"If we truly aim to eliminate hunger and poverty by 2030, while at the same time fighting climate change, we must commit to a profound transformation of food and agricultural systems. At a planetary level." The appeal is contained in the latest The State of Food and Agriculture report, published by the Fao on 17 October.

"We will return to the insecurities of when we were hunters"

The agricultural sector – understood in its broadest sense, encompassing forestry, fishing and livestock farming – risks suffering particularly severely from the upheavals linked to rising average global temperatures, such as the multiplication of drought waves and other extreme weather events, rising sea levels, ocean acidification and biodiversity loss.

For this reason, the Fao has warned: "By 2030, between 35 and 122 million more people than today could be living in conditions of extreme poverty," particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and south-east Asia. "Climate change is taking us back to the insecurities of when we were hunters and gatherers. We can no longer be sure of harvesting what we have sown," explained the director-general of the UN agency, José Graziano da Silva, at the presentation of the report. Insecurity, moreover, translates into food price volatility, "and this is something we all pay for, not just those affected by drought," he added.

According to the Fao, "inaction would cost far more"

Action must be taken immediately, then, but it will not be easy work, the report stresses, "due to the large number of stakeholders involved, the multiplicity of food processing systems, and differences in ecosystems." "But the benefits of adaptation far outweigh the costs of inaction," Graziano da Silva recalled.

The Fao therefore recommends the introduction of "climate-smart" practices, such as efficient use of nitrogen and crop varieties more resistant to heat, minimum tillage and integrated soil fertility management. This would make it possible to increase productivity and farmers' incomes.

But there is also a need – the UN agency continues – for methods to reduce the quantity of harmful emissions from the agricultural sector. As well as water conservation policies in place of, for example, those that involve the flooding of rice paddies. Plans of assistance for smallholder farmers must also be adopted, in order to allow them to adapt to the risks of climate change. And subsidies to productions that promote unsustainable farming practices must be brought to an end.