Food security and climate change
Undernourished women and children under 5 could increase by 20 percent
Food prices
Increase in food prices and volatility
The impacts of climate change will also affect food prices and volatility. A recent analysis by The World Bank’s Food Price Watch estimates that food prices increased by 8 percent in the first quarter of 2012, partly due to extreme cold in Europe which impacted wheat prices and excessively hot and dry conditions in South America which contributed to price increases for sugar, maize, and soybeans.
Higher food prices lead poor households to buy cheaper and less nutritious food items. For poor families, coping with rising food prices means eating less, cutting the number of meals per day and reducing the quality and variety of foods they consume.
“The impact of high food prices is more severe for the poor who rely on purchased food,” says Dr. Presern. “Families in developing countries tend to spend between 50-80 percent of their income on food, compared to less than 10 percent in some developed countries.”