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Unpredictable and extreme droughts threaten food security

(Bonn, Germany, 9 February 2009) – Preventive action is more effective than costlier emergency relief and rescue missions. The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Luc Gnacadja warns that the current droughts in Argentina and Australia, some of the severest in decades in both countries, require the attention and long-term action of the international community. The two countries belong to the largest agricultural producers in the world yet current climatic patterns are subjecting their farmers to extremely dry conditions unlike any in recent memory.

"The world needs to increase its efforts to tackle the unpredictable and extreme occurrences of drought," says Mr. Gnacadja. "In its latest assessment the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast that the length and severity of droughts would intensify in the future. The panel particularly pointed to Australia as a region that would be severely affected. The IPCC report also revealed that climate-related disasters in Latin America have more than doubled since 1970. The drought in Argentina is just a further example."

Indeed recent strong thunderstorms have given Argentine farmers respite, but large crop failures still threaten them. In both Australia and Argentina farmers have watched their plants and livestock wither under the effects of a heatwave this summer. Since March last year in Argentina, rainfall has been significantly below normal. Argentine farmers report that some 800,000 heads of cattle have been lost as a result. Wheat, maize and soy harvests are expected to drop by as high as 80 percent in the usually bountiful Pampas and Entre Ríos regions. Rural associations estimate that total Argentine grain production will fall 39 percent and as many as 1.5 million head of cattle could die.

The "Big Dry" in southeastern Australia has pushed the country's breadbasket along the Murray-Darling Basin river system, home to 43 percent of Australian farms, close to the point of no return. Usable storage is at 16 percent of capacity and 73 percent below normal for this time of the year, according to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. The authority said the outlook is not hopeful in the next few months to regenerate the rivers.

The dramatic events in these two southern hemisphere cereal exporters are being compounded by a drought in northern China that the Chinese government says is putting half of the country's winter crop under threat and affecting some four million people. The region of Henan is experiencing its worst drought in nearly six decades. The country's drought relief agency called it an event "rarely seen in history". In light of the water shortages in what are usually areas that receive sufficient rain, the world must do more to combat the effects of drought.

The UNCCD is strongly positioned to take on a central role in mitigating the effects of drought around the world. The Convention's 10-year strategic plan that was adopted in 2007 is leading the UNCCD to build effective partnerships between national and international actors.

"The food crisis continues in countries that deal with erratic rainfall, like in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, many of these countries are food importers, so to see the extreme drought in Argentina, Australia, and now China, is indeed alarming," says Mr. Gnacadja. "Comprehensive early warning systems are the key in these areas. Such systems could be a precious tool for governments, institutions and farmers to anticipate and better prepare for longer and recurrent dry spells or deluge of rains. It is necessary to coordinate more now than ever the successful sustainable farm practices on a global basis as climate change presents a greater threat to food production." By implementing the Strategy, countries will promote sustainable land management and generate global benefits for farmers and other land users around the world.