Climate change could worsen global hunger; Upcoming conference to explore links

"The links between climate, hunger and poor nutrition are becoming increasingly clear: a recent report for the Committee on World Food Security warned that climate change could significantly change the amount and quality of food consumed -- with potentially devastating consequences for those most at risk of hunger," Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore; Mary Robinson, president of the Mary Robinson Foundation Climate Justice; Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme; and Frank Rijsberman, CEO of the CGIAR Consortium, write in the CGIAR blog. "Our global challenge is to determine how we can assist those who are most at risk: not by imposing solutions from above, but by coupling farmers' traditional knowledge, practice and expertise with scientific innovations to reduce hunger, improve nutrition and help them adapt to climate change," the authors note. They discuss the upcoming Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice 2013 international conference in April, which is being co-hosted by the Government of Ireland and is intended "to stimulate debate on these linked challenges, and to inspire innovative thinking and solutions" (3/13).