Effects of Climate Change on Food Crops

FOOD GEOGRAPHY
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Abstract
All the four dimensions of food security and food crop production will be affected by climate
change. These four dimensions include the following: Food accessibility, food availability, food
system stability, and food utilization. The impact will be reflected on the human health, food
production, livelihood assets and the channels of the distribution of food. The market flow and
purchasing power are likely to be under the threat. Some of these impacts will be short term
while others will be long term. The short term impacts will be as a result of the extreme weather
while the long terms will result from the changing patterns of precipitation and temperatures.
The first group to experience this kind of impact is those individuals who are already vulnerable
and food insecure. The livelihood systems that are agriculture-based and are already vulnerable
to food insecurity are likely to face immediate risk as a result of crop failure.
Keywords: Climate change, food crops,

Effects of climate change on key or iconic food crops
Introduction
Food crop production is directly linked to food security. The definition of the food security
normally takes into consideration of the possible outcomes of the same activities and it is
normally useful in the policies formulation. Most of the definition of food security will,
therefore, include the processes as well as making reference to the outcomes. The existence of
food security is when people have economic and physical access to safe, sufficient and nutritious
food to be used in meeting the dietary needs and preference of food for an active and healthy life.
Food security will normally depend on the socio-economic conditions as opposed to the agro-
economic(Mbow, et al.2014).
Also, it will depend on food accessibility and not the physical availability of food. Assessment of
the impacts on domestic production may not be enough as far as the food insecurity is concerned
in various countries. It will be prudent to assess the impacts of the climate change on the foreign
exchange earning before determining the ability of the countries with food surplus to increase on
their commercial export of food to those states that are considered to be in shortage of the food
supply. Finally, the key concept will also include the analysis of how the poor will be affected by
the changes in the climate(Elliott, et al.2014).
Food systems; It encompasses those activities which are related to the processing, production,
preparation, distribution, and consumption of food. The outcomes of these activities are also
considered as they effectively contribute to the food access, food affordability, the nutritional
value and finally the food safety. The environmental and other activities that influence the
human environment will bear a direct influence on the outcome.

It is estimated that the population of the world will be around 10billion people come in 2050.
This will come along with over 3.3 billion mouths to be fed. Also, there will be a growing desire
for dairy products and meat by the middle class. The demand for food globally may increase by
an average percentage of 79%. This basically implies that there is an urgent need for agricultural
activities to be stepped up so as to increase the production
The research by most of the scientists has indicated that the impacts of the climate change which
includes droughts, extreme temperatures, extreme weather, rising sea levels and the increasing
level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are likely to lower the quantity as well as jeopardize
the quality of the food supplies.
A recent study involving legume production and global vegetables concluded that continued
emission of the greenhouse gas on its current trajectory will lead to the decline of yields by
almost 35% come 2100. This will be as a result of the water scarcity and increase the salinity of
the soil and ozone layer. The studies have also revealed that the production of maize (corn) that
is primarily used in feeding livestock and biofuel production could be possibly cut by half as a
result of 4-degree temperature rise. This is expected to be the case should there be little changes
in the greenhouse emission rates by 2100. The climate change, therefore, will not only affect the
crop production but also the production of meat, fisheries and other fundamentals of the daily
food supply(Porter et al.2014).Some of the climate changes that affect food crop production
include:
Extreme Weather
Majority of the farmers normally depend on the predictable weather patterns in order to carry out
their crop production. This is because most of the food crops are rainfed. Climate change,