A hungry world knows no borders

When crops fail, people are forced to move. And when families are displaced by droughts and failed harvests, they do not always stop at national boundaries.

Across the Global South - from the Sahel, the vast semi-arid belt stretching across Africa from Senegal to Sudan and the Horn of Africa, to South Asia’s dry zones and Southeast Asia’s coastal farmlands - climate shocks are undermining food production and disrupting communities.

The World Bank estimates that up to 216 million people could be forced to migrate within their own countries by 2050 as climate impacts intensify. Most of those at risk of displacement are in Africa and South Asia.

In the Sahel, prolonged drought and poor harvests, among other factors, are driving people north through Niger and Mali toward North Africa and, for some, across the Mediterranean. 

Across South Asia, meanwhile, recurrent floods and heat stress have displaced millions in India and Bangladesh, while in Southeast Asia, rising seas are forcing coastal farmers and fishers inland. 

These pressures are magnified by rapid population growth, especially in the Sahel, where the population is projected to more than double by 2050, placing immense strain on already limited arable land. 

The same story is unfolding elsewhere in the world. In Central America’s drought-stricken Dry Corridor, for example, repeated failure are pushing families to leave their farms and migrate north in search of food and safety.

Safeguarding the rights of people to remain where their families have lived for generations now depends on enabling communities to produce more food from every hectare, even as conditions grow harsher.

We must start viewing food security not only as a humanitarian concern, but through the prism of peace and stability. ​ History shows that when people cannot feed their families, societies fracture and conflicts occur.

The world’s most strategic investment today is in the hands that grow our food and not in walls or weapons. By investing in climate resilient crops such as the drought and heat tolerant varieties and expanding access to scientific innovation and improved seeds, we can help communities withstand climate shocks, secure their livelihoods, and allow them to remain in their traditional lands.

At the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), our climate resilience work is already having a visible impact, but efforts like these must be dramatically scaled to match the magnitude of the challenge.

Investing in resilient food systems in the Global South is one of the most effective and humane strategies for ensuring regional and ultimately global stability. 

Indeed, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that every dollar invested in sustainable agriculture today will save seven to ten dollars in humanitarian aid and migration management in the future. 

At ICRISAT, we work with governments and communities across Africa, Asia, and beyond to turn drylands, some of the harshest farming environments on Earth, into zones of opportunity. 

Under the Saudi REEF Programme, led by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in partnership with ICRISAT and FAO Saudi Arabia, we are driving transformative change in rain-fed cereal farming through the introduction of improved sorghum and pearl millet varieties.

Similarly, in India’s Bundelkhand region, stretching across southern Uttar Pradesh and northern Madhya Pradesh our science-led watershed interventions have turned what were once parched and deserted wastelands into thriving, water-abundant croplands.

And in Niger, climate-resilient seed systems are now transforming uncertainty into productivity. From drought-tolerant sorghum and pearl millet to digital tools that guide farmers on planting and water management, science is helping people stay and thrive where they are. 

These examples show that solutions exist. What is missing is scale and that requires more sustained investment. 

Developed nations have the capacity to act. Moreover, supporting food systems in the Global South is also an insurance against future instability. 

At COP28, held in Dubai, Agriculture took centre stage with 134 world leaders endorsing the UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. The message is clear: investing in agricultural R&D is vital to help farmers adapt to climate change and combat hunger.

Without serious investment into food, land, water systems, and R&D, losses could reach $2 trillion by 2030. We need sustained investments to secure our food future and philanthropy has a role to play here.

The 2025 World Food theme at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is “Hand in Hand for Better Food and a Better Future”, capturing what this moment demands, a deeper investment in science that make a real difference, and genuine partnership. 

Across the Global South, collaboration is already strengthening through initiatives such as the ICRISAT Center of Excellence for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture, where countries are share knowledge, seeds, and strategies to build resilience together. 

But we cannot do this alone. The Global North has a vital role to play in recognising that hunger and instability anywhere can threaten prosperity everywhere. The future of food security, peace, and climate resilience must be built together.

As the climate crisis tightens its hold, the world must act now to strengthen the foundations of food and farming – or face the growing cost of displacement and unrest. 

Let us remember that peace, like harvests, depends on what we sow today.