Review of Impact of Climate Change on Food Security in Africa

Abstract

Food Security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. African continent is found to be the most susceptible and vulnerable places to climate change impacts, which is marked as the most food insecure region in the world, because of its reliance on climate sensitive and vulnerable economic sectors (rain fed agriculture) and its lower financial, technical, and technological capacity to adapt the climate change risks, and climate change is considered as posing the greatest threat to agriculture production and food security in the 21st century, particularly, in many of the poor, agriculture-based countries of Africa. Climate change affects food security in various ways: through impacting on all four components of food security (availability, accessibility, affordability, utilization and nutritional value and food system stability), through impacting on crop production and yield, through impacting on water availability, through impacting on fisheries production, through impacting on agricultural pests (weed, insect and disease pests), and through impacting on livestock production. African continent specially, Sub-Saharan African region is found to be the most drought prone area in the World. The severity of climate change extreme events/or drought induced food insecurity and malnutrition in Africa is emphasized. In Africa, food insecurity and malnutrition became chronic induced by repeatedly occurring drought. Due to climate change extreme event/or drought drive food crises/hunger many Africans were badly affected For instance, more than 100 million people were affected by drought driven hunger in Africa. So, Africa especially, Sub-Saharan Africa is marked as the most food insecure region in the world, and has the highest proportion of food insecure people, with an estimated regional average of 26.8% of the population undernourished and this rates could be over 50%. Moreover, the risk of hunger will increase by 10-20% in 2050. Similarly, in Africa, due to climate change impacts, the number of malnourished children is projected to be increased in 2030 and 2050 from the baseline (33 million) to 42 million and 52 million respectively. Thus, climate change impacts on food security has to be taken as key issue and impact reduction strategy options have to be implemented.

Keywords: Impact of climate change, food security, malnutrition, food insecurity

DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/90-03

Publication date: January 31^st 2023