Climate change and the threat to African food security

Climate change and the threat to African food security

Editorial by Victor Orindi, International Development ResearchCentre, Nairobi, Kenya
Africa faces many challenges – poverty, a high disease burden, rapid population growth, food insecurity, and limited water access. Climate change is likely to drive the majority of the population into destitution, as assets are lost and resources are diverted to deal with emergencies, instead of being used for development.

Historically, the earth has experienced periods of cooling and warming, with mean temperatures remaining relatively stable. These changes were due to the energy balance between land, sea and atmosphere.

However, human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation have contributed to the increase in greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. These trap much of the heat that would otherwise escape from the earth, leading to a generally warmer world. This will potentially have many serious impacts:

An increase in average temperatures estimated to be between 1.8 and 4.0oC by 2100.
Snow melt in the Polar Regions, resulting in sea level rise that may displace populations and destroy the infrastructure in low lying coastal areas.
Changes in rainfall amounts and distribution, leading to an increased frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, such as floods and drought.
Dry areas are expected to even get drier.

Food insecurity Sub-Saharan Africa is currently the most food-insecure region in the world. Climate change could aggravate the situation further unless adequate measures are put in place. Some areas may become too hot for certain crops or animals; it may rain too little or too much to allow farming; thebreakout of climate sensitive diseases, such as Rift Valley fever, could seriously affect livestock production.

With drier areas projected to get even drier, producing food using irrigation may not be possible, as there will be no water. At the other extreme, flooding could destroy the infrastructure used to store or transport food from production areas to markets. This may act as a disincentivefor farmers who could produce more food, potentially contributing to evenlower food production.
Dealing with the impacts of climate change requires measures that willminimise losses or take advantage of the opportunities presented – referred to as adaptation. In this first issue of Joto Afrika, we present six articles about how people are being affected by climate change, andhow they are adapting. From these, it is clear that everybody has a role to play.

The public must understand the challenges and adjust their ways of life, for example, testing and adopting suitable crop and animal varieties that are fast maturing, drought and disease resistant/tolerant.

Because of the uncertainty about future climatic conditions, diversifying crop and livestock production is sensible to avoid total losses in case of climatic extremes.
The international community and government agencies could help to generate new information on what the future will be like, and what could be done beyond individual actions.
Equally important is the need for governments and development partners to mainstream climate change in development plans; otherwise, they will continue to respond to emergencies, rather than taking actions to avoid these.
Read Joto Afrika (PDF)
Victor OrindiInternational Development ResearchCentre, Nairobi, Kenyaorindi@hotmail.com
http://www.id21.org/publications/JA/JAissue1.html