As the global weather is changing, it is affecting the food/agriculture productions. As the global population grows in impoverished African countries, so will the demand for food will increase. As the climate changes, Earth’s temperature and precipitation starts to increase and the effect on agriculture would be devastating.
The effect of climate change on agriculture and food security in Africa has already significantly affected the production of crops. Due to climate change, crops management has been more difficult than ever before. It is more dangerous in Africa than in the past. Seventy percent of African food products are produced by small producers, and small farmers cannot predict the weather conditions and cannot control productivity.
A comparative study of climate change and interrelated agriculture has been conducted. Climate change affects precipitation, temperature and access to agriculture in vulnerable areas. Climate change affects the population several ways, such as agriculture, employment, farming environment impact, and rural distribution.
In Sub- Saharan Africa, 63 percent of the population continues to be dependent on agriculture. Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the spread of insects such as army-worms and caterpillars to their maize plantation. Climate change poses major challenges to agricultural productivity in this region. In fact, Africa is one of the continents most susceptible to the current climate change and has significant economic impact. In Benin, agriculture is the second largest element of their economy. In fact, 80 percent of their GDP comes from agriculture. In the past years, Benin has experienced intense weather changes such as rainfall, temperature increase, drought, strong winds and pests. Climate change has a major impact on the agriculture sector. Agriculture is deeply dependent on the weather. Farmers need sun and rain to produce the food.
According to the United Nations, about 80 percent of the world’s food is produced by farms, but now that the climate is changing, the effect from climate change has reduced those productions. In central Tanzania, the rainy season typically lasts from November through April, after which the weather becomes too dry to support growing crops. The extreme weather conditions from climate change has increased earth’s atmosphere to be too warm. Farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa are experiencing severe drought that reduces harvests. Weather changes have increased crop diseases and pests to migrate into new areas. If global temperatures keep on increasing this would probably decrease the maize yield production in some African countries.
Unless humans take significant steps to reverse this course, no one knows for sure how this will impact future food supplies. There are models which are making predictions that the growing cycles are at risk from climate change. The model by International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that the production of maize will decline by 25 percent by 2050. Climate change researchers are predicting in 2080, the number of people with malnutrition will reach 600 million. The spread of famine is worsening due to the direct impacts of climate change on indirect impacts on production.
Reference:
“Climate change is hitting African farmers the hardest of all”, theconversation.com
“What Climate Change Means for Agriculture in Africa”, oneacrefund.org
“8 ways climate change is already affecting Africa”, 350africa.org
https://oneacrefund.org/blog/what-climate-change-means-agriculture-africa/
