Climate change to hit global food production

Agricultural output is projected to drop 16% by 2020

Food prices will rise as climate changes hurt crops and demand gains in Asian countries, the International Food Policy Research Institute said in a report.

Rising temperatures and food consumption in nations such as China and India are straining the world food system, signaling food prices may rise, according to a report released on Tuesday.

"The days of falling food prices may be over,'' Joachim von Braun, director general of the Washington-based research group, said in Beijing. The rise in food prices is the most since 1973-74, von Braun said.

Global warming is threatening grain output, making it harder for the world's poorest nations to get adequate food. China and Africa will suffer from higher food prices and rising import costs to meet local demand, the institute said.

"Climate-change risks will have an adverse impact on food production, compounding the challenges of meeting global food demand,'' the report said. Food import dependency will rise in regions such as Africa where droughts and crop-yield losses are 'imminent.'

The world's agricultural production is projected to drop 16 per cent by 2020 because of global warming, the report said. Land used for certain crops will shrink, while the area for growing wheat may almost disappear in Africa, the report said

Growing demand in China and India for processed food, meat and dairy products is driving up prices for those goods, as well as grains used to feed cattle, the report said.

The switch to crops used for industrial purposes such as making biofuel is reducing the amount of available food grains and stoking prices, according to the report.

The report was released at the annual meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research in Beijing on Tuesday.