I believe that the (provisional) data that I have generated as a result of the research conducted for my MSc thesis highlight some interesting issues in the climate change and food loss arenas. Please refer to the research section of the website for more information on the results and data generated.
- Food security is a priority for the vast majority of Sub Saharan African nations. A whopping 91% of SSA INDCs referred to food security in a variety of ways. Given the autonomous nature of the INDCs it can be inferred that food security remains a significant challenge in most if these countries. The UNFCCC provided little guidance on the composition of these documents. Essentially, countries had the freedom to communicate issues of national importance-food security would certainly seem to be one of these issues in Sub Saharan Africa.
- Importantly, climate change seems to be having an effect or is anticipated to have an effect on food security in the region. 61% of the 46 SSA countries analysed referenced climate change in the context of food security-surely this indicates that adaptation must take place as soon as possible?
- Worryingly, despite the fact that on the surface food security seems to be a prominent issue in the region, food loss receives relatively little attention. Only 24 per cent of countries refer specifically to food loss in their INDCs. The countries who haven’t referenced it are missing a trick in my opinion. I have written posts before detailing how reducing loss can improve resilience and outlining the environmental impacts that food losses can have. It really seems that a lot of SSA countries are missing out on “low hanging fruit”.
- Does the point raised in number 3 above indicate that more needs to be done to disseminate information regarding the extent of losses in the region? It would seem that the food insecure countries who fail to make reference to food loss either do not know about the extensive benefits associated with reducing losses or the extent of the problem in general.
- 37 per cent of countries have referred to post-harvest processes in their INDCs. This number is larger than the 24% who refer to actual food loss. Therefore, many references to post-harvest processes have been included without having food loss in mind. It seems that many of the proposed interventions were included in the INDCs to increase the efficiency of the food supply chain, although these interventions inevitably have the knock on effect of reducing post-harvest losses.
- Geographically, strong links seem to exist between food security issues and areas countries covered by or in the vicinity of deserts. Check out the maps section under the research folder to see for yourself. This wasn’t part of my research goals or objectives, but desertification and/or soil degradation and their links to food security issues may warrant increased attention and research.
As always, your comments/thoughts are welcome!