The priorities for food-security research under extreme events (Phys.org) 

Phys.org published an article stating that fixing hunger is as challenging as ever. Many food producers, including farmers, hunters and fishers are food-insecure; meaning they’re not always sure where their next meal will come from. More than 50% of the roughly 600 million who are food insecure live in conflict zones. The risk that multiple misfortunes can cascade, such as a war in one region and crop failures in others, increase the stakes for the most vulnerable, who are generally hard-pressed to withstand a single hit to their food supplies. Liangzhi You, a senior research fellow said, “Cascading risks can include things that were previously unthinkable, such as multiple breadbasket failures in a single year, migration due to climate change, and disruptions like those caused by war and pandemics. But today with climate change, anything is possible.” Questions such as, “In what ways does insurance enhance or undermine food security in the face of extreme events?”; and “What policies are required to ensure that efficiency gains in food distribution systems enable widespread food security without harming local and regional producers? are often considered. You said, “Many of these questions will be addressed in CGIAR’s new research portfolio, particularly the CGIAR initiative on climate resilience,” said You, who leads the Initiative’s work on reducing risk in agriculture for smallholder farmers. The Initiative, called ClimBeR: Building Systemic Resilience Against Climate Variability and Extremes, aims to help 30 million smallholders across six countries improve resilience to climate extremes by 2030. You added, “But in spite of these challenges, we see a major opportunity in tackling these issues through a focused, long-term research agenda and promoting peaceful societies.”