Climate Change deals Food Security a Heavy Blow

Climate change, which is impacting on food security, is a reality. The phenomenon is already giving the world many sleepless nights. Frequent and more intense drought is just but one of the manifestation of climate change.

Climate change will affect the suitability of land for different types of crops, livestock, fish and pasture. It will also have an impact on the health and productivity of forests, the incidence of pests and diseases, biodiversity and ecosystems.

It's feared that some farms will be wiped out due to increased aridity, ground water depletion, salinisation and the rise in sea level.

Historically, farmers, pastoralists, forest dwellers and fishermen have learned to cope with climate variability and have often adapted crops and farming practices to suit new conditions. But the severity and pace of climate change is presenting new challenges.

Changes in temperatures and rainfall as well as more frequent extreme weather are expected to result in crop and livestock production shortfalls and other asset losses, thereby not only threatening food production but also access, suitability and utilization of food resources.

Climate change threatens to uproot many rural communities. For example, rising sea levels may force many communities in low-lying coastal areas and river deltas in developing countries to move to higher ground.

Similarly, increasing frequent droughts brought on by climate change may leave farmers and pastoralists who rely on rainfall to raise their crops and livestock in conflict over land and water.

This displacement of people is likely to result in competition between migrant and established communities for access to land.

Also, as a consequence of climate change, farmers will face unpredictability and variability in water supplies and increasing frequencies of droughts and floods.

Hardest hit will be rain-fed agriculture such as most African countries; for instance, in sub-Saharan Africa, this form of agriculture covers 96 percent of cultivated land.

The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment estimates that by the end of the century, climate change will be the main cause of biodiversity loss.

A significant number of species of plants that farmers rely on for adaptation to food and agricultural production changing needs will be at risk of extinction as the global mean temperature increases.

Another challenge comes from pests and diseases which have historically affected food production either directly through losses in food crops and animal production, or indirectly through lost profits from insufficient cash crop yields.

Small-scale farmers naturally have the most to lose. Today, these losses are made worse by climate change and its increasing volatility, threatening food security and rural livelihoods around the globe.