Food And Climate Change

One of the most pronounced impacts of climate change is seen in food production. Monsoon rains have gotten increasingly erratic and out of sync with farming calendar, and catastrophic rainfalls have become increasingly common, washing away the standing crops. Droughts coupled with heat waves have prolonged and become more frequent, wilting the planted crops. All these and more impacts of climate change have strained the global food supply. Lost land from erosion, desertification and rising seas have exacerbated the problem. And no part of the world has remained immune to it. 

Two years ago, as raging monsoon rains washed away plantation fields, India, among the world's major food producers and the biggest exporter of rice, had to resort to banning the export of some varieties of rice, the staple crop in a good number of countries, in its effort to keep their prices from escalating. The impact was also felt in Nepali markets as price of rice went up. At the same time, with scant production of tomato, one of the most desired vegetables and fruits in great number of Indian delicacies, as a result of prolonged drought and its price running through the roof, many restaurants serving tomato-heavy food items had to drop them off menu.

What's more, cross-border migration, particularly in Africa and South America, as a consequence of dwindling agricultural yields, attributed to climate change, has been making frequent headlines. Far from the distant places, such repercussions have also started taking hold right here at home, too. On Saturday this daily carried a news story elaborating how climate change has hit the production of fermented bamboo shoots (Tama) in Bardibas, in Mahottari district. The demand for Tama, an iconic part of Nepali cuisine and culture, never falls, and delicacies made out of them feature prominently in auspicious celebrations and many rituals. 

However, despite the constant demand for their authentic taste and quality, supply of bamboo shoots has significantly decreased since the first week of September – a trend seen only since last few years ago. Bardibas farmers, who have been cultivating the vegetable for decades now, blame climate change for their dwindling production. Last year, one farmer said, due to a drought, no bamboo shoots sprouted until the first week of July. Despite the better rainfall this year compared to the last year, he continued, the amount was still insufficient for optimal bamboo growth, resulting in fewer shoots.

The farmers recall that in the past, there used to be more rainfall in the Chure and Bhabar regions, among which lies the town of Bardibas, compared to the plains of the Tarai. However, over the last decade, the northern areas have seen a substantial decrease in annual rainfall. With heavy rains, bamboo shoots would sprout abundantly from the hillsides to the fields and they could collect as many bamboo shoots as they wanted. But now, it is difficult to collect even a basketful of bamboo shoots.

Needless to say, climate change is not of the making of under developed nation like Nepal but we are at the receiving end of it.  Staying complacent in the face of existential threat that is food supply can never ever be an option.  What we can do, however, is to adapt to it. One way to do this is to make use of seeds that are heat-resistant and also grows and even thrives in less water. Scientists passionately working on these projects are said to have already developed such promising seeds. We cannot risk falling behind in using them.