Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) levels are rising globally at a rapid pace, on track to surpass 550 parts per million (ppm) by midcentury. Studies have found that, when grown under elevated CO2 concentrations of 546–586 ppm, many food crops—including wheat, rice, barley, and soybeans—have lowered concentrations of nutrients, including many that are important for overall health, such as iron, zinc, and protein. Elevated CO2 also […]
Climate change and variability: What are the risks for nutrition, diets, and food systems?
By Jessica Fanzo, Rebecca McLaren, Claire Davis, and Jowel Choufani
The paper uses a food systems approach to analyze the bidirectional relationships between climate change and food and nutrition along the entire food value chain. It then identifies adaptation and mitigation interventions for each step of the food value chain to move toward a more climate-smart, nutrition-sensitive food system. The study focuses on poor rural farmers, a population especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change on nutrition, although we recognize that there are other vulnerable populations, including urban poor and rural populations working outside of agriculture. Although this report does not explicitly exclude overweight and obesity, it focuses primarily on undernutrition because this nutritional status is currently more prevalent than overnutrition among our target population.
Charting gender issues in agricultural development research under climate change
By Elizabeth Bryan
Agricultural development policies and interventions that ignore gender dynamics miss opportunities to maximize benefits, including increasing resilience to climate change and variability. As more policy-makers and development practitioners acknowledge the importance of addressing gender in their work, they can draw on a growing body of research that highlights key entry points for more effectively integrating gender.
Read More...
