Food Security & Climate Change

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMRecently, changes in the Earth’s climate have begun to have very negative effects on many aspects of people’s lives around the globe. Extreme weather patterns, such as hurricanes and floods, are already more frequent. The sea level is rising and threatening coastal regions and small-island states. In particular, dry environments are becoming drier and damp environments are experiencing more and more precipitation. Climate change is a severe or slow onset change in a region’s climate due to events such as global warming affecting that region’s agriculture and water supply.

The consequences of these changes will be felt across a wide range of systems including ecosystems1, freshwater supply, food production, settlement, etc. For example, dry areas experiencing drought make it even more difficult to grow crops, like in Sub-Saharan Africa. Food supplies, which depend on weather patterns and stable ecosystems, will be affected i. The impacts will vary regionally; however, they are likely to pose the most danger to those already living in unstable and disadvantaged circumstances.

DISCUSSION OF THE PROBLEMEFFECT ON FOOD SECURITY Climate change will have a more devastating effect on poor and rural areas. These vulnerable populations rely more heavily on agriculture and don’t have the economic means to move or get other resources.ii Loss of crops, lack of water and livestock deaths will impact the food availability to these communities, and the global market. The livelihood of 36% of the world’s population is based on agriculture, and that number is even higher in areas of Asia and in Sub-Saharan Africa. If the availability of farming is put at risk due to climate change, there will be an even greater rise of those in poverty in these areas.iii

200 million will be affected around the world because of climate changes impact on the fishing industry. Some fish will become less abundant or move to other areas because of extreme weather like droughts or warming waters; some fishing communities will be destroyed by raising sea levels.iv This will affect fishers from being able to supply food for their families and communities, but also affect the economy of the area and job security.

1 Ecosystems: interaction between organisms living in a certain environment

What does the Kyoto Protocol do?Sets emission targets for developed countries.

Provides flexible ways (mechanisms) for the countries to reach these targets.Monitors the progress of all the governments who participate in the treaty.

Recommends ways developing nations can continue development in sustainable ways.

Changes in climate can also bring new dangers to regions that were not present in the previous climate. New pests and diseases may become present because they can exist in specific temperatures or humidity. v

FARMING PRACTICESAND SUSTAINABLE ENERGYAs noted above, environmental patterns and events are critical to food security. Some criticize common farming practices for failing to meet current and future needs, and call for more sustainable methods. The Sustainable Production Intensification program is working to help farmers incorporate strategies that are less damaging to the environment and have a higher crop yield.vi Some believe that methods such as Conservation Agriculture could offer farmers a way to produce more crops on the same amount of land without hurting their chances of a high yield in the future.vii

Meeting people’s current needs without preventing future generations from meeting their needs – that is the challenge of sustainable development, and nowhere is the issue more difficult than in the realm of sustainable energy. Current energy supplies are largely derived from oil based processes and until recently there has not been the funding for the political will to develop alternatives.

Since early 2004 oil prices have seen a significant increase, and as a result efforts by nations to reduce dependency on foreign oil have risen as well. Talk of alternative and renewable energy sources has reached the highest levels of government. The world’s political and economic powers are turning to green technology because it is in their self-interest politically, militarily and economically to do so.

PAST INTERNATIONAL ACTIONSKYOTO PROTOCOLAs concerns about climate change have grown, individuals and governments have started asking who should take responsibility. Should the prosperous, developed countries be held responsible or should the current, heavily polluting, developing states bear the burden?

Sustainable: capable of continuing without long-term damage to the environment Yield: the amount produced

This debate persisted through the writing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The outcome was a set of common but differentiated responsibilities – a system of strict guidelines for the developed countries and a series of incentives to promote sustainable economic development in developing states. This policy took into account the fact that counties do not possess the same economic and technologically capacities.

FARMING CHANGESIn some areas that have been already greatly affected by climate change and malnutrition, adding new crops to their farms or changing their diets can be a successful change. In Mozambique a new type of orange sweet potato, very high in vitamin A and a source of carbohydrates, was added to the crop rotation. The sweet potato is heat resistant and requires less water from farmers, making it less difficult

Citations and Photo Credits

i http://unfccc.int/essential_background/feeling_the_heat/items/2905.phpii Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security, CGIAR http://ccafs.cgiar.org/about/backgroundiii Climate Change and Food Security, FAO: 2008http://www.fao.org/forestry/15538-079b31d45081fe9c3dbc6ff34de4807e4.pdfiv Climate Change and Food Security, FAO http://www.fao.org/climatechange/16606-05afe43bd276dae0f7461e8b9003cb79.pdfv Climate Change and Food Security, FAO http://www.fao.org/climatechange/16606-05afe43bd276dae0f7461e8b9003cb79.pdfvi Sustainable Production Intensification, FAO http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/core-themes/theme/spi/en/vii Farming must change to feed the world, FAO: 2009 http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/9962/icode/