FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY
Climate change will increase hunger and by rising sea levels and will be forced to find new
malnutrition places to live and new ways to earn a living.
Climate change will worsen the living conditions
Agriculture contributes to climate change, but
of farmers, fishers and forest-dependent people
is also part of the solution
who are already vulnerable and food insecure.
Hunger and malnutrition will increase. Rural Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the
communities, particularly those living in already forest and agriculture sectors contribute over
fragile environments, face an immediate and 30 percent of the current annual total emissions
ever-growing risk of increased crop failure, loss (deforestation and forest degradation 17.4 percent,
of livestock, and reduced availability of marine, agriculture 13.5 percent). Agriculture, however,
aquaculture and forest products. More frequent can also contribute to reducing GHG emissions
and more intense extreme weather events will have and their impacts through managing ecosystem
adverse impacts on food availability, accessibility, services, reduction of land use change and related
stability and utilization, as well as on livelihood deforestation, more efficient crop varieties, better
assets and opportunities in both rural and urban control of wildfires, improved nutrition for ruminant
areas. Poor people will be at risk of food insecurity livestock, more efficient management of livestock
due to loss of assets and lack of adequate insurance waste, organic soil management, conservation
coverage. Rural people’s ability to cope with climate agriculture and agroforestry systems. As well as
change impacts depends on the existing cultural reducing GHG emissions, well managed crop and
and policy context, as well as on socio-economic pasture land can sequester significant amounts
factors like gender, household composition, age, of carbon. Forty percent of the land biomass, and
and the distribution of household assets. thus the biological carbon, are directly or indirectly
managed by farmers, foresters or herders. It is
New patterns of pests and disease will emerge in their interests to adopt management systems
that combine mitigation and adaptation, thereby
Humans, plants, livestock and fish will be exposed improving both local and global food security.
to new pests and diseases that flourish only at
specific temperatures and humidity. This will pose
Sustainable livestock management can reduce
new risks for food security, food safety and human
health.
GHG emissions
Land used for livestock production, including grazing
Fishing and aquaculture are threatened by land and cropland dedicated to the production of
climate change feed, represents approximately 70 percent of all
agricultural land in the world. Overgrazing is the
Climate change is having an impact on oceans, seas, greatest cause of degradation of grasslands. Improved
lakes and rivers and on the animals and plants that land management practices would help to achieve
are found and/or cultured in them. Climate change a balance between competing demands for animal
will affect the approximately 200 million people food products and environmental services. Improved
and their families worldwide whose livelihoods pasture management and silvopastoral systems are
depend on fishing and aquaculture. Some fish effective ways to conserve the environment and
resources will become less abundant while mitigate climate change. Recent linking of pasture
important species may move to other areas where regeneration policies and programmes to no-till
they are less available to the fishers. Aquaculture based integrated crop/pasture/livestock systems
practices may be threatened, among other factors, in Brazil appears promising for both farmers and
by increased extreme weather events, droughts, the environment. Sustainable intensification and
and the warming of waters. This will make it harder improved manure management are further options
for many fishing communities to continue to make to reduce GHG emissions per unit of livestock product,
a living from fish or to provide fish for feeding their and the use of biogas from animal waste can reduce
families. Coastal communities may also be displaced dependence locally on fossil energy.
www.fao.org/climatechange
Adapting to climate change by increasing resilience to changing environmental
conditions and stress (drought, salinity, flooding).
Disruption or decline in global and local food Ecosystem services (such as genetic resources, soil
supplies due to climate change can be avoided formation or nutrient cycling) build important
through more efficient irrigation and watershed measures of resilience and risk mitigation into
management, improved crop varieties, improved agriculture – elements that are increasingly
land cultivation, farm and livestock management important under changing climates.
and the development of crop varieties and
breeds that are adapted to changing climatic
Adaptation and mitigation through
conditions. An effective use of climate data and
forecasts, through early warning systems, can
sustainable forest management
assist in analysing the impacts of climate change Around 13 million hectares of forests are lost annually
on agricultural production and the entire food due to deforestation. Sustainable management of
chain. forests, reducing emissions from deforestation and
forest degradation (REDD), afforestation/reforestation
Water is key and forest restoration, as well as sustainably produced
wood products that replace more carbon-intensive
Raised productivity from improved agricultural materials and fuels, are important mitigation options.
water management will be essential to buffer Climate change is affecting the health of forests
the anticipated volatility of rainfed production. through an increase of forest fires, pests and diseases.
Managing the production risk in the face of Adaptation measures not only reduce the vulnerability
increasing aridity and more variable rainfall of the world’s forests and forest dependent people,
events will require both rainfed and irrigated but can help to protect water and soil resources and
agricultural systems to become much more biodiversity. Without economic or other incentives
responsive and flexible in approach. Progressive and without political will, however, it will be difficult
adjustment of large-scale irrigation schemes to reduce deforestation and forest degradation
will be essential to maintain and grow output and achieve long-lasting adaptation and mitigation
in line with demand and improved local water measures.
management practices will allow vulnerable
groups to adapt livelihoods.
Sustainable food production and climate
change responses go hand in hand
Soils hold significant climate change
mitigation potential Sustainable food production practices and climate
change adaptation and mitigation strategies are
The global soil carbon pool exceeds biomass mutually supportive. Many climate and weather
pools by a factor of four or five, without taking risk management strategies fit squarely into
into account that recent soil degradation has led sustainable agriculture and fisheries practices and
to losses of between 30 percent and 75 percent can, therefore, be promoted through several of the
of their antecedent soil organic carbon. Globally, programmes and policies targeting environmentally
therefore, a soil carbon increase offers great responsible production. Integration is a key feature
mitigation potential. The restoration of wastelands, for both practising and promoting sustainable food
degraded/desertified soils and ecosystems (e.g. production and for developing climate change
forest restoration, improved pastures) and adoption adaptation policies.
of improved farm management practices, can
enhance and restore soil organic carbon, control
and reduce GHG emissions, and improve soil
quality and soil health. Such management
practices can at the same time improve food
security as well as soil-related environmental
services.
Agricultural biodiversity
Agricultural biodiversity will be an important
element in the development of production
strategies to meet the challenges of climate change,
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