Climate change threatens food security

Oct 24, 2013

The unpredictable rain attributed to the changing climate is threatening food security.

By Gerald Tenywa     

The unpredictable rain attributed to the changing climate is threatening food security and the economy, according to leading experts on Climate Change.


According to Robert Ddamulira, the regional coordinator on energy at the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), the observable climate trends in recent years demonstrate an increased unpredictability of when it would rain.

“Farmers are losing a great deal of investments in seed planted at the wrong time,” he said, adding that this has also led to increased food production fluctuations and resultant impacts on the economy.

He was commenting on a new report that has confirmed that Climate Change has been taking place since the 1950s and this is likely to increase in the coming years.

“The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of Green House Gases (GHS) have increased,” stated part of the new report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Climate change is caused by gases such as Carbon dioxide also referred to as GHS that trap the heat escaping from the earth. This causes global warming and the IPCC report also pointed out that human activity such as industrial production that rely on fossil fuels such as oil and coal are responsible for releasing the GHS, which have been increasing since the industrial revolution.

Global warming increases uncertainty of climate and weather patterns is likely to erode the gains by third world countries by reversing development accumulated over decades.

As a less developed country, Uganda is vulnerable to the negative impacts of Climate Change and the IPCC report provides evidence in the global negotiations attempting to address such impacts. “We are losing reliable rain seasons and means of producing food,” said Richard Kimbowa, the director of Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development. “We need global partnership to provide technical and financial support to take action,” he said.

At the same time, Uganda should cooperate and avoid the development path other countries have taken pointing out that massive emissions of GHS as the evidence provided by the IPCC report will be destructive to the global climate.

“How far are we going with the greener path to development? We have oil, which are going to exploit, but we also need the right technology, skills in order to invest in a green economy.”  
 

 







 

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