a vision for attaining food security

ityl2 3 4,5

m

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com5 Centre for Food Security, School of Agriculture, Policy & Development,

University of Reading, RG 6 6AR, UK6 World Resources Institute, 10 G. St. NE, Washington, DC 20002,

United States7 Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the

Environment, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom8 Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA), Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme

di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy

Corresponding author: Misselhorn, Alison ([email protected])

[8,9]. The prevalence of stunting in children under 5years an indicator of severe historical food insecurity clearly underscores this point (Figure 1). Food securityhas come to denote the availability, access, utilization and

8 The network of actors involved in the supply of, and demand for,food, and their activities and interactions at multiple levels acrossspatial, temporal, jurisdictional and other scales, together with the net-works food security outcomes over time, encapsulate the food system.

www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717A vision for attaining food securAlison Misselhorn1, Pramod AggarwaLeo Horn-Phathanothai6, John Ingra

Food is fundamental to human wellbeing and development.

Increased food production remains a cornerstone strategy in the

effort to alleviate global food insecurity. But despite the fact that

global food production over the past half century has kept ahead

of demand, today around one billion people do not have enough

to eat, and a further billion lack adequate nutrition. Food

insecurity is facing mounting supply-side and demand-side

pressures; key among these are climate change, urbanisation,

globalisation, population increases, disease, as well as a number

of other factors that are changing patterns of food consumption.

Many of the challenges to equitable food access are

concentrated in developing countries where environmental

pressures including climate change, population growth and

other socio-economic issues are concentrated. Together these

factors impede peoples access to sufficient, nutritious food;

chiefly through affecting livelihoods, income and food prices.

Food security and human development go hand in hand, and

their outcomes are co-determined to a significant degree. The

challenge of food security is multi-scalar and cross-sector in

nature. Addressing it will require the work of diverse actors to

bring sustained improvements inhuman development and to

reduce pressure on the environment. Unless there is investment

in future food systems that are similarly cross-level, cross-scale

and cross-sector, sustained improvements in human wellbeing

together with reduced environmental risks and scarcities will not

be achieved. This paper reviews current thinking, and outlines

these challenges. It suggests that essential elements in a

successfully adaptive and proactive food system include:

learning through connectivity between scales to local

experience and technologies high levels of interaction between

diverse actors and sectors ranging from primary producers to

retailers and consumers, and use of frontier technologies.

Addresses1 Health Economics and HIV and Aids Research Division, University of

KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000,

South Africa2 CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food

Security, International Water Management Institute, New Delhi 110 012,

India3 People, Livestock and the Environment, International Livestock

Research Institute, PO Box 30709, Nairobi 00100, Kenya4 East Malling Research, New Road, East Malling ME19 6BJ, UK, Polly Ericksen , Peter Gregory ,7 and Keith Wiebe8

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717

This review comes from the

Open issue

Edited by Rik Leemans

Available online 13th February 2012

1877-3435/$ see front matter

# 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI 10.1016/j.cosust.2012.01.008

IntroductionFood is fundamental to human wellbeing, and humandevelopment is central to achieving food security. Yetdespite global food production over the past half cen-tury keeping ahead of global demand, around onebillion people today do not have enough to eat, anda further billion lack adequate nutrition [1]. Continuingpopulation growth over the next 50 years, coupled withother pressures, will raise global food demand stillhigher [2,3]. Meeting this demand will be compli-cated by environmental changes (global environmentalchange GEC) including climate, biodiversity, wateravailability, land use, tropospheric ozone and otherpollutants, and sea level rise [2,4,5]. These changesare themselves caused partly by activities within thefood system [6], and in turn the effects of food systemfeedbacks on the environment are exacerbated byGEC interacting with competition for resources fromnovel land uses such as production of biofuels [7].

In this paper, we review current thinking to first identifysome challenges facing global food security, and thensome key elements that might support a successful foodsystem.8

Why is the need to act so urgent?In the 63 years since the Universal Declaration of HumanRights was adopted, the right of all for access to sufficient,safe and nutritious food is far from becoming a reality

8 Open issue

revaFigure 1

Stunting prevalence% under 5 (2000-2008)

50no data

Countries experiencing chronic food insecurity, as indicated by a high p

Adapted from Ericksen et al. [12].stability of food, universally, over time. Nutritional secur-ity is integral to this definition; beyond food being acces-sible, it must be nutritious and prepared and processed bythe body in such a way as to support human health. Thisin turn is affected by many factors such as water quality,food storage, human disease as well as social dictates ofpreparation and consumption to name but a few. Themany determinants of food and nutrition security meanthat the reality of global food security lies at the con-fluence of multiple pressures, both on the supply anddemand sides of food availability, access and utilisation(Table 1).

Population pressure

On the demand-side, among the mounting pressures onglobal food security is rising world population which isestimated to increase by 47%, from 6.1 billion in 2000 to8.9 billion in 2050 [10]. Much of the growth is expected tobe concentrated in Asia and Africa, areas also of highenvironmental and social vulnerabilities. Southern Africa,for example, is already a net importer of food, but has apopulation which is set to double to reach nearly 2 billionby the year 2050 [11]. Exacerbating this demand is

Table 1

Key supply and demand side pressures on global food security.

Supply side pressures

Climate change Pop Urbanisation Urb Globalisation Cha Safety and quality including factors such as

environmental pollution and pests and diseases

Dise

Land use change and competition (e.g. biofuels) Facgen

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717 Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

lence of stunting in children aged less than 5 years.increasing dietary demands for food in countries wherewealth will increase over the next few decades [2].

Climate change

On the supply side, climate change is likely to transform thegeography of food production in a way that will dispropor-tionately affect developing world regions: it is estimatedthat overall agricultural productivity in these areas maydecline 921% by 2050, depending on the degree of changemodelled [12,13,14,15]. Specifically, climate change willlead to changes in average temperatures, and in rainfallamounts and patterns, which will have positive and nega-tive effects on yields and/or change production costs,depending on location. Increases in weather extremesmay increase incidence of double droughts or prolongedelevated temperature at critical stages of crop growth.These impacts will be locally devastating and of majorconcern, particularly if widespread. Livestock and fisherieswill be affected both directly and indirectly throughimpacts on grazing and other feed stocks [16,17].

Added to the direct effects climate change has on foodsecurity through diminishing food production potentialand undermining food availability, are many indirect

Demand side pressures

ulation increases

anisation

nging demand in food types and levels of processing

ase

tors linked with under-development, including poverty,

der inequity, low resource access, poor health, and lack of education

www.sciencedirect.com

A vision for attaining food security Misselhorn et al. 9effects which, while less well understood, are neverthe-less expected to have significant impacts. These impactsare set to undermine all four pillars of food security availability, access, utilisation and stability and includeimpacts such as those on micro and macro economies,sanitation systems, drinking water, human susceptibilitydisease such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, and the nutrientcontent of foods [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,2531]. Furtherpressure from climate change on these already-fragilesectors is set to deepen existing human developmentchallenges in developing regions of the world.

Not only does climate change affect food security, buthuman activities related to the production, supply andconsumption of food also play a significant role in chan-ging the environment and the worlds climate (IngramJSI: A food systems approach to researching food securityand its interactions with global environmental change.Food Security, unpublished data) [22,23,32]. Thesehuman activities give rise to changes in freshwater qualityand quantity, in carbon and nitrogen cycling, in biodi-versity, and in land cover and soils. There is thus alsoconcern that meeting societys rising demand for foodusing current technologies will further degrade theenvironment which will, in turn, undermine the foodsystems upon which food security is based.

Multiple constraints to food access

Increasing food production remains a cornerstone strategyin the effort to alleviate global food insecurity. However,with more than enough food currently being produced percapita to feed the global population, increased food pro-duction alone is clearly inadequate to the task of assuringfood security for all. Increasing production, initiallythough extensification and more recently through intensi-fication, has assured that in 2009/10 approximately 325 kgof grain was produced annually per capita considerablymore than the 219 kg of grain needed annually to meetbasic caloric requirements of 2100 calories per day perperson [33,34,35]. Indeed, food access has been so goodfor many that increasing levels of obesity had alreadybecome a problem worldwide by the close of the lastcentury [36], although the trend is now levelling in theUS, at least [37]. Moreover, when considering dimensionsof food utilization and nutrition, national and inter-national food markets need to support more than accessto sufficient calories. In addition to the 14 essentialminerals required to produce healthy crops, humansrequire at least 11 more and one or more of these aretypically absent in the local diets of two-thirds of thehuman population [38]; for example, 60% of the globalpopulation is iron-deficient. The mobility of food and itsassociated nutrients and vitamins is essential to ensureglobal nutritional needs can be met.The reason ca. 1 billion are food insecure today is due to arange of pressures and failures in the global food systems

www.sciencedirect.com which together disable people from accessing sufficient,nutritious food primarily because of low incomes, highfood prices, or both. The link between food prices andnumbers of food insecure people is illustrated in theeffects of the food price spikes of 2008 and 2011 andthe intervening economic recession, and underscores theimportance of food being affordable, and of livelihoodsbeing resilient enough to accommodate such stressors[39]. There are many pressures that lead to both higherfood prices and the broader vulnerability of livelihoods ina range of different ways, including competing demandsfor agricultural land and commodities and other resources[7].

Changing patterns of supply and demand: urbanisation

and globalisation

Urbanisation is a robust trend on a global level and indeveloping countries for the foreseeable future. In thecentury spanning 19502050 the relative shares of urbanand rural populations in the world are likely to haveflipped from roughly 30:70 to 70:30, and most of thisgrowth will be in developing countries [40]. Urbanisationbrings highly dynamic changes to food systems somepotentially positive, and others potentially threatening.Rapid urbanization has been associated with poverty,crime, overburdening of social services, public healthrisks linked to poor sanitation, and water and air pollutionand, particularly in developing countries, increases inchild malnutrition [41]. The strong relationship betweendisease, food insecurity, and HIV and AIDS potentiallyhas further far-reaching impacts on food systems in urbansettings, which bear the concentration of the HIV pan-demic [42].

Globalisation is also changing food security dynamics; theincreasing integration of world economy and culture mayhave led to increases in average incomes worldwide, but ithas also led to greater disparities between the wealthy andthe poor [43,44]. Intensifying this is the unequal spread oftechnical advances in transport and communication sys-tems, as well as increased economies of scale in industryand transport and the food system more widely. Globa-lisation has also led to an increase in volatility of globalfood prices as idiosyncratic economic shocks can affectthe whole global food system, and can be exacerbated byspeculative forces able to trade at the global level. At theindividual and household levels, food price instabilityfurther damages vulnerable livelihoods. At broader scales,this can lock regions and countries into low human de-velopment pathways [45]. Further, food price volatilitymakes it difficult for producers to plan and smooth out theshocks in the absence of insurance markets.

Food trade mechanisms will play an important role in

making sure food is available, and food aid will need tobe consistent with local markets and needs. Progresstowards international agricultural trade that enhances


10 Open issuefood security is slow, and a critical need is for internation-ally non-competitive small-scale agricultural producers andsubsistence farmers in developing countries to be pro-tected while trade in agriculture is being liberalized [46].

Why is a cross-sectoral approach necessary?A predominant feature of 21st century food systems is thatthey are inherently cross-level and cross-scale [47].Moreover, they are dependent on both biogeochemicaland socioeconomic processes. GEC impacts on the foodsystem therefore interact with socioeconomic dynamics(such as poverty, gender inequality, food price increases),and their interaction gives rise to a potential perfectstorm of food insecurity in vulnerable areas. Core tothe concept of sustainability is thus recognition of thedeeply inter-locking nature of economic, social andenvironmental systems, which calls for integrated andmulti-disciplinary analyses and cross-sectoral and cross-scale approaches to decision-making. This will form acritical underpinning of integrated responses to addres-sing the challenges of food insecurity and human poverty,and to supporting sustainable and resilient livelihoods forcurrent and future generations.

As noted above, anticipated impacts of GEC, and especi-ally climate change, are likely to be felt most in countriesand regions also least socio-economically equipped foradaptive responses. Of particular significance is that manyareas where HIV and AIDS are concentrated are also areasin which food production is anticipated to be mostaffected by climate change [26,48]. The negative reci-procal relationship between HIV/AIDS and food insecur-ity further fuels this food insecurity system [49]. Thefood system is inextricably linked not only to ecosystems,energy and water, but also to health and wellbeing [2]. Afragmented approach to international policy on key globalsustainability issues will not deliver the necessarychanges needed. This is particularly important in thecontext of the socio-economic conditions which impedecontinuous and secure access to nutritious food, ratherthan in shortfalls in food production per se [1].

A vision for 2050Food security and human development

Food security and human development go hand in hand,and their outcomes are co-determined to a significantdegree (e.g. through income poverty) and mutually rein-forcing in their various dimensions (e.g. healthnutrition,povertyhunger and so on) [11]. This link betweenhuman development and food security has been wellargued, for example, for Africa. Since most of the anticip-ated population increase will be in developing countriesand concentrated in the lower income population groups,

and given the coinciding environmental challenges inthese regions described above, the challenge of ensuringcontinuous and secure access to nutritious food for the

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717 poorest and most vulnerable will require transformationof societies and economies.

Gender inequity is a key challenge to human develop-ment as well as to food security. Across the developingworld, women are central to rural economies. At the sametime, however, women consistently have less access thanmen to productive resources and opportunities. Forexample, almost 70 percent of employed women inSouthern Asia and more than 60 percent of employedwomen in sub-Saharan Africa work in agriculture [50]. Arecent FAO report [50] noted that if women had the sameaccess as men to agricultural inputs in the developingworld, farm yields could increase by 2030 percent, rais-ing total agricultural output in developing countries by2.54 percent, and potentially lifting 100150 millionpeople out of hunger.

Economic growth driven by the agricultural sector wouldreduce both poverty and inequality. According to theWorld Bank, welfare gains from economic growthoriginating in the agricultural sector are substantiallyhigher for households in the poorest deciles. In a sampleof 42 developing countries over 19812000, an increase of1% of GDP growth from the agricultural sector, led toincreased expenditures in the three poorest deciles ofmore than 2.5 times the growth that originated in the restof the economy [51]. More recent studies have confirmedthis regularity [52]. To meet the challenge of increasingfood supply to feed an extra 2.3 billion people by 2050 andto satisfy changing diets will entail opening new agricul-tural frontiers (mainly in developing regions) and increas-ing agricultural productivity closing the yield gap inSouth Asia and Africa. In many developing countries,including those at greater risk of climatic extremes thataffect food security, there is a large gap between potentialfarm yields and actual yields harvested. For example, theIndian national average yields of rice and wheat crops areless than 4 t ha1 today, whereas climatic factors in theregion allow a potential yields of 10 and 8 t ha1, respect-ively [53] indicating large yield gaps. Such yield gaps existin all crops and across all ecosystems and bridging themcould ensure meeting increased food demands of thefuture. A fragile seed sector, poor technology dissemina-tion mechanisms, the lack of adequate capital for inputssuch as fertilizers, poor markets and inadequate infra-structure are the key reasons for such yield gaps [54].Reducing even some of the yield gap could strengthenthe food security in a region. Therefore, production of anincreased quantity of food to meet the growing populationand income-led demand in the face of decreasing avail-ability of quality land and irrigation water is a big chal-lenge for the agriculture and overall human development.Population, environmental and climate trends and thepolicy responses they will engender will alter the land-scape for food security and human development, and


A vision for attaining food security Misselhorn et al. 11render considerations of sustainability central to efforts toimprove food security and advance human development.This point is echoed by the UN Secretary Generals HighLevel Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisiswhich acknowledges the interlinked nature of thesechallenges [55]. With current emphasis on sustainabledevelopment and the free market economy, efficiency indecision making and in comprehending the impact ofGEC on regions becomes increasingly important.Economic, social and environmental costs associated withdifferent levels and modes of production are increasinglybecoming important elements in the decision-makingprocess. Explicit consideration of these elements andtheir possible trade-offs requires a knowledge base ofseveral disciplines of agricultural research, as well ascontinuous interaction between a wide range of stake-holders.

Towards a Green Economy

A Green Economy is one in which the system of economicactivities for all sectors result in sustainable improve-ments in human wellbeing and equity, without exposingfuture generations to environmental risks and scarcities[56]. Such an economy presents real and profound oppor-tunities for development and poverty reduction. It isinherently pro-poor in as far as it protects and enhancesthe resources and assets on which the poor depend themost, thus addressing the structural causes of persistentpoverty. Capitalizing on these opportunities will requireappropriate policy and institutional responses. In additionto averting climate disaster, efforts to address climatechange will potentially provide developing countriesgrowth opportunities through access to new technology,and financing for leapfrogging towards industrialupgrading and economic modernization. The benefitsare greatest in the longer term, as developing countrieswould, by greening their economies, expand their spacefor growth and development in what is likely to be anincreasingly carbon-constrained world.

Two key arguments emerge: first, the creation of realopportunities for the poor will be critical to the imple-mentation and success of a Green Economy; secondly,ultimately, the Green Economy provides the only viableoption for development and poverty reduction in a warm-ing and carbon-constrained world. Thus povertyreduction and the greening of the economy are comp-lementary, not competing goals.

However, there are also significant costs involved in thetransition to a Green Economy as well as potential con-flicts and trade-offs that need to be managed. While itaddresses some of the root causes of poverty big chal-lenges remain in ensuring that the process of transition

towards a Green Economy is managed in a way that issensitive to the needs and concerns of the poor andvulnerable.

www.sciencedirect.com The debates focusing on opportunities and risks to foodsecurity arising from biofuel production highlight theneed for integrated, cross-sectoral assessments of costsand benefits in a Green Economy. Biofuel production indeveloping countries offers an alternative energy sourceto national and international markets, as well as economicopportunities. At the same time, although production mayoffer livelihood opportunities to some at the local level,economic benefits need to be banked in such a way thatwelfare gains are made and national food security is notcompromised through lowered food production and/orhigher food prices due to resource competition[7,57,58,59]. Economic growth and increased energydemand link the energy and agriculture sectors ever moreclosely, and this requires ever-closer coordination notonly between agricultural and energy policy but alsoenvironment, trade and transportation. Food security ismore assured when trade occurs at local, regional andglobal levels and policies to support this and other aspectsare developed with multiple timeframes in mind.

Global food demand is increasing rapidly, as are theenvironmental impacts of agricultural expansion. Tilmanet al. [60] have shown that if current trends of greateragricultural intensification in richer nations and areaexpansion in poorer nations were to continue, almost 1billion ha of land would be cleared globally by 2050leading to significant greenhouse gas emissions. The landrequirement and emissions would, however, be consider-ably less if sustainable intensification practices could befollowed where available technologies lead to increasedagricultural production, while reducing environmentalrisks and improving the use of natural resources. A recentanalysis showed how sustainable intensification devel-oped during the 1990s2000s in several countries of Africahas benefitted millions of African farmers and has helpedcreate sustainable agricultural systems in Africa [61].These examples included crop improvements, agrofor-estry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, inte-grated pest management, horticulture, livestock andfodder crops, aquaculture and novel policies and partner-ships. Godfray et al. [3] indicated that the world canmeet its food requirement following a multifacetedapproach. There are multiple pathways to a greener foodsystem and a greener economy (i.e. no single solutionsuch as local organic self-reliance), and sustainableintensification can, therefore, involve a variety of differ-ent production systems.

A Green Economy will also need a transition to healthierdiets as societies grow richer to reduce both environmen-tal and public health burdens; for example, promoting lessconsumption of meat in western diets would have bothhealth and environmental benefits [6264]. There is also

no doubt that greater efficiency of resource use, aiming atreduction of waste throughout the food chain to decreaseenergy and water use and enhance other ecosystem


12 Open issueservices such as biodiversity, is central to a greenereconomy.

A food systems approach

The need for resilient and equitable food systems thatenhance food security while minimising further environ-mental degradation is clearly underscored in the abovediscussions. To strengthen food systems, improved inter-actions are required between research, policy and otherstakeholder communities through developing or strength-ening existing platforms and mechanisms for theexchange of information and ideas on food security.For example, in 2011, the United Nations food agencies FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP) launched the Food Security Cluster; a cluster of colla-borating humanitarian organisations aiming to worktogether to better address global food crises throughcoordinating efforts and interfacing with national-levelinitiatives. This more complex type of food system man-agement requires enhanced engagement of all stake-holders (and especially the increasingly importantprivate sector) and stronger support from donors.

Nutrition and the well-being of individuals need greateremphasis in research agendas and outcomes. Reducingmalnutrition, overweight and other nutritionally relateddiseases must be a priority. Policy and decision-makerswho struggle daily with meeting both food security andenvironmental objectives must be involved in settingresearch agendas. Including the private sector is alsocritically important as it is ultimately the decisions ofbillions of individual private decision-makers (includingfarmers) that drive the outcomes with which we areconcerned. There are clearly competing demands, objec-tives and values held by the many actors in a food system,meaning that activities that boost food security for someactors in one country or locality may undermine the foodsecurity of other actors. Anderson [65] proposes a rights-based approach to setting goals for food system reform.She cites the following criteria for a rights-based foodsystem: democratic participation in food system choicesaffecting more than one sector; fair, transparent access byproducers to all necessary resources for food productionand marketing; multiple independent buyers; absence ofhuman exploitation; absence of resource exploitation; andno impingement on the ability of people in other localesto meet this set of criteria. While these may be loftycriteria, they nevertheless arguably offer the only viablemechanism for the co-development of a collective over-riding objective for food system actors that can be trulyorientated towards sustainable human development.

Achieving the vision of a resilient andequitable food system

What might a food system look like if it were to moresuccessfully buffer the pressures described above, andachieve equity and resilience? A resilient food system is

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717 able to withstand economic and environmental shocksand stresses at different temporal and spatial levels. In thecontext of climate change a resilient food system anticip-ates risks associated with climate change, and has redun-dancy built in (an effective system for stocking adequateamounts of food and for their distribution in times ofcrisis). It also is supported by strong multilateral coopera-tion mechanisms which deter zero-sum behaviour inresponse to food shocks but instead facilitate collectiveresponses across national boundaries.

An equitable food system ensures adequate amounts ofnutritious food are affordable and accessible to all at alltimes (social protection and other forms of cash trans-fers may be necessary to cope with price shocks). It alsoprovides a level playing field for agricultural producersaround the world (i.e. market access), and is furthermore supported by R&D and innovation systems thatcater to the needs of poor and rich alike (i.e. providesincentives for production and dissemination of scienceand technology relevant to poor regions in poorregions). It also promotes critical elements that supporta balanced an equitable playing field for future humandevelopment.

Addressing food security through a food systems approachcan:

Help ensure the necessary issues are included indialogues aimed at enhancing food security (especiallyin the context of other goals) and can assist inidentifying the range of actors and other interestedparties who should be involved.

Provide a framework to address multiple vulnerabilitiesin the context of socio-economic stresses.

Assist in determining the main limiting factors that leadto food insecurity, thereby identifying interventionpoints for enhancing food security.

The question of food security is arguably the ideal plat-form to bring diverse actors together to leverage dialogueand action to address the future of human development[66]. As noted above, the link between food security andhuman development is well argued elsewhere, (e.g. [11]).Food security is recognised as a basic human right, and itthus offers a rights-based mechanism for developingcommon goals for actors in the food system that aresynchronous with the goals of sustainable development as illustrated in the note on gender above. Moreover,there is already an increasing diversity of actors repre-senting multiple research interests, including agriculturalproduction, environmental sustainability, climate change,sustainable livelihoods, coming together in conversation

around the issue of food security. As noted with the issueof climate change [67], the distinction between global anddomestic politics becomes inappropriate in the face of a


quest for universal food security, and the only way to meetthe often conflicting demands across scales is through asystemic, cross-scale problem-driven approach to foodsecurity.

Freedman and Bess [66] used social network analysis toexamine an emergent and locally based, participatorycoalition focused on promoting food security by creatingfood systems change. They found that the emergingcoalition led to increased information seeking, assistanceseeking and collaboration among a diverse group ofstakeholders. Their analysis highlights the importanceof institutional participation at the local level. They note,however, that such local-level emergent networks never-theless face challenges in seeking to address globallyinduced problems [66]. Here the work of boundaryorganisations may be critical; organisations that sit be-tween sectors (such as science and policy) as well asbetween or across geographic scales. The role of suchorganisations is not only to facilitate the flow of infor-mation across sectors, but also to define the scale at whichfood systems problems are best addressed. There is a

wealth of literature on the institutional dynamics ofgovernance that will enable adaptation and resilienceat multiple scales, much of which is born in the literatureaddressing social-ecological systems focussed on globalenvironmental change (e.g. [6769,70,71]).

Lessons across the broad food security literature whichlooks at food security through multiple lenses, from produ-cing food to environment to health provide a platform todraft key features and outcomes of a resilient and equitablefood system. Through the food production lens, a review ofagricultural innovation systems finds four key featureslikely to build, sustain or enhance food security in situationsof rapid change were identified [72]: first, recognition ofthe multi-functionality of agriculture and opportunities torealize multiple benefits; secondly, access to a diversity ofsocial, institutional and technical innovation, as well asagricultural diversity (e.g. to cope with seasonal fluctu-ations) as the basis for flexibility and resilience; thirdly,concern for enhancing capacity of decision makers at alllevels; and finally, continuity of effort aimed at securing thewell-being of those who depend on agriculture.

A vision for attaining food security Misselhorn et al. 13

Figure 2

Stable food availability, access andutilisation over time

Human development Innovative policies, practices andinstitutions for environmental

OUTCOMES PRESSURES KEY SYSTEM FEATURES

Supply side: Climate change Food safety and nutritional value Globalization

D Arceod:d: t pre

High levels ofinternaltera

omblo

xperth fw-imhno

qu rebast

Trade..

EnergyDemand side: Population increases Urbanisation Changing food preferences Food price increases Poverty Low human development including

poor gender equity, resource access,health, education

Disease Land use and land cover change Non-food crop competition esp. biofuels Food price increases

SYSTEM ACTIVITIES AN Producing food: natural resou Processing and packaging fo Distributing and retailing foo Consuming food: acquisition,

inHigh levels ofinteractionwith other

sectors andsystems

Bothorchastrated

andopportunistic

Diverse actors,state and nonstate across

sectorsC

ewilo

tec

An eandglosy

Environment..Pressures, features and potential outcomes of a resilient and equitable foo

www.sciencedirect.com sustainability

Increased food productivity andrecognition of agricultural multi-functionality

Food system resilience Economic and environmental shocks andstresses are withstood, risks areanticipated

Adequate amounts of food are stocked,and distributed in times of crisis; Multilateral cooperation mechanismsdeter zero-sum behaviour in response tofood shocks and facilitate collectiveresponses across national boundaries

Food system equity Adequate amounts of nutritious food areaffordable and accessible to all at alltimes

A level playing field is provided for foodproducers around the world (i.e. marketaccess);R&D and innovation systems are builtthat cater to the needs of poor and richalike

CTORS s, inputs, markets raw materials, standards, storage ransport, marketing, advertisingparation, customs

ction

iningcalience

rontierpact

logies

Learning andflexible withsustained

attention andaccountability

Learning fromcommunity

level adaptivecapacity

itablesilientl foodem...

Global to localactorsCurrent Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

d system.


14 Open issueThe broader literature emphasizes several elementscritical to a successfully adaptive and proactive foodsystem; one that can anticipate likely future systemshocks and stressors, as well as opportunities, and takemeasures to mitigate and/or capitalise on them [73]. Suchfood system elements include: learning through connec-tivity between scales to draw on local to global experienceand technologies; high levels of interaction betweenactors; flexibility to allow for innovation; diverse actorsand sectors, including increasing numbers of non-stateactors; and the adaptive and creative use of frontiertechnologies [11,66,72,74,75]. A schematic of aresilient and equitable food system its features, press-ures and potential positive outcomes is sketched inFigure 2.

Signals of successful, well-functioning food systems needto be considered to enable ongoing learning and adap-tation in food systems. Indicators capturing historicalpatterns of food insecurity such as measures of malnu-trition have been traditionally favoured, as havemeasures of calorific productivity over nutritional value.Greater consideration is needed of those signalling futurefood insecurity risks. Food prices and crop yields atnational scales offer some measures of early warningbut usually with very short lead times. The ability ofsociety to adapt to the multiple pressures it faces can bemeasured in terms of its capacity to adapt, which in turn isa function of a range of factors such as income, educationand skills, information and knowledge access, infrastruc-ture, health care coverage, institutional strengths andconnectivity across scales [7678]. While such compositeindices can incorporate elements of food availability,access and utilisation as well as economic developmentand political stability, it needs to be recognized that trade-offs exist between these elements in food system man-agement.

ConclusionGlobal food security is increasingly subject to multiplepressures, on both the demand side and supply side offood availability, access and utilisation. Key among thesepressures are population growth, and climate and otherenvironmental changes although urbanisation and glo-balisation are also changing patterns of supply anddemand which are having dynamic and complex impactson food systems.

The developing regions of the world are where many ofthe multiple pressures on food security converge; stres-sors such as population growth, rapid urbanisation, HIVand AIDS and other health challenges, and climatechange are all set to disproportionately impact many ofthe worlds developing countries, where peoples capacity

to adapt is also impeded by underdevelopment. Addres-sing global food security thus goes hand in hand withhuman development; and building a Green Economy

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717 approach to global food security is argued to be centralto addressing both.

In order to meet the challenge of needed dialogue amongmultiple stakeholders, across scales, and across themultiple biogeophysical and socio-economic sectors thatshape food security, a food systems approach is critical.Essential components to a successfully resilient andequitable global food system include high levels of inter-action between diverse stakeholder both governmentand non-government a commitment to flexibility andlearning, and the ongoing development and sharing ofnew green technologies.

Is such a system an achievable goal? Absolutely; but it willrequire strong multilateral cooperation mechanismsacross national and regional boundaries which facilitatecollective responses, and which keep human develop-ment and wellbeing in vulnerable regions at the centre ofits efforts.

References and recommended readingPapers of particular interest, published within the period of review,have been highlighted as:

of special interest of outstanding interest

1. Pinstrup-Andersen P: Food security: definition andmeasurement. Food Security 2009, 1:5-7.

2. Foresight, The Future of Food and Farming. Final Project Report.London: The UK Government Office for Science; 2011.

3.

Godfray HCJ, Beddington JR, Crute IR, Haddad L, Lawrence D,Muir JF, Pretty J, Robinson S, Thomas SM, Toulmin C: Foodsecurity. The challenge of feeding 9 billion people. Science2010, 327:p812-p818.

A review of the challenge of producing sufficient food to meet globaldemand, which will increase for at least another 40 years. The authorsnote that although food production in the last half-century has increased,more than one of seven people still go hungry today. On top of this theauthors note a new set of intersecting challenges. First, the globalpopulation will continue to grow, yet it is likely to plateau at some 9billion people by roughly the middle of this century. A major correlate ofthis deceleration in population growth is increased wealth, and withhigher purchasing power comes higher consumption and a greaterdemand for processed food, meat, dairy, and fish, all of which addpressure to the food supply system. Second, at the same time, foodproducers are experiencing greater competition for land, water, andenergy, and the need to curb the many negative effects of food produc-tion on the environment is becoming increasingly clear. Third, overarchingall of these issues is the threat of the effects of substantial climate changeand concerns about how mitigation and adaptation measures may affectthe food system. But the world can produce more food and can ensurethat it is used more efficiently and equitably. A multifaceted and linkedglobal strategy is needed to ensure sustainable and equitable foodsecurity, different components of which are explored here.

4. GECAFS: Science Plan and Implementation Strategy. In EarthSystem Science Partnership (IGBP, IHDP, WCRP, DIVERSITAS)Report No. 22005. Wallingford; 2005, 36.

5. Gregory PJ, Ingram JSI: Global change and food and forestproduction: future scientific challenges. Agriculture,Ecosystems & Environment 2000, 82:3-14.

6. Ingram JSI: A food systems approach to researching foodsecurity and its interactions with global environmental

change. Food Security 2011, 3:417-431.

7. Molony T, Smith J: Biofuels: food security, and Africa. AfricanAffairs 2010, 109:489-498.


A vision for attaining food security Misselhorn et al. 158. FAO: Rome Declaration and World Food Summit Plan of Action.Rome: FAO; 1996.

9.

Gonzalez H: Debates on food security and agrofood worldgovernance. Int J Food Science Technol 2010, 45:p1345-p1352.

Abstract: Mechanisms of global governance, developed in response toinitiatives adopted by the FAO to combat hunger and confront foodcrises, are the result of wide ranging historical debates using three basiccriteria for justification: the scientific, the politicalideological, and theethical. On the basis of these criteria, certain forms of understanding andacting on agriculture, health and nutrition at global level have come to beaccepted as valid. Currently the debate and the resulting proposals arebased on the recognition of food as a universal human right.The emphasisin this article is on the ethical, rights-based approach which demandscompliance, transparency and accountability on the part of governmentsembarked on fulfilling this universal right to sufficient, nourishing and safefood.

10. Collodi J, MCormack F: Population growth, environment andfood security: What does the future hold? HORIZON: FutureIssues for Development. Brighton: Institute of DevelopmentStudies (IDS), University of Sussex; 2009.

11.

Conceicao P, Fuentes-Nieva R, Horn-Phathanothai L,Ngororano A: Food security and human development in Africa:strategic considerations and directions for further research.African Dev Rev 2011, 23:237-246.

This paper succinctly highlights the linkages between food security andhuman development. Abstract: This paper argues that food security andhuman development are intricately linked, and that meaningful progresson the one cannot be sustained without concomitant progress on theother. The paper surveys recent research on various aspects of thelinkages between food security and human development and highlightsareas where further research would enrich our understanding of thecomplex interactions and synergies between the two. It concludes bycalling for a more systematic investigation of the human developmentfood security nexus with a view to generating new and practical insightsfor improving food security and advancing human development in sub-Saharan Africa.

12. Ericksen P, Thornton P, Notenbaert A, Cramer L, Jones P, HerreroM: Mapping hotspots of climate change and food insecurity inthe global tropics. In CGIAR Research Program on ClimateChange, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); Copenhagen,Denmark. 2011.

13. Cline W: Global Warming and Agriculture: Impact Estimates byCountry. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development; 2007:.250.

14.

Easterling WE, Aggarwal PK, Batima P, Brander KM, Erda L,Howden SM, Kirilenko A, Morton J, Soussana J-F, Schmidhuber J,Tubiello FN: Food, fibre and forest products. Climate change2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. contribution ofWorking Group II. In Fourth Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by Parry MLet al.: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2007:273-313.

The full Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report from 2007provides extensive food security and environmental change insightsacross its chapters and is essential reading. The next edition is underdevelopment.

15. Fischer G, Shah M, Tubiello FN, Velhuizen Hv: Socio-economicand climate change impacts on agriculture: an integratedassessment. Philos Trans R Soc B 2005, 360:2067-2083.

16. Herrero M, Thornton PK, Gerber P, Reid RS: Livestock,livelihoods and the environment: understanding the trade-offs. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 2009, 1:111-120.

17. Thornton PK, Jones PG, Owiyo T, Kruska RL, Herrero M,Kristjanson P, Notenbaert A, Bekele N, Omolo A, Orindi V et al.:Mapping climate variability and poverty in Africa. Report for theDepartment for International Development. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI;2006.

18. Gregory P, Ingram JSI, Goudriaan J, Hunt T, Landsberg J,Linder S, Stafford Smith M, Sutherst R, Valentin C: Managedproduction systems. In Implications of Global Change for Naturaland Managed Ecosystems: A Synthesis of GCTE and RelatedResearch. IGBP Book Series No. 4. Edited by Walker WS, Canadell

J, Ingram JSI. Cambridge University Press; 1999:229-270.

19. Rosegrant MW, Cline SA: Global food security: challenges andpolicies. Science 2003, 302:1917-1919.

www.sciencedirect.com 20.

AIACC: Messages from Dakar: report of the second AIACCRegional Workshop for Africa and the Indian Islands, Senegal,2004. Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate ChangeProject (AIACC). funded by the Global Environmental Facility; 2004.

Who is vulnerable and needs to adapt? How urgently is adaptationneeded? What are the options? Which promises to be most effective?Can adaptation be pursued without detraction from other objectives?What are the obstacles? How can they be overcome? What climateinformation is needed to understand future vulnerabilities and plan foradaptation? These and other questions were the subject of aworkshop held in Dakar on 2427 March 2004, which this reportoutlines.

21. Turpie J, Winkler H, Spalding-Fecher R, Midgley G: EconomicImpacts of Climate Change in South Africa: A Preliminary Analysisof Unmitigated Damage Costs. Cape Town: Southern WatersEcological Research and Consulting and Energy and DevelopmentResearch Centre, University of Cape Town; 2002.

22. The Royal Society: Food crops in a changing climate: report of aRoyal Society Discussion Meeting held in April 2005. RoyalSociety Policy Document 10/05. The Royal Society; 2005:. 15.

23.

Fischer F, Shah M, van Velthuizen H: Climate change andagricultural vulnerability. In A special report, prepared by theInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis under UnitedNations Institutional Contract Agreement No. 1113 on ClimateChange and Agricultural Vulnerability as a contribution to theWorld Summit on Sustainable Development. Johannesburg; 2002

The methodology and results reported in this study form a first compre-hensive and integrated global ecologicaleconomic assessment of theimpact of climate change on agro-ecosystems in the context of the worldfood and agricultural system.

24. Swaminathan MS: Climate change and food security. InClimate Change and Development. Edited by Gomez-Echeveri C.UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean andYale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; 2000:103-114.

25. AU: Status of food security and prospects for agriculturaldevelopment in Africa. AU Ministerial Conference of Ministers ofAgriculture; January 31February 1, 2006. Bamako, Mali: AfricanUnion; 2005.

26. Gommes R, du Guerny J, Glantz MH, Hsu LN: Climate and HIV/AIDS: A Hotspots Analysis for Early Warning Rapid ResponseSystems. UNDP/FAO/NCAR; 2004:. 36.

27. Schulze R, Meigh J, Horan MJC: Present and potential futurevulnerability of eastern and southern Africas hydrology andwater resources. South African J Sci 2001, 97:150-160.

28. Mano R, Isaacson B, Dardel P: Identifying policy determinantsof food security response and recovery in the SADC region:the case of the 2002 food emergency. Keynote paper preparedfor the FANRPAN Regional Dialogue on Agricultural Recovery,Food Security and Trade Policies in Southern Africa; Gaborone,Botswana, 2627 March 2003: 2003.

29. Piot P, Pinstrup-Andersen P: 20012002 IFPRI Annual ReportEssay AIDS: The New Challenge to Food Security. Washington,DC: International Food Policy Research Institute; 2002.

30. van Lieshout M, Kovats RS, Livermore MTJ, Martens P: Climatechange and malaria: analysis of the SRES climate and socio-economic scenarios. Global Environ Change 2004, 14:87-99.

31. USAID: RCSA food security strategic option: synthesis andanalysis of selected readings. Report prepared by Nathan andAssociates for USAID Regional Centre for Africa. USAID; 2003:. 15.

32. Rockstrom J, Steffen W, Noone K, Persson AF, Stuart Chapin I,Lambin EF, Lenton TM, Scheffer M, Folke C, Schellnhuber HJet al.: A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 2009,461:472-475.

33. USDA-FAS: Grain: World Markets and Trade; 2010 (FG 05-10).

34.

Gregory PJ, Ingram JSI, Andersson R, Betts RA, Brovkin V,Chase TN, Grace PR, Gray AJ, Hamilton N, Hardy TB et al.:Environmental consequences of alternative practices forintensifying crop production. Agric Ecosyst Environ 2002,

88:279-290.

This paper offers the reader more information on the options of agricul-tural intensification (based largely on the quantity and efficiency of use ofexternal inputs) and examines both the on-site and off-site environmental


16 Open issueconsequences of each for soils, water quantity and quality, and climateforcing and regional climate change.

35. Palm CA, Smukler SM, Sullivan CC, Mutuo PK, Nyadzi GI,Walsh MG: Identifying potential synergies and trade-offs formeeting food security and climate change objectives in sub-Saharan Africa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010, 107:19661-19666.

36. Dyson T: Population and Food. London: Routledge; 1996.

37. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Ogden CL, Curtin LR, Prevalence: Trendsin obesity among US adults: 19992008. JAMA: J Am Med Assoc2010, 303:235-241.

38. Fageria NK, Baligar VC, Jones CA: Growth and Mineral Nutrition ofField Crops. edn 3. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2011.

39. FAO: The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 (SOFI): HighFood Prices and Food Security Threats and Opportunities.Rome: FAO; 2008.

40. United Nations: World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision.New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs of theUnited Nations Secretariat; 2008.

41. Fotso J-C: Urbanrural differentials in child malnutrition:trends and socioeconomic correlates in sub-Saharan Africa.Health & Place 2007, 13:205-223 doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2006.01.004.

42.

Gillespie S: Poverty, food insecurity, HIV. Vulnerability and theimpacts of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. IDS Bull 2008, 39:10-18.

This is a very useful introduction to the interactions between HIV andAIDS, poverty and vulnerability in sub-Saharan Africa. The author high-lights that socioeconomic and gender inequalities condition the spreadof HIV while AIDS-related disease and death increase these inequalities.

43. Chopra M: Globalization, urbanization and nutritional changein South Africa. Food and Nutrition Paper 83: Globalilization ofFood Systems in Developing Countries: Impact on Food Securityand Nutrition. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations (FAO); 2004.

44. Kennedy G, Nantel G, Shetty P: Globalization of food systems indeveloping countries: a synthesis of country case studies.Food and Nutrition Paper 83: Globalization of Food Systems inDeveloping Countries: Impact on Food Security and Nutrition.Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO); 2004.

45. Fuentes-Nieva R, Seck PA: Risk, Shocks, and HumanDevelopment: On the Brink. Basingstoke, England: PalgraveMacmillan; 2010:. 385.

46. Kaufmann C, Heri S: Liberalizing trade in agriculture and foodsecurity mission impossible? Vanderbilt J Trans Law 2007,40:1039-1070.

47.

Ericksen P, Stewart B, Dixon J, Barling D, Loring P, Anderson M,Ingram J: The value of a food system approach. In FoodSecurity and Global Environmental Change. Edited by Ingram J,Ericksen P, Liverman D. London: Earthscan; 2010.

This book chapter on food systems provides comprehensive readingbehind many of the issues discussed in this paper.

48.

Gregory PJ, Ingram JSI, Brklacich M: Climate change and foodsecurity. Philos Trans R Soc B 2005, 360:p2139-p2148.

This paper offers an important review of the dynamic interactionsbetween climate change and food systems. From the abstract: Becauseof the multiple socio-economic and bio-physical factors affecting foodsystems and hence food security, the capacity to adapt food systems toreduce their vulnerability to climate change is not uniform. Improvedsystems of food production, food distribution and economic access mayall contribute to food systems adapted to cope with climate change, but inadopting such changes it will be important to ensure that they contributeto sustainability.

49. OBrien K, Quinlan T, Ziervogel G: Vulnerability interventions inthe context of multiple stressors: lessons from the SouthernAfrica Vulnerability Initiative (SAVI). Environ Sci Policy 2009,12:23-32.50. FAO: The State of Food and Agriculture 201011. Women inAgriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development. Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations; 2011:. 160.

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717 51. Ligon E, Sadoulet J: Estimating the effects of aggregateagricultural growth on the distribution of expenditures.Distribution of Expenditures: Background Paper for the World BankDevelopment Report. The World Bank; 2008.

52. Christiaensen L, Demery L, Kuhl J: The (Evolving) Role of Agriculturein Poverty Reduction: An Empirical Perspective. UNU-WIDER: WorldInstitute for Development Economics Research; 2010.

53. Aggarwal PK, Talukdar KK, Mall RK: Potential yields of ricewheat system in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India. Rice WheatConsortium Paper Series. New Delhi, India: RWCIGP, CIMMYT;2000.

54. Aggarwal PK, Joshi PK, Ingram JSI, Gupta RK: Adapting foodsystems of the Indo-Gangetic plains to global environmentalchange: key information needs to improve policy formulation.Environ Sci Policy 2004, 7:487-498.

55. Nabarro D: Presentation on the UN System High Level Task Forceon Global Food Security and the Updated ComprehensiveFramework for Action (UCFA). Rome: High-Level Task Force onthe Global Food Security Crisis (HLTF), United Nations; 2010.

56. UNEP: Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to SustainableDevelopment and Poverty Eradication. United NationsEnvironment Programme: Green Economy Initiative; 2011.

57. Ewing M, Msangi S: Biofuels production in developingcountries: assessing tradeoffs in welfare and food security.Environ Sci Policy 2009, 12:520-528.

58.

Pingali P, Raney T, Wiebe K: Biofuels and food security missingthe point. Rev Agric Econ 2008, 30:506-516.

A useful insight into non-food agricultural production issues focussing onthe implications of biofuel production.

59.

McNeely JA, Solh M, Hiremath RB, Kumar B, Suarez PAZ,Uprety K, Abdulrahim MA, Ruf F, Legoupil J-C: Experts addressthe question: Can the growing demand for biofuels be metwithout threatening food security?. Nat Resources Forum2009, 33:171-173.

As for the Pingali, Raney and Wiebe paper cited here, this paper is a veryuseful overview of key issues related to biofuels and food security.

60. Tilman D, Balzer C, Hill J, Befort BL: Global food demand and thesustainable intensification of agriculture. Proc Natl Acad Sci US A 2011, 108:20260-20264.

61. Pretty J, Toulmin C, Williams S: Sustainable intensification inAfrican agriculture. Int J Agric Sustainability 2011, 4:5-24.

62. Hamm MW: Linking sustainable agriculture and public health:opportunities for realizing multiple goals. J Hunger Environ Nutr2008, 3:169-185.

63. Johnson JMF, Franzluebbers AJ, Weyers SL, Reicosky DC:Agricultural opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gasemission. Environ Pollut 2007, 150:107-124.

64. Eshel G, Martin PA: Geophysics and nutritional science: towarda novel, unified paradigm. Am J Clin Nutr 2009, 89:1710S-1716S.

65.

Anderson MD: Rights-based food systems and the goals offood systems reform. Agric Hum Values 2008, 25:593-608.

Important foundation arguments in this paper for a rights-based approachto food systems development. From the abstract: The core criteria ofRBFS are democratic participation in food system choices affecting morethan one sector; fair, transparent access by producers to all necessaryresources for food production and marketing; multiple independentbuyers; absence of human exploitation; absence of resource exploitation;and no impingement on the ability of people in other locales to meet thisset of criteria. Localization and a community base can help achieve RBFSby facilitating food democracy and reducing environmental exploitation,primarily by lowering environmental costs due to long-distance trans-portation. Sustainability per se is an empty goal for food system reform,unless what will be sustained and for whom are specified. The RBFSconcept helps to clarify what is worth sustaining and who is mostsusceptible to neglect in attempts to reform food systems. Localizationcan be a means toward sustainability if local food systems are also RBFS.

66. Freedman D, Bess K: Food systems change and the

environment: local and global connections. Am J Commun

Psychol 2011, 47:397-409.A novel approach to assess how food systems can emerge and functionthrough a case study analysis using social network analysis.


67. Koch I, Vogel C, Patel Z: Institutional dynamics and climatechange adaptation in South Africa. Mitig Adapt Strategy GlobalEnviron Change 2007, 12:1323-1339.

68. Naess LO, Bang G, Eriksen S, Vevatne J: Institutional adaptationto climate change: flood responses at the municipallevel in Norway. Global Environ Change A 2005,15:125-138.

The article examines the role institutions play in climate adaptation inNorway.

69. OBrien G, OKeefe P, Rose J, Wisner B: Climate change anddisaster management. Disasters 2006, 30:64-80.

70.

Ogunseitan OA: Framing environmental change in Africa:cross-scale institutional constraints on progressing fromrhetoric to action against vulnerability. Global Environ Change:Hum Policy Dimensions 2003, 13:p101-p111.

Good reading for an illustration of the role of cross-scale communica-tion and learning as noted in our paper in addressing climatechange in this instance through the lens of environmental changeassessments. From the abstract: The reconciliation of national devel-opment plans with global priority to mitigate environmental changeremains an intractable policy controversy. In Africa, its resolutionrequires integrating local knowledge into impact assessments withoutcompromising the scientific integrity of the process.The study focusedon the particularities of projected impacts of climate change, andspecifically on considerations of the health sector within the context ofmultivalent international agreements to conduct and use environmen-tal assessments. The analysis addresses limitations of cross-scalecommunication nodes that are embedded in boundary institutionssuch as the Country Study Program which is hosted by industrializednations.

71. Strauch AM, Muller JM, Almedom AM: Exploring the dynamics ofsocialecological resilience in East and West Africa:preliminary evidence from Tanzania and Niger. African HealthSciences 2008, 8:S28-S35.

72.

Brooks S, Loevinsohn M: Shaping agricultural innovationsystems responsive to food insecurity and climate change. NatResources Forum 2011, 35:185-200.

We draw on this paper in this useful article, which takes lessons fromselected country experiences of adaptation and innovation in pursuit offood security goals, and identifies four features of innovation systemsmore likely to build, sustain or enhance food security in situations of rapidchange: first, recognition of the multifunctionality of agriculture andopportunities to realize multiple benefits; secondly, access to diversityas the basis for flexibility and resilience; thirdly, concern for enhancingcapacity of decision makers at all levels; and finally, continuity of effortaimed at securing the well-being of those who depend on agriculture.Finally, implications for policymakers and other stakeholders in agricul-tural innovation systems are presented.

73. Misselhorn A, Challinor A, Jones J, Plocq-Fichelet V, Schaldach R,Thornton P: Surprises and possibilities: addressing risk in foodsystems. In Global Environmental Change and Food Systems.Edited by Liverman JIPE. London: Earthscan; 2010.

74. Sastry RK, Rashmi HB, Rao NH: Nanotechnology for enhancingfood security in India. Food Policy 2011, 36:391-400.

75. Swaminathan MS: Achieving food security in times of crisis.New Biotechnol 2010, 27:451-460.

76. OBrien K, Leichenko R, Kelkar U, Venema H, Aandahl G,Tompkins H, Javed A, Bhadwal S, Barg S, Nygaarda L, West J:Mapping vulnerability to multiple stressors: climate change andglobalization in India. Global Environ Change 2004, 14:303-313.

77. Vincent K: Creating an index of social vulnerability to climatechange for Africa. Working Paper 56. Norwich: Tyndall Centre forClimate Change Research; 2004:. 55.

78. Alberini A, Chiabai A, Muehlenbachs L: Using expert judgment toassess adaptive capacity to climate change: evidence from aconjoint choice survey. Global Environ Change 2006, 16:123-144.

A vision for attaining food security Misselhorn et al. 17www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2012, 4:717

A vision for attaining food securityIntroductionWhy is the need to act so urgent?Population pressureClimate changeMultiple constraints to food accessChanging patterns of supply and demand: urbanisation and globalisation

Why is a cross-sectoral approach necessary?A vision for 2050Food security and human developmentTowards a Green EconomyA food systems approach

Achieving the vision of a resilient and equitable food systemConclusionReferences and recommended reading

a vision for attaining food security

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