Such is the environmental fallout of today's agrifood systems that virtually no aspect of diets is spared, from food availability, safety, diversity and affordability to the vitamin and mineral content of some foods.
FAO is helping countries develop integrated solutions to the combined challenges of climate change and poor diets that drive malnutrition. As well as tackling loss and waste, we are investing in sustainable soil systems, and helping scale up the production of climate-resilient and nutritious crop varieties and biofortified crops.
©FAO/Patrick Zachmann/Magnum Photo
Podcast "Climate change, biodiversity and nutrition – the nexus"
Listen to the podcast on: https://soundcloud.com/unfao/how-climate-change-biodiversity-and-nutrition-are-connected
The podcast discusses new ideas to mitigate and adapt to climate change, protect biodiversity and improve nutrition simultaneously.
©FAO/Rijasolo
PROTECTING VITAL SOIL SYSTEMS
Fertile soils are the starting point for many of the essential nutrients indissociable from healthy diets: they contain vast amounts of vitamins and minerals, as well as the oxygen and water that food-producing plants need to grow. Yet a full third of the world’s soils are now thought to be highly degraded – that is, severely nutrient-depleted – from erosion; biodiversity loss; and organic carbon loss, among other causes.
FAO has founded the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) to promote sustainable soil management in ways that contribute to food security, nutrition and climate change adaptation. The partnership offers a platform for political and research dialogue as a spur to global investments in soil systems. Included in the platform is the FAO Soils Portal, a free online library on soil-related knowledge, alongside several databases of legal instruments. The partnership also carries forward programmes such as the farmer-to-farmer training initiative Global Soil Doctors Programme, and the climate-change adaptation RECSOIL mechanism, which looks to boost the organic carbon content of soils.
©FAO/Rosetta Messori
SCALING UP “OPPORTUNITY CROPS”
The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) was launched in 2023 as a partnership between FAO, the African Union and the US State Department to promote nutritious, climate-resilient crops through investment in smarter seed and soil systems. It has a specific focus on native crops, described as “opportunity crops”, which have been overlooked by traditional research, government extension services and policymakers. Many of these crops – wild loquat, moringa or bambara groundnut – are considerably more nutritious than dominant staples.
Investing in opportunity crops and healthy soils can make agrifood systems more climate-resilient; increase biodiversity; raise incomes for producers; and – most relevant to healthy diets – expand the availability and consumption of nutritious and sustainable foods.
©FAO/Benedicte Kurzen/NOOR for FAO
NUTRIENT-RICH, CLIMATE-RESILIENT BIOFORTIFIED CROPS
Biofortification involves taking nutrients already present in plants, such as iron, zinc and vitamin A, and boosting the concentration of these nutrients through agronomic techniques. This is a cost-effective and sustainable way to channel more essential vitamins and minerals into diets, particularly those diets heavily consistent of staple foods.
Not only can biofortification make crop varieties more nutritious: it may, in certain cases, boost their stability in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns resulting from climate change. By becoming more resistant against pests, diseases and drought, some crops are apt to counteract climate-induced downward swings in agricultural productivity and nutrition.
©Director ctcri
Biofortified maize in Zimbabwe
Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children in general, and a major contributor to severe illness and death in children under five. In Zimbabwe, nearly one in five under-fives is vitamin A deficient. Diets in rural areas consist primarily of white maize, and often lack foods that are rich in vitamin A.
To combat vitamin A deficiency, FAO in Zimbabwe and the NGO HarvestPlus have promoted the production of biofortified orange maize. The orange colour signals a high content of betacarotene, a substance converted by the body into vitamin A. HarvestPlus has brought together government, the private sector, input suppliers and seed companies. Together, and with FAO’s support, they are providing intensive capacity building for farmers, and working with communities and consumers to encourage the production, adoption and take-up of the flame-tinged staple.
