Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation to Improve Food Security in South Asia

"Both food security and agriculture contribute to global climate change and are affected by it. The IPCC reported that food production systems contribute up to 37% of greenhouse gas emissions associated with climate change. Similarly, food production systems are vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change. Increased extreme weather events such as rising air temperatures, flooding, drought, salinity; land degradation; and the geographical redistribution of weeds, pests and diseases pose serious food security threats in the South Asian countries. The threat caused to agriculture and food security by accelerated climate change is exacerbated by the pressure of increased population growth. Globally, more than 820 million people do not have enough food to support public health. By 2050, global food security needs to be doubled, which will make existing farming practices increasingly dependent on more reactive chemicals, water, and energy inputs (Islam 2018). Such an intensification of farming under climate change will have consequences that are expected to be detrimental to agroecosystem services, and more difficult to predict. Yet the South Asian region has a higher population growth, is also more vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change specifically, to flooding, salinity, droughts, and solar dimming. Rising sea levels and coastal erosion could lead to a loss of 17% of land surface and 30% of food production by 2050. Agriculture and food systems must undergo innovative transformations in order to meet the challenges of food security and climate change. It is critical that a comprehensive Climate Change Adaption Framework is needed for favorable policy environment, exchange of information on climate change impacts, and adaptation of climate-smart agriculture to improve food security for the South Asia region. The book, based on the outcomes of the International Conference on Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia-2022, addresses key challenges and innovative solutions for mitigating and adapting to the impact of climate change on food security"-- Provided by publisher.