scholarly journals Bottom-Up Transformation of Agriculture and Food Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2171
Author(s):  
Harpinder Sandhu
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Intensive Farming ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Global Agriculture ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Agriculture And Food

The global agenda for sustainable development includes the alleviation of poverty and hunger by developing sustainable agriculture and food systems. Intensive farming systems and its variations, such as sustainable intensification or ecological intensification, are currently being promoted as technologies that can improve agricultural productivity and reduce environmental impacts. However, these are focused only on per-hectare productivity with growing negative impacts on local culture and the environment. This study identifies the negative impacts of crop- and livestock-based farming systems on the Indo-Gangetic plains, as well as in the USA, China, and South America as an example of key challenges in global agriculture. These impacts are classified into environmental, social, economic, and health impacts. An alternative paradigm is proposed to overcome some of the shortcomings of current global agriculture. This new bottom-up paradigm is based on three indicators that are fundamental to achieve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture and food systems. These are divided into technical, geographic, and social indicators and have been analysed for four farming systems—low-input, high-input, organic, and desired farming systems. Seven global geographic regions have been analysed in terms of their socio-economic indicators and status of agriculture in order to develop pathways for the implementation of the new paradigm. The pathway for change suggested in this paper includes a focus on research and training, policy and institutional changes, and an evaluation of the costs and benefits, and changes in production models that consider scale and sustainability metrics and include innovations in consultation with all stakeholders. This new paradigm has the potential to direct global efforts towards more local and regional solutions, which are community driven and constitute a ‘bottom-up’ approach.

scholarly journals The future of agriculture and food: Evaluating the holistic costs and benefits

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harpinder Sandhu ◽  
Alexander Müller ◽  
Pavan Sukhdev ◽  
Kathleen Merrigan ◽  
Abdou Tenkouano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic System ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Environmental Externalities ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Global Agriculture ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Policy Systems

Inadequacies of the current agriculture and food systems are recognised globally in the form of damages to environment and human health. In addition, the prevailing economic and policy systems do not reflect these damages in its accounting systems and standards. These shortcomings lead to perverse and pervasive outcomes for society at large. Our proposal is to consider all social and environmental externalities – both negative and positive, in global agriculture and food systems and reflect them in an economic system by evaluating comprehensive costs and benefits. This can be done by adopting an innovative, universal, and inclusive framework (the ‘TEEBAgriFood’ framework) in order to stimulate appropriate policy responses.

Managing Water for Food and Agricultural Transformation in Africa

2019 ◽  
pp. 469-487
Author(s):  
Timothy O. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Rural Transformation ◽  
Agricultural Transformation ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Technical Solutions ◽  
Food Value

This chapter examines the links between water, food and society in Africa. Agricultural transformation to promote growth, eliminate poverty and hunger and sustain ecosystems is one of the central pillars of current development agenda in Africa. Achievement of this agenda will crucially depend on sustainable water management. However, agri-food systems and water resources are under greater pressure than ever before due to demographic, economic and climatic changes. The nature and scale of these changes suggest that only a holistic and integrated management of all shades of water resources, green, blue and grey, will allow Africa to eliminate hunger and poverty. Research-based technical solutions as well as institutional and policy measures are proposed that would allow available water resources to be sustainably used to promote climate-resilient farming systems, improve agricultural productivity and food security and spur the development of viable food value chains needed for agricultural and rural transformation.

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.

scholarly journals A global database of diversified farming effects on biodiversity and yield

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K. Jones ◽  
Andrea C. Sánchez ◽  
Stella D. Juventia ◽  
Natalia Estrada-Carmona
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Global Database ◽  
Diversified Farming Systems

AbstractWith the Convention on Biological Diversity conference (COP15), United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), and United Nations Food Systems Summit, 2021 is a pivotal year for transitioning towards sustainable food systems. Diversified farming systems are key to more sustainable food production. Here we present a global dataset documenting outcomes of diversified farming practices for biodiversity and yields compiled following best standards for systematic review of primary studies and specifically designed for use in meta-analysis. The dataset includes 4076 comparisons of biodiversity outcomes and 1214 of yield in diversified farming systems compared to one of two reference systems. It contains evidence from 48 countries of effects on species from 33 taxonomic orders (spanning insects, plants, birds, mammals, eukaryotes, annelids, fungi, and bacteria) of diversified farming systems producing annual or perennial crops across 12 commodity groups. The dataset presented provides a resource for researchers and practitioners to easily access information on where diversified farming systems effectively contribute to biodiversity and food production outcomes.

scholarly journals Agricultural subsidies and global greenhouse gas emissions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Laborde ◽  
Abdullah Mamun ◽  
Will Martin ◽  
Valeria Piñeiro ◽  
Rob Vos
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Consumer Prices ◽  
High Emission ◽  
The Government ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Global Emissions

AbstractAgricultural production is strongly affected by and a major contributor to climate change. Agriculture and land-use change account for a quarter of total global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Agriculture receives around US$600 billion per year worldwide in government support. No rigorous quantification of the impact of this support on GHG emissions has been available. This article helps fill the void. Here, we find that, while over the years the government support has incentivized the development of high-emission farming systems, at present, the support only has a small impact in terms of inducing additional global GHG emissions from agricultural production; partly because support is not systematically biased towards high-emission products, and partly because support generated by trade protection reduces demand for some high-emission products by raising their consumer prices. Substantially reducing GHG emissions from agriculture while safeguarding food security requires a more comprehensive revamping of existing support to agriculture and food consumption.

scholarly journals Application of Novel Non-Thermal Physical Technologies to Degrade Mycotoxins

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Mohammad Yousefi ◽  
Masoud Aman Mohammadi ◽  
Maryam Zabihzadeh Khajavi ◽  
Ali Ehsani ◽  
Vladimír Scholtz
Keyword(s):  
Electron Beam ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Plasma Electron ◽  
Pulsed Light ◽  
Beam Radiation ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Electron Beam Radiation ◽  
Non Thermal Plasma ◽  
Agriculture And Food

Mycotoxins cause adverse effects on human health. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to confront them, particularly in agriculture and food systems. Non-thermal plasma, electron beam radiation, and pulsed light are possible novel non-thermal technologies offering promising results in degrading mycotoxins with potential for practical applications. In this paper, the available publications are reviewed—some of them report efficiency of more than 90%, sometimes almost 100%. The mechanisms of action, advantages, efficacy, limitations, and undesirable effects are reviewed and discussed. The first foretastes of plasma and electron beam application in the industry are in the developing stages, while pulsed light has not been employed in large-scale application yet.

La chimica verde

2012 ◽  
pp. 65-73
Author(s):  
Roberto Ballini
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Green Chemistry ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
The Usa

The late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen a phenomenal growth of the global economy and a continuous improvement of the standard of living in industrialized countries. Sustainable development has consequently become an ideal goal and, in the early 1990s, the concept of Green Chemistry was launched in the USA as a new paradigm.

Macroeconomic conditions are only an illusion, not the solution, to firm sustainability: unveiling the new dimension of stakeholder well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahid Irshad Younas ◽  
Mahvesh Khan ◽  
Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Faryan
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Macroeconomic Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Macroeconomic Conditions ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The One

Purpose The purpose of the study is to explore the misconception that in developed countries, macroeconomic performance lead to sustainable firms or improves stakeholder well-being. The results may be the opposite or even worse. Design/methodology/approach This study examined this misconception using balanced panel data from 1,122 firms from different sectors of the US economy and data on macroeconomic performance from the World Bank. Findings The results of the one-step generalised method of moments indicate that most macroeconomic performance indicators had significant and negative impacts on firm sustainability and stakeholder well-being. Practical implications From a societal perspective, the results illustrate that the fruits of macroeconomic performance of the US economy do not reach stakeholders through firms’ sustainability. Thus, linking the economy’s macroeconomic performance with firm sustainability is vital for sustainably uplifting society and for stakeholder well-being. Originality/value From a policy perspective, this study reveals that the greater focus on macroeconomic performance in the USA over the past decades has resulted in lower firm sustainability because of the malfunctioning of social, economic, environmental and governance factors. This has negatively influenced stakeholder well-being in the country.

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