ABSTRACT

This paper investigates global and local review of evidence of climate change on food production. Climate change is brought about by natural as well as man-made factors. Climate change or global warming has negative impact on the global environment. Some of these devastating effects include volcano, landslide, erosion, flooding, drought, pests and diseases. These factors in turn impact on agriculture and consequently threaten food security. This paper therefore is aimed at examining, through literature search, the impact of climate change on food security with a view to making suggestions on strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change on the environment generally and food security in particular. Some of the suggested strategies include: reducing the emission of green house gases by stopping deforestation; use of high yield and disease-tolerant crops and crops adaptable to extreme weather conditions; farmers to cultivate their crops when rains are expected rather than during planting seasons‘. The paper concludes that climate change and security achieved through measures aimed at mitigating the consequential impacts of climate change, thus, ‘killing two birds with one stone’. The climate impacts on food security for importing countries cannot be overlooked. Importing countries have to face a myriad of challenges in gaining access to food in international markets, from the political dynamics of food trade and relations to shifting food production centres.

Introduction

Over the last 50 years since the Green Revolution, many Asian farmers have been able to cope with gradual climate variations through the use of technology and improved agricultural management practices. However, under climate change, brought about by the increase in greenhouse gases, the existing technology and crop management practices may no longer be adequate due to increasing uncertainty in climate behavior. Sustaining crop production can be a serious challenge for both farmers and policy makers, as climate change will affect both producers and consumers globally. Farmers in Southeast Asia lack the expertise and technology to respond to the increase in climate volatility and uncertainty (Paul, Mely and Jonatan, 2015).

Climate change affects agricultural crop, livestock and fisheries production by altering biotic stressors (for example, pests and diseases) and abiotic stressors (for example, change in precipitation, temperature, water loss, heat waves, warmer nights and so on). It will bring more perils than benefits in most current production areas. However, the distribution of climate risks varies across regions because different levels of vulnerability and exposure are shaped by bio-geophysical and socioeconomic-political contexts (Paul, Mely and Jonatan, 2015).

However, global food supply and distribution developed rapidly enough to keep abreast of population growth and, for many regions, to bring gains to food security in terms of more affordable, reliable, and safe food for all sectors of society. The last decade has seen a rapid reversal of these gains. Achieving food security in the face of accelerating food demand, competition for depleting resources, and the failing ability of the environment to buffer increasing anthropogenic impacts is now widely seen as the foremost challenge of our time (Ingram, Ericksen  and Liverman, 2010). Climate change is one among a set of interconnected trends and risks facing agriculture and food systems (Pielke et al; 2007). Other components of global environmental change that are driving the future of food security include rapid changes in biodiversity, land cover, availability of freshwater, oceanic acidification, and the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles (Rockstrom, 2009). Future food security for all will ultimately depend on management of the interacting trajectories of socioeconomic and environmental changes. Climate change, and especially increased climate variability, is, however, arguably one of the greatest challenges to food security, particularly via its effects on the livelihoods of low-income individuals and communities, which have less capacity for adaptation and depend on highly climate-sensitive activities such as agriculture (Schmidhuber and Tubiello, 2007).

Water mediates much of climate change impact on agriculture and increased water scarcity in many regions of the world present a major challenge for climate adaptation, food security and nutrition. Tackling the climate-food-water trade nexus requires deploying coherent cross sectoral, national, and regional strategies (Liu, Williams, Zehnder, and Yang, 2007).

Climate impacts on future food supply strongly suggest an enhanced role for trade with expanded flows from the mid-to-high latitude regions to the low latitudes regions, where production and export potential could be reduced. Progress on climate-compatible trade policies requires resolving the trade versus environment trade-offs and ensuring that future trade rules are more aligned with climate objectives.

Combating climate change goes hand in hand with alleviating poverty which requires mainstreaming climate responses within proper development strategies. Mainstreaming should promote ‘no regrets’ actions that target improved resiliency to current and future climate impacts, especially for the poor and most vulnerable groups (Liu, Williams, Zehnder, and Yang, 2007).

Rapid increases in global demand for agricultural commodities for food, animal feed and fuel are driving dramatic changes in the way we think about crops and land use. Along with recent supply side shocks driven by extreme weather events and other disasters, these conditions have led to increasingly wild swings in agricultural commodity markets that have some stakeholders concerned. In recent years, additional stresses on the land-food system are coming from some of the very mitigation strategies meant to slow climate changes before irreversible impacts occur. Many of the proposed strategies rely heavily on net emissions reductions through terrestrial bio-sequestration from modified farming practices, reducing application of inorganic fertilizer, avoiding deforestation or increasing forestation and displacing fossil fuel energy with biomass and bio-fuel crops. 

Problem Statement

The growing threat of climate change to the global food supply, and the challenges it poses for food security and nutrition, requires urgent concerted policy responses and the deployment of all the scientific knowledge and accumulated evidence at our disposal. It also requires a sharper focus on the important drivers of climate adaptation, including the potential role of trade to mitigate some of the negative impacts of climate change on global food production.

Malnutrition and undernourishment are consequences of food insecurity which is threatening the world. One major factor that impacts negatively on food security is climate change or global warming. The effects of climate change on the environment, some of which are landslide, erosion, flooding, drought, pests and diseases in turn have devastating effect on agriculture and consequently threaten food security.

Purpose of the Study

The main objective of this paper is to investigate global and local review of evidence of climate change on food production. The specific objectives include;

1. To examine the impact of food production systems on climate change in Nigeria.
2. To determine the impact of climate change and food security in Nigeria.
3. To examine various global interventions to manage the interaction between food systems and climate change in Nigeria.
4. To determine the strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change on food security.