Climate change and food security: risks and responses

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Figure 1. Schematic representation of the cascading effects of climate change impacts on food security 
and nutrition. 

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CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY: RISKS AND RESPONSES
viii
with disruption of trade patterns. 
Food price volatility
is likely to be exacerbated by climate 
change. Trade is expected to play a major role in adjusting to climate-change-driven shifts in 
agricultural and food production patterns. Recent experience indicates that climate change 
effects on food price volatility are greatly influenced by domestic policies, with export bans 
contributing to price fluctuations. Ultimately, global markets will not be accessible to the 
poorest countries and the poorest populations without sufficient purchasing power.
Climate change affects food security in all its dimensions: access, availability, 
utilization and stability 
As shown above, climate change affects food production, and thus food 
availability
. Climate 
change will impact the livelihoods and income of small-scale food producers and also, through 
food price increases and volatility, the livelihoods of poor net food buyers, restricting 
access
to food. Impacts of climate change on 
nutrition
have been much less studied. Studies point 
to potential changes in the nutritional quality of some foods (e.g. reduced concentration in 
proteins and in some vitamins and minerals), due to elevated CO
2
, particularly for flour from 
major cereals and cassava. Climate change can have a variety of impacts on the 
quality of 
drinking water
, which is key to the good absorption of nutrients. Climate change has been 
found to have an impact on 
food safety
, particularly on 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 utilization.