Food for thought: Climate change risk and food (in)security in Tuvalu

This study evaluates the risk of climate change from the perspective of food security domain considering exposure to flood hazard. Climate change presents a considerable threat to food security of low-lying atoll nations in the Pacific including Tuvalu. It is projected to heavily impact agricultural and fishery sectors in Tuvalu, threatening food chains and the ability of Tuvaluans to produce and access safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary and cultural needs.

This study recommends a framework to enhance food security through transformative adaptive pathway in local communities by improving access, utilisation, and availability of food. Structural approaches (such as engineered sea walls, levees, and breakwaters) and non-structural approaches (such as reefs, mangroves, dunes, and salt marshes) could be targeted both in key locations as well as over time to tackle the consequences of sea-level rise and to safeguard the coastal communities and their food.