While yesterday’s blog post explored the importance of watershed-level management in maintaining water quality, specifically in an East African context, drought is the hot-button issue at present. And this time the United States is front and center. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA ERS) estimates that nearly 40% of the country’s agricultural land is experiencing severe or ‘worse’ drought this season, the most extensive in over fifty years. These estimates also note the drought impact on 88% of corn cropland and 73% of cattle areas.
This is not only bad news for the United States, which is the largest exporter of maize (~15% global). In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has recently released its Food Price Index for the month of July, attributing last month’s rise in food prices, particularly the increase for staple cereals like maize (23%) and wheat (19%), to the low yields in the United States. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has also taken these statistics to heart, releasing a set of recommendations on necessary actions to mitigate the resounding impacts from drought and food prices. These include the U.S. reducing use of maize for biofuels, and the World Food Programme preparing for potential need for increased food aid.
Drought. Crop yields. Food security. The links are there, even on this global scale. As the agricultural and food security community gears up to address any coming repercussions, questions remain on climate change and what the future holds for the frequency and intensity of these drought events.
UPDATED: Also read about how conservation measures on farmland can help ease the pressures of drought in an article on the Huffington Post.
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