29/01/2023
How Climate Change Affects Food Supply
Every month there’s always a new environmental disaster happening somewhere in the world. As much as doomist thinking can harm the soul, we can’t just bury our heads in the sand and hope the effects will disappear. One way climate change affects us all is how it can affect our food security. Here’s how climate change affects the food supply:
1. Agriculture relies on weather conditions.
Agriculture relies on weather conditions as an integral part of growing and harvesting food. According to the Action Against Hunger website, here are some of the crops most affected by climate change:
- Corn
- Wheat
- Rice
- Soy
- Potatoes
- Bananas and Plantains
- Cocoa and Coffee
On a positive note, some farms have started working on drought-resistant crops. Some of these crops are mentioned in The Guardian:
- Amaranth
- Fonio
- Cowpeas
- Taro and Kernza
2. Climate change affects soil quality and water supply.
Increased global temperature can affect soil quality and water supply. Places prone to drought will most likely have lesser rain and water because of the increased temperature on the earth. Additionally, lack of rainfall can make farming lands barren and unable to yield crops.
3. Lack of food access pushes more people into poverty.
Vulnerable places like underdeveloped nations are more susceptible to a lack of food security. Farmers in these areas live within the poverty line and are most likely depending on agriculture for their livelihood. Considering the effects of climate change on agriculture, this affects not only our access to food but also theirs.
4. Climate change also affects animal food sources.
Crops are not the only vulnerable food source affected by the environment. Certain areas like ranches, ponds, and where people get their meat are also vulnerable to increased global temperatures. Certain species are more susceptible to climate change than others.
Can We Secure Our Food Supply?
Fortunately, not all is doom and gloom. Experts have proposed some possible solutions which can help us secure food security on a global scale. Nevertheless, it does require worldwide effort. Some of the proposed solutions include:
1. Promoting good agricultural practices. This step refers to incentivizing farmers to adapt to better and more sustainable agriculture practices. Some examples include crop rotation and drip irritation. According to research, these practices increase crop yields and decrease production costs while improving gross margins. These adaptive processes also help farmers reduce losses and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
However, for farmers to do sustainable agricultural practices, they need to change their current course significantly. One way to negate the sudden shock of the change in practice is the provision of incentives, which motivates farmers to help make the necessary adjustments to their current processes.
2. Invest in research and development.
Modern technology has provided countless opportunities to examine things meticulously. Another way to find adaptive agriculture practices is to invest in research and development. Some options for possible research include modernizing sustainable agricultural practices and finding drought-resistant crops.
Takeaway: Climate change leads to increased food scarcity. The people most affected are the ones living in underdeveloped nations that don’t have the means to combat its effects. Unless we make a global effort to value our world, we are all affected regardless of where we are.
- by Alice Weil, author, "Mother Nature and the Agent"
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