Global Perspective to Food and Climate. The Food and the Environment Kaisa Karttunen , Viikki

Transcription

1 Global Perspective to Food and Climate The Food and the Environment Kaisa Karttunen , Viikki

2 Contents: 1. What is food security? 2. The present global food security situation 3. The impact of climate change on food security 4. Adaptation to climate change 5. What is climate smart agriculture?

3 The four dimensions of food security: 1. Availability: Consists of own production, imports, stocks and in some cases, food aid 2. Access: Physical access, purchasing power, and entitlements 3. Stability: reduced volatility over seasons and years 4. Utilisation : consumption and utilisation of adequate nutrients Food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. FAO.

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5 Where do the hungry live? TOTAL 925 million people Developed countries 19 Near East and North Africa 37 Latin America and the Caribbean 53 Sub-Saharan Africa 239 Asia and the Pacific 578

6 Countries requiring external assistance for food (June 2011) Shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies Severe localized food insecurity Widespread lack of access Source: FAO/GIEWS

7 Climate challenges (Stern Report 2006, IPCC 2007) Global Temperature Change Relative to the Pre-Industrial 0 C 1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C Food Falling crop yields in many areas, particularly developing regions possible rising yields in some high latitude regions falling yields in many developed regions Water Small mountain glaciers disappear water supplies threatened significant decreases in water availability in many areas including Mediterranean and Southern Africa sea level rise threatens major cities Ecosystems extensive damage to coral reefs Rising number of species facing extinction Extreme weather events Rising number of storms, forest fires, droughts, flooding and heat waves Risk of Abrupt and Major Irreversible Changes increasing risk of dangerous feedbacks and abrupt, large-scale shifts in the climate system

8 Climate change will depress agricultural yields in most countries in 2050, given current agricultural practices and crop varieties (World Development Report 2010) Red color yields expected to decrease Green color yields expected to increase Grey areas no data available

9 Impact of climate change on food security (FAO-Adapt 2011) By altering the conditions of agriculture, forestry and fisheries production and rural livelihoods, climate variability and long-term changes will likely have serious impacts on the four dimensions of food security Food availability will decrease in some regions due to a decline in food production from agriculture, forestry and fisheries caused by extreme events, changes in the suitability or availability of arable land and water, and the unavailability or lack of access to technologies and crops, crop varieties and animal breeds that can be productive in changing conditions. Food access will face further constraints in some regions because of climate change events that can damage infrastructure and lead to loss of livelihood assets as well as loss of income and employment opportunities. Food supply stability will be influenced by food price fluctuations and a higher dependency on imports and food aid in some regions. Food utilization will be affected indirectly by food safety hazards associated with pests and animal as well as human diseases.

10 Need for risk management and change management

11 Adaptation to climate change Adaptation to climate change requires making anticipatory adjustments to prepare for expected climate variability and changing average climate conditions, in order to moderate harm and exploit beneficial opportunities (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC 2007). Adaptation efforts must create the capacity to cope with more frequent, increasingly difficult conditions and gradual changes in climate, even though it often is not possible to anticipate their precise nature. Most ecological and social systems have built-in adaptive capacity. However, the current climate variability and rapid rate of climate change are imposing new pressures that have the potential to overwhelm existing coping capacity Adaptation needs to be location- and context-specific, integrated and flexible = no one-size solutions

12 Adaptation in food systems (FAO Adapt 2011) Action areas Data and knowledge for impact and vulnerability assessment and adaptation Institutions, policies and financing to strengthen capacities for adaptation Sustainable management of land, water and biodiversity Appropriate technologies, practices and processes Concrete examples meteorological systems, modeling impact and vulnerability assessments information collection and dissemination integrating climate change into national food and agriculture policies, up-grading research capacities and advisory services strengthening civil society organizations water saving technologies, conservation agriculture conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources plant and livestock breeding crop diversification agroforestry Disaster risk management preparedness for floods and droughts early warning systems

13 Climate smart agriculture aims to support food security taking into account the need for adaptation to climate change and the potential for mitigation of climate change: 1. sustainably intensify production to achieve productivity increases thereby supporting the achievement of food security 2. increase the resilience of production systems to impacts of climate change 3. reduce agriculture s greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration mitigation synergies adaptation food security

14 In more concrete terms 1. Increase soil organic matter through agroforestry, crop rotation, conservation agriculture, erosion control and minimum tillage 2. Improve livestock management through animal breeding and new feeding and grazing practices, manure management 3. Improve energy and input use efficiency (fertilisers, manure, fuels ) 4. Diversify agricultural production, combine livestock and plant production