Sustainable Food System Transformation in a Changing Climate

Abstract

In recent years, several major drivers such as population growth, shocks, and changing climate have put the world off track to ending hunger, malnutrition, and meeting global food demands. Temperature increase, changes in rainfall pattern, drought, flooding, and the occurrence of pests and diseases negatively impact our food system. The situation seems to be the worst in Sub-Saharan Africa, where farmers are slow in changing their farming practices such as bush burning and deforestation, mainly because they lack the requisite education, information, and training necessary to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The question is whether the current food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa can produce enough food in the future to meet the demands of a growing population that is predicted to double by 2050 amid climate change. Food systems need to transform in a sustainable way to limit their environmental impact, contribute to building more sustainable diets and at the same time adapt and become more resilient to climate change. The purpose of this review is to increase the understanding of the nature of climate change's effects on the food system and emphasize the need to adapt science-based technological and innovative approaches to address these challenges. Understanding climate change challenges on food system is pivotal to sustainable food security in Africa