Mitigating against climate change key to improved food security and nutrition

Agriculture in Africa over the years has always been deeply dependent on the weather, with farmers requiring a steady mixture of sun, warmth, and rains in order to realize a high produce at the end of every harvesting season. But now the same ingredient that helps realize a bumper harvest has been affected by climate change, and smallholders in Kenya and Africa at large are feeling the impact of the climate change. The scenario has, however, had far-reaching reaching impacts on food security and nutrition.

In Kenya nearly 90 percent of the food is produced by small scale farmer’s, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Climate change effects on agriculture has had serious repercussions that reach far beyond individual farmers and their families.

“As a country we cannot overlook the climate change anymore it’s time we take significant steps to reverse course and cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to save our agricultural sector. We all know for sure what impact this will have on future food supplies, the research findings by the International Food Policy Research Institute estimate that global maize production could shrink 24 percent by 2050,” says Ms Evelyne Lusenaka, Chief Executive Officer, Agrochemical Association of Kenya(AAK).

She added that small scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa are particularly more vulnerable because they mostly rely on rain-fed agriculture instead of irrigation.

Ms Lusenaka says “every year farmers need to produce enough food from their single annual harvest to feed their families until the next season, when the rains are available on time farmers have enough grain left over to sell as income, but when crops fail, families often experience an annual“hunger season,” a time of meal skipping and substitution until the next harvest.”

Climate change has resulted into extreme weather conditions witnessed by farmers across the country due to the country’s geographical position.

“Kenya lies within the tropics, which means that we have a warm weather conditions every year. But the volatile weather being witnessed by farmers across the country is a mark of climate change, and this has manifested in a number of ways like long droughts and floods. Farmers will continue to experience increase in frequency as the earth’s atmosphere warms, which will end up in reduced harvests,” adds Lusenaka.

The changes in temperatures and moisture conditions have also enabled crop diseases and pests to migrate into new areas. Recently, Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed the spread of fall armyworms, an invasive caterpillar that has devastated maize yields, a staple food among millions of households.

Ms Lusenaka says “scientists are still trying to establish what caused this outbreak, but some scientists have linked its spread to climate change.”

Farmers should also brace themselves for an average global temperatures which are expected to rise over the coming decades, which could lead to desertification and low food production especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Experts estimates that if global temperatures continue to increase by 4 degrees Celsius, by the year 2100 crop yields in some African countries would probably decline by more than 20 percent,” she explained.

Climate uncertainty is already triggering social unrest in many African countries. This has been witnessed with the rise of migration of people from Africa to Europe.

 “The climate change is real and this can be witnessed by the number of young Africans crossing deserts and seas to Europe in search of better living conditions. This should send a message to our leaders that it’s time to mitigate the effects of climate change, “adds Ms Lusenaka.

She adds that Kenya should join the rest of African countries in taking drastic action, including the promotion of renewable energy, energy efficiency, improvement of forest and range lands ability to store greenhouse gases, and adopting low carbon transportation modes.

Kenya needs to increase access to better farm inputs and agricultural training can help improve crop yields, and sometimes temper the effects of extreme weather.

“As AAK we are working on a number of efforts to help farmers mitigate and adapt to climate change. This includes training on sustainable farming methods that can benefit soils, providing farmers with better pesticides which are adaptive to climate change.

 Governments, institutions, and private sector groups need to include support for smallholders in their wider efforts to combat climate change. Enabling farmers to access the financing, tools, and training they need will help ensure that millions of rural families can sustainably harvest crops through the years to come.