NDTV हिन्दी BUSINESS MOVIES CRICKET TECH FOOD CRYPTO WEBSTORIES EDUCATION AUTO SWASTH LIFESTYLE HEALTH SHOPPING HOME DOWNLOAD ANTHEM हिंदी में पढे COP26 SPECIAL COVERAGE ENVIRONMENT VIDEOS PICS PREVIOUS SEASONS BLOGS Opinion: When Will We Talk About Food Security? Climate change and food systems are intrinsically linked, says Sunish Jauhari of Vitamin Angels India Written By: Sunish Jauhari | November 23, 2021 Climate change also has an observable impact not just on food systems but also on the food that we consume: Sunish Jauhari, President, Vitamin Angels India As global leaders gathered for the 26th Conference of Parties or COP26 summit in Glasgow, issues associated with renewing national commitments for carbon footprint reduction and securing funds for climate change adaptation remained under the spotlight. However, an issue that continues to evade the attention of global leaders is the impact of climate change on food security of nations around the world. Also Read: Opinion: India’s Malnutrition Burden Still High, Is Poshan 2.0 The Answer? Climate change and our existing food systems are intrinsically linked. According to a 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 21-37 per cent of the total GHG emissions are caused by unsustainable farming practices. The Glasgow Climate Pact highlighted the need for all participating countries to revise existing national commitments to further cut down greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions by the end of 2022. While the IPCC Report highlights the role of carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and peatland degradation, caused by conversion of land for agriculture, a 2020 study published in Nature, talks of the use of fertilizers in farming increasing the concentration of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere by 1.4 per cent on an average every year since 1980. Furthermore, use of fossil fuels in farm machinery, food processing, packaging, transportation and retail are also major contributors to global warming. At the same time, climate change also has an observable impact not just on food systems but also on the food that we consume. The IPCC report highlights that yields and nutrition quality of crops like maize and wheat in many lower altitude regions have already been affected due to the rise in mean global temperature. Fruits and vegetables that require a period of cold accumulation in winters face a threat. Furthermore, a 2020 report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FOA) shows that increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather disasters such as floods, droughts and wildfires, and changes like altered precipitation patterns due to climate change are already having a devastating effect. The annual occurrences of such disasters is on a rise, making food production difficult. It is estimated that from 2008-2018, the impacts of natural disasters cost the agricultural sectors of developing countries over $108 billion dollars. Available evidence suggests that India’s food security is also under threat from climate change. A 2020 report by the Ministry of Earth and Sciences (MoES) shows that there has been a decline in monsoon precipitation levels, increase in droughts and post-monsoon cyclonic storms. The combination of declining precipitation levels and increasing extreme weather events would have a severe impact on our food production capability. Furthermore, estimates by National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) point out that yields of crops like rice and maize would decrease. It was thus encouraging to note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his COP26 speech laid emphasis on sustainable agriculture and lifestyle. Also Read: COP26: What Is Climate Change Adaptation, And Why Is It Important For Human Survival? Addressing food security in a developing country like India will always be an issue fraught with added complexity. The country has about 195 million people that are undernourished . The recent Global Hunger Index (GHI) report and National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) show an increase in the number of children suffering from wasting and stunting. Impacts like low yields and poor nutritional quality of food due to climate change would only worsen the situation for the most vulnerable sections of our society and reverse any progress made over the years. Nutritional deficiencies would affect immunity and increase the burden of diseases. The fact that the Indian population is expected to grow from about 1.36 billion in 2019 to 1.64 billion in 2030 will put even higher demands on the existing systems. Feeding a growing population while simultaneously ensuring that our systems become sustainable requires concentrated measures. There is a need to promote sustainable food production practices, utilising both cutting edge technology and existing indigenous practices. Traditional practices like sowing indigenous seeds that are less water intensive or using local organic material for compost are valuable assets. Investments will be necessary to make food storage and distribution both energy efficient and carbon neutral. Reducing carbon footprint would require more reliance on locally sourced produce instead of long global supply chains. Addressing nutritional deficiencies in both short and long term would require targeted food supplementation programs. Leveraging public private partnerships could assist in building such channels efficiently. Development of effective early warning systems to predict extreme weather events would not only protect valuable lives but also help in formulating localised policies that could reduce food insecurity. Measures like these are a need of the hour if we are to avert a disaster in time. Multiple countries also signed two ‘Action Agendas’ at COP26 that call for changing agricultural policies to make them more sustainable and less polluting. However, these initiatives are short on enforcement mechanisms. Steadfast commitments that include a framework on accountability are necessary given that both global hunger and population are seeing a rise in numbers. Also Read:India Estimated To Have Suffered Average Annual Loss Of USD 87 Billion From Extreme Weather Events: UN (Written by Sunish Jauhari, President of Vitamin Angels India, an international NGO that works on eradicating malnutrition and tackle deficiencies like Vitamin A and anaemia) Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India. WORLD 26,00,27,501 CASES 22,08,67,800 ACTIVE 3,39,77,830 RECOVERED 51,81,871 DEATHS Coronavirus has spread to 196 countries. The total confirmed cases worldwide are 26,00,27,501 and 51,81,871 have died; 22,08,67,800 are active cases and 3,39,77,830 have recovered as on November 26, 2021 at 3:56 am. INDIA 3,45,55,431 10,549 CASES 1,10,133 193 ACTIVE 3,39,77,830 9,868 RECOVERED 4,67,468 488 DEATHS In India, there are 3,45,55,431 confirmed cases including 4,67,468 deaths. The number of active cases is 1,10,133 and 3,39,77,830 have recovered as on November 26, 2021 at 2:30 am. State Details STATE CASES ACTIVE RECOVERED DEATHS Maharashtra 66,33,105 848 12,852 176 64,79,396 974 1,40,857 50 Kerala 51,19,941 5,987 52,452 509 50,28,752 5,094 38,737 384 Karnataka 29,94,561 306 6,521 80 29,49,853 224 38,187 2 Tamil Nadu 27,23,245 739 8,442 42 26,78,371 764 36,432 17 Andhra Pradesh 20,72,014 183 2,194 19 20,55,389 163 14,431 1 Uttar Pradesh 17,10,360 4 91 3 16,87,360 7 22,909 West Bengal 16,12,741 758 7,867 27 15,85,444 774 19,430 11 Delhi 14,40,784 30 309 2 14,15,380 32 25,095 Odisha 10,48,009 335 2,221 98 10,37,387 235 8,401 2 Chhattisgarh 10,06,673 38 312 2 9,92,768 36 13,593 Rajasthan 9,54,694 29 155 14 9,45,584 15 8,955 Gujarat 8,27,327 31 315 1 8,16,920 32 10,092 Madhya Pradesh 7,93,088 14 102 2 7,82,458 15 10,528 1 Haryana 7,71,622 17 156 2 7,61,412 14 10,054 1 Bihar 7,26,204 6 46 6 7,16,495 9,663 Telangana 6,75,148 147 3,531 2 6,67,631 148 3,986 1 Assam 6,16,137 142 2,835 108 6,07,216 245 6,086 5 Show More Show More Coronavirus Outbreak: Full CoverageTesting CentresFAQs RELATED TOPICS: CLIMATE CHANGE COP26 ENVIRONMENT NUTRITION UP NEXT Glasgow Climate Pact Agreed At COP26 Undermines ‘Climate Justice’, Say Experts DON'T MISS Swachh Survekshan 2021 Results: Top Highlights Of The Annual Cleanliness Survey YOU MAY LIKE What Does The Latest National Family Health Survey Reveal About The Nutritional Status Of India? 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In the season 8 of the campaign the focus this time is on the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another, with the agenda of One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. KNOW MORE CAMPAIGN AMBASSADOR About The Campaign Ambassador – Amitabh Bachchan CAMPAIGN ANTHEM Only a clean India can become a healthy India. We imbibe this thought into the anthem for the campaign Banega Swastha India. Written By: Prasoon Joshi Composed By: Siddharth Mahadevan and Soumil Shirangarpure Video By: Creative Backoffice Chorus By: Shankar Mahadevan, Academy Students PLAY NOW ARCHIVES ADVERTISE ABOUT US FEEDBACK DISCLAIMER INVESTOR COMPLAINT REDRESSAL CONTACT US OMBUDSMAN CAREERS This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics © Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2021. All rights reserved.