December 11, 2007 | Josef Schmidhuber*† and Francesco N. Tubiello§
The article reviews the potential impacts of climate change on global food security, focusing on four key dimensions: availability, stability, access, and utilization. It highlights that while climate change significantly affects food availability, with projected increases in temperature and precipitation altering land suitability and crop yields, the impacts on stability, access, and utilization are less well understood. The article discusses the potential for negative impacts on food security beyond those currently assessed, emphasizing the importance of socio-economic development paths in shaping future outcomes. It also critiques current assessment studies, noting their limitations and suggesting improvements to enhance their robustness and relevance for policymakers. The review concludes that climate change will disproportionately affect the poor and developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and that the first decades of the 21st century are expected to see lower impacts due to lower incomes and higher dependence on agriculture, while the second half of the century may bring more severe biophysical impacts but also greater capacity to cope.The article reviews the potential impacts of climate change on global food security, focusing on four key dimensions: availability, stability, access, and utilization. It highlights that while climate change significantly affects food availability, with projected increases in temperature and precipitation altering land suitability and crop yields, the impacts on stability, access, and utilization are less well understood. The article discusses the potential for negative impacts on food security beyond those currently assessed, emphasizing the importance of socio-economic development paths in shaping future outcomes. It also critiques current assessment studies, noting their limitations and suggesting improvements to enhance their robustness and relevance for policymakers. The review concludes that climate change will disproportionately affect the poor and developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and that the first decades of the 21st century are expected to see lower impacts due to lower incomes and higher dependence on agriculture, while the second half of the century may bring more severe biophysical impacts but also greater capacity to cope.