The IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) highlights the significant impacts of human-induced climate change, including extreme weather events, on agriculture and food systems. These challenges are critical for enhancing food security and nutrition as they increasingly affect vulnerable regions and populations. While numerous adaptation strategies have been adopted, most are limited to incremental and single-sector solutions. However, as global warming escalates, these systems will face limits to adaptation due to intensified heat and water stress, further threatening food security.
The report suggests that ecosystem-based methods like diversification, land restoration, agroecology, and agroforestry could strengthen food production and offer additional benefits, including stability in yields and improved ecosystem health. Sustainable management of resources, in response to shifts in the distribution of terrestrial and aquatic species due to climate change, is also a viable adaptation strategy to mitigate food security and nutritional risks.
For a holistic and impactful response, transformational and inclusive strategies that combine both adaptation and mitigation efforts are essential. Significant mitigation actions are necessary to lessen the most extreme effects on global food systems and the ecosystems that sustain human life.
This special issue delves into the key themes from the Food chapter of IPCC AR6 Working Group II, reviewing the risks of production losses and food safety. It discusses the effectiveness, feasibility, and enabling factors of various adaptation strategies, including improvements in cultivars, ecosystem-based adaptation, agricultural diversification, and eco-management practices in fisheries and aquaculture. It also explores socio-economic factors, such as gender and other disparities, in fostering climate-resilient development.