CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY
Climate change poses the
most significant long-term threat to food security and traditional livelihoods
in the region, and adaptation costs will be disproportionately high relative to
national incomes. Appropriate policies and strategies need to be put in place to
ensure that communities are equipped with the necessary skills and tools to
adapt to these changes in order to minimise the economic, social and cultural
costs associated with climate change. Land-use change, in particular
deforestation, also contributes to the problem and appropriate incentives need
to be put in place to reduce the current rates of forest loss and degradation.
Climate change
impacts
Changes in temperature
and rainfall patterns will affect agricultural yields and the type of
crops that can be grown. Increasingly extreme rainfall
patterns may result in production losses due to heat stress, drought
conditions and waterlogging, increased flooding of river catchments and soil
erosion.
Climate induced changes
in rainfall pattern, temperature and wind directions could also result in the
introduction and establishment of new pests and disease carrying vectors,
especially insects, further threatening production. These diseases can include
zoonotic diseases, diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans
threatening livestock populations and human health. Predicted increases in
humidity levels, which are supportive of plant fungal diseases, are capable of
wiping out crops, as occurred with taro leaf blight in Samoa in the 1990s. These
changes in pest and disease status and occurrences can also affect a country’s
ability to access export markets or lose existing markets.
Significant proportions
of the population in Pacific Island Countries and Territories live in coastal
areas. Sea-level rises will increase coastal erosion
and saltwater intrusion will contaminate groundwater sources leading to the
loss of productive land.
Atolls countries are in
a uniquely vulnerable position to sea-level rises given the limited agricultural
land currently available. Increased salt water intrusion will further
limit what can be grown in these harsh environments and will exacerbate the
existing threats to food security. This is likely to increase reliance on
imported processed food stuffs and worsen existing health problems relating to
lifestyle diseases. Managing water resources may become more difficult
and costly as a result of changes in rainfall patterns and salt water intrusion.
Climate change will also
contribute to the erosion of genetic diversity in the region and the
interaction of agro-biodiversity within food and agriculture ecosystems.
Disruption to ecosystem services such as pollination, soil fertilisation and the
natural biological control of plant and animal pests will also threaten food
production.
Mainstreaming climate
change adaptation involves incorporation of measures, strategies and information
that reduce vulnerability to climate change into policies, strategies,
programmes, development planning, institutions and decision-making processes.
Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC)
This project is
coordinated by SPREP and is being implemented in 13 Pacific Island Countries.
Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands will focus on food
production and food security.
Further reading
SPC Policy Brief: Agriculture, forestry and
climate change
FAO: Climate change and
food security in Pacific Island Countries
http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0530e/i0530e00.htm
IPPC: Small islands (Ch
16 of Working Group II’s 4th Assessment of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change)
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-chapter16.pdf
Barnett, J (2007)
Food security and climate change in the South Pacific
http://www.pacificecologist.org/archive/14/food-security-climate-change.pdf
WWF South Pacific:
Climate change community toolkit
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/cw_toolkit.pdf
CTA: Spore special issue
‘Climate Change’ August 2008
http://spore.cta.int/climatechange/en/index.html
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