Paper short abstract:

Climate change has negatively affected the food system over the past decades with increased incidence of flood and drought in West Africa. These outcomes have affected both male and female’s farmers productivity and welfare differently.

Paper long abstract:

Climate change has resulted in rising incidence of flood and other extreme weather events, especially in Africa. In 2022, 8.7 million people across 20 countries were affected by flood in Central and West Africa, therefore resulting into loss of human lives, properties and livelihood and the displacement of 2.9 million people. Also, over 422 thousand hectares of farmlands were destroyed in 2020. The effect of climate change, climate adaptation and mitigation capacities differ for women and men with women being disproportionately disadvantaged in access to productive inputs like land and improved technologies. Gender equality is paramount towards achieving a sustainable food system, but it will be impossible to achieve this if women are still been denied access to full human rights and related opportunities. This study examined a gender analysis of the effect of climate change on sustainable food systems in West Africa using content analysis. Related articles from selected databases were reviewed and secondary data obtained from OCHA, National Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank. Our findings have shown that climate change aggravate gender gaps and exposure to weather shocks drive the vulnerable groups (women, children, youths and the elderly) and people who are dependent on agriculture into a deeper level of food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and ill-health. We recommend that early warning systems be put in place and both Government and Non-Governmental Organisations work together to empower farmers by scaling up sustainable practices and provide access to productive inputs especially for women.

Paper short abstract:

Agriculture in China significantly contributes to greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. Reducing emissions and increasing production efficiency for ~300 million smallholder farmers can be achieved through improved farming practices, requiring policies that support and incentivise transition.

Paper long abstract:

China contributes a third of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with 17% emitted through agricultural practices. Over 300 million smallholder farmers provide food security, but face challenges to farming resulting from climate change and pollution, including erratic rainfall, temperature changes and ozone pollution. Reducing emissions from agriculture while increasing production efficiency is crucial for future food security and achieving China’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2060. Using a mixed methods approach including modelling, interviews and questionnaires, we identify changes in agricultural practices that will enable reductions in emissions, and the barriers and opportunities to adoption of these practices in smallholder systems. Between 2018 and 2030 we project an 18% increase in total emissions from agriculture. This is driven by a 2% per capita increase in meat consumption, with corresponding increases in livestock numbers and emissions from enteric fermentation and manure management and application. Emissions from rice and residue burning are also contributing factors. In addition to demand-side measures (dietary changes and reducing food waste), agricultural methods to reduce emissions include improved manure management, efficient fertiliser application, alternate uses of crop residue, and intermittent rice irrigation. Key barriers to adoption of such methods by smallholder farmers include limited labour, small landholding sizes, a perceived lack of necessity and limited access to resources and incentives to implement the measures. To achieve a transition to sustainable farming in smallholder systems in China which reduces emissions and secures food security will require sustained agricultural extension advice and training, coupled with financial incentives.

Paper short abstract:

Farmers use various climate change adaptation strategies to combat climate change and to improve household food security. Some of which include altering cropping timing, soil and water conversation, and varying the planting and harvesting periods

Paper long abstract:

The primary goal of agriculture is to produce food for the sustenance of livelihood, but in recent times, the food production system has been threatened by climate change events. Climate change poses a major challenge towards food production. Therefore, adaptation practices are needed to maintain farm productivity to ensure adequate food availability, affordability, assessibility and utilisation. This study investigates the diverse strategies adopted by the rural farming households to mitigate the adverse effect of climate change and determinants of climate change adaptation practices among smallholder farmers in Southwest Nigeria. Cross-sectional data were collected from 460 smallholder farmers in Ogun state, Nigeria. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Endogenous Switching Probit Model (ESPM) to estimate the determinants of climate change adaptation strategies on food security status of rural households.

Major findings showed that 87.3% of the respondents were aware of climate change, the mostly adopted adaptation strategies were; using of improved cassava varieties, varying the planting and harvesting time, as well as soil and water conservation. Household food security showed that 50.0% of the households were food insecure with severe hunger, while only 11.3% were food secure. Significant influencers of food security included: education, family labour use, gender, membership of farmers’ association, participation in off-farm activities, and small livestock asset ownership. Designing policies that facilitate effective adaptation in agriculture requires careful consideration of the factors that affect farmers’ decisions to adopt adaptation strategies. Therefore, adaptation planning policies should consider these factors to optimally improve farmers’ adaptation capacity and food security.

Paper short abstract:

Using average temperature and rainfall as a proxy for climate change and a variable for disasters (floods), we investigate the effect of climate change and disasters on food insecurity in Malawi.

Paper long abstract:

Climate change is a worldwide concern which affects economies trying to establish a strong foothold in food security and sustainable agricultural food systems. Climate change can worsen unsustainable food systems by directly impacting soil fertility, rainfall patterns, crop yields and food production, food-nutrient and anti-nutrient composition, and nutrient bioavailability. Widespread food insecurity can slow the progress of low-income economies dependent on agriculture. Using average temperature and rainfall as a proxy for climate change and a variable for disasters (floods), we investigate the effect of climate change and disasters on household-level experiential food insecurity in Malawi (a low-income country), along with other household-level determinants of food insecurity. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and the economy is heavily dependent on agriculture and is vulnerable to climatic shocks. We conduct econometric estimations of the determinants of food insecurity using household data from the Third and Fourth Integrated Household Surveys for Malawi (for 2010-11 and for 2016-17). We use probit modelling analysis and find that the education level of the household head, household size, food aid and vulnerability to disasters like floods are important drivers of food insecurity among Malawian households. In addition, average temperature increase significantly affects crop yields. Our analyses enhance the international food policy debate in the current context of sustainable development.

Paper short abstract:

Climate change is affecting agriculture by interfering with the efficiency of agricultural production (crop and livestock)

Paper long abstract:

Climate change can disrupt food availability, reduce access to food, and affect food quality. For decades now, agriculture is facing droughts, flooding, rise in sea level, natural disasters, and health hazards for both producers and consumers. Agriculture depend on specific climate conditions for efficient production, however, the extremes of climate variables spell disasters for the food system which is highly sensitive to climate, as they are both “victims” and instigators of the effects of climate variability. The future effects of climate change is becoming more evident among populations in the Global South, especially sub-Saharan Africa where majority of its populace are rural and experience poverty and their livelihoods are significantly affected by climate change.

Thus, a better understanding of the pathways linking climate change and agricultural food system is critical to ensure that the global population has access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food, This paper thus seeks to identify: the relations between agricultural food systems and climate changes; and the effect of climate change on smallholder farmers

Paper short abstract:

The world is facing increasingly severe implications of climate change on food value chain. The study showed that climate change has a significant effect on food production and processing along the value chain system. The study recommends management of anthropogenic sources that cause climate change

Paper long abstract:

Policymakers are concerned about how climate change is affecting the food value chain because, if nothing is done, the world could face increasingly severe implications. As the effects of climate change tighten their hold on the earth, extreme weather events and fluctuations in temperature and precipitation are becoming more evident with serious implications for the food value chain system, particularly in Nigeria and throughout Africa. The agro-input dealers, farmers, processors, marketers, and consumers make up the Nigerian food value chain actors. A multitude of dangers had been posed to the production, storage, processing, marketing, and accessibility of food by climate change. Using both primary and secondary data, this study examines the effect of climate change on food value chain in South West Nigeria. The secondary data were obtained from annual/monthly reports of Climate Change Department in the Federal Ministry of Environment, while the primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire and focus group discussion from 480 respondents who are agro-input dealers, farmers, processors and marketers of important staple foods in South West, Nigeria. The study revealed that climate change affects all the food value chain stakeholders directly or indirectly with a different magnitude. The climate change has a major influence, with a greater impact on production and processing activities along the value chain as compared to input supply and marketing. The study recommended that approaches to climate change vulnerabilities should aim to deploy new approaches to agricultural practices and management of anthropogenic sources that cause climate change.