The World Food Day is celebrated on October 16 in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organisations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The global message for World Food Day 2016 is “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too”. One of the biggest issues related to climate change is food security. At the same time, the global population is growing steadily and is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. To meet such a heavy demand, agriculture and food systems will need to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and become more resilient, productive and sustainable. Growing food in a sustainable way means adopting practices that produce more with less in the same area of land and use natural resources wisely. It also means reducing food losses before the final product or retail stage through a number of initiatives including better harvesting, storage, packing, transport, infrastructure, market mechanisms, as well as institutional and legal frameworks.
Climate is the primary factor influencing crop choice in a region. Recent global climate change is such a stress, which is projected to have a great impact on food production, and hence, requires special agricultural measures to combat with. Knowledge on extent of climate change and its potential impact on agriculture are considered useful to formulate the required adoption measures for sustained production and productivity.
India has many reasons to be concerned about climate change, because a majority of population depends on climate sensitive sector ie agriculture, forestry and fishing for livelihood. Climate change will have an enormous impact on urban food insecurity. Therefore, urban food insecurity deserves serious attention. The existing problem of food security in our country, if not addressed in time, will become more acute due to change in the climate. To examine the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture sector is quite complex as several factors are concerned in this phenomena.
There is a need to maintain up-to date agro-metrological data and to develop some methods and tools for assessing extreme weather impacts and guiding adaptation. We have to protect our existing livelihood system and diversify the sources of food and income. Most important things are to manage agriculture; land and water with more efficiently. There are need to understand the linkages among climate change and food security.
Food security is one of the leading concerns associated with climate change. Climate change affects food security in complex ways. It impacts crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, and can cause grave social and economic consequences in the form of reduced incomes, trade disruption and adverse health impacts. Indian agriculture, and thereby India’s food production, is highly vulnerable to climate change largely because the sector continues to be highly sensitive to monsoon variability.
Poverty is more concentrated in rural areas where agriculture is the only and major livelihood option for majority of people. Agricultural growth occupies a special significance in this connection since, the sector, till date has demonstrated direct and significant impact on rural livelihood and helps in poverty reduction. It is the mainstay of the Odisha’s economy and substance of life of the people as it is providing employment, directly or indirectly to more than 60 per cent of the State’s total workforce. But simultaneously, the growth rate of the sector is the most fluctuating one among all three sectors. About 34 per cent of the cultivated area of the State is irrigated and rest 66 per cent is rain-fed. Therefore, the production of agricultural crops in the State much depends on occurrence of a favourable monsoon. As per Odisha Economic Survey report, 2009-10, the food production has decreased by 40 per cent in the last 50 years. After all, about 65 per cent of India’s cropped area is rain-fed. Wheat and rice, two crops central to nutrition in India, have been found to be particularly sensitive to climate change.
Better management of water resources must be a key feature of sustainable agriculture. Water supply management options such as new storages and water harvesting are important, especially in the water-stressed regions of the country. City planners have a unique opportunity to support, facilitate and lead food security initiatives at a local and community level through the decisions about the use of land. For instance, much productive agricultural land has been converted to other uses. During the planning stage, planners could be involved in collection of data on community food system and assessment on the impact of current planning on the local food system. Good practice of urban agriculture has to be linked with food system planning and land use planning of a city and its surroundings. There is a need for identification of land for urban development with agriculture.
Agricultural land within urban area is to be protected under the provisions of Town and Country Planning Act. Integration of agriculture with urban greening programmes can provide food to urban residents, reduce climate change effects, urban pollution and temperatures, as well as offer recreation opportunities to improve quality of life for all urban residents. Specific research is required on the effects of climate change when planning and designing agricultural production and food security systems for coming years.
(Dr Praharaj teaches in the Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)