Costa Rica’s journey towards sustainable food systems

Costa Rica’s journey towards sustainable food systems
Author: Roosendaal, L., Brouwer, H., Garcia-Campos, P., Prado-Rivera, F.
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2021-08-19
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9251347859

Governments and other food system actors from the private sector, civil society, research and education institutions are being called upon to work together to enhance the sustainability, resilience and inclusiveness of food systems. The analysis presented in this case study provides an insight into the process and direction of food system transformation, and the key capabilities required. It portrays the interplay of different internal and external dynamics combined with the capacity of food system actors to connect, forge alliances and commit to specific actions that has enabled Costa Rica to move towards a more sustainable food system. As a result, the sustainability debate has increasingly opened up, moving from a focus on environmental sustainability in food production towards a broader discussion encompassing nutrition and health.

Together at the Table

Together at the Table
Author: Patricia Allen
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2015-08-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0271073667

Everywhere you look people are more aware of what they eat and where their food comes from. In a cafeteria in Los Angeles, children make their lunchtime food choices at fresh-fruit and salad bars stocked with local foods. In a community garden in New York, low-income residents are producing organically grown fruits and vegetables for their own use and to sell at market. In Madison, Wisconsin, shoppers select their food from a bounty of choices at a vibrant farmers’ market. Together at the Table is about people throughout the United States who are building successful alternatives to the contemporary agrifood system and their prospects for the future. At the heart of these efforts are the movements for sustainable agriculture and community food security. Both movements seek to reconstruct the agrifood system—the food production chain, from the growing of crops to food production and distribution—to become more ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially just. Allen describes the ways in which people working in these movements view the world and how they see their place in challenging and reshaping the agrifood system. She also shows how ideas and practices of sustainable agriculture and community food security have already woven their way into the dominant agrifood institutions. Allen explores the possibilities this process may hold for improving social and environmental justice in the American agrifood system. Together at the Table is an important reminder that much work still remains to be done. Now that the ideas and priorities of alternative food movements have taken hold, it is time for the next—even more challenging—step. Alternative agrifood movements must acknowledge and address the deeper structural and cultural patterns that constrain the long-term resolution of social and environmental problems in the agrifood system.

Green finance as a critical lever for delivering sustainable agrifood systems – A global landscape study

Green finance as a critical lever for delivering sustainable agrifood systems – A global landscape study
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2023-11-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9251380856

The global landscape study on ‘Green finance as a critical lever for delivering sustainable agrifood system’ is an inclusive commentary on the current status of green finance to agrifood sector in the global south and its support system. This document provides evidence that the current green finance trends favour the development of the clean energy industry, whereas smallholder agriculture has not had the same success. Financing the agrifood sector in a “business as usual” mode is not a sufficient condition to mitigate the risks emanated from a range of climatic shocks and unprecedented events impacting the global food value chains. Sustainable financing mechanisms through innovative instruments and business practices are potential solutions and green finance emerges as the way forward to shift the focus from economic profit creation to the generation of stakeholder’s value (economic, environmental, and social governance). The document presents an excellent opportunity that can help elicit ongoing initiatives, application mechanisms, and significant issues to build global narratives about developing an inclusive approach to green finance services for the agrifood sector.

Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Sustainable Agrifood Systems
Author: Claire Lamine
Publisher:
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2020
Genre: Food industry and trade
ISBN: 9781350101159

Building on recent scholarship in the sociology of food, Claire Lamine uses in-depth case studies from France and Brazil to compile a critical survey of social science approaches to sustainability transitions in agrifood systems. Lamine addresses the diverse pathways of transition encountered across multiple levels, from the farm through farmers' networks and food chains, to the territorial scale of regions. She also explores the efforts made by those involved in the agricultural world to create new connections between agriculture, food, environment and health, while also taking social equity issues into account. Lamine's work adopts a comparative perspective to explore the translation of agroecology into government programmes and the specific modes of governance involved in France and Brazil - two countries that pioneer in implementing agroecology yet which differ both in visions and context. Providing new options for understanding the complex issue of agrifood transitions, this book will make an impact for those studying food systems, geography, sociology, politics and agriculture.

Sustainable Food and Agriculture

Sustainable Food and Agriculture
Author: Clayton Campanhola
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 611
Release: 2018-11-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128121351

Sustainable Food and Agriculture: An Integrated Approach is the first book to look at the imminent threats to sustainable food security through a cross-sectoral lens. As the world faces food supply challenges posed by the declining growth rate of agricultural productivity, accelerated deterioration of quantity and quality of natural resources that underpin agricultural production, climate change, and hunger, poverty and malnutrition, a multi-faced understanding is key to identifying practical solutions. This book gives stakeholders a common vision, concept and methods that are based on proven and widely agreed strategies for continuous improvement in sustainability at different scales. While information on policies and technologies that would enhance productivity and sustainability of individual agricultural sectors is available to some extent, literature is practically devoid of information and experiences for countries and communities considering a comprehensive approach (cross-sectoral policies, strategies and technologies) to SFA. This book is the first effort to fill this gap, providing information on proven options for enhancing productivity, profitability, equity and environmental sustainability of individual sectors and, in addition, how to identify opportunities and actions for exploiting cross-sectoral synergies. Provides proven options of integrated technologies and policies, helping new programs identify appropriate existing programs Presents mechanisms/tools for balancing trade-offs and proposes indicators to facilitate decision-making and progress measurement Positions a comprehensive and informed review of issues in one place for effective education, comparison and evaluation

The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture

The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture
Author: Carolyn Sachs
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2016-05-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1609384156

A profound shift is occurring among women working in agriculture - they are increasingly seeing themselves as farmers, not only as the wives or daughters of farmers. In this book, farm women in the northeastern United States describe how they got into farming and became successful entrepreneurs despite the barriers they encountered in agricultural institutions, farming communities, and even their own families. The authors' feminist agrifood systems theory (FAST) values women's ways of knowing and working in agriculture and has the potential to shift how farmers, agricultural professionals, and anyone else interested in farming think about gender and sustainability, as well as to change how feminist scholars and theorists think about agriculture.--COVER.

The State of Food and Agriculture 2021

The State of Food and Agriculture 2021
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2021-11-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9251343292

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of agrifood systems to shocks and stresses and led to increased global food insecurity and malnutrition. Action is needed to make agrifood systems more resilient, efficient, sustainable and inclusive. The State of Food and Agriculture 2021 presents country-level indicators of the resilience of agrifood systems. The indicators measure the robustness of primary production and food availability, as well as physical and economic access to food. They can thus help assess the capacity of national agrifood systems to absorb shocks and stresses, a key aspect of resilience. The report analyses the vulnerabilities of food supply chains and how rural households cope with risks and shocks. It discusses options to minimize trade-offs that building resilience may have with efficiency and inclusivity. The aim is to offer guidance on policies to enhance food supply chain resilience, support livelihoods in the agrifood system and, in the face of disruption, ensure sustainable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to all.

Sustainable Food Production

Sustainable Food Production
Author: Shahid Naeem
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 109
Release: 2021-11-02
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0231548443

Industrial agriculture is responsible for widespread environmental degradation and undermines the pursuit of human well-being. With a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050, it is urgent for humanity to achieve a more sustainable approach to farming and food systems. This concise text offers an overview of the key issues in sustainable food production for all readers interested in the ecology and environmental impacts of agriculture. It details the ecological foundations of farming and food systems, showing how knowledge from the natural and social sciences can be used to create sustainable alternatives to the industrial production methods used today. Beginning with a discussion of the role of agriculture in human development, the primer examines how twentieth-century farming methods are environmentally and socially unsustainable, contributing to global change and perpetuating inequalities. The authors explain the principles of environmental sustainability and explore how these principles can be put into practice in agrifood systems. They emphasize the importance of human well-being and insist on the centrality of social and environmental equity and justice. Sustainable Food Production is a compelling guide to how we can improve our ability to feed each other today and preserve the ability of our planet to do so tomorrow. Appropriate for a range of courses in the natural and social sciences, it provides a comprehensive yet accessible framework for achieving agricultural sustainability in the Anthropocene.

Sustainable Agri-food Systems

Sustainable Agri-food Systems
Author: Claire Lamine
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2020-09-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1350101141

Building on recent scholarship in the sociology of food, Claire Lamine uses in-depth case studies from France and Brazil to compile a critical survey of social science approaches to sustainability transitions in agri-food systems. Lamine addresses the diverse pathways of transition encountered across multiple levels, from the farm through farmers' networks and food chains, to the territorial scale of regions. She also explores the efforts made by those involved in the agricultural world to create new connections between agriculture, food, environment and health, while also taking social equity issues into account. The book adopts a comparative perspective to explore the translation of agroecology into government programmes and the specific modes of governance involved in France and Brazil - two countries that pioneer in implementing agroecology yet which differ both in visions and context. Providing new options for understanding the complex issue of agri-food transitions, this book will make an impact for those studying food systems, geography, sociology, politics and agriculture.