Our planet is experiencing a global crisis from a lack of food and a loss of biodiversity, both problems that will only get worse as the effects of climate change increase. However, these two conflicting issues can be solved through contributing know-how and technology to increase agricultural efficiency in the developing world.

How you can help

A recent study by economist William R. Cline called; Global Warming and Agriculture: Impact Estimates by Country, is predicting that climate change will have a dramatic impact on agriculture making the food crisis in third world countries even worse. In the southern part of Africa, the report predicts a 39-47 percent decline in agriculture by 2080.

The UN has called the current food crisis in 36 countries “the biggest crisis looming for the world,” and estimates that 400 million tons of soil for agriculture is being lost every year. James Breen, regional emergency agronomist for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that, "The production of this year's food crop is shockingly low and it's going to get worse with global warming. We really are facing a meltdown."

This agricultural crisis, which is described as a “downward spiral in food production,” is the cause of the looming crisis for the world. At the same time, our planet is also going through a loss of biodiversity that is being described as a mass extinction, and therefore, pushing more species to the brink of extinction is not the right solution for this crisis.

However, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization along with a number of NGOs have come up with one good solution to the problem: increased agricultural efficiency and productivity. Working with regional governments, these organisations are working hard to put in place new farming methods through a programme called Conservation Agriculture. By promoting this new agricultural technique over traditional farming methods, Conservation Agriculture reaches the aim of minimising soil disturbance and increasing agricultural efficiency on land already used for farming.

CARE is one NGO who has taken up this solution to solve the problem of the growing food crisis. CARE’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Program works to increase the productivity of farming communities while preserving the local ecosystems. This program is being operated in over 40 third world countries, and CARE has worked with more than 2.6 million farmers.

To help solve the problem of the growing food crisis and help feed the millions of hungry people on our planet, please:

- Support CARE by clicking "Donate" or find your local NGO that works on this issue.

- Join this campaign and start campaigning!