How to mitigate the effects of climate change on global food security?

Within the framework of cooperation between the Agricultural Research Station in Sirs El-Layan in Menoufia Governorate, the local community and the university, the meeting came today, Monday, August 14, 2023, to train and raise the knowledge capabilities of university students on the issue of climate and its relationship to the agricultural sector and its impact on the issue of local, regional and international food security, especially in light of geopolitical crises.

This open dialogue came in the presence of Prof. Dr. Fawzy El-Essawy Younis, Professor and Head of the Acclimatization Physiology Unit at the Desert Research Center, and Prof. Dr. Muammar Jaber Gad, Head of the Regional Station, and in the presence of Dr. Sabah Hamid Roumieh, Professor at the Food Technology Research Institute at the Agricultural Research Center.

Topic of the meeting: climate change, agriculture and its relationship to local and global food security.

Climate change has a direct and significant impact on food insecurity. As global temperatures rise, food production becomes more difficult and uncertain due to changes in weather patterns, extreme weather events, and other environmental disruptions.

Two billion people in the world currently suffer from malnutrition and according to some estimates, we need 60% more food to feed the global population by 2050. Yet the agricultural sector is ill-equipped to meet this demand: 700 million of its workers currently live in poverty, and it is already responsible for 70% of the world’s water consumption and 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Since 2022, the number of people affected by global food insecurity rose from 135 million in 53 countries in 2019 to 345 million in 82 countries in 2022.

Rising temperatures are negatively impacting food supplies through extreme weather events, natural disasters, economic and social disruption.

Food supply systems need to consider climate change at an individual and community level.

The topics of the meeting:

1- Reviewing the issue of climate change through an open dialogue on the causes and effects resulting from it, such as drought, desertification, reduced productivity, and its relationship to biodiversity, ending with coping mechanisms through mitigation, adaptation, and flexibility in that.

2- Then, the challenges that Egypt faced, like the rest of the world, since December 2019 with the onset of the Corona pandemic, were reviewed, then the talk was about the impact of climate change and its relationship to the emergence of pathogens and the impact of pollution, moving to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and its impact on supply chains in general, especially food supply chains, and its impact on  The rise in food prices locally, regionally and globally, and drew attention to the negative impact of geopolitical crises on the whole world.

3- A review of the role that agriculture plays in particular in providing food security, in addition to its connection to the provision of many raw materials for many other industries, in addition to the work of a large proportion of the population in the sector, as the agricultural sector is economically considered an inclusive economy.

4- Reflection of the tendency to use modern technology and climate-smart agriculture in raising the added value of land and water resources and production requirements, and its reflection on limiting and addressing the negative effects of climate change, as well as reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from the agricultural sector.

5- The importance of adopting early warning systems in the agricultural sector to limit and avoid the negative effects of climate change.

6- The importance of national projects such as the new delta, which was adopted by the Egyptian government, in stabilizing food security now and in the future, and the possibility of benefiting from its surplus for external export.

7- New technologies could help our food systems become more sustainable and efficient, but unfortunately the agricultural sector has fallen behind other sectors in terms of technology adoption.

10 ways to prevent food insecurity

Invest in food storage systems that can withstand extreme weather events.

Diversify food sources and agricultural production techniques to reduce risk.

Adopt water management systems that reduce crop damage from floods or droughts.

Implement sustainable farming practices such as no-till agriculture, agroforestry, and cover crops.

Support smallholder farmers with access to credit and other services to ground economic empowerment.

Increase public awareness of food security challenges caused by climate change.

Increase organic carbon in soil to increase water retention in soil, increasing resilience to drought.

Promote education about food preservation techniques such as refrigeration, dehydration, etc.  Manufacture of agricultural products at home and alternatives of vegetable protein to counter the high animal protein.

Develop early warning systems for extreme weather events to enable food production adaptation by leveraging technologies that embrace data analytics and insights, predictive AI.

Invest in research and development for climate-resilient food crops.

In conclusion of the meeting we talked about:

How can Climate action to protect food systems?

By taking these steps, we can ensure that food security is not compromised by climate change in the future. It is essential that governments and organizations take action now to prevent food insecurity caused by climate change before it becomes an even larger problem.

Beyond governmental actions, at an individual level, we must become conscious consumers to understand better the impact our purchases have, directly or indirectly, on our society. Our efforts accumulate to social good serving our people and planet better.