MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Mike De Souza – “Extreme weather events caused by climate change are endangering global food supplies and driving up prices for consumers worldwide, says new research released Sunday by the humanitarian group, Oxfam.

In a briefing note prepared for media, Oxfam highlighted a pattern of events in 2010 such as wild fires in Russia, and extreme weather in other crop-producing nations with a spike in wheat prices on the global market.

‘When (the price of food) just spikes in a question of months, that tends to be related to particular events with crop production and we saw with the case of wheat,’ said Mark Fried, a policy coordinator for Oxfam Canada, noting that other factors such as rising oil prices also have an impact on the international food market.

Oxfam’s briefing note also said that the recent drought in the Horn and East Africa dealt a severe blow to over 13 million people, with some crops doubling or tripling in price last July.

‘When a weather event drives local or regional price spikes, poor people often face a double shock of having to cope with higher food prices at a time when the direct effects of the weather may have also depleted their assets i.e. their homes or crops destroyed; crops and livestock sold or gone,’ said the briefing note.

‘This toxic mix of higher prices and lower purchasing power has driven many people into crisis in the Horn and East Africa.’

Fried said the Canadian government must ensure that its existing pledge for ‘fast-start’ financing in developing countries offers at least half of its funds for adaptation to help these regions cope.” Read more.