Chijioke Iremeka

Climate change, environmental and agricultural experts warn represents the most dangerous and greatest threat to combating hunger and malnutrition in Nigeria.

They noted that without urgently adopting appropriate agricultural measures, food availability will be jeopardised.

They said climate change affects the elements of food production and security by influencing access, availability, utilisation, and stability, warning that it will disrupt the livelihoods and incomes of small-scale food producers.

The experts pointed out that increased food prices and volatility will also affect the livelihoods of poor net food buyers, limiting their access to food.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the impacts of climate change on nutrition have been much less studied.

The FAO noted that studies point to potential changes in the nutritional quality of some foods, especially reduced concentrations of proteins and some vitamins and minerals, due to elevated CO2, particularly for flour from major cereals and cassava.

The UN agency noted that global warming can have a variety of impacts on the quality of drinking water, which is key to the good absorption of nutrients.

“Climate change has an impact on food safety, particularly on the incidence and prevalence of food-borne diseases. Increased climate variability, increased frequency and intensity of extreme events as well as slow ongoing changes will affect the stability of food supply, access, and utilisation,” FAO stated.

It further noted that global warming will act as a multiplier of existing threats to food security, adding that by 2050, the risk of hunger is projected to increase by 10 to 20 per cent, and child malnutrition is anticipated to be 20 per cent higher compared to a no-climate change scenario.

“Achieving food security under a changing climate requires substantial increases in food production on the one hand, as well as improved access to adequate and nutritious food and capacities to cope with the risks posed by climate change on the other hand.

“Governments must be assisted in enhancing food production and access, scaling up social protection systems, and improving their ability to prepare for and respond to disasters.

“Community-based development processes need to be fostered to enable the poorest and most vulnerable to build sustainable and climate resilient livelihoods and move out of chronic poverty and food insecurity,” FAO added.

Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise in different interviews, they averred that to meet the growing demand for food security and nutrition under increasingly difficult climatic conditions and in a situation of diminishing resources, the world must urgently move towards embracing a two-fold approach.

According to an agro expert and the Managing Director, Colearns Agro Technologies, Benue State, Ibrahim Adamu, the first thing that must be done to improve food production and nutrition in the country is to invest and support the development of more efficient, sustainable, and resilient food production systems.

He highlighted the necessity of addressing malnutrition stemming from hunger and food scarcity and also emphasized the need to improve access to sufficient food and nutrition for the most vulnerable populations and communities.

Adamu underscored the importance of enhancing social protection systems and safety nets as integral components of the adaptation agenda.

“Protecting the most vulnerable also requires enhancing our capacities to manage weather-related disaster risks and accelerating community development.

“It is only if we succeed in making significant advances on all fronts such as increasing food availability, enhancing access to food, and strengthening resilience and development that we would reduce the risk of dramatic increases in the number of hungry people among the poorest countries in the most vulnerable regions of the world.

“This will affect all four dimensions of food security including availability, accessibility, stability, and utilisation. It will reduce food availability because it negatively affects biodiversity.

“Rural communities face increased risks including recurrent crop failure, loss of livestock, and reduced availability of fisheries and forest products,” he stated.

Adamu noted that changing temperatures and weather patterns further create conditions for the emergence of new pests and diseases that affect animals, trees, and crops, adding that this has direct effects on the quality and quantity of yields as well as the availability and price of food, feed, and fibre.

According to him, at the same time, more extreme weather events will have a serious impact on livelihood assets in both rural and urban areas and threaten the stability of the food supply.

“Many countries are already dealing with climate change impacts resulting from irregular, unpredictable rainfall patterns, increased incidence of storms, and prolonged droughts.

“Decreasing availability of water and food will also increase sanitation and health problems and increase the risk of diseases and malnutrition. Competition over increasingly scarce resources will also increase the risk of conflicts, displacement, and migration, which increase the risk of food insecurity,” the agro expert said.

Meanwhile, a Director of Nutrition Services and Health Education at the Osun State Primary Health Care Development Board, James Oloyede, said hunger can negatively impact human health and cause malnutrition.

The Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian said with the absence of food and lack of a balanced diet, the body will not have enough micronutrients for optimal development, adding that in the absence of balanced diets, there will be malnutrition in both adults and children.

Oloyede said, “The burden of malnutrition on the country is not good as it affects optimal development and can cause a lot of damage to the brain of children, including making them have stunted growth and some others, wasted.

He added that when these conditions occur, the human brain will not work well, especially in developing or growing children, noting that such may make them less useful to society.

A Paper submitted to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee stated that climate change directly affects food security and nutrition and undermines current efforts to protect lives and livelihoods and end the suffering of the over one billion food-insecure people.

It also noted that it will increase the risk of hunger and malnutrition on an unprecedented scale within the next decades.

The paper also revealed that undernutrition is already the single largest contributor to the global burden of disease, killing 3.5 million people annually, with most of them being children in developing countries.

“Unless urgent action is taken, it will not be possible to ensure the food security of a growing world population under a changing climate. This paper highlights some of the projected impacts of climate change on food security and summarises the responses called for by several of the largest humanitarian and development organisations involved in the fight against hunger.

“To address this unmatched challenge, a strong commitment of the international community, particularly the developed countries, is needed. The current negotiation process offers opportunities to identify and endorse some of the actions needed,” the paper stated.