Food crisis caused by extreme weather could lead to 'civil unrest', Cambridgeshire university finds
One expert said people shouldn't be worried about its findings
A food crisis caused by extreme weather could lead to civil unrest, according to a Cambridgeshire university study.
The study, led by Anglia Ruskin University and the University of York, found most food experts felt a shortage of foods such as wheat, bread and pasta may lead to injuries caused by demonstrations and violent looting.
Out of a survey of 58 food experts in fields such as policy, academia and business, more than 40% believed that civil unrest in the UK in the next 10 years was either possible or more likely than not.
Over the next 50 years, this increased to nearly 80% of those surveyed.
The 58 experts who took part in the research were asked to rank the possible causes of food shortages, with extreme weather such as storm surges, flooding and drought chosen as the most likely cause over 10-year and 50-year periods.
Professor Aled Jones is the director of Anglia Ruskin University's Global Sustainability Institute:
"The fact that the food system is complex, it may not be an extreme weather event that causes a potential crisis, but it could be an extreme weather event coupled with a trade dispute or other disruption," he said.
"We need to be thinking that these shocks like extreme weather will become more frequent, so how do we ensure that we'll be able to cope with them?"
What did the study aim to achieve?
Researchers aimed to highlight the possible issues that may make the food system vulnerable and a plan to prepare and respond to these risks.
Experts believe that challenges to improve the food system in response to risks, like extreme weather, could take place in future and is calling for change in how the system is being used.
"The intention isn't to worry people"
"The intention of the study isn't to worry people, it's to highlight 'here are some of the issues we need to be doing something about'," Professor Jones said.
"It's not that 'this is definitely what's going to happen', it's 'if we don't do anything about this, here are some potential outcomes'.
"There are particular things we can be doing in the short-term, but we do need to start having this longer-term discussion about a global system that allows each country to be as resilient (to issues that could lead to food shortage) as possible."