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Climate fluctuation and its impact on food security in Anbar Governorate
2024-02-23
Assistant Lecturer Muhammad Rahim Muhammad
Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre – University of Anbar
Fluctuation and climate change are some of the most important challenges facing the world, including Iraq and Anbar Governorate in particular, and any change in the climate is reflected in multiple forms in all aspects of life, including food security, so it is necessary to plan at the state level to face this emergency reflection, which in turn if neglected may weaken or deteriorate the state's economy, the weakness of planning in the face of climate problems and its repercussions on food security will constitute an economic war for the country including the study area for the next decade.
Climate fluctuation is defined: - It is a difference in the values of annual and monthly climatic elements at a certain level of the general average, that is, a difference in temperature rise from year to year, it is said that the fluctuation of the climate in a particular month in multiple years, for example, rainfall in January in one year in which the amount of rain reached (158) mm, in the following year it reached (55) mm and the third year reached (88) mm. Climate studies indicate that temperatures continue to rise, especially the great ones, and an increase in thermal extremes between the seasons of the year, that is, a rise in temperatures above their normal rates, which greatly affects the difference in atmospheric pressure values and through it reflected on the fluctuation in the amounts of rainfall and the different dates of their fall and their variation from one place to another, This is reflected in its impact on food security at the global level, as many farmers are not aware of the importance of climate and the repercussions of its change, for example, the temperature rise affected the prolongation of the growing season for winter crops, and the deterioration of production for summer crops, which led to an increase in water losses due to evaporation processes and thus plant stress. On the other hand, the changes in the rainfall element and its fluctuation from season to season in the study area were reflected in the occurrence of droughts, which made the prices of livestock and their products, and meat prices low from time to time. The fluctuation of rain in Ramadi station between the season (2020-2021) and (2021-2022), as the amounts of precipitation in that station reached (117 and 30) mm during those two seasons, reflected the deterioration of the natural pastures on which livestock feed and the high prices of fodder led to the exposure of livestock animals to unfair slaughter and a lack of demand for raising them in exchange for increasing the consumption of their meat, while in the season (2022-2023), the amounts of rain reached (171 mm), which is one of the rainy seasons, which was reflected in the rise in livestock prices in a non-violent manner. Unprecedented in Iraq in general and Anbar province in particular, The high prices of livestock and their products due to the large number of pastures with the decline in their numbers in general, posed a threat to the balance of food security in Anbar province through the high costs of spending on livestock, that the climate fluctuation contributed to the rise in the prices of strategic crops (wheat, barley and yellow corn), and also was the cause of the rise in the prices of foodstuffs (flour and rice), and the high prices of meat (cows, sheep, goats, fish and chicken), and a rise in livestock prices (dual-purpose). Significantly, the decline in vegetation cover, the increase in the likelihood of desertification, and the increase in the proportion of diseases and epidemics.
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