Climate change is also worsening the already vulnerable food situation in the country. Other factors that affext Lesotho's declining agriculture production are soil erosion, poor land-use practices, and decreasing soil fertility.
Is climate change a driver of food scarcity in South Africa? And if so, to what extent? Food security is becoming a serious concern, especially in poor and developing countries.
Data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) shows that by 2019 two billion people will experience moderate to severe food insecurity. UNFAO’s has four interconnected pillars to measure food security:
- food availability, which is linked to the amounts of food production,
- access to food or whether people can afford to buy food,
- food use or how food is prepared and consumed, and lastly,
- food stability in terms of food supply and consumption.
An article from the Conversation explains the relationship between climate-change-induced droughts and the 2007 food crisis in Lesotho. The article mentions that droughts can negatively impact these four pillars, creating food insecurity or scarcity in the area.
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