IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i10p8280-d1150761.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID-19 Pandemic, Climate Change, and Conflicts on Agriculture: A Trio of Challenges to Global Food Security

Author

Listed:
  • Devendra Paudel

    (Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA)

  • Ram Chandra Neupane

    (Department of Plant Pathology and International Agriculture and Development (INTAD), The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA)

  • Sailesh Sigdel

    (Department of Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA)

  • Pradip Poudel

    (Department of Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA)

  • Aditya R. Khanal

    (Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture, Tennessee State University, 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd., Nashville, TN 37209, USA)

Abstract

Global food security is a worldwide concern. Food insecurity is a significant threat to poverty and hunger eradication goals. Agriculture is one of the focal points in the global policy agenda. Increases in agricultural productivity through the incorporation of technological advances or expansion of cultivable land areas have been pushed forward. However, production growth has slowed in many parts of the world due to various endemic challenges, such as decreased investment in agricultural research, lack of infrastructure in rural areas, and increasing water scarcity. Climate change adversities in agriculture and food security are increasing. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected global food supply chains. Economic and social instability from the pandemic contribute to long-term disturbances. Additionally, conflicts such as war directly affect agriculture by environmental degradation, violence, and breaches of national and international trade agreements. A combination of food security and climate change challenges along with increased conflicts among nations and post-COVID-19 social and economic issues bring bigger and more serious threats to agriculture. This necessitates the strategic design of policies through multifaceted fields regarding food systems. In this comprehensive review, we explore how these three challenging factors, COVID-19, climate change, and conflicts, are interrelated, and how they affect food security. We discuss the impact of these issues on the agricultural sector, plus possible ways of preventing or overcoming such adverse effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Devendra Paudel & Ram Chandra Neupane & Sailesh Sigdel & Pradip Poudel & Aditya R. Khanal, 2023. "COVID-19 Pandemic, Climate Change, and Conflicts on Agriculture: A Trio of Challenges to Global Food Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8280-:d:1150761
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8280/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8280/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gundersen, Craig & Kreider, Brent, 2009. "Bounding the effects of food insecurity on children's health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 971-983, September.
    2. Neumann, Kathleen & Verburg, Peter H. & Stehfest, Elke & Müller, Christoph, 2010. "The yield gap of global grain production: A spatial analysis," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(5), pages 316-326, June.
    3. William Ridley & Stephen Devadoss, 2021. "The Effects of COVID‐19 on Fruit and Vegetable Production," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 329-340, March.
    4. Bhattacharya, Jayanta & Currie, Janet & Haider, Steven, 2004. "Poverty, food insecurity, and nutritional outcomes in children and adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 839-862, July.
    5. Mingying Ma & Delin Huang & Syed Shoyeb Hossain, 2023. "Opportunities or Risks: Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Crop Structure Adjustment in Ecologically Vulnerable Regions in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Drezner, Daniel W., 2020. "The Song Remains the Same: International Relations After COVID-19," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(S1), pages 18-35, December.
    7. Music, Janet & Finch, Erica & Gone, Pallavi & Toze, Sandra & Charlebois, Sylvain & Mullins, Lisa, 2021. "Pandemic Victory Gardens: Potential for local land use policies," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Per Pinstrup-Andersen, 2009. "Food security: definition and measurement," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 1(1), pages 5-7, February.
    9. Annalisa De Boni & Giovanni Ottomano Palmisano & Maria De Angelis & Fabio Minervini, 2022. "Challenges for a Sustainable Food Supply Chain: A Review on Food Losses and Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.
    10. Katharine J. Mach & Caroline M. Kraan & W. Neil Adger & Halvard Buhaug & Marshall Burke & James D. Fearon & Christopher B. Field & Cullen S. Hendrix & Jean-Francois Maystadt & John O’Loughlin & Philip, 2019. "Climate as a risk factor for armed conflict," Nature, Nature, vol. 571(7764), pages 193-197, July.
    11. Zhang, Peng & Zhang, Junjie & Chen, Minpeng, 2017. "Economic impacts of climate change on agriculture: The importance of additional climatic variables other than temperature and precipitation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 8-31.
    12. Mozumdar, Lavlu, 2012. "Agricultural productivity and food security in the developing world," Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, vol. 35(1-2).
    13. Martin-Shields, Charles P. & Stojetz, Wolfgang, 2019. "Food security and conflict: Empirical challenges and future opportunities for research and policy making on food security and conflict," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 150-164.
    14. Junfang Zhao & Dongsheng Liu & Ruixi Huang, 2023. "A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture: Recent Advancements, Challenges, and Future Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Ogundari, Kolawole, 2014. "The Paradigm of Agricultural Efficiency and its Implication on Food Security in Africa: What Does Meta-analysis Reveal?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 690-702.
    16. Joseph Ching & Mizuo Kajino, 2020. "Rethinking Air Quality and Climate Change after COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-11, July.
    17. Nathaniel D. Mueller & James S. Gerber & Matt Johnston & Deepak K. Ray & Navin Ramankutty & Jonathan A. Foley, 2012. "Closing yield gaps through nutrient and water management," Nature, Nature, vol. 490(7419), pages 254-257, October.
    18. Bahati Ally Magesa & Geetha Mohan & Indrek Melts & Hirotaka Matsuda & Jian Pu & Kensuke Fukushi, 2023. "Interactions between Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals in Tanzania, East Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    19. Siva K. Balasundram & Redmond R. Shamshiri & Shankarappa Sridhara & Nastaran Rizan, 2023. "The Role of Digital Agriculture in Mitigating Climate Change and Ensuring Food Security: An Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-23, March.
    20. Daniel Amoak & Isaac Luginaah & Gordon McBean, 2022. "Climate Change, Food Security, and Health: Harnessing Agroecology to Build Climate-Resilient Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, October.
    21. Francesco Bosello & Jian Zhang, 2005. "Assessing Climate Change Impacts: Agriculture," Working Papers 2005.94, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    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. Loredana Gherasimescu & Florin Imbrea & Ilinca Imbrea & Laura Șmuleac & Raul Pașcalău & Cosmin Alin Popoescu & Piotr Prus & Cosmin Sălășan, 2023. "The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on West Romanian Crop Production in 2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Jan Polcyn & Alexandru Stratan & Viorica Lopotenco, 2023. "Sustainable Agriculture’s Contribution to Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-29, November.

    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. Nicholas Moellman, 2020. "Healthcare and Hunger: Effects of the ACA Medicaid Expansions on Food Insecurity in America," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 168-186, June.
    2. Westhoek, Henk & Ingram, John & van Berkum, Siemen & Hajer, Maarten, 2015. "The European food system and natural resources: Impacts and Options," 148th Seminar, November 30-December 1, 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands 229279, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Hampf, Anna C. & Carauta, Marcelo & Latynskiy, Evgeny & Libera, Affonso A.D. & Monteiro, Leonardo & Sentelhas, Paulo & Troost, Christian & Berger, Thomas & Nendel, Claas, 2018. "The biophysical and socio-economic dimension of yield gaps in the southern Amazon – A bio-economic modelling approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Luis Santos Pereira, 2017. "Water, Agriculture and Food: Challenges and Issues," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 2985-2999, August.
    5. Dharmasena, Senarath & Bessler, David A. & Capps, Oral, 2016. "Food environment in the United States as a complex economic system," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 163-175.
    6. Larson,Donald F. & Muraoka,Rie & Otsuka,Keijiro, 2016. "On the central role of small farms in African rural development strategies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7710, The World Bank.
    7. Shahzad Alvi & Faisal Jamil & Roberto Roson & Martina Sartori, 2020. "Do Farmers Adapt to Climate Change? A Macro Perspective," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-12, June.
    8. Limin Chuan & Huaiguo Zheng & Sufen Sun & Ailing Wang & Jipei Liu & Tongke Zhao & Jingjuan Zhao, 2019. "A Sustainable Way of Fertilizer Recommendation Based on Yield Response and Agronomic Efficiency for Chinese Cabbage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-16, August.
    9. Dazhuan Ge & Hualou Long & Li Ma & Yingnan Zhang & Shuangshuang Tu, 2017. "Analysis Framework of China’s Grain Production System: A Spatial Resilience Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Leonardsson, Hanna & Kronsell, Annica & Andersson, Erik & Burman, Anders & Blanes, Ruy & Da Costa, Karen & Hasselskog, Malin & Stepanova, Olga & Öjendal, Joakim, 2021. "Achieving peaceful climate change adaptation through transformative governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    11. Gou, Fang & Yin, Wen & Hong, Yu & van der Werf, Wopke & Chai, Qiang & Heerink, Nico & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2017. "On yield gaps and yield gains in intercropping: Opportunities for increasing grain production in northwest China," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 96-105.
    12. Schierhorn, Florian & Faramarzi, Monireh & Prishchepov, Alexander V. & Koch, Friedrich J. & Müller, Daniel, 2014. "Quantifying yield gaps in wheat production in Russia," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9(8), pages 1-12.
    13. Mary Ollenburger & Page Kyle & Xin Zhang, 2022. "Uncertainties in estimating global potential yields and their impacts for long-term modeling," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(5), pages 1177-1190, October.
    14. Gurdeep Singh Malhi & Manpreet Kaur & Prashant Kaushik, 2021. "Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Its Mitigation Strategies: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-21, January.
    15. Žiga Malek & Peter H. Verburg, 2018. "Adaptation of land management in the Mediterranean under scenarios of irrigation water use and availability," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 821-837, August.
    16. Kelly Noonan & Hope Corman & Nancy E. Reichman, 2014. "Effects of Maternal Depression on Family Food Insecurity," NBER Working Papers 20113, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Daniel Millimet & Manan Roy, 2015. "Partial identification of the long-run causal effect of food security on child health," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 83-141, February.
    18. Khanal, Uttam & Wilson, Clevo & Shankar, Sriram & Hoang, Viet-Ngu & Lee, Boon, 2018. "Farm performance analysis: Technical efficiencies and technology gaps of Nepalese farmers in different agro-ecological regions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 645-653.
    19. Adesoji Adelaja & Justin George & Louise Fox & Keith Fuglie & Thomas Jayne, 2021. "Shocks, Resilience and Structural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-22, December.
    20. María José Ibarrola-Rivas & Sanderine Nonhebel, 2016. "Variations in the Use of Resources for Food: Land, Nitrogen Fertilizer and Food Nexus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-16, December.

    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:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8280-:d:1150761. 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.