Impacts of Climate Change on Nutritional Health and Food Insecurity in South and Southeast Asia

Climate change has emerged as an alarming global crisis with consequences for both natural ecosystems and human societies. This chapter discusses the effect of climate change on food security and nutritional health, specifically in South and Southeast Asia, and the fact that rising temperatures and precipitation are some of the worst impacts on the environment. The consequences of such climate change are adverse to crop yields, reducing supplies of nutrient-dense foods, and widening existing inequalities, which disproportionately affect low-income and vulnerable populations. The aim is to study the adaptation in farming using climate-smart agriculture, biofortification, and precision farming to increase the resilience and nutritional quality of food systems. The chapter (methodologically) synthesizes recent research findings, socioeconomic analysis, and policy framework of the link between climate variability, food access, and nutritional outcomes. Results also reveal that climate change decreases dietary diversity, and micronutrient deficiencies and increases food insecurity among the most marginalized. The contributions of this chapter are that they conclude for climatic impacts to be mitigated, innovative, sustainable agricultural practices should be adopted that are integrated with indigenous knowledge, and also that there is a need for international cooperation.