Africa's food supply at risk

Rising global temperatures could have dire consequences for many sub-Saharan African countries struggling to lift people out of poverty, according to a new World Bank report.

The report, released on Wednesday, warns of serious disruption to the food supply in sub-Saharan Africa. This, says the report, threatens a new goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.

It also cites the flooding in Southeast Asia and devastating water shortages in south Asia as major challenges.

Entitled "Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts and the Case for Resilience", the report specifically examines the impacts of climate change in the short to medium term.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said climate change would most affect countries struggling with poverty.

The report tells how rising global temperatures threaten the health and livelihoods of poor communities globally.

"In a 2°C warmer world, the earth will have fundamentally changed. The way that the earth processes water will have changed. So we will have droughts that will be devastating and floods that will put cities in danger," Kim said.

"By the 2030s, we can see a situation where extreme heat and drought could leave 40% of the land that is currently used in growing maize incapable of growing maize. The extreme heat is going to destroy the savannah grasslands that are supporting pastoral livelihoods."

Efforts to help developing countries fight poverty through climate change mitigation tops the international agenda, with World Bank officials hoping to bolster country campaigns.

In south Asia, possible changes to the regularity and impact of the monsoon could plunge the region into crisis.

"In Southeast Asia, we are worried rural livelihoods will be threatened as sea levels rise, tropical cyclones increase in intensity and marine ecosystems are lost.

"There are some estimates that the fisheries, for example, around the Philippines, could be reduced as much as 50%," said Kim.

The bank lent $4.6-billion (about R470-billion) to help countries adapt to climate change in 2012.