Food security and climate change in West Asia

Abstract

The population of West Asia was merely 51 millions in 1950, and progressively increased to 232 million in 2010 and is projected to increase to 560 million by 2050, with an average growth rate of 2.1 % per annum. The rapid increase in population will increase pressure on the finite soil resources, which are also being converted to other uses. The problem of the imbalance between population and food will be confounded by the projected climate change. Because of the geographical location and other drivers prevalent in many West Asian countries the climate varies from arid and semi-arid, temperature from moderate to high, precipitation from low to scarce, and soils moderately to severely depleted of their organic carbon and plant nutrient reserves. Both water and wind erosion and salinity are the major types of land degradation. The problems of food scarcity and degradation of natural resources in the West Asia region are apparent in the regional and global political, legislative and social framework. The average grain yields have stagnated between 1980 and 2010. Agronomic yields of most food staples (i.e., maize, wheat, rice) and the corresponding rates of fertilizer use per ha are lower than those in developed countries. In addition to soils of low fertility, soil and crop management practices used are also inadequate. The biggest obstacle to advancing production in West Asia is the lack of agricultural inputs. Crop productivity in degraded soils can be greatly enhanced by using modern innovations such as soil biotechnology, useful soil organisms and integrated nutrient management (INM).