Vulnerability of global primary food production against extreme climatic events in the context of food governance

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2016

Öğrenci: FİLİZ YENİ

Eş Danışman: HAMİ ALPAS, ŞULE GÜNEŞ

Özet:

According to latest reports of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is a trend demonstrating that the frequency and/or intensity of the extreme climatic events have been increasing, and duration of some extreme events has been changing substantially. Moreover, this trend is likely to continue in the current century, too. The ultimate goal of this study was to identify current vulnerabilities of global primary food production against extreme climatic events in terms of exposure and sensitivity, and to discuss potential entry points for adaptation planning using adaptive capacity (AC) indicators by means of an explorative vulnerability analysis. Outcomes of this analysis are demonstrated as a composite index (CI), where country performances in maintaining safety of food production are compared and ranked against climate change. In order to better interpret the results, cluster analysis technique is used as a tool to group the countries based on their vulnerability index (VI) scores. Results suggest that one sixth of the countries analyzed were subject to high level of exposure (0.45-1)while one third of them were subject to high to very high level of sensitivity (0.41-1 and low to moderate level of adaptive capacity (0-0.59). Results alsa suggested that, in the context of food governance, adaptation options can be supported by establishing independent food safety authorities at national level, and adaptation measures can be included in the private food safety standards at global level. Moreover, in the medium term, blending available public and private standards and promoting its implemetation outside the value chains can be a holistic approach to ensure safety of the global food market. The recommendation of this study is that in order to ensure conceptual coherence of future assessment, the availability of data on food safety related indicators has to be increased.