Climate change and food insecurity: what can philanthropy do?
Guyo Roba, director of Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action, joins Gatherine Bertini, former executive director of the UN World Food Programme, and Alok Ranjan, director of programmes and investments at Power of Nutrition, for a discussion on the role of philanthropy in supporting systemic-level solutions to global food insecurity on an episode of Philanthropy Age's podcast, 'The Impact Room', ahead of COP28.
“We need to invest in early warning preparedness and response much better,” Guyo says. “We need to also align our financing because the biggest missing thing is that early warning is there, prediction is very clear, timely, but then there's no financing to support people at the first shock.”
Close to 800 million people were classed as food insecure in 2022 due to a mix of conflict, cost of living, Covid-19, and climate change, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
As needs rise and budgets shrink, aid agencies are unable to keep up with demand and shrinking budgets are leading to ration cuts resulting in yet more hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and insecurity.
In this episode of The Impact Room, recorded ahead of the UAE hosting COP28, we shine a spotlight on the global food crisis, looking at the ways climate change has exacerbated hunger, and examine the role for philanthropy to support systemic-level solutions.