ADAPTING THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM TO NEW CLIMATE REALITIES

The document assesses the multifaceted threats climate change poses to global food security, highlighting that while some high-latitude regions may see productivity gains, the global South—especially sub-Saharan Africa—faces severe risks of yield losses and increased hunger. It argues for a systemic approach to adaptation, moving beyond autonomous adjustments to planned strategies. Key priorities include increasing public investment in agricultural research, adopting Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), expanding irrigation, and improving the resilience of food value chains. The authors emphasize that adaptation must be balanced with greenhouse gas mitigation and social equity, particularly regarding gender and youth in agriculture.

• Climate change is projected to significantly hinder progress toward ending hunger by 2030; an additional 80 million people, or approximately 1% of the 2050 world population, may be at risk of hunger due to climate effects.
• Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable, with IPCC projections suggesting food-crop yields in parts of Africa could decrease by 10% to 20% under optimistic scenarios.
• The document identifies nine guiding principles for adaptation, emphasizing that publicly funded agricultural research is the "underlying engine" of all actions and that coordination across international, national, and local actors is essential.
• Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is proposed as a framework to simultaneously increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Widespread adoption of CSA for maize, rice, and wheat could reduce the population at risk of hunger by 13 million people by 2050.
• Accelerated irrigation development in sub-Saharan Africa's drylands could reduce net cereal imports to the region by as much as 68%, or 90 million metric tons, by 2050.
• Genome editing (such as CRISPR/Cas) and heat-tolerant breeding offer high adaptation potential. For maize, heat-tolerant varieties showed the highest potential, while nitrogen-use efficiency was most beneficial for rice.
• Climate change threatens the nutritional quality of crops; for example, wheat grown under projected 2050 CO2 levels may have 9% less zinc, 5% less iron, and 6% less protein.
• Trade openness is critical for adaptation as it allows countries to offset local productivity losses, but trade restrictions (such as tariff increases) could raise food prices by an average of over 25% by 2050.
• Food supply chains are vulnerable to climate-related disruptions, particularly in the 'cold-chain' where temperature increases raise risks of food poisoning and spoilage, and increase the prevalence of aflatoxins in crops like maize and groundnuts.
• Agricultural production contributes approximately 11% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions (excluding land-use change), and combined with forestry and other land uses, it accounts for about a quarter of annual emissions.
• The document warns that 'maladaptation' can occur when actions taken to reduce vulnerability inadvertently increase the vulnerability of other systems or social groups, such as certain biofuel development programs.

APA

De Pinto, A., Bryan, E., Ringler, C., & Cenacchi, N. (2019). ADAPTING THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM TO NEW CLIMATE REALITIES. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Adapting_Global_Food_System_to_Climate_Realities_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf

Chicago

De Pinto, Alessandro, Elizabeth Bryan, Claudia Ringler, and Nicola Cenacchi. ADAPTING THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM TO NEW CLIMATE REALITIES. World Resources Institute, 2019. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Adapting_Global_Food_System_to_Climate_Realities_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=De Pinto |first1=Alessandro |last2=Bryan |first2=Elizabeth |last3=Ringler |first3=Claudia |last4=Cenacchi |first4=Nicola |title=ADAPTING THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM TO NEW CLIMATE REALITIES |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2 August 2019 |url=https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Adapting_Global_Food_System_to_Climate_Realities_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{depinto2019adapting, author = {De Pinto, Alessandro and Bryan, Elizabeth and Ringler, Claudia and Cenacchi, Nicola}, title = {{ADAPTING THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM TO NEW CLIMATE REALITIES}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2019}, month = aug, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Adapting_Global_Food_System_to_Climate_Realities_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }