Journal ArticleDOI
The top 100 questions of importance to the future of global agriculture
Jules Pretty,William J. Sutherland,Jacqueline Anne Ashby,Jill S. Auburn,David C. Baulcombe,Michael J. Bell,Jeffrey Bentley,Sam Bickersteth,Katrina Brown,Jacob Burke,Hugh Campbell,Kevin Chen,Eve Crowley,I. R. Crute,Dirk A. E. Dobbelaere,Gareth Edwards-Jones,F. R. Funes-Monzote,H. Charles J. Godfray,Michel Griffon,Phrek Gypmantisiri,Lawrence Haddad,Siosiua Halavatau,H. R. Herren,Mark Holderness,Anne-Marie Izac,Monty Jones,Parviz Koohafkan,Rattan Lal,Tim Lang,Jeffrey A. McNeely,Alexander Mueller,Nicholas Nisbett,Andrew Noble,Prabhu Pingali,Yvonne M. Pinto,Rudy Rabbinge,N. H. Ravindranath,Agnes C. Rola,Niels Röling,Colin Sage,William H. Settle,J M Sha,Luo Shiming,Tony Simons,Pete Smith,Kenneth Strzepeck,Harry Swaine,Eugene Terry,Thomas P. Tomich,Camilla Toulmin,Eduardo Trigo,Stephen Twomlow,Jan Kees Vis,Jeremy D. Wilson,Sarah Pilgrim +54 more
TLDR
The UK Government's Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures project as mentioned in this paper aims to improve dialogue and understanding between agricultural research and policy by identifying the 100 most important questions for global agriculture.Abstract:
Despite a significant growth in food production over the past half-century, one of the most important challenges facing society today is how to feed an expected population of some nine billion by the middle of the 20th century. To meet the expected demand for food without significant increases in prices, it has been estimated that we need to produce 70-100 per cent more food, in light of the growing impacts of climate change, concerns over energy security, regional dietary shifts and the Millennium Development target of halving world poverty and hunger by 2015. The goal for the agricultural sector is no longer simply to maximize productivity, but to optimize across a far more complex landscape of production, rural development, environmental, social justice and food consumption outcomes. However, there remain significant challenges to developing national and international policies that support the wide emergence of more sustainable forms of land use and efficient agricultural production. The lack of information flow between scientists, practitioners and policy makers is known to exacerbate the difficulties, despite increased emphasis upon evidence-based policy. In this paper, we seek to improve dialogue and understanding between agricultural research and policy by identifying the 100 most important questions for global agriculture. These have been compiled using a horizon-scanning approach with leading experts and representatives of major agricultural organizations worldwide. The aim is to use sound scientific evidence to inform decision making and guide policy makers in the future direction of agricultural research priorities and policy support. If addressed, we anticipate that these questions will have a significant impact on global agricultural practices worldwide, while improving the synergy between agricultural policy, practice and research. This research forms part of the UK Government's Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures project.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
A meta-analysis of crop yield under climate change and adaptation
Andrew J. Challinor,Andrew J. Challinor,James E. M. Watson,David B. Lobell,SM Howden,Daniel R. Smith,Netra Chhetri +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive summary of studies that simulate climate change impacts on agriculture are reported in a meta-analysis, which suggests that aggregate yield losses should be expected for wheat, rice and maize in temperate and tropical growing regions even under relatively moderate levels of local warming.
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Horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2011
William J. Sutherland,Rosalind Aveling,Thomas M. Brooks,Mick N. Clout,Lynn V. Dicks,Liz Fellman,Erica Fleishman,David W. Gibbons,Brandon Keim,Fiona A. Lickorish,Kathryn A. Monk,Diana Mortimer,Lloyd S. Peck,Jules Pretty,Johan Rockström,Jon Paul Rodríguez,Rebecca K. Smith,Mark Spalding,Femke H. Tonneijck,Andrew R. Watkinson +19 more
TL;DR: The authors in this article presented the output of the fifth annual horizon-scanning exercise, which aims to identify topics that increasingly may affect conservation of biological diversity, but have yet to be widely considered.
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Sustainable food consumption: an overview of contemporary issues and policies
TL;DR: In the face of demographic change and a gr... as mentioned in this paper argues that contemporary food production and consumption cannot be regarded as sustainable and raises problems with its wide scope involving diverse actors, and furthermore, it cannot be considered as sustainable.
Journal ArticleDOI
Food system resilience: Defining the concept
D. M. Tendall,Jonas Joerin,Birgit Kopainsky,Peter J. Edwards,A. Shreck,Quang Bao Le,Pius Kruetli,M. Grant,Johan Six +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework for food system resilience is developed, and how this could be implemented through stakeholder participation to ensure food security for everyone. But, the framework is limited to a single region and does not consider other regions of the world.
References
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TL;DR: The first volume of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report as mentioned in this paper was published in 2007 and covers several topics including the extensive range of observations now available for the atmosphere and surface, changes in sea level, assesses the paleoclimatic perspective, climate change causes both natural and anthropogenic, and climate models for projections of global climate.
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Climate change 2007: the physical science basis
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