Having just commented on the Sustainable Food Systems consultation, I was surprised there was so little mention of climate change in its draft concept note, yet the two consultations are inextricably linked....
1. Climate change and food security are also inextricably linked. Policymakers need to consider the latest research highlighted by Ackerman and Stanton (2013) which argues that climate change impacts on agriculture could be much worse than expected, particularly regarding the temperature threshold of crops, above which yields rapidly decline, and the variability and intensity of rainfall.
So first and foremost we need an increased urgency from governments to implement effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stablilise climate change, including regulatory policies where market-based solutions have already failed: without that adaptation and mitigation policies may achieve very little.
Adapatation policies need to be nutrition-sensitive, with a greater emphasis on sustainability throughout the food system - we need to improve nutrition whilst reducing emissions. What may have been a sustainable system in the past may no longer be so in the face of climate change, requiring different cropping and livestock systems that can adapt to the changing conditions.
And policymakers need to consider the whole food system when implementing climate change adaptation and nutrition policies, from production (eg conservation agriculture) through to the consumer (eg behavioural change toward more sustainable and more nutritious diets), including trade policies which may currently exacerbate emissions.
But we also need to keep livelihoods at the forefront of such policies. In some recent research I have been doing on the impact of biofuel operations on food security, I found that households with employees on large biofuel estates in Mozambique had significantly better food and nutrition security outcomes than other households in the same locality, largely due to paid employment: food access is likely to remain the key issue in food and nutrition security.
2. Here at University College Cork (UCC) we have been running an AgriDiet project in Ethiopia and Tanzania over the past two years and institutional barriers have emerged as a key issue in linking agriculture and nutrition, not so much at the national level where policies have now been put in place, but more so at the local level where ag extension and health officials rarely liaise. We have held workshops in both countries to bring local extension and helath worlers together and there is now growing recognition of this problem and things are starting to change. It will be important that ag extension staff also work with nutritionists on climate change issues to promote resilient food systems that also deliver optimum nutrition to the most vulnerable.
UCC has also been working with the NGOs Valid International and Concern to address the barriers in sourcing locally produced raw materials and producing ready-to-use therapeutic foods in food insecure countries so that the most vulnerable households have access to nutritious foods and local farmers can also benefit through new markets.
3. The improved coordination between local ag extension staff and health workers in Tanzania is a good example of improving the effectiveness of the public sector, although climate change impacts remain a new and uncertain issue for most local extension staff. Also, as part of my bioenergy and food security research I have encountered a number of food-energy integrated projects that could be regarded as cross-sector initiatives. For example, in response to deforestation and smoke-inhalation related illnesses from open fires, a number of community-scale projects are intercropping oilseed plants to produce fuel for oil-based stoves, as well as for generators used for irrigation and food storage of perishable crops. The urgent need for clean energy to replace wood and fossil fuels is often overlooked, but without renewable sources such as solar and bioenergy, it will be difficult to improve the production of nutritionally important foods, such as fruit and vegetables and reduce wastage in hot climates.
best regards
Stephen Thornhill
Lecturer and Research Fellow at University College Cork, Ireland.
Reference - Ackerman and Stanton (2013) Climate Impacts on Agriculture: A Challenge to Complacency? GDAE Working Paper No 13-01.
Dr. Stephen Thornhill