Climate change and extreme weather events will have a negative effect on food supply chains. Rural communities would be the most impacted.
Climate change and extreme weather events can have cascading repercussions on Australia's food systems and supply chains, according to research published in Nature Food.
The paper analyzed the impact of climate change on different sectors and regions in Australia. Climate change and extreme weather events have a negative impact on rural areas.
Climatic events such as floods and heat waves can affect surrounding areas by limiting food availability and employment. The effects of these events could be felt far away.
Reductions in food supply can have impacts on non-food sectors.
Climate change can affect our lives. Disruptions caused by extreme weather events can cascade across regions and sectors, resulting in job and income losses and impacts on food availability, according to Dr.
She said that the study sought to model the indirect supply chain repercussions of the events to bolster our understanding of connected supply chain networks.
A study done by the Integrated Sustainability Analysis group has shown that disasters in one state can affect the entire country.
Locally, what plays out globally seems to be the same. The vulnerable are the most affected by climate change, even if they aren't directly hit by extreme weather, according to the study co-author.
The modeling found that poor households were more likely to suffer from food price increases and diminished food quality than wealthier ones.
"Disruptions to food supply can negatively impact diet quality, through reducing the variety that contributes to a balanced diet, and redirecting diet to unhealthy processed foods that have a longer shelf life," said Professor David Raubenheimer, co-author. Vulnerable groups are disproportionately impacted by this because they don't have the means to pay high prices for food.
Climate change may affect food supply in the state, but access to healthy and equitable diet, particularly among the most vulnerable people, according to the co-author. These findings can help inform strategies for adapting.
Employment and income losses in the transportation and service sectors are more likely to be caused by impacts on food production.
The methodology used for the research integrated a nutrition framework with regional supply chain impacts and employment and income loss models to provide a comprehensive view on the impacts of climate change.
This framework could be used to inform decision-making processes by governments. It is vital that communities and organizations are aware of the impacts of climate change.
The cascading effects of climate variability and more frequent extreme weather events may cause zoonotic diseases, foodborne epidemics, and broad socio-demographic stresses. We need to understand the impacts so we can build a more resilient society.
More information: Arunima Malik, Impacts of climate change and extreme weather on food supply chains cascade across sectors and regions in Australia, Nature Food (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-022-00570-3. www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00570-3 Journal information: Nature Food
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