**6. Global food security**

intense or more frequent, the economic and social costs of those events will increase. Cities

*Livestock sector* is affected by climate changes by interfering with the distribution, production size and frequency of disease and pests. Livestock industry depends on the balance of pasturage and water resources supply and any form of change in climate will impact nega‐ tively the livestock sector. The impacts have largely been felt by pastoralist communities who have been forced to change their livelihood from pastoralists to sedentary agro pastoralist to

Climate causes instability in the *tourism sector* for those countries whose economies are largely dependent on tourism. Addition or reduction in precipitation leads to wildlife devastation and reduces the aesthetic value of sceneries hence impacting on livelihoods dependent on the

*Gender* is similarly impacted by climate change. The gender poverty link show that 70% of the poor in the world are women and their vulnerability is accentuated by race, ethnicity and age. Most climate change policies, issues and programs are not quite gender neutral despite the fact that women and men are affected differently due to tradition, socially constructed roles

Mitigation is "an anthropogenic intervention to reduce the anthropogenic forcing of the climate system; it includes strategies to reduce greenhouse gas sources and emissions and enhancing greenhouse gas sinks [1]. To ensure that environmental sustainability is maintained some urgent measures need to be put in place to help in sustainability of the environment by way of mitigation. Some examples of mitigation actions include developing new low-energy technologies for industry and transport, reducing consumption of energy-intensive products and switching to renewable forms of energy such as solar and wind power. Natural carbon sinks, such as forests, vegetation and soils, can be managed to absorb carbon dioxide, and technologies are being developed to capture carbon dioxide at industrial sources and to inject it into permanent storage deep underground. There is need also to manage the impact as have occurred on the environment. It is true that future impacts on the environment and society are now inevitable, owing to the amount of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere from past decades of industrial and other human activity and to the added amounts from continued emissions over the next few decades until such time as mitigation policies become effective.

Taking steps to cope with the changed climate conditions is called "adaptation".

Adaptation is "the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities" [6]. The measures to be undertaken are those that will try to address the adverse impacts that may occur as a result of non action by humans with the aim of attaining a sustainable environment. Some of these measures may include some of the following; conducting risk assessments,

**5. Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures**

loom as giant potential flood or other disaster traps.

240 Environmental Change and Sustainability

survive.

industry.

and responsibilities.

Food security exists when all people at all times have physical or economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs [7]. Global food security refers to the situation where each person, member of any household is having physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life – (Food and Agriculture Organization definition). That food has to be affordable, safe and healthy, culturally acceptable, meeting specific dietary needs of the people and is obtained in a dignified manner, produced in ways that are environmentally sound and socially just. Thus there should be no perceived inadequacy of the household food supply expressed through concerns about running out of food and not having enough food to make a meal or malnourished as a result of physical unavailability of food, lack of socio-economic access to food or inadequate food utilization.

The World's efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goal of cutting hunger in half by 2015 are far from reach. With the world's population set to reach 9 billion by 2050, agricultural production will need to increase by 70% in order to meet demand. Climate change adds a new dimension of this challenge as it is one of the key drivers of change affecting the food system and contributing to rising food prices. It leads to changes in growing seasons and rainfall patterns and the increased frequency of extreme events such as droughts and floods. It has been estimated by the United Nations Environment Programme that up to 25 per cent of world food production could be lost by 2050 as a result of climate change, water scarcity and land degradation [8].

In the developing world, nearly 1 billion people are unable to meet their dietary needs. Another 5-10% is at risk of 'acute' food insecurity in times of crisis. Despite improvements, the millen‐ nium development goal on hunger is likely to be missed by a wide margin in areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, where persistent food insecurity is compounded by widespread political instability, conflict and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization [9] estimate that 820 million people in developing countries are suffering from malnutrition. In a world in which nearly half the population survives on \$2/day or less, more than 800 million people go to sleep hungry any given night, and a child dies every five seconds due to hungerrelated complications, the need to respond to the needs of the poor for food is ever-present and widespread. Despite the universal recognition of every person's right to food, vulnera‐ bility to hunger remains a daily reality for many [10].

The United States of America and European Union together provide about two thirds of global food aid deliveries. The United States of America is by far the most important donor of food aid both for bilateral programme aid and as the main contributor to the World Food Program. The World Food Program (WFP) is the primary agency responsible for administering multi‐ lateral food aid. The WFP and various NGOs administer project food aid to support a wide range of developmental projects targeting the poor in developing countries. Others include the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Food Aid Convention (FAC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). All these organizations have different mandates and are concerned with different aspects of the provision of food aid. Many organizations around the world are working to find ways to produce the food needed in a sustainable way, within the limits of what our ecosystems can support for current and future generations, and to safeguard this production from the impacts of climate change. Food security is the outcome of food system processes all along the food chain. Climate change will affect food security through its impacts on all components of global, national and local food systems. It is important to note that climate change variables influence biophysical factors, such as plant and animal growth, water cycles, biodiversity and nutrient cycling, and the ways in which these are managed. Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood among many rural populations [11].
