U.N. calls on countries to develop national drought, climate policies

"The world urgently needs to adopt drought-management policies as farmers from Africa to India struggle with lack of rainfall and the United States endures the worst drought it has experienced in decades, top officials with the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday," the Associated Press reports. "The World Meteorological Organization [WMO] says the U.S. drought and its ripple effects on global food markets show the need for policies with more water conservation and less consumption," the AP writes (Heilprin, 8/21). "Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts, with impacts on many sectors, in particular food, water, and energy,' said [WMO] Secretary-General Michel Jarraud in a press release," the U.N. News Centre notes. "'We need to move away from a piecemeal, crisis-driven approach and develop integrated risk-based national drought policies,' he added, according to the news service (8/21). "The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization reports food prices have climbed by six percent because of drought, ethanol production and high fuel costs, and are likely to go higher if drought continues," VOA News adds (Schlein, 8/21).