Food will become less nutritious in a changing climate, according to a new study by Harvard University, which makes it all the more important to find ecological approaches to agriculture.

An article on Thomson Reuters Foundation website outlines how in Africa 280 million people are malnourished and up to 82 per cent of child under-nutrition cases are not properly treated. Around a quarter of the population already lives with a zinc and/or iron deficiency.

The Harvard study found that zinc and iron nutrient rates declined under higher carbon dioxide levels. Wheat had 9.3 per cent less zinc, 5.1 per cent less iron content and 6.3 per cent less protein, and rice grains showed a 7.8 per cent reduction in protein.

Under climate change, Africa therefore cannot only expect tougher growing conditions but declining nutrition from what is grown.

“In response, Africa must strive to ensure its entire food system is resilient and robust enough to provide nutritious food to its citizens,” says the article.

Investing in ecosystems to make them more resilient to climate change, healthier and more productive can be a solution to growing more food in a changing climate.

For example, a project in Uganda that has promoted agroforestry and conservation agriculture has resulted in the planting of 31,000 tree seedlings with lower use of agrochemicals and improved biodiversity. Farmers have seen the fertility of soils improve and yields increase. This has reduced the time and cost spent preparing land for farming, enabling people to diversify into other activities such as livestock rearing and growing chilli. The project has so far benefited 75,000 people. Through generating surplus income, households have improved their food security.

Such approaches, referred to as ‘ecosystem-based adaptation’ have been shown to improve the health of the environment as well as the health of people. A 2004 study confirmed that ecologically produced crops contained significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus and less nitrates than conventional crops.

The article acknowledges that while ecosystem-based adaptation has many benefits for food security, more research is needed to determine whether it can produce more nutritious food under a changing climate.

Read the full story: How to stop climate change making food less nutritious?