The climate change crisis: a looming threat to food security

The world recently experienced the worst heat wave in 200 years. Southeast Asia is considered one of the regions most affected by this example. This disaster threatens not only human health but in addition food supplies. In addition to the impact on Asian communities, the heatwave has significant geopolitical implications. Two consecutive years of utmost heatwaves have created an unprecedented situation.

The world faced a crisis brought on by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which massively disrupted the production and distribution of grain. This has caused global food prices to skyrocket, with wheat prices expected to extend by greater than 60% by May 2022. World Bank data for 2022 also shows that each 1% increase in food prices could push almost 10 million people into extreme poverty.

Global food security relies on a posh system of dynamic political, social and economic aspects. While each community faces unique food security challenges, climate change and its impacts pose a serious global threat.

How much does climate change affect food security?

Extreme weather conditions have a direct impact on physical access to food, disrupting food supplies to markets and other people’s access to markets as severe weather damages and blocks transport routes. Climate change and extreme weather events also affect food use, changing the micronutrient and nutrient content of crops and replacing high-nutrient crops with low-nutrient crops on account of adversarial climate impacts.

Food safety in supply chains can be impacted by climate change, where higher temperatures increase microbial growth and customarily reduce food safety. The stability of food security can be affected by fluctuations in food supply, access and use brought on by extreme weather events within the short and medium term. In the long run, climate change threatens the resilience of food systems and livelihoods, putting pressure on agriculture, ecosystems, water and land. Agriculture-dependent communities living in low-income environments are also at increased risk of conflict on account of drought, which may ultimately threaten community stability and peace.

Additionally, extreme weather events at the moment are five times more common than they were 50 years ago, increasing the likelihood of climate disasters corresponding to droughts and floods. As communities are exposed to climate shocks, economically vulnerable groups are at high risk of food insecurity, no matter their country’s income level.

The impact of climate change on food security in Southeast Asia

Rice production in Asia plays a crucial role on this planet’s food supply. More than 90 percent of the world’s rice supply comes from Asia, especially tropical regions that receive abundant rainfall. In 2019, East and Southeast Asia was estimated to provide roughly 418.56 million tonnes of rice, accounting for 47.6% of the region’s total grain production and 55.4% of worldwide rice production. Rice production has a big impact on the region and the world.

However, the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 report by Germanwatch shows that many Southeast Asian countries, corresponding to Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, face very high risks from climate change within the period 2000–2019. Climate change is a key driver of the region’s food security challenges. Southeast Asia can even face severe drought problems by the top of 2019. Water levels within the Mekong River have reached their lowest level in almost 60 years, which, combined with the El Niño phenomenon, has caused severe drought in countries corresponding to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. This led to a rise in rice export prices in Vietnam and Thailand in the primary quarter of 2020.

In the context of food security, food use includes safety, quality and dietary status. Data from the Global Nutrition Report 2020 show that in Asia, 21.8% of youngsters under 5 years of age have stunting and 9.1% have wasting. These dietary conditions are worsening on account of low food availability and external aspects corresponding to climate change. Communities with limited access to food are susceptible to malnutrition. Calorie deficiencies will turn into increasingly common, and adequate micronutrient levels will likely be key to improving food security.

Agriculture-dependent populations in developing countries often experience declining incomes on account of low productivity. As a result, they buy cheaper but less nutritious basic or processed foods as an alternative of fresh fruit and veggies. Limited drinking water and sanitation, difficult access to health services and lack of dietary diversity further worsen the dietary status of those vulnerable populations.

We must improve!

Climate change poses complex and widespread risks to food security and nutrition, affecting every little thing from ecosystems to livelihoods and trade. The most severe impacts will likely be felt by essentially the most vulnerable populations, especially those depending on the agricultural sector in climate-sensitive areas. Mitigating these impacts would require interventions which can be integrated and sensitive to the multiple dimensions of the issues at hand, in addition to across multiple time scales. It can even require investment, policies and cooperation between sectors and stakeholders to support the implementation of effective adaptation strategies.

The National Adaptation Plan process initiated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides a chance to acknowledge food and nutrition security as a key priority. Countries also have to conduct regular risk and vulnerability assessments, learn from experience and progress, and often monitor and update plans. Regional and international cooperation can be vital to support national strategies and plans to deal with the impacts of climate change on food security and nutrition.

Reference:

1. Hen-I Lin, Ya-Yin Yu et al. (2022) The state of food security in East and Southeast Asia and the challenges of climate change. Climate, 40(10).

2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2015). Climate change and food security: risk and response

3. Hadley, Kristie et al. (2023). Mechanisms underlying food insecurity following climate shocks: a scientific review. Planetary Health Lancet7

4. European Commission Science and Knowledge Service. And the acute impact of climate on food security. Joint Research Centre