Food Security

Today 805 million people around the world are chronically undernourished, lacking physical, social and economic access to a stable, nutritious food supply[1]. Since June 2010, rising food prices have resulted in an additional 44 million people living in extreme poverty in low and middle-income countries[2]. People living without access to electricity and sustainable energy sources, have little chance to achieve food security and few opportunities for securing productive livelihoods that can lift them out of poverty[3].

The existing global food sector accounts for around 30 percent of the world’s total energy consumption and accounts for around 22 percent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions[4]. Shifting to more energy-smart food systems – by adopting renewable energy technology and stopping waste – is an important step towards climate friendly agriculture, and creating a model of food supply that tackles both climate change and food security issues[5].

 

Energy-Smart food systems

Much food goes to waste because farmers lack of access to energy in developing, rural based economies. This lack of energy results in the incorrect post-harvesting treatment of crops, livestock and transport. Renewable energy solutions provide significant potential to improve the postharvest treatment of produce[6]. For instance, solar refrigeration technologies can be used in regions with lots of sunlight to keep food and vaccines to treat livestock cool. [7]

Many mills used to extract oil from crops are currently powered by fossil fuel based up engines and generators. By replacing these with improved versions of wind- and water-powered mills used in the past, both expenses and pollution can be cut. For example, a biogas system could power a special engine for milling, or a conventional engine could run on plant oil. [8]

Unfortunately only niche concepts currently exist. Developing these ideas into more robust solutions will require innovative efforts . To address this issue, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has been researching energy-smart or integrated energy food systems. These provide what the FAO call the ‘three key objectives’ of energy-smart food systems: greater energy efficiency, increased use of renewable energy and improved energy access[9].

According to the FAO, the transformation to ‘energy-smart’ food systems requires[10]:

  1. Relying more on low-carbon energy systems and using energy more efficiently.
  2. Strengthening the role of renewable energy, including bioenergy, to provide greater energy access for social and economic development and supporting the achievement of national food security and sustainable development goals.

Making the shift to more energy-efficient food systems, based on the use of renewable energy, will simultaneously reduce fossil fuel dependency, improve productivity in the food sector and address energy-poverty in rural areas.

However, as with all renewable energy solutions, the energy-smart food systems can only work if legal and regulatory frameworks are created by the necessary stakeholders (ministries of agriculture, energy, finance, infrastructure, renewable energy entrepreneurs, utilities etc).

 

Making the Case for Bioenergy in Agriculture[11]:

Bioenergy may be used to help agriculture and the food sector become more self-sufficient by utilising waste products from the farming process to power farms. The integration of bioenergy with other renewable energies along the food chain can also lead to surplus energy generation that can help meet household needs, improve livelihoods and support local development.

Animal wastes, crop and forest residues, by-products from food processing, food wastes from retailers, households and restaurants are examples of biomass originating from different stages of the food supply chain. These biomass sources are flexible energy resources that can be:

  • Used on-site if and when needed to provide direct energy inputs
  • Processed on-site into energy for sale elsewhere
  • Sold off-site for collection and use for community heating or combined heat and power cogeneration
  • Sold off-site and collected on a wider scale and in greater volumes to supply larger commercial liquid biofuel production plants.

 

The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture

At the same time as agriculture must become more productive, it must also cope with a changing climate. FAO along with other partners is promoting ‘climate-smart agriculture’, which[12]:

  1. Contributes to climate change adaptation by sustainably increasing productivity and resilience.
  2. Mitigates climate change by reducing and/or removing greenhouse gases.
  3. Enhances the achievement of national food security and development goals.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report shows that climate change’s impact on global food security is happening sooner than previously estimated[13] on land and sea. For instance, climate change has been connected to the riots in Asia and Africa following the food price shocks in 2008.

What’s more, right now agriculture is contributing to the problem. The report shows that to cut greenhouse gas emissions enough for the world to stay within a “safe” 2°C temperature rise, total emissions from agriculture and deforestation will need to stop entirely by 2050 and become a net “carbon sink”, working to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere[14].

However agricultural emissions are actually set to increase by 30 percent by 2050 as demand for food increases, and the latest research suggests that deforestation rates are also still rising. Turning global agriculture and forestry into a net carbon sink will not happen without huge new efforts by companies and governments to embrace efficiency and renewable energy solutions[15]. By embracing renewable energy, rural smallholders can expect better access to energy and the entire agricultural industry diversify into energy generation.

  1. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4030e.pdf
  2. STANDING ON THE SIDELINES: Why food and beverage companies must do more to tackle climate change, Oxfam Briefing, May 2014, p. 7 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
  3. Policy Brief: The Case for Energy Smart Food Systems, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, 2011 , p.2 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
  4. Policy Brief: The Case for Energy Smart Food Systems, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, 2011 , p.3 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
  5. Renewable Energy for Food Preparation and Processing – WISIONS, 2011, ‘Energy for processing Food’, https://energypedia.info/wiki/Renewable_Energy_for_Food_Preparation_and_Processing_-_WISIONS#Energy_for_Processing_Food
  6. Renewable Energy for Food Preparation and Processing – WISIONS, 2011, ‘Energy for processing Food’, https://energypedia.info/wiki/Renewable_Energy_for_Food_Preparation_and_Processing_-_WISIONS#Energy_for_Processing_Food
  7. Renewable Energy for Food Preparation and Processing – WISIONS, 2011, ‘Energy for processing Food’, https://energypedia.info/wiki/Renewable_Energy_for_Food_Preparation_and_Processing_-_WISIONS#Energy_for_Processing_Food
  8. Policy Brief: The Case for Energy Smart Food Systems, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, 2011 , p.2 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
  9. Policy Brief: The Case for Energy Smart Food Systems, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, 2011 , p.3 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
  10. Policy Brief: The Case for Energy Smart Food Systems, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, 2011 , p.7 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
  11. Policy Brief: The Case for Energy Smart Food Systems, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, 2011 , p.3 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
  12. THE EU’S 2030 ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE PACKAGE: Fit for a food and energy-secure world?, Oxfam June 2014, p.3 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/bp186-standing-sidelines-big10-climate-emissions-200514-en-v2.pdf
  13. STANDING ON THE SIDELINES: Why food and beverage companies must do more to tackle climate change, Oxfam Briefing, May 2014, p. 7 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/bp186-standing-sidelines-big10-climate-emissions-200514-en-v2.pdf