This brief two pager provides a background to the issue fo climate change and food security.
Climate change will worsen the living conditions of farmers, fishers and forest-dependent people who are already vulnerable and food insecure. Hunger and malnutrition will increase. Rural communities, particularly those living in already fragile environments, face an immediate and ever-growing risk of increased crop failure, loss of livestock, and reduced availability of marine, aquaculture and forest products. More frequent and more intense extreme weather events will have adverse impacts on food availability, accessibility, stability and utilization, as well as on livelihood assets and opportunities in both rural and urban areas. Poor people will be at risk of food insecurity due to loss of assets and lack of adequate insurance coverage. Rural people’s ability to cope with climate change impacts depends on the existing cultural and policy context, as well as on socio-economic factors like gender, household composition, age, and the distribution of household assets.