The study will critically examine the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and food value chains in rural communities, and the role of farmers and other value-chain actors in building a resilient society by addressing issues of food security. “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 2016). The main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between agricultural production, processing and marketing and impact of climate change on food security in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The objectives include investigating the impact of climate change on the four dimensions of food security (food availability, accessibility, utilisation, and food system stability) in Akwa-Ibom State, using cassava as a case-study crop; identifying strategies adopted by farmers and other value chain actors to adapt to climate change and food insecurity; and also identifying policies and institutions which facilitate or constrain adaptation by farmers and other value-chain actors

Menyene Ekanem is a Nigerian by birth. After five years of studies spanning between 2004 and 2009 at the University of Calabar, Nigeria, she obtained a Bachelor of Agriculture in soil science. In 2010, she received her call up for the mandatory one-year national service in Nigeria where she was posted to Katsina State. Her passion for her host community motivated her to organise drilling of a borehole to provide portable water supply to the community. To assist inmates in the state correctional facility, she opened a shoe making factory for the males while the females were trained on bead making. Her contributions did not go unnoticed. She was therefore offered a scholarship by the Government of Nigeria to pursue her MSc at the University of Reading where she graduated with merit in Soils and Environmental Pollution. In September, 2019, Menyene joined the University of Greenwich for her doctoral studies on climate change and food security. Working with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Nigeria, her passion is to drive a paradigm shift in the agricultural sector by helping rural farmers to adapt to changing climatic conditions.

• Ekanem, M. (2013). The priming effect of biochar on soil organic matter (Unpublished MSc Thesis). University of Reading. Reading, United Kingdom.
• Ekanem, M. (2009). Soil fertility in rubber plantation (Unpublished BSc Thesis). University of Calabar. Cross Rivers State, Nigeria.
• Ekanem, M. (2013). Waste management in the UK (MSc Presentation). University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.

• 2011 National Youth Service Corps’ (NYSC) National Merit Award