This volume discusses a broad range of vital issues encompassing the production and consumption of food in the current period of climate change. All of these add up to looming, momentous challenges to food security, especially for people in regions where malnutrition and famine have been the norm during numerous decades. Furthermore, threats to food security do not stop at the borders of more affluent countries – governance of food systems and changes in eating patterns will have worldwide consequences. The book is arranged in four broad sections. Part I, Combating Food Insecurity: A Global Responsibility opens with a chapter describing the urgent necessity for new paradigm and policy set to meet the food security challenges of climate change. Also in this section are chapters on meat and the dimensions of animal welfare, climate change and sustainability; on dietary options for mitigating climate change; and the linkage of forest and food production in the context of the REDD+ approach to valuation of forests. Part II, Managing Linkages Between Climate Change and Food Security offers a South Asian perspective on Gender, Climate Change and Household Food Security; a chapter on food crisis in sub-Saharan Africa; and separate chapters on critical issues of food supply and production in Nigeria, far-Western Nepal and the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Cameroon. Part III examines Food Security and patterns of production and consumption, with chapters focused on Morocco, Thailand, Bahrain, Kenya and elsewhere. The final section discusses successful, innovative practices, with chapters on Food Security in Knowledge-Based Economy; Biosaline Agriculture in the Gulf States; Rice production in a cotton zone of Benin; palm oil in the production of biofuel; and experiments in raised-bed wheat production. The editors argue that technical prescriptions are insufficient to manage the food security challenge. They propose and explain a holistic approach for adapting food systems to global environmental change, which demands the engagement of many disciplines – a new, sustainable food security paradigm.

Global environmental change (GEC) represents an immediate and unprecedented threat to the food security of hundreds of millions of people, especially those who depend on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. As this book shows, at the same time, agriculture and related activities also contribute to GEC by, for example, intensifying greenhouse gas emissions and altering the land surface. Responses aimed at adapting to GEC may have negative consequences for food security, just as measures taken to increase food security may exacerbate GEC. The authors show that this complex and dynamic relationship between GEC and food security is also influenced by additional factors; food systems are heavily influenced by socioeconomic conditions, which in turn are affected by multiple processes such as macro-level economic policies, political conflicts and other important drivers. The book provides a major, accessible synthesis of the current state of knowledge and thinking on the relationships between GEC and food security. Most other books addressing the subject concentrate on the links between climate change and agricultural production, and do not extend to an analysis of the wider food system which underpins food security; this book addresses the broader issues, based on a novel food system concept and stressing the need for actions at a regional, rather than just an international or local, level. It reviews new thinking which has emerged over the last decade, analyses research methods for stakeholder engagement and for undertaking studies at the regional level, and looks forward by reviewing a number of emerging 'hot topics' in the food security-GEC debate which help set new agendas for the research community at large. Published with Earth System Science Partnership, GECAFS and SCOPE

The book has a comprehensive account of the climate change with possible projections on food security in India. Global scenario of extreme climatic events and the corresponding probable climatic parameters in the years to come are discussed elaborately. The effect of climatic variability on the productivity of crops particularly cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and flowers etc and incidences of plant diseases are highlighted. Moreover, the environmental effect on edible mushroom and rubber cultivation is also brought under the discussion in the book. Besides crop productivity, the information on the impact of climatic variability on the productivity/survival of livestock and freshwater fisheries is also made available. To avert weather vagaries, agro-advisory services on national perspectives are rendered with due importance. Finally, a focus on district level agro-advisory followed by a proper crop planning is also bestowed.

The global food crisis is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global food system. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities captures the debate about how to go forward and examines the implications of the crisis for food security in the world’s poorest countries, both for the global environment and for the global rules and institutions that govern food and agriculture. In this volume, policy-makers and scholars assess the causes and consequences of the most recent food price volatility and examine the associated governance challenges and opportunities, including short-term emergency responses, the ecological dimensions of the crisis, and the longer-term goal of building sustainable global food systems. The recommendations include vastly increasing public investment in small-farm agriculture; reforming global food aid and food research institutions; establishing fairer international agricultural trade rules; promoting sustainable agricultural methods; placing agriculture higher on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda; revamping biofuel policies; and enhancing international agricultural policy-making. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Water Conservation in the Era of Global Climate Change reviews key issues surrounding climate change and water resources. The book brings together experts from a variety of fields and perspectives, providing a comprehensive view on how climate change impacts water resources, how water pollution impacts climate change, and how to assess potential hazards and success stories on managing and addressing current issues in the field. Topics also include assessing policy impacts, innovative water reuse strategies, and information on impacts on fisheries and agriculture including food scarcity. This book is an excellent tool for researchers and professionals in Climate Change, Climate Services and Water Resources, and those trying to combat the impacts and issues related to Global and Planetary Change. - Covers a wide range of theoretical and practical issues related to how climate change impacts water resources and adaptation, with extended influence on agriculture, food and water security, policymaking, etc. - Reviews mathematical tools and simulations models on predicting potential hazards from climate change in such a way they can be useful to readers from a variety of levels of mathematical expertise - Examines the potential impacts on agriculture and drinking water quality - Includes case studies of successful management of water and pollutants that contribute to climate change