Press Room: Mapping Hotspots of Climate Change and Food Insecurity in the Global Tropics

Already Food Insecure and Facing Reduced Yields

 In the map below, the red areas are food-insecure and intensively farmed regions that are highly exposed to a potential five percent or greater reduction in the length of the growing season. Such a change over the next 40 years could significantly affect food yields and food access for 369 million people—many of them smallholder farmers—already living on the edge. Note this category includes almost all of India and significant parts of West Africa.

Also, while Latin America in general is viewed as having a “high capacity” to cope with such shifts, there are millions of poor people living in this region who very dependent on local crop production to meet their nutritional needs.

Five percent reduction in crop season, sensitivity to change, capacity to cope (Map corrected 11 July 2011)

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Higher Temperatures Threaten Crop Yields, Especially Maize, Beans

 The map below shows areas where average annual maximum temperature is expected to flip from under 30⁰C to over 30⁰C by 2050. This is close to the maximum temperature that beans can tolerate, while maize and rice yields may suffer when temperatures exceed this level. For example, a study last year in Nature found that even with optimal amounts of rain, African maize yields could decline by one percent for each day spent above 30 º C. Significant areas of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia are highlighted.

Areas Where Average Max Temps Exceed 30⁰C by 2050

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