Effect of Climate Changeon Food Security in Developing Countries

Discuss the Ways in Which Climate Change Affects Food Security and The Effects of Reduced Food Security On Developing Countries.
Climate change is a global issue that has mainly resulted from human activities. It is the change in the weather patterns of a region over a long period. The rise of industrialization and increase in the global population has led to climate change which has seriously impacted food security, as changes in a climate disrupted the food production systems affecting agricultural activities (Dibua & Enete, 2011). Although this is the case, enough research has not been done to establish the extent to which climate change affects food security and the resulting impact on food insecurity in developing countries. The available research shows that rapid climate change has significantly led to food insecurity due to increased drought and agricultural activity disruption, dramatically affecting developed and developing countries.
Climate change has had severe impacts on agriculture by reducing the productivity rate. Agricultural productivity significantly depends on the climatic conditions of a particular region. The unpredictable weather patterns have continued to threaten the farming practices that help farmers produce enough food for consumption in different parts of the world. Recent research shows an approximately 21% reduction in agricultural production since 1961 because of climate change (Ortiz-Bobea et al., 2021). Ortiz-Bobea et al. (2021) further note that this reduction is due to changes in the climatic conditions that favor various types of agricultural activities. The people whose primary agrarian activity is cereal farming depend on relatively warmer climatic conditions for the success of the farming endeavor (Aderinoye-Abdulwahab & Abdulbaki, 2020; Akudugu et al., 2012). A slight change in these climatic conditions negatively affects cereal farming (Akudugu et al., 2012). The effect of a reduced productivity rate is one of the reasons for food insecurity. Akudugu et al. (2012) further note that a reduced production rate means that there will be no surplus production stored for emergencies or sold to earn revenue. This affects the developing nations more than the developed ones.
Most developing nations have struggling economies and often depend on developed countries for funding, products, and good donations. Most of their economic pillars are funded by grants, donations, and loans from developed countries like the US and China. They give conditions for their donations and high interest for the loans they lend to developing countries. (UN Press, 2019). The developing countries live in the hand-to-mouth system where the agricultural production is mainly for domestic consumption, and little is stored for emergencies. Reduced agricultural production rate caused by climate change may mean that these developing nations' harvest is not enough for their populations (Masipa, 2017).
Many African countries, especially those in the semi-arid and arid regions, face a hunger crisis partly escalated by a reduced agricultural production rate. An example is Kenya, an East African country, where people in the country's North-eastern region face the horror of starvation due to a lack of food caused by climate change (Saina et al., 2013). The reduced production rates have also affected the donor countries who have reduced or stopped their donations to the developing countries because of the reduced production rates. Instead, these donor countries have reserved the surplus produce for emergencies for their citizens, negatively impacting developing countries. Thus, food insecurity adversely affects developing countries.
Climate change has led to a reduction in food's nutritional value. Changes in climatic conditions have not only led to a decrease in food production but also in the quality of food produced since bad weather patterns have significantly impacted the quality of food, affecting its nutritional value (Macdiarmid & Whybrow, 2019). Greenhouse gasses have increased the carbon dioxide concentration in the environment lowering iron, zinc and protein component levels in most staple foods, and thus the people consuming this food are likely to have a deficiency of vital nutritional values (Zhu et al., 2018). This amounts to food insecurity because food lacking critical components like iron, protein, and zinc is unsuitable for people's health.
In industrialized areas, the manufacturing and processing firms emit greenhouse gasses leading to surplus carbon dioxide gases that increase global temperature. Dibua and Enete (2011) argue that climate change has seriously impacted food security, as changes in climate disrupted the food production systems affecting agricultural activities. While the effects of climate change on food security have ranged from a reduction in agricultural produce to a significant decline in the nutritional value of food, the developing countries are the most affected (Dibua & Enete, 2011). As a result of food insecurity, the populations in developing countries have been subjected to severe hunger, undernourishment, and malnutrition, among other effects.
The most affected population globally are those living in developing countries. Most people in these countries consume raw, unprocessed food prepared directly from farm produce (Dibua & Enete, 2011). Such unprocessed food has low nutrients necessary for body growth and development (Zhu et al., 2018). This is unlike the situation in developed countries with sophisticated technologies and wealth. The food produced and found to be low in such crucial nutrients as iron and zinc are processed, and these components are added to the food to restore their original nutritional values (Harvard TH Chan, 2019). The developing countries cannot do this, meaning most people will consume low-value agricultural commodities. This, in turn, leads to an increase in malnutrition cases in developing nations.
Malnutrition has been a major health problem for most citizens in developing countries. Because climate change has led to a decline in food nutritional value, a greater population, especially in developing countries, is at risk of being malnourished (Concern Worldwide, 2022). Besides low nutritional values in food, developing countries ration their food during a crisis meaning their people do not get enough food to eat. Sometimes, people only depend on one type of food that provides a single nutrient type. The lack of a balanced diet leads to nutritional health problems. For example, some countries like Uganda in Africa have bananas or matoke as their staple food which only provides one nutrient ad may lead to health issues (Haggblade & Dewina, 2010). Malnourished people are weak and cannot contribute to economic development activities like working in processing and manufacturing firms.
Climate change has escalated drought conditions in the semi-arid regions globally. Temperature rise is one of the significant characteristics of climate change and may be detrimental to agricultural activities. Most agricultural activities require a moderate temperature with constant rainfall (Dibua & Enete, 2011). For example, tea farming does well in cold climates, and any temperature rise may affect the quality of tea leaves. In semi-arid regions, temperature rise worsens the conditions elongating and intensifying drought conditions (Harvard TH Chan, (2019). This means that agricultural activities become costly as developed countries will introduce irrigation. An example is Israel. The country is in an unfriendly agricultural region, but they have capitalized on irrigation and modified agricultural practices. Countries that cannot improve their practices are likely to abandon agricultural activities due to the encroaching drought conditions, thus affecting food security (Fawzy et al., 2020). The developing nations are the most affected by drought conditions caused by climate change.
Developing countries have greatly been affected by drought due to climate change. Since the developing countries have highly relied on agriculture for food security, the changing and unpredictable weather patterns have significantly led to a decrease in agricultural production in these countries (Aderinoye-Abdulwahab & Abdulbaki, 2020). A rise in temperatures has worsened drought conditions in developing countries. These drought conditions reduce or halt agricultural activities because these countries cannot afford sophisticated technologies to perform extensive irrigation activities (Macdiarmid & Whybrow, 2019). The populations in these developing countries will lack enough food, and the situation could worsen considering that developing nations hardly have any emergency food stored for their citizens. Food shortage starves a nation creating loopholes in the production and sector because hungry people cannot work. This means that food security will slow down a country's workforce.
Climate change limits access to food in the global population. Derailed agricultural production translates to limited access to food. This is a supply-demand scenario that has a great effect on food security by interrupting the food production system (Mueller et al., 2022). When one of the production systems is interrupted, food supply to the people is reduced or cut short, leading to limited food access as people try to fight for the little food in their dispensatio...