Challenges and Opportunities Faced on Food Production Systems in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions under Climate Change Conditions

Climate change and variability may have an impact on the occurrence of food safety hazards at various stages of the food chain. It may also affect socio-economic aspects related to food systems such as agriculture, animal production, global trade, demographics and human behavior which all influence food safety. There is also concern that meeting the rising demand for food is leading to environmental degradation thereby exacerbating factors in part responsible for climate change, and further undermining the food systems upon which food security is based. A major emphasis of climate change/food security research over recent years has addressed the agronomic aspects of climate change, and particularly crop yield. Therefore, while agronomic research alone cannot address all food security/climate change issues, hence the balance of investment in research and development for crop production vis a vis other aspects of food security needs to be assessed. Improved understanding of the impacts of climate change on crop production helps to develop adaptation options, and also crucially it improves understanding of the consequences of different adaptation options on further climate forcing. This role can further be strengthened if agronomists work alongside other scientists to develop adaptation options that are not only effective in terms of crop production, but are also environmentally and economically robust, at landscape and regional scales. Furthermore, such integrated approaches are much more likely to address the information need of policy makers. The potential for stronger linkages between the results of agronomic research and the policy environment will thus be enhanced.