Detailed breakdown of climate change: communication and food insecurity and malnutrition

Delso Khossa"

The magnitude of climate phenomena poses challenges in understanding, systematizing and analyzing them, but studying them in detail can simplify the process and deepen the implications and consequences for human life. The retail sector is a sample in the universe of climate change. In this case, demystifying malnutrition as an effect of climate change increases the likelihood of changing citizens' behavior. Understanding and preventing disasters depend on the way communication is planned, targeted, executed, inclusive, participatory, and cognitive and affective. The “message is the medium”, communication is a change in behaviour for the quality of human life. Effective communication is that which opts for impactful results, producing positive effects on the habits and customs of communities. The power of communication in socialisation changes and improvements in public policies cannot be neglected. According to Rodrigues et al (2016), attitudes are a lasting organisation of beliefs and cognitions adopted by an affective charge, or belonging with a single pro or con positioning and which feed the subjective line of thought in the individual, through affective, cognitive and behavioural characteristics.To shape citizens’ attitudes towards food insecurity and climate change, a risk communication strategy is needed that involves all stakeholders with interests in this area. Democratic exercise is crucial for the design and implementation of the risk communication strategy. Food insecurity is a result of the effects of climate change, which worsens malnutrition. The analysis in question focuses on food insecurity (malnutrition), climate change and risk communication. The occurrence of phenomena caused by violent human action tends to worsen the food insecurity situation of communities subject to climate change. The increase in precipitation on land and in the oceans fuels the cyclical manifestation of hunger, worsening the lack of food, in addition to some beliefs that generate child malnutrition. Malnutrition is characterized by being acute or chronic. What is malnutrition? Malnutrition is the imbalance between nutritional supplies and energy, and the body's demand for energy, which inadequately influences the metabolic system. Malnutrition affects not only children, but also all ages (Douglas, 2002). In early childhood, malnutrition corresponds to growth failure, generating deficits such as low adult height, school and economic performance. In terms of types, malnutrition is classified as follows: (1) acute malnutrition - this is the current malnutrition in children and its signs include rapid weight loss, poor growth, lack of appetite, less activity, bilateral edema (weakened, thin and yellowish hair, apathy and irritation, high risk of death and face with signs of swelling) and multiple infections; and (2) chronic malnutrition - this is characterized by the absence of micronutrients such as vitamins A, folic acid, iodine, proteins or iron, lack of drinking water that can cause constant diarrhea, preventing the assimilation of nutrients. The symptoms of chronic malnutrition manifest themselves in the long term, such as, for example, delayed growth in the critical 1000 days of a child's life and the consequences manifest themselves at a physical and psychological level, and a weaker immune system, which means that the child is prone to different types of diseases. Girls are more affected by the physical consequences, which in the future can lead to serious complications during childbirth and in some cases the death of the mother or baby, as well as abnormal uterine development and reduced blood flow that affects the placenta and fetal development. In 2023, an estimated 733 million people faced food insecurity and malnutrition. This represents 11% of the world’s population, and one in five people in Africa are hungry. And an estimated 582 million people will be chronically undernourished by 2030, half of them in Africa, warns the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2024). Food insecurity and malnutrition affect western and central Africa, and according to the World Food Programme (WFP), an estimated 49.5 million people went hungry in 2024. An estimated 773,000 Mozambicans faced acute levels of food insecurity from October 2024 to March 2025; reasons include violence in Cabo Delgado province and an increased likelihood of tropical storms, cyclones and floods with the arrival of the La Niña phenomenon. Furthermore, according to Rádio Moçambique, between October 2024 and March 2025, around 1.8 million citizens faced food insecurity in the country. Globally, an estimated 181 million children under the age of 5 – or 1 in 4 – suffer from severe child food poverty, making them up to 50 percent more likely to suffer from acute wasting, a potentially fatal form of malnutrition (UNICEF Report, 2024). In the child epidemiology of Africa, an estimated 63 million children suffer from stunting and another 13 million face other forms of malnutrition. In Mozambique, the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data indicate that 36.7 percent of children suffer from chronic malnutrition and 3.8 percent face acute malnutrition. The World Bank study (2020:1), entitled Nutritionally Smart Agriculture in Mozambique, describes the malnutrition situation in a sample of three provinces (Sofala, Manica and Nampula). The country's socio-economic characteristics show that more than 70% of poor families in rural areas have their income in agriculture, a sector that employs 80% of the workforce; 54% of families are unable to meet the basic micronutrient needs (iron, vitamin A and zinc) for the human body, which means that there is a correlation between income and the prevalence of malnutrition by province. The cross-cutting nature of the problem led global actors to approve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2016-2030), and in its objective 2 “Eradicate hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, an attempt is made to provide guidance for national policies. In response, in the national context, the Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Health Strategy II was approved for the years 2019-2023, with the aim of promoting the consumption of breast milk to reduce child malnutrition. The Strategic Plan for Education 2020-2029 was also approved, which has as one of its objectives school meals and the teaching of nutrition content. The other ministerial sectors embrace the cause for the approval and implementation of public policies. Last year, the Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Implementation Strategy (2024-2030) was approved, a crucial instrument for improving food security as a basic right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The cyclical occurrence of climate change poses challenges to the effectiveness, efficiency and implementation of public policies. Risk communication is an essential tool not only to influence behaviour change, but also to rationalise scarce resources. The second challenge in the rule of law is the selective definition of priority public policies that can have a positive impact on other sectors. For example, the transfer of sustainable technologies/techniques for agricultural practices can first minimise degradation, uncontrolled burning or deforestation of forests, contributing significantly to food security and nutrition, as well as family income. The third challenge is the production of reliable data on the number of people affected to be the basis for planning and implementing green public policies. The fourth is the need to strengthen communication in health units, schools and community meetings about the causes and consequences of malnutrition on human life using simple, relevant and impartial language, and to share information with community radio stations and community leaders.

2025/12/3