The frequency and intensity of weather-related disasters are gradually increasing, posing a threat to our food security. However, growing concerns about climate change do not seem to be limited to floods, droughts, delayed or earlier monsoon rains, or above or below average annual rainfall. There is another layer on top of already competing interests in policy responses to address climate impacts, namely nutrient deficiencies in food caused by rising concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. High CO2 concentrations help plants grow bigger and faster, often producing too many carbohydrates, but also reduce overall nutritional content, especially protein, iron, zinc, calcium, and other essential food nutrients. A growing body of research suggests that it also has a direct impact. .
Connection with health
Despite repeated commitments at international climate summit meetings, no real progress has been made in reducing global emissions, and the problem of nutritional deficiencies will only worsen in the future. This will hit low-income countries like Nepal, which are already facing the effects of micronutrient deficiencies. According to the 2016 Nepal National Micronutrient Status Survey, about 21 percent of children under the age of five and about 24 percent of non-pregnant women between the ages of 15 and 49 are already zinc deficient. Approximately 20% of non-pregnant women also suffer from iron deficiency.
As expected, deficiencies in these nutrients cause health problems. For example, zinc and iron deficiencies are known to cause chronic health problems, usually stunting in children, impaired physical and cognitive development, decreased immune function, and vulnerability to infections. is associated with increased and more severe infections, anemia, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and neurobehavioral problems. Abnormal. Zinc is also important for skin health. Additionally, rice and wheat, which are staple foods for a significant portion of the population, are more sensitive to higher carbon dioxide concentrations. Controlled experiments have shown that vegetables are similarly affected. Calcium in green beans was significantly reduced, vitamin A levels in asparagus plummeted by almost half, and broccoli stalks were found to be low in iron.
So far, nutritional deficiencies have been seen as the result of inadequate diet, poverty and poor access to food. However, this situation changes as the effects of climate on the nutritional content of grains, legumes and vegetables reduce the nutritional value of the food itself. Even if you have a proper diet and enough food, you can still develop nutritional deficiencies because the nutrients in your food are low. A paper published in 2015 titled “Micronutrient Deficiency, Hidden Hunger in Nepal: Prevalence, Causes, Consequences, and Solutions” suggests that the root cause of zinc deficiency is the vitamin and mineral content in food. It shows that it is low.
The effects of nutrient deficiencies are far-reaching, with floods, droughts and heatwaves reducing agricultural productivity, and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reducing the concentration of essential micronutrients in food, thereby reinforcing existing micronutrient deficiencies. This will worsen the situation and result in more malnourished people. According to estimates, economic losses in Nepal are already around 2-3 percent of GDP due to existing vitamin and mineral deficiencies alone.
Repair options
There are various ways to address these emerging food nutrition issues. Some are quick, while others take longer to see results. One of the most sought-after solutions is adding micronutrients directly to seeds. However, this is only a temporary solution as this technology focuses on one or two micronutrients at a time, whereas other micronutrient status continues to be affected by CO2 increases. , no lasting change is brought about. Additionally, farmers will have less freedom to produce seeds, instead relying on imported seeds that are beyond the reach of small-scale farmers. It also raises the question of what crop varieties will become adapted to the local environment.
Another method is to apply nutrient-rich fertilizers and soil amendments to infuse plants with specific minerals. Effective and low-cost methods of treating seeds and using biofertilizers to promote growth already exist in Nepal. However, adding nutrient-rich fertilizers without addressing soil erosion will not help. Numerous studies conducted in Nepal since the 1970s have highlighted that soil erosion is a major obstacle to improving agricultural production, but no effective measures have been taken to address this. . Erosion tends to deplete soils of both macronutrients and micronutrients. As a result, we are beginning to see the consequences of not responding to calls for soil conservation.
Agriculture is being abandoned due to continuous loss of farm productivity, mainly due to erosion of soil nutrients. Institutionally, the responsibility for formulating soil conservation policies and advocating their implementation lies with the forestry sector, which currently does not have responsibility for managing agricultural soils. Addressing unchecked soil erosion on farmland before applying nutrient-rich fertilizers could potentially address food nutrient content issues in the short and long term. This requires promoting improved soil management, including soil conservation, on a large scale.
A third approach is selective breeding of plants, which has also been proposed as an effective way to develop seeds that are less affected by high levels of CO2. Nepal’s institutional structure and pool of expertise in plant breeding are well suited for the purpose. They developed flood- and drought-resistant varieties of rice, maize, and millet to protect their crops from submergence and drought. Combining soil conservation with plant breeding would be a better solution to the effects of higher CO2 concentrations.
Expanding the scope of application
In summary, our food security is threatened by an avalanche of problems, from water scarcity, flooding, windstorms, landslides and plant diseases to impacts on the nutritional content of our food. Food security, as commonly understood, is no longer simply a matter of access to food. It becomes a question of availability of food with the required amount of nutrients. National policies and strategies on nutrition focus on the issue of existing nutrient deficiencies and their health effects, which increase with increasing CO2 concentrations.
Many people are already undernourished and rising CO2 levels may deplete nutrients in the future, raising serious concerns about food security. This is an emerging issue that has not yet been incorporated into the response to climate change. Given that we face multiple climate-related agricultural challenges, it is time to identify viable measures to address the nutritional content of food and incorporate them into adaptation plans.
