Wwf, "We are fruitful": climate change affects the food supply chain

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16 October 2021S.OS for the climate also arrives on our tables.

The effects of the climate crisis have repercussions on the Italian fruit and vegetable market and therefore on the tables of Italian families.

On the occasion of the International Food Day, which is celebrated today, October 16, the WWF launches the report "2021, climate effect: the black year of Italian agriculture" to denounce how the climate has dramatically affected the production of some products typical of the area and the prices have skyrocketed.

"Huge damage to Italian production in 2021, with drops of up to

and

in some regions of the Center-North - warns the WWF -, with potential repercussions also for the availability of agri-food products on local markets: consumers could be seriously affected by the increase in the prices of food products such as fruit and vegetables, at the basis of sustainable diets ".

Overall,"

have cost the agricultural sector about 14 billion euros in the last 10 years. In the decade dedicated by the United Nations to nutrition (2016-2025), 2021 is celebrated by FAO as the international year of fruit. "Sadly, this anniversary coincides with what is defined by many as" the

" .

The report launched today by the WWF highlights how

in the Mediterranean region

the global average increase in temperature by

, placing our country in a particularly vulnerable position with respect to the effects of climate change.

"With about 1,500 extreme events - recalls the WWF - 2021 in Italy records a

, floods, tornadoes, hailstorms and heat waves compared to previous years".

According to the data reported by the WWF, "some crops have been penalized in a generalized way, such as

which has even lost 95% of its production compared to the previous year and

which sees an average decline of 27%, with peaks of -69% like that recorded by

(in practice, more than one in four fruit has been lost due to the effects of extreme and unpredictable events such as frosts, droughts and hail) ".

But also "

(-10%), wine (which in some regions has suffered drops of up to 50%) and

which in some regions of central and northern Italy recorded the most serious damage: up to 80% in less, in a year that should have instead marked an increase in production compared to the previous year ".

Even the

have been put in crisis:" The scorching heat of this summer has accelerated the ripening of

, overcoming the logistical capacity to collect, transport and process it: 20% of the harvest was thus lost ".

" The climate crisis, with its multiple effects, is threatening the productive capacity of agricultural systems globally, compromising their capacity to feed humanity adequately. It is necessary to address this change in a coherent and coordinated way. Our

are crucial, we can no longer ignore our role within the global system ", says Eva Alessi, Sustainability Manager of WWF Italy.

The food system is conditioned by

: production, distribution and costs are sensitive to extreme weather and soil and water quality. In particular, in Southern Italy we are witnessing a phenomenon of "tropicalization" which opens up the possibility of replacing the cultivation of traditional products with domestic cultivation of exotic fruits, a trend already underway and which is estimated to have doubled in the last three years.

At the same time, the production, distribution and consumption of food work as direct causes of climate change: just think that the food system contributes about 37% to greenhouse

, of which a third is linked to food waste, a phenomenon in constant growth.

"As WWF we have decided to commit ourselves to raise awareness as much as possible on the impact of the food system on natural systems and to explain how important our

", adds Eva Alessi.

"

represents a lasting solution not only to sustainable food production, but also to the reduction of greenhouse gas production by the agricultural sector: the storage of carbon in the soil, induced by organic fertilization, could drastically reduce the emissions of entire sector ".