Climate Change, Food Security, and Reduced Food Security on Developing Countries

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Discuss the Ways in Which Climate Change Affects Food Security and the Effects of Reduced Food Security on Developing Countries
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Discuss how climate change affects food security and the effects of reduced food security on developing countries
Introduction
Climate change and food security are related issues because a favourable climate provides a suitable food production environment. Climate change is the long-term shift in a region's temperatures and weather patterns (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2021). For example, the USA Florida State's average temperature may change from the prevailing tropical to dry climate. On the other hand, food security is associated with food sufficiency worldwide. The UN Committee on World Food Security defines food security as "all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life" (International Food Policy Research Institute, n.d.). People depend on food for energy to perform routine economic, social, and political tasks. A shortage of food can affect people's health and their energy negatively. The developing countries are the most affected by reduced food security because they are already struggling with insufficient resources. This paper discusses how climate change affects food security and the effects of reduced food security on developing countries. It argues that rapid climatic changes globally have reduced crop production, reducing the world's ability to produce sustainable food for a growing population, thus subjecting many regions to food insecurity. It also discusses how food insecurity has affected developing countries, which often lack food reserves to supplement food shortages.
Climate change has significantly affected crop productivity across the world. Crop production is the anchor for food security because continued and surplus production help people store for future consumption. The surplus stored can be utilized during disasters or given to nations hit by hunger calamities for being in arid and semi-arid regions where crop farming is challenging. However, climate change is affecting the status quo, and farmers worldwide have reported unpredictable weather patterns affecting their farming patterns. Ortiz-Bobea et al. (2021) reported that climate change has negatively affected the global agricultural productivity reducing it by 21% since 1961, with warmer regions like Latin America and Africa having their agricultural activity drop by between 26 and 34%. This means that the surplus food production has been reduced by the corresponding percentage, which is dangerous for food security. A World Food Program (2022) report also predicts a global hunger crisis in the near future due to the effects of climate change on global food production, and the developing countries will be the most affected population.
Disrupted crop production means food shortage for citizens in developing nations and other parts of the world. Developing nations consist of countries that mainly depend on the agricultural sector as an economic booster. A significant part of the products from the agricultural industry is consumed directly by the farmers (Masipa, 2017). At the same time, the surplus, often a small portion, is sold locally or exported to other developing countries. Climate change affects the agricultural sector by cutting down food production. This means that most developing countries will not have surplus food stored for future use and emergency. Leisner (2020) argues that when the agricultural sector is negatively affected in these developing countries, people experience food shortages. Therefore, climate change affects food production, leading to food shortages, especially in developing countries that barely have surplus stored for emergencies.
Climate change reduces food nutritional values, which affects the body's nutrient intake. One of the agents of climate change is the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere by industries and other human activities. Carbon dioxide makes up a significant percentage of greenhouse gases. According to Leisner (2020), an increase in fossil fuels emission across the globe has been the reason for increased carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere resulting in warmer temperatures, increased extreme weather events, and alternations in precipitation patterns. Rising carbon dioxide levels lead to lower iron, zinc, and protein components in most stable food. A 2019 Harvard study reported that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reduced the protein levels in crops like wheat, rice, and potatoes by 6-14% (Harvard TH Chan., 2019). More people depend on plants for nutrients such as vitamins and proteins, and the global concentration of carbon dioxide threatens this. The rising temperatures also increase mycotoxins, naturally occurring toxins that some molds produce, in food, which can harm people when they consume it. Nutritional percentage reduction in food leads to malnutrition in society which causes serious healthcare issues like blindness, anemia, brain damage, and kwashiorkor, among others (Macdiarmid & Whybrow, 2019). This provokes severe health crises globally. The developing countries are the most affected by the food shortages caused by food insecurity promotes malnutrition.
People's health significantly depends on the diet they eat. A balanced diet has all the nutrients that strengthen the body. Food insecurity in developing countries means their citizens will eat any food available without considering the nutrient composition (Saxena et al., 2018). This is the case mainly because developing countries hardly store extra food for emergencies. Any surplus is often sold, and the money is used to settle other human needs. Lack of a balanced diet and reduced meal intake leads to malnutrition, affecting the development rates in developing countries because malnourished people cannot maintain the same performance rate.
Development largely depends on the energy of the citizens. It begins with people working hard to have food and money for their use and surplus goods to sell to others for revenue. For example, in a country where agriculture is the primary revenue earner, citizens farm hard to have a heavy harvest. The harvest will help provide essential products to eat like rice, tomatoes, and potatoes and sell the surplus, generating income. Reduced food security means people do not eat enough and thus do not have the energy to work on their economical building tasks like farming and working in industries and manufacturing plants (El-Bilali, 2021). This affects the production rates reducing the corresponding development rates. Therefore, food insecurity negatively affects developing countries affecting their struggling development rates.
Additionally, developing countries are third-world nations mostly found in Africa, Asia, the Arab world, and South America. El-Bilali (2021) states that these countries have a lower gross domestic product (GDP) than developed countries. Their economies are also less sophisticated and often depend on developed countries and non-governmental organizations for donations and funding for major projects (Valdes, 2019). Food insecurity in such countries causes a severe survival crisis and leads to an adverse impact on development.
The change in a region's climate affects the ecological system. Climate change exerts pressure on habitat fragmentation, development, and invasive species, which could affect biodiversity and their advantages to humans and their environments (Verschuur et al., 2021). For instance, water hyacinths affect water bodies like lakes, driving away certain fish species. This negatively impacts fishing activities leading to an imbalance in the ecosystem. Fish is a significant provider of proteins and omega 3. A shortage of these nutrients affects the population's health (Harvard TH Chan, 2019). Therefore, climate change can affect the ecology of a region, directly impacting biodiversity. This, in turn, affects food security because species shift from one place to another, responding to ecological system changes.
Extreme weather events negatively affect food production systems. Climate change and its agents contribute to extreme weather events like storms and runoff water that adversely affect bare land (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2021). People cut trees en masse for use in industries leaving the land bare and allowing storms to have maximum damage to the production systems. Trees are windbreakers slowing down the effects of strong winds and water runoff from the heavy downpour. According to Concern Worldwide (2022) report, severe weather events like these storms frequently occur due to climate change. Food production systems like infrastructure and produce in the farm, transit, and store are damaged when extreme weather events occur. For example, a storm will likely sweep farm produce and cut off transportation networks. These disasters cause price fluctuation due to an interrupted supply of goods threatening food security.
Climate change causes food wastage. Hea...