scholarly journals Assessing Energy and Environmental Efficiency of the Spanish Agri-Food System Using the LCA/DEA Methodology

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jara Laso ◽  
Daniel Hoehn ◽  
María Margallo ◽  
Isabel García-Herrero ◽  
Laura Batlle-Bayer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Average Energy ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Resource Exploitation

Feeding the world’s population sustainably is a major challenge of our society, and was stated as one of the key priorities for development cooperation by the European Union (EU) policy framework on food security. However, with the current trend of natural resource exploitation, food systems consume around 30% of final energy use, generating up to 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Given the expected increase of global population (nine billion people by 2050) and the amount of food losses and waste generated (one-third of global food production), improving the efficiency of food systems along the supply chain is essential to ensure food security. This study combines life-cycle assessment (LCA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the efficiency of Spanish agri-food system and to propose improvement actions in order to reduce energy usage and GHG emissions. An average energy saving of approximately 70% is estimated for the Spanish agri-food system in order to be efficient. This study highlights the importance of the DEA method as a tool for energy optimization, identifying efficient and inefficient food systems. This approach could be adopted by administrations, policy-makers, and producers as a helpful instrument to support decision-making and improve the sustainability of agri-food systems.

The compatibility of animal-sourced food and circularity in healthy European diets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin van Selm ◽  
Anita Frehner ◽  
Imke de Boer ◽  
Ollie van Hal ◽  
Renske Hijbeek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Circular System

Abstract Several dietary guidelines are developed that propose limiting the intake of animal protein to stay within planetary boundaries and improve human health. Simultaneously, circular food systems are receiving significant attention in the European Union as an option to improve the current food system. In a circular system, animals are solely fed with low-opportunity-cost-biomass (LCB), resulting in substantially fewer animals and reduced supply of animal-sourced nutrients to humans. We assessed whether this circularity principle within the EU-28 is compatible with the recommended animal-source food consumption in healthy and environmentally friendly dietary guidelines such as the EAT-LANCET dietary guidelines. Our results show that the overall quantity of animal-sourced protein in EAT-LANCET dietary guidelines can be met, but that the precise levels of inclusion of different animal-sourced foods in such a diet cannot be achieved. The EAT-LANCET guidelines recommend larger quantities of chicken meat over beef and pork while a circular food system produces mainly milk, dairy-beef, and pork. All three circularity diets outperform the EAT-LANCET diet in nutritional value while reducing GHG emissions (up-to 31%) and arable land use (up-to 42%). Careful consideration of the permissible substitutability between animal-sourced foods is urgently needed to define the role of animal products in circular human diets. In this way the consumption of animal products - based on the circularity principle of only feeding animals with LCB - benefits both human health and the environment.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Glopan Food Systems Framework by Integrating Gender: Relevance for Women in African Agriculture

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8564
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Mkandawire ◽  
Melody Mentz-Coetzee ◽  
Margaret Najjingo Mangheni ◽  
Eleonora Barusi
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Gender Barriers ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
African Agriculture ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Systems Framework

Globally, gender inequalities constrain food security, with women often disproportionately affected. Women play a fundamental role in household food and nutrition security. The multiple roles women play in various areas of the food system are not always recognised. This oversight emerges from an overemphasis on one aspect of the food system, without considering how this area might affect or be affected by another aspect. This study aimed to draw on international commitments and treaties using content analysis to enhance the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Security food systems framework by integrating a gender perspective. The study found that generally, there is a consensus on specific actions that can be taken to advance gender equality at specific stages of the food system. However, governance and social systems constraints that are not necessarily part of the food system, but have a significant bearing on men and women’s capacity to effectively participate in the food system, need to be addressed. While the proposed conceptual framework has some limitations, it offers a foundation on which researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders can begin conceptualising the interconnectedness of gender barriers in the food system.

Agricultural and Food Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Abiodun Elijah Obayelu ◽  
Simeon Olusola Ayansina
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Policy Intervention ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
System Sustainability ◽  
Sustainable Food System

Policy plays significant role in defining the food system of any country, and a sustainable food system is necessary for food security. This chapter maps out the causal interactions between food systems, food security and policy, and the challenges in transition to a sustainable food system while respecting the rights of all people to have access to adequate food in Nigeria. Explicit, rigorous, and transparent literature search was undertaken and many articles were assessed and reviewed. Although the results established a mutual relationship between food system and food security, existing literature have widely failed to take interactions between food systems, food security and policy into account. While food production is used as an entry point to improving food system sustainability, the quest for food security are undermining transition towards sustainable food systems. It was found that without right policies in place, it may be difficult to have food systems that are sustainable and ensure food security. This chapter provides a useful contribution to policy, and research on transitions towards sustainable food system. Any policy intervention to address one part of the food systems will impact on other parts and will determine whether a country is food secure or not. Enabling policy environment is therefore essential in ensuring a sustainable food system and for the attainment of food security.

scholarly journals Healthy Diets and Reduced Land Pressure: Towards a Double Gain for Future Food Systems in Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Smeets-Kristkova ◽  
Thom Achterbosch ◽  
Marijke Kuiper
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Leverage Points ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
The Impact

Nigeria is one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Strong GDP and population growth coupled with urbanization trends place tremendous pressures on natural resources and the food systems that are dependent on them. Understanding the impact of these “mega trends” is important to identify key leverage points for navigating towards improved nutrition and food security in Nigeria. This paper contributes to the Foresight Project of the Food Systems for Healthier Diets which aims to analyse how the food system in Nigeria is expected to transform in the next decades, and to identify the leverage points for making sure that the transformation contributes to balanced consumer diets. For the food systems foresight, a well-established global economy-wide model, MAGNET, is applied that enables to capture the interlinkages among different food industry players in one consistent framework. By linking MAGNET to the GENUS nutritional database, it is further possible to relate the developments occurring on a macro-level with detailed macro and micronutrient consumption. Model projections suggest that a process of intensification of agriculture in combination with land substitution appears critical for the evolution of food and nutrition security, and for shifts towards healthy diets for the population. Intensification results in greater diversity of the production systems, which in turn cascades into positive effects on the diversity in the food supply and better food security outcomes.

scholarly journals Farmed animal production in tropical circular food systems

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Oosting ◽  
Jan van der Lee ◽  
Marc Verdegem ◽  
Marion de Vries ◽  
Adriaan Vernooij ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Food System ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
The Tropics

AbstractIn the discourse about the development of farmed animal production (terrestrial livestock production and aquaculture) in the tropics, two important food system outcomes emerge: (1) to supply animal-sourced food (ASF) at a level that suffices healthy future diets, including for poor people, and (2) to contribute to climate change mitigation and minimize pollution with nitrogen and phosphorus. Livestock production and aquaculture contribute to food security directly by increasing producers’ food diversity and availability, but also that of urban consumers, and indirectly through income generation and increased farm resilience. Recently, circularity has come to the fore as an integrated approach to food system development. Circularity has four cornerstones: (1) food crops have highest priority (which implies no food-feed competition), (2) avoid losses, (3) recycle waste and (4) use animals to unlock biomass that humans cannot eat. In this review, the role of farmed animals in circular food systems in the tropics is presented in four case studies and the impacts of circularity on food security and environmental impact mitigation are discussed. The cases are ruminants in grazing systems in West Africa and in Colombia, fish in pond aquaculture in general, and land-limited dairy production in Indonesia. Additionally, options for novel protein sources for use in livestock and fish feeding are presented. It is concluded that farmed animals are important in circular food systems because of their use of land unsuited for crop production, their upgrading of crop residues, and their supply of manure to crop production. Nevertheless, the increasing demand for ASF puts pressure on important characteristics of circularity, such as minimizing food-feed competition, maximization of use of waste streams in feed, and the value of manure for fertilization. Hence, in line with conclusions for Western countries, maximum circularity and sustainability of food systems can only be achieved by optimizing the population size of animals. Thus, a sustainable contribution of ASF production to global food security is complex and in not only a technical matter or outcome of an economic process balancing supply and demand. It requires governance for which public, private, and social actors need to partner.

scholarly journals The Impact of Covid-19 on Livelihoods and Food Security

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thompson, John Thompson, John ◽  
Njuguna Ndung’u ◽  
Miguel Albacete ◽  
Abid Q. Suleri ◽  
Junaid Zahid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Food System ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Equity Core

Studies of livelihoods and food systems since the start of the global pandemic in 2020 have shown a consistent pattern: the primary risks to food and livelihood security are at the household level. Covid-19 is having a major impact on households’ production and access to quality, nutritious food, due to losses of income, combined with increasing food prices, and restrictions to movements of people, inputs and products. The studies included in this Research for Policy and Practice Report and supported by the Covid-19 Responses for Equity (CORE) Programme span several continents and are coordinated by leading research organisations with a detailed understanding of local food system dynamics and associated equity and livelihood issues in their regions: (1) the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa; (2) supporting small and medium enterprises, food security, and evolving social protection mechanisms to deal with Covid-19 in Pakistan; and (3) impact of Covid-19 on family farming and food security in Latin America: evidence-based public policy responses.

scholarly journals Community food assessments: combining community action and policy for a more just and sustainable food system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Charter
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Sustainable Food System

This paper is concerned with the conception of a solution to food insecurity in Canada. I will begin by reviewing the two dominant approaches to food security, the antipoverty approach and the sustainable food systems approach. I will argue that in order to establish a food secure Canada, community action to increase food access and address concerns about production, distribution and consumption needs to happen in conjunction with policy action that seeks to reduce inequality and to promote a more just and sustainable food system. To examine this premise, I will discuss two Canadian Community Food Assessments, which will provide insight into how the food system is playing out in two communities, and what is being done to create a more balanced food system for local residents. I will also provide a discussion of the assessments' recommendations and how they see change coming about in the food system. What needs to happen in order to create food security in Canada? And with who and where are these changes to take place?

scholarly journals Seafood in Food Security: A Call for Bridging the Terrestrial-Aquatic Divide

2022 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacia Stetkiewicz ◽  
Rachel A. Norman ◽  
Edward Hugh Allison ◽  
Neil L. Andrew ◽  
Gulshan Ara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
Global Food

The contribution of seafood to global food security is being increasingly highlighted in policy. However, the extent to which such claims are supported in the current food security literature is unclear. This review assesses the extent to which seafood is represented in the recent food security literature, both individually and from a food systems perspective, in combination with terrestrially-based production systems. The results demonstrate that seafood remains under-researched compared to the role of terrestrial animal and plant production in food security. Furthermore, seafood and terrestrial production remain siloed, with very few papers addressing the combined contribution or relations between terrestrial and aquatic systems. We conclude that far more attention is needed to the specific and relative role of seafood in global food security and call for the integration of seafood in a wider interdisciplinary approach to global food system research.

The Obesity Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Developing Countries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Lowitt ◽  
Katherine Gray-Donald ◽  
Gordon M. Hickey ◽  
Arlette Saint Ville ◽  
Isabella Francis-Granderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Nutrition Transition ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
School Type ◽  
Farm To School ◽  
Double Burden

Overweight and obesity affect over half a billion people globally and represent major public health concerns because excess weight gain is a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases. This chapter presents an overview of global trends in obesity, considering both developed and developing country contexts. It describes how this pandemic is rooted in the “nutrition transition” taking place around the world as a result of a globalized agri-food system that is changing the quantity, types, and desirability of foods available for consumption. In some countries, this is contributing to a “double burden of malnutrition,” as the problem of undernutrition now coexists alongside an increasing prevalence of over-nutrition. An overview of key policy responses and policy instruments that governments can utilize to address obesity is provided, recognizing that a holistic food systems response is needed to address the global challenge of obesity. The remainder of the chapter focuses on the food security and obesity challenges facing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and profiles a “farm to fork” school feeding project in the island nation of St. Kitts-Nevis that was designed to reduce obesity and improve food security among children. Implementation and key results of this integrated project are presented, including the core components of agricultural production, procurement of local produce, and children’s consumption of nutritious foods. The chapter concludes by identifying lessons for supporting “farm to school”-type projects as a possible food systems response to addressing obesity and food insecurity.

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