IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i24p17086-d1008280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate Change and Nutrition: Implications for the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Author

Listed:
  • Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh

    (Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), World Health Organization (WHO), Cairo 7608, Egypt)

  • Maya Nabhani

    (Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 11-0236, Lebanon)

  • Mandy Taktouk

    (Nutrition and Food Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 11-0236, Lebanon)

  • Lara Nasreddine

    (Nutrition and Food Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 11-0236, Lebanon)

Abstract

The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is considered among the world’s most vulnerable to the dire impacts of climate change. This review paper aims at (1) characterizing climate change in countries of the EMR; (2) examining the potential effects of climate change on the nutritional and health status of the population; and (3) identifying the most vulnerable population groups. The paper explored several climate change indicators including daily temperatures, extreme temperature, daily precipitation, extreme precipitation (flooding, drought, storms, etc.), humidity, CO 2 concentrations and sea surface temperature in EMR countries. Findings suggest that climate change will exert a significant adverse effect on water and food security and showed that the nutritional status of the population, which is already characterized by the triple burden of malnutrition, is likely to worsen via three main pathways mediated by climate change, namely, its impact on food security, care and health. Women, infants, children, those living in poor households and those experiencing displacement will be among the most vulnerable to the nutritional impacts of climate change. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations from the Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition, which can support the region in tackling the critical nexus of climate change and nutrition.

Suggested Citation

  • Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh & Maya Nabhani & Mandy Taktouk & Lara Nasreddine, 2022. "Climate Change and Nutrition: Implications for the Eastern Mediterranean Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-27, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:17086-:d:1008280
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/17086/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/17086/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mr. Alexei P Kireyev, 2018. "Macro-Fiscal Implications of Climate Change: The Case of Djibouti," IMF Working Papers 2018/233, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Breisinger, Clemens & van Rheenen, Teunis & Ringler, Claudia & Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Minot, Nicholas & Aragon, Catherine & Yu, Bingxin & Ecker, Olivier & Zhu, Tingju, 2010. "Food security and economic development in the Middle East and North Africa," IFPRI discussion papers 985, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Zhen Shi & Huinan Huang & Yingju Wu & Yung-Ho Chiu & Shijiong Qin, 2020. "Climate Change Impacts on Agricultural Production and Crop Disaster Area in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-23, July.
    4. Leeann Kuehn & Sabrina McCormick, 2017. "Heat Exposure and Maternal Health in the Face of Climate Change," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-13, July.
    5. Nasir Munir & Adiqa Kiani & Asia Baig, 2016. "Climate Change and Food Security in Pakistan: A Time Series Analysis," Global Economics Review, Humanity Only, vol. 1(1), pages 47-55, December.
    6. Leah Salm & Nicholas Nisbett & Laura Cramer & Stuart Gillespie & Philip Thornton, 2021. "How climate change interacts with inequity to affect nutrition," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), March.
    7. Bryan, Elizabeth & Theis, Sophie & Choufani, Jowel & De Pinto, Alessandro & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Ringler, Claudia, 2017. "Conceptual framework: Gender, climate change, and nutrition integration initiative," GCAN policy notes 7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Samuel S. Myers & Antonella Zanobetti & Itai Kloog & Peter Huybers & Andrew D. B. Leakey & Arnold J. Bloom & Eli Carlisle & Lee H. Dietterich & Glenn Fitzgerald & Toshihiro Hasegawa & N. Michele Holbr, 2014. "Increasing CO2 threatens human nutrition," Nature, Nature, vol. 510(7503), pages 139-142, June.
    9. World Bank, 2010. "Yemen - Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on the Water and Agricultural Sectors and the Policy Implications," World Bank Publications - Reports 2943, The World Bank Group.
    10. Messer, Ellen, 1997. "Intra-household allocation of food and health care: Current findings and understandings--Introduction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(11), pages 1675-1684, June.
    11. Waha, Katharina & Krummenauer, Linda & Adams, Sophie & Aich, Valentin & Baarsch, Florent & Coumou, Dim & Fader, Marianela & Hoff, Holger & Jobbins, Guy & Marcus, Rachel & Mengel, Matthias & Otto, Ilon, 2017. "Climate change impacts in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region and their implications for vulnerable population groups," Munich Reprints in Economics 49918, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    12. Joseph Pelzman, 2018. "The Economics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number 10352, October.
    13. Tiziano Distefano & Francesco Laio & Luca Ridolfi & Stefano Schiavo, 2018. "Shock transmission in the International Food Trade Network," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Food and Agriculture Organization, 2013. "The State of Food and Agriculture, 2013," Working Papers id:5511, eSocialSciences.
    15. International Food Policy Research Institute, 2015. "Global Nutrition Report Actions and Accountability to Advance Nutrition and Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7543, eSocialSciences.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Davide Marino & Margherita Palmieri & Angelo Marucci & Mariangela Soraci & Antonio Barone & Silvia Pili, 2023. "Linking Flood Risk Mitigation and Food Security: An Analysis of Land-Use Change in the Metropolitan Area of Rome," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Khalifa, Sherin & Henning, Christian H. C. A., 2020. "Climate change and civil conflict in SSA and MENA: The same phenomena, but different mechanisms?," Working Papers of Agricultural Policy WP2020-03, University of Kiel, Department of Agricultural Economics, Chair of Agricultural Policy.
    2. John L. Fiedler & Keith Lividini, 2017. "Monitoring population diet quality and nutrition status with household consumption and expenditure surveys: suggestions for a Bangladesh baseline," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(1), pages 63-88, February.
    3. Mehdi Ben Slimane & Marilyne Huchet-Bourdon & Habib Zitouna, 2016. "The Role of Sectoral FDI in Promoting Agricultural Production and Improving Food Security," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 145, pages 50-65.
    4. Matthew R. Smith & Samuel S. Myers, 2018. "Impact of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on global human nutrition," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(9), pages 834-839, September.
    5. Lars Christian Gansel & David R Plew & Per Christian Endresen & Anna Ivanova Olsen & Ekrem Misimi & Jana Guenther & Østen Jensen, 2015. "Drag of Clean and Fouled Net Panels – Measurements and Parameterization of Fouling," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Gómez, Miguel I. & Ricketts, Katie D., 2013. "Food value chain transformations in developing countries: Selected hypotheses on nutritional implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 139-150.
    7. Raissa Sorgho & Isabel Mank & Moubassira Kagoné & Aurélia Souares & Ina Danquah & Rainer Sauerborn, 2020. "“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-25, October.
    8. Daniel P. Roberts & Autar K. Mattoo, 2018. "Sustainable Agriculture—Enhancing Environmental Benefits, Food Nutritional Quality and Building Crop Resilience to Abiotic and Biotic Stresses," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, January.
    9. Shouro Dasgupta & Elizabeth J. Z. Robinson, 2023. "Climate, weather and child health in Burkina Faso," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(4), pages 576-602, October.
    10. Gerald Nelson & Jessica Bogard & Keith Lividini & Joanne Arsenault & Malcolm Riley & Timothy B. Sulser & Daniel Mason-D’Croz & Brendan Power & David Gustafson & Mario Herrero & Keith Wiebe & Karen Coo, 2018. "Income growth and climate change effects on global nutrition security to mid-century," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(12), pages 773-781, December.
    11. D'Souza, Anna & Tandon, Sharad, 2015. "Using Household and Intrahousehold Data To Assess Food Insecurity: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Research Report 262207, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    12. Lavi, Iris & Katz, Carmit, 2016. "Neglected voices: Lessons from forensic investigation following neglect," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 171-176.
    13. Anna Yusa & Peter Berry & June J.Cheng & Nicholas Ogden & Barrie Bonsal & Ronald Stewart & Ruth Waldick, 2015. "Climate Change, Drought and Human Health in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-54, July.
    14. Christina Robinson, 2013. "Younger Siblings Can Be Good for Your Health: An Examination of Spillover Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 172-184, June.
    15. Jing You & Katsushi S. Imai & Raghav Gaiha, 2014. "Decoding the Growth-Nutrition Nexus in China: Inequality, Uncertainty and Food Insecurity," Discussion Paper Series DP2014-28, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, revised Dec 2014.
    16. Florencia G. Palis & Arelene J. B. Malabayabas & Grant R. Singleton & Mohammed A. Mazid & David E. Johnson, 2016. "Early harvest of monsoon rice to address seasonal hunger in northwest Bangladesh," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(2), pages 443-457, April.
    17. Menconi, M.E. & Giordano, S. & Grohmann, D., 2022. "Revisiting global food production and consumption patterns by developing resilient food systems for local communities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    18. Xie, Heping & Liu, Tao & Wang, Yufei & Wu, Yifan & Wang, Fuhuan & Tang, Liang & Jiang, Wen & Liang, Bin, 2017. "Enhancement of electricity generation in CO2 mineralization cell by using sodium sulfate as the reaction medium," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 991-999.
    19. Anna-Lisa Noack & Nicky Pouw, 2015. "A blind spot in food and nutrition security: where culture and social change shape the local food plate," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 169-182, June.
    20. Baarsch, Florent & Granadillos, Jessie R. & Hare, William & Knaus, Maria & Krapp, Mario & Schaeffer, Michiel & Lotze-Campen, Hermann, 2020. "The impact of climate change on incomes and convergence in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:17086-:d:1008280. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.