Giant onions link climate change to food security

Co-founder of the Maldivian Youth Climate Network, Aisha Niyaz, said extreme weather events were becoming increasingly frequent and severe all over the planet due to climate change.

With the Maldives dependent on imports for 90 percent of its food, the country remained vulnerable to food price fluctuations when extreme weather events decreased crop yields in other parts of the world.

The onions symbolised the dramatic increase in onion prices in 2010 and 2011 after flash flooding caused extensive damage to onion farms in India. The price of onions throughout the country jumped from Rf 12 (US$ 0.8) to Rf 25 (US$ 1.6) Aisha said.