Climate Change and Food Security

Climate Change and Food Security
Author: David B. Lobell
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2009-12-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9048129524

Roughly a billion people around the world continue to live in state of chronic hunger and food insecurity. Unfortunately, efforts to improve their livelihoods must now unfold in the context of a rapidly changing climate, in which warming temperatures and changing rainfall regimes could threaten the basic productivity of the agricultural systems on which most of the world’s poor directly depend. But whether climate change represents a minor impediment or an existential threat to development is an area of substantial controversy, with different conclusions wrought from different methodologies and based on different data. This book aims to resolve some of the controversy by exploring and comparing the different methodologies and data that scientists use to understand climate’s effects on food security. In explains the nature of the climate threat, the ways in which crops and farmers might respond, and the potential role for public and private investment to help agriculture adapt to a warmer world. This broader understanding should prove useful to both scientists charged with quantifying climate threats, and policy-makers responsible for crucial decisions about how to respond. The book is especially suitable as a companion to an interdisciplinary undergraduate or graduate level class.

The System of Crop Intensification

The System of Crop Intensification
Author: Norman Uphoff
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2016-01-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692644904

This publication reports on current work in progress to raise the agricultural productivity of a wide range of crops, in eco-friendly ways and in a number of countries around the world, using an agroecological methodology called the System of Crop Intensification (SCI). Through a shift in plant management, SCI allows farmers to increase their production while simultaneously reducing purchased inputs, building soil health, reducing water use, and making plants more resilient to climate change-induced stress.

Agriculture in Urban Planning

Agriculture in Urban Planning
Author: Mark Redwood
Publisher: Earthscan
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2012
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1849770433

This volume, by graduate researchers working in urban agriculture, examines concrete strategies to integrate city farming into the urban landscape. Drawing on original field work in cities across the rapidly urbanizing global south, the book examines the contribution of urban agriculture and city farming to livelihoods and food security. Case studies cover food production diversification for robust and secure food provision; the socio-economic and agronomic aspects of urban composting; urban agriculture as a viable livelihood strategy; strategies for integrating city farming into urban landscapes; and the complex social-ecological networks of urban agriculture. Other case studies look at public health aspects including the impact of pesticides, micro-biological risks, pollution and water contamination on food production and people. Ultimately the book calls on city farmers, politicians, environmentalists and regulatory bodies to work together to improve the long term sustainability of urban farming as a major, secure source of food and employment for urban populations. Published with IDRC

Science, Agriculture, and Food Security

Science, Agriculture, and Food Security
Author: Joseph H. Hulse
Publisher: NRC Research Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1995
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780660162102

This book examines the differing concepts of food security and the practicalities, policies, and resources that shape issues of food security. It begins with discussion of the nature of food security, its components, and related concepts such as self-sufficiency and global carrying capacity. It then reviews food consumption patterns in developed nations and developing regions, and discusses the complexities of determining what constitutes an adequate diet, taking into account recommended dietary allowances, variability in food composition, dietary balance and imbalance, diet and disease, nutrient deficiencies, intolerances, and food allergies. The book also reviews divergent concepts of sustainable agriculture, examining resources and policies that influence economically efficient and ecologically conservative food production and distribution. Soil and water management, genetic diversity, atmosphere and climate, energy in agriculture, government policies, and production systems are discussed as they relate to food security. Finally, the book reviews agricultural research, notably that conducted by members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, research on agricultural pests and diseases, the need to improve post-production systems (including markets and transportation), food science research, and future requirements for human resources to ensure food security.

Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Food Security in South Asia

Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Food Security in South Asia
Author: Nagesh Kumar
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2019-08-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000698459

This volume foregrounds the importance of regional cooperation in the context of food security challenges in South Asia. South Asia holds the key to global achievement of SDG targets of ending hunger and malnutrition – it accounts for nearly one-third of food-insecure people on the planet, with every third child suffering from stunting due to malnutrition. Similar food preferences, production systems, and the transboundary nature of agrarian ecosystems call for coordinated action by South Asian countries, complementing national actions dealing with food security challenges. In this volume, leading experts discuss the perspectives of key South Asian countries in leveraging regional cooperation for addressing food security challenges and reflect on the potential of cooperative actions in different areas. The book proposes a ten-point regional policy agenda covering cooperation for combatting climate change, regional trade liberalization, operationalization of regional food reserves, leveraging technology, sharing of good practices, regional institution building, coordinated positions in multilateral trade negotiations, addressing trans-boundary outbreak of livestock diseases, strengthening food safety standards, and the management of shared natural resources. A key volume on accomplishing SDGs in the South Asian context, this book will be of immense interest to policy makers, researchers, and development practitioners. It is also essential reading for scholars and researchers in the areas of development studies, South Asia studies, food security, environment and sustainability.

Global Urban Agriculture

Global Urban Agriculture
Author: Antoinette M G A WinklerPrins
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2017-05-24
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1780647328

There has been growing attention paid to urban agriculture worldwide because of its role in making cities more environmentaly sustainable while also contributing to enhanced food access and social justice. This edited volume brings together current research and case studies concerning urban agriculture from both the Global North and the Global South. Its objective is to help bridge the long-standing divide between discussion of urban agriculture in the Global North and the Global South and to demonstrate that today there are greater areas of overlap than there are differences both theoretically and substantively, and that research in either area can help inform research in the other. The book covers the nature of urban agriculture and how it supports livelihoods, provides ecosystem services, and community development. It also considers urban agriculture and social capital, networks, and agro-biodiversity conservation. Concepts such as sustainability, resilience, adaptation and community, and the value of urban agriculture as a recreational resource are explored. It also examines, quite fundamentally, why people farm in the city and how urban agriculture can contribute to more sustainable cities in both the Global North and the Global South.

Organic Agriculture for Sustainable Livelihoods

Organic Agriculture for Sustainable Livelihoods
Author: Niels Halberg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2012-08-21
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1136469362

This book provides a timely analysis and assessment of the potential of organic agriculture (OA) for rural development and the improvement of livelihoods. It focuses on smallholders in developing countries and in countries of economic transition, but there is also coverage of and comparisons with developed countries. It covers market-oriented approaches and challenges for OA as part of high value chains and as an agro-ecologically based development for improving food security. It demonstrates the often unrecognised roles that organic farming can play in climate change, food security and sovereignty, carbon sequestration, cost internalisations, ecosystems services, human health and the restoration of degraded landscapes. The chapters specifically provide readers with: an overview of the state of research on OA from socio-economic, environmental and agro-ecological perspectives an analysis of the current and potential role of OA in improving livelihoods of farmers, in sustainable value chain development, and in implementation of agro-ecological methods proposed strategies for exploiting and improving the potential of OA and overcoming the constraints for further development a review of the strengths and weaknesses of OA in a sustainable development context

15th WCEAM Proceedings

15th WCEAM Proceedings
Author: João Onofre Pereira Pinto
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 486
Release: 2022-03-24
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030967948

This book gathers selected peer-reviewed papers from the 15th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM), which was hosted by The Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul Campo Grande, Brazil, from 15–-18 August 2021 This book covers a wide range of topics in engineering asset management, including: strategy and standards; sustainability and resiliency; servitisation and Industry 4.0 business models; asset information systems; and asset management decision-making. The breadth and depth of these state-of-the-art, comprehensive proceedings make them an excellent resource for asset management practitioners, researchers, and academics, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students.