This report, released by the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, identifies a set of clear actions to be undertaken by key stakeholders to achieve food security in the context of climate change. It reasons that widespread uptake of sustainable practices in agriculture and food supply chains is essential to meet current and future threats to food security and environmental resilience. It outlines the threats as follows:
- extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are predicted to become more frequent increasing hunger caused by poverty, weak governance, conflict and poor market access
- greenhouse gases (GHG) originating from fertilisers, ruminant digestion, rice cultivation and fuel use contribute to climate change
- land clearing for agriculture leading to deforestation contributes significantly to GHG impacts.
Based on scientific evidence, the report proposes the following policy actions to deliver long-term benefits to communities worldwide:
- integrate food security and sustainable agriculture into global and national policies
- significantly raise the level of global investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems in the next decade
- sustainably intensify agricultural production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts of agriculture
- develop specific programmes and policies to assist people and sectors that are most vulnerable to climate changes and food insecurity
- reshape food access and consumption patterns to ensure basic nutritional needs are met and foster healthy and sustainable eating patterns worldwide
- create comprehensive, shared and integrated information systems that encompass human and ecological dimensions.
The report concludes that a stable climate and food security for the world's most vulnerable populations can only be achieved by implementing the foregoing changes globally. These recommendations point the way forward for investment and innovation in support of an adaptive, efficient and secure global food system.