Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security

Food, from staple cereal grains to high protein legumes and oilseed crops, is central to human development and well-being. The complexity of global food security is challenging and will be made more so under climate change. Climate change caused by emissions of greenhouse gases is expected to directly influence crop production systems for food, feed, or fodder; to affect livestock health; and to alter the pattern and balance of trade of food and food products. An important change for agriculture system is increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Ozone in the atmosphere is concentrated mostly in the upper layers of the atmosphere where it absorbs UV radiation. Climate change affects agriculture and food production in complex ways. It affects food production directly through changes in agroecological conditions and indirectly by affecting growth and distribution of incomes, and thus demand for agricultural produce.