Food Security in a Changing Climate

Agriculture sector is more vulnerable to climate change than other sectors of the economy as climate change is expected to cause higher variability in rainfall pattern, general reduction in precipitation in the arid and semi-arid regions and increase in the frequency of extreme events such as drought, floods, heat and frost. Agriculture production systems, therefore, have to cope with more variability in river water flows and temperature regimes, making food security susceptible to these variation. The less privileged people/farmers who are often located in the marginal production areas such as rainfed, coastal, and mountenace, are likely to be affected more by climate variability whether drought or floods, heat or frost. These changes in climate enhance the risk of crop failures and livestock morality thereby causing financial and economic losses and the risk of food insecurity.