access to nutritious food and clean water.
Increase in Extreme Climate-Related Disasters in the Last 30 Years
People Affected by Water Scarcity
Projected Drop in Rice Yields by 2050 as Temperatures Rise
Action Against Hunger’s representatives are taking part in COP27 to advocate for urgent policy changes. We urge global leaders to support transformative agricultural initiatives, clean water security, new food systems, and locally-led adaptations. Together, we must unite to:
The climate crisis has already forced millions of people to go to bed hungry each night. Now is the time to come together and act to protect their futures and the future of our planet.
“Smallholder farmers produce one third of the world’s food, but receive only 1.7% of global climate finance,” says John Otieno, Regional Advocacy Officer for Action Against Hunger in the Horn and Eastern Africa. “Yet they are among the people most affected by climate change. It is imperative that funding for climate change adaptation is provided directly to local communities and civil society organizations.”
Though the global climate crisis can appear hopeless, it’s not too late to make a difference for people across the world.
In Burkina Faso, our team promotes agroecology. Agroecology is a way of working with existing ecosystems – including locally-produced fertilizers, seeds, and other resources – to produce more crops, make them more nutritious, and create local markets for them. Our staff taught farmers how to prevent soil erosion, use bio-pesticides, and help make the land more fertile. This year, farmers were able to produce 70% more crops and 70% of families were able to stave off hunger for longer during the lean season.
In South Sudan, unusually warm temperatures have caused devastating floods across the country. Crops have been destroyed and livestock drowned. Action Against Hunger stepped in and taught farmers to grow a new crop—rice—which flourishes in water. Now, men and women alike now own their own rice farms and sell this crop in their communities.
In Pakistan, farmers learn smart-growing techniques through Action Against Hunger’s Farmer Field Schools. Our teams teach participants about climate-resilient crops and transformative ways to grow and harvest them with limited resources. Farmers can practice what they’ve learned on demonstration plots before they implement new techniques and plant new crops on their own land.
And in Uganda, Action Against Hunger is helping farmers come together and take advantage of unused land. For years, the country has dealt with severe drought, and many farmers have been displaced. We’re supporting farmers with training, equipment, and financial aid to help them create communal gardens – both refugees and Ugandans are now transforming idle fields into flourishing harvests.
Action Against Hunger supports families like Shilpi’s in areas hit-hard by climate change to help them not only survive, but thrive.
The countries producing the greatest emissions — China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan — need to hold themselves accountable for their role in driving climate change and significantly increase their funding to combat the climate crisis.
A recent UN report revealed that donors have not met the majority of climate funding needs for low-income nations. These nations need hundreds of billions of dollars to mitigate climate risks, yet donor countries have failed to provide even half of that. In 2020, donor nations gave only $29 billion, while recent estimates show that by 2030, these countries will need as much as $340 billion per year. In particular, the United States is “overwhelmingly responsible for the climate finance gap” and must actively work to address the problem.
“Action Against Hunger supports people around the world who have lost their livelihoods due to the climate crisis and are acutely threatened by hunger and poverty,” says Mamadou Diop, Action Against Hunger’s regional representative in West and Central Africa. “But to address the scale of future climate impacts, we need more funding for humanitarian organizations. To save lives, governments and donors must pledge binding investments now.”
Solutions are possible. Funding climate adaption benefits everyone, especially marginalized groups like women and children, who face some of the crisis’s worst effects. During COP27, we must unite to create a climate-resilient world that is free from hunger, for everyone, for good.
Around the world, Action Against Hunger teams are partnering with communities to grow crops in flood waters, use solar power to keep fields irrigated, and innovate new solutions to climate change.
November 12, 3-4 pm (EET)
Green Zone Event
Speakers:
November 12, 4.30-5.30 pm (EET)
Blue Zone Side Event at Locally-Led Adaptation Pavilion
Speakers:
November 17, 4.00-5.30 pm (EET)
Blue Zone Side Event at the German Pavilion
Co-hosted with ADRA and MSF
Speakers:
