Impact of Climate Change, Pests and Diseases on Food Security and Poverty Reduction - Background Document

Poverty and hunger are long-standing items on international and national policy makers’ agendas and strategies to overcome both are now once again being intensively discussed in the context of the Millennium Development Goals. Both are largely interlinked since poverty is recognized today both as the cause and the outcome of hunger. Poor people are likely to have less access to healthy, nutritious food, which results in a poor health status and lower labour productivity. These two factors then contribute to perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition.

The food security situation of a household is determined by four factors: food availability, access to food, stability of supply and accessibility, and the degree to which food is nutritious and safe and can therefore be utilized. Food availability depends, first and foremost, on the actual production of food, which is influenced by agro-ecological production potential as well as by available production technologies and input and output markets. Food aid and food stocks further determine the supply of food within a region or country. Whether a household or a person is able to access food is determined by the income level, unless the household produces the food itself. Also, the structure of the food supply chain, together with market and transport infrastructure, is an important additional factor. The stability of access to food depends on a number of political and economic factors, such as the stability of the political system and overall poverty levels. But measures to reduce food production variability also contribute to stability in access to food.

All of these diverse key determinants of the food security situation of a household or a nation are influenced by a wide set of socio-economic and bio-physical driving forces. This paper focuses on three of these, namely climate change, animal disease and plant pests. We have concentrated on their implications for food security, but have also given consideration to their impact on human health, as this is another important factor determining human wellbeing/poverty levels.