Climate and conflict are interlinked.Poorest regions of the world are most exposed to consequences of climate change.Water availability can be a source of conflict in arid regions.FAO views agriculture as part of the solution.Growing demand for food requires production, but with lower emissions.
Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world.
“Climate crisis and conflicts are becoming increasingly intertwined, feeding into one another to perpetuate hunger and poverty. Urgent action and innovative solutions are required to address global food insecurity,” was the view expressed by Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general (DDG) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) recently.
She was speaking at the Impact of Climate Change and Food Insecurity on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security event in New York.
She also pointed out that rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather events were all combining to undermine global food security.
While the climate events impacted on everyone, not all populations faced the same consequences, and those at greatest risk were those living in rural areas that were dependent onproducing their own food for survival.
These societies are typically found in areas of the world which are already marginal land, and are vulnerable to availability of natural resources – of which water is the most essential.
She noted that up to 10% of land that is currently considered suitable for crops and livestock could be unsuitable by 2050 because of climate change.
This obviously undermines food security in the poorer regions of the world and it is also often because a source of conflict.
While the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East tend to dominate news bulletins, other countries are also exposed to the risk of conflict triggered by food availability.
Ukrainian grain infrastructure attacked in Odesa and Chornomorsk. / Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture
The DDG referred to initiatives undertaken in Afghanistan and Yemen with its ‘water for peace’ project. Parts of West and Central Africa are also vulnerable to conflict triggered by climate, with nomadic cattle herders competing for pastoral areas.
Proposed actions
The DDG proposed a series of five actions that would address the climate-conflict problem:
Targeting investments to build climate-resilient agrifood systems, using climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and community-based approaches were identified as a first step.Request UN entities to regularly analyse and report on risks and links associated with climate change. Data and information are key for targeted interventions.Improve strategic coordination at all levels and leverage existing mechanisms, such as the UN Climate Security Mechanism and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD) Climate Security Coordination Mechanism.Source specialised climate, peace and security adviser roles in more UN missions, especially those susceptible to climate change.Establish regional climate, peace and security hubs, such as done by the Office of the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa.The DDG wrapped up her comments by saying that agriculture was a key solution to the growing threats from climate change, conflict and their threat to food security, and that “we cannot afford to leave anyone behind”.
Analysis
The FAO is particularly focused on the most vulnerable areas of the world when it comes to availability of adequate food supplies. It is also a reality that these regions, where production from the lands is always variable, are also the most vulnerable when it comes to climate change.
In Ireland, a spell of unfavourable weather hits harvests and wrecks profit margins. In sub-Sahara Africa and other parts of the Middle East, periods of drought may stretch into years and the issue becomes one of survival.
For wealthy oil-funded economies, it is a case of importing whatever they require from the more productive areas of the world; but for the poorest countries, that isn’t an option. Hence, the FAO targets these to try and adapt to the climate conditions and maximise food output for survival.
The events in Ukraine and the Middle East have dominated news bulletins for the past two years and they have the knock-on effect of disrupting food production and supply chains.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused gas and in turn fertiliser prices to soar across Europe with limited supplies.
Several farms were destroyed in Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This was quickly followed by serious on-the-ground disruption to Ukraine’s farmers in planting their spring crops in 2022, and this was added to by the disruption to shipping grain from Ukraine out onto world markets.
Incidentally, some of their biggest customers were in African countries, where having these supplies were needed for survival. Similarly, the citizens of Gaza are exposed to the added risk of hunger in addition to the dangers of the ongoing conflict.
The FAO reports that their backyard farming-type systems and successful citrus fruit production systems have been obliterated.
More regional conflicts in African and Middle Eastern countries may not dominate news bulletins, but there is usually a climate-related element to these.
Access to water is essential for food production and this in itself is frequently a cause of conflict, particularly when the climate is causing its availability to be reduced further.
Comment: role of Irish agriculture
The vulnerability of food production systems in so many areas of the world, and the FAO forecast of growing global demand for meat and dairy products over the next decade, means that production will remain essential.
This isn’t a free-pass to produce without recognition of the climate impact of production and the necessity to do whatever is possible to mitigate this.
In Ireland, we enjoy access to an abundance of water, the resource that is in such scarce supply in the most vulnerable food producing regions of the world.
We are also fortunate to live in a politically stable part of the world, with no immediate threat to production beyond the usual vagaries of farming.
Weather patterns in Ireland have changed and there is general acceptance that there are more extreme weather events taking place.
However, we remain an exceptionally productive country, and importantly, a low-emissions producer of meat and dairy products relative to the rest of the world.
In a world that needs more of what Irish farmers produce, it makes no sense to divert this production elsewhere where the emissions will be higher.
It isn’t a choice between climate or food production – we have to achieve both food output and push down levels of emissions at the same time.
Climate and conflict are interlinked.Poorest regions of the world are most exposed to consequences of climate change.Water availability can be a source of conflict in arid regions.FAO views agriculture as part of the solution.Growing demand for food requires production, but with lower emissions.
Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world.
“Climate crisis and conflicts are becoming increasingly intertwined, feeding into one another to perpetuate hunger and poverty. Urgent action and innovative solutions are required to address global food insecurity,” was the view expressed by Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general (DDG) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) recently.
She was speaking at the Impact of Climate Change and Food Insecurity on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security event in New York.
She also pointed out that rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather events were all combining to undermine global food security.
While the climate events impacted on everyone, not all populations faced the same consequences, and those at greatest risk were those living in rural areas that were dependent onproducing their own food for survival.
These societies are typically found in areas of the world which are already marginal land, and are vulnerable to availability of natural resources – of which water is the most essential.
She noted that up to 10% of land that is currently considered suitable for crops and livestock could be unsuitable by 2050 because of climate change.
This obviously undermines food security in the poorer regions of the world and it is also often because a source of conflict.
While the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East tend to dominate news bulletins, other countries are also exposed to the risk of conflict triggered by food availability.
Ukrainian grain infrastructure attacked in Odesa and Chornomorsk. / Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture
The DDG referred to initiatives undertaken in Afghanistan and Yemen with its ‘water for peace’ project. Parts of West and Central Africa are also vulnerable to conflict triggered by climate, with nomadic cattle herders competing for pastoral areas.
Proposed actions
The DDG proposed a series of five actions that would address the climate-conflict problem:
Targeting investments to build climate-resilient agrifood systems, using climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and community-based approaches were identified as a first step.Request UN entities to regularly analyse and report on risks and links associated with climate change. Data and information are key for targeted interventions.Improve strategic coordination at all levels and leverage existing mechanisms, such as the UN Climate Security Mechanism and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD) Climate Security Coordination Mechanism.Source specialised climate, peace and security adviser roles in more UN missions, especially those susceptible to climate change.Establish regional climate, peace and security hubs, such as done by the Office of the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa.The DDG wrapped up her comments by saying that agriculture was a key solution to the growing threats from climate change, conflict and their threat to food security, and that “we cannot afford to leave anyone behind”.
Analysis
The FAO is particularly focused on the most vulnerable areas of the world when it comes to availability of adequate food supplies. It is also a reality that these regions, where production from the lands is always variable, are also the most vulnerable when it comes to climate change.
In Ireland, a spell of unfavourable weather hits harvests and wrecks profit margins. In sub-Sahara Africa and other parts of the Middle East, periods of drought may stretch into years and the issue becomes one of survival.
For wealthy oil-funded economies, it is a case of importing whatever they require from the more productive areas of the world; but for the poorest countries, that isn’t an option. Hence, the FAO targets these to try and adapt to the climate conditions and maximise food output for survival.
The events in Ukraine and the Middle East have dominated news bulletins for the past two years and they have the knock-on effect of disrupting food production and supply chains.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused gas and in turn fertiliser prices to soar across Europe with limited supplies.
Several farms were destroyed in Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This was quickly followed by serious on-the-ground disruption to Ukraine’s farmers in planting their spring crops in 2022, and this was added to by the disruption to shipping grain from Ukraine out onto world markets.
Incidentally, some of their biggest customers were in African countries, where having these supplies were needed for survival. Similarly, the citizens of Gaza are exposed to the added risk of hunger in addition to the dangers of the ongoing conflict.
The FAO reports that their backyard farming-type systems and successful citrus fruit production systems have been obliterated.
More regional conflicts in African and Middle Eastern countries may not dominate news bulletins, but there is usually a climate-related element to these.
Access to water is essential for food production and this in itself is frequently a cause of conflict, particularly when the climate is causing its availability to be reduced further.
Comment: role of Irish agriculture
The vulnerability of food production systems in so many areas of the world, and the FAO forecast of growing global demand for meat and dairy products over the next decade, means that production will remain essential.
This isn’t a free-pass to produce without recognition of the climate impact of production and the necessity to do whatever is possible to mitigate this.
In Ireland, we enjoy access to an abundance of water, the resource that is in such scarce supply in the most vulnerable food producing regions of the world.
We are also fortunate to live in a politically stable part of the world, with no immediate threat to production beyond the usual vagaries of farming.
Weather patterns in Ireland have changed and there is general acceptance that there are more extreme weather events taking place.
However, we remain an exceptionally productive country, and importantly, a low-emissions producer of meat and dairy products relative to the rest of the world.
In a world that needs more of what Irish farmers produce, it makes no sense to divert this production elsewhere where the emissions will be higher.
It isn’t a choice between climate or food production – we have to achieve both food output and push down levels of emissions at the same time.
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