Another Iraq Drought Highlights Climate Change’s Threat to Food
- Third year of drought forces Iraq to cut crop area in half
- Adverse weather sent global wheat prices near multiyear high
A dried up river bed in the al-Huwaiza Marshes south of Baghdad in September.
Photographer: Asaad Niazi/AFP/Getty Images
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A third straight year of drought is forcing Iraq to cut its crop area in half, another example of how extreme weather caused by climate change is threatening food security around the world.
The nation expects to harvest a maximum 2.5 million tons of wheat next year, Agriculture Minister Mohammad Karim Al-Khafaji said in a TV interview on Friday. The Trade Ministry should consider the impact that will have on Iraq’s subsidized food program and need to secure extra supplies, he said.