Food Security and Climate Change

Food Security Basics - Climate's Cruel Bite

• Food Security (FAO): All people, always, have physical, social, economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food for an active, healthy life.
  • Pillars (📌 AAUS):
    • Availability: Adequate food supply.
    • Access: Physical, economic, social reach.
    • Utilization: Proper biological use (nutrition, health).
    • Stability: Consistent access, shock resilience.
• Climate Change: Major threat multiplier.
  • Impacts all pillars: ↓yields, disrupted supply, ↑prices, ↓nutrition.
• India's Vulnerability:
  • Monsoon-dependent agriculture.
  • Large agrarian population (~50% workforce).
  • Prone to climate extremes (floods, droughts, heatwaves).

⭐ Climate change is a "hunger risk multiplier," especially for vulnerable groups like small farmers.

oka

Climate's Assault - Fields to Forks

• Direct Impacts on Production:
  • Crop Yields ↓: Due to heat stress, altered precipitation (droughts/floods), increased pest/disease incidence.
    • Key Indian crops: Rice, wheat, maize, millets face significant threats.
  • Livestock Productivity ↓: Heat stress impacts animal health, reproduction, milk/meat output; fodder/water scarcity; emerging diseases.
  • Fisheries & Aquaculture ↓: Ocean warming & acidification affect marine ecosystems; changing fish stocks & migration; inland fisheries impacted by water stress.
• Indirect Impacts on Access & Utilization:
  • Nutritional Quality of Food ↓: $CO_2$ fertilization can ↓ protein, zinc, iron in staples (e.g., rice, wheat).
  • Food Prices & Volatility ↑: Extreme weather events disrupt markets, leading to price spikes, affecting affordability.
  • Supply Chain Disruptions: Damage to infrastructure (storage, transport), post-harvest losses ↑.
• Vulnerable Indian Context: Rain-fed agriculture (majorly), coastal fishing communities, arid/semi-arid regions, tribal populations.

⭐ Climate change is projected to reduce global yields of major crops like maize by up to 24% by late century without adaptation.

Health Under Siege - Hunger & Harm

• Malnutrition Spectrum: Climate change impacts food availability, access, utilization.
  • Undernutrition: ↑Stunting, Wasting, Underweight (esp. children).
  • Micronutrient Deficiencies: Iron, Zinc, Vit A (📌 "Hidden Hunger") from ↓diet diversity & quality.
  • Overnutrition Paradox: Shift to cheap, energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods.
• Disease Burden Amplified:
  • Food-borne: ↑Temp → ↑Salmonella, Campylobacter.
  • Water-borne: Contaminated water (food prep) → Cholera, Typhoid.
  • Vector-borne: Affects agricultural workers (e.g., Malaria, Dengue).
• Vulnerable Groups: Disproportionately affected.
  • Children <5 yrs, Pregnant/Lactating Women, Elderly.
  • Smallholder farmers, Coastal & Tribal communities.
• Mental Health Toll:
  • Farmer distress: Crop failure, debt → anxiety, depression.
  • Eco-anxiety, displacement stress.

⭐ Micronutrient deficiencies (Iron, Zinc, Vitamin A), termed "Hidden Hunger," are worsened by climate change's impact on food quality and diversity.

Fighting Back - Resilient Feasts

• Adaptation Strategies:
  • Climate-resilient agriculture (e.g., drought-tolerant crops, System of Rice Intensification - SRI)
  • Water-use efficiency (micro-irrigation, rainwater harvesting)
  • Agroforestry, crop diversification
  • Early warning systems (weather)
• Mitigation (Agriculture):
  • Sustainable land management
  • ↓ Methane (livestock/paddy); efficient N-fertilizer use
  • ↓ Food loss & waste
• Key Indian Policies:
  • National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
  • National Food Security Act (NFSA)
• Health Sector Role:
  • Surveillance: climate-sensitive diseases, malnutrition
  • Strengthen health systems; advocacy
  • Inter-sectoral coordination

⭐ The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is a core component of India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

High‑Yield Points - ⚡ Biggest Takeaways

• Climate change threatens food security through ↓ crop yields, extreme weather, and new pest/disease patterns.
• Vulnerable populations (e.g., small farmers, coastal communities) are disproportionately affected.
• Elevated CO2 can reduce nutritional quality of food (↓ protein, zinc, iron).
• Water scarcity, intensified by climate change, is a major constraint on agriculture.
• Leads to ↑ food prices, ↓ availability, and worsening malnutrition, especially in children.
• Key adaptations include climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable water management.