The Food Security Biodiversity And Climate Nexus

This volume is the outcome of an international cooperation between 73 scientists, experts, and practitioners from many countries, disciplines, and professional areas. As a part of a series of CERES publications, the volume attempts to contribute to the scientific debate about the food–biodiversity–climate nexus by developing a comprehensive region-specific and broader global understanding of the linkages between these areas, especially in the context of Global South. Instead of providing only modern science-based solutions for the nexus related challenges, the volume covers case studies that present mixed solutions, offering the use of traditional ecological knowledge in combination with modern science for both resilience and sustainability. This is increasingly instrumental in shaping the needed response options regarding the economic, social, and environmental future of the world. Based on a multi-regional and cross-sectoral analysis, the approach consists of: assessing the different natural and anthropogenic factors currently affecting ecosystems and their services, especially the impacts of climate change; highlighting the different linkages between the state of biodiversity and food systems in many contexts and scales; and exploring the various response mechanisms to effectively manage the implications of such linkages. Most chapters provide inputs for future relevant research and policy agendas.

"Published to coincide with the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Paris, France, in December 2015, this latest RMB manifesto introduces readers to the serious and converging impacts of climate and weather on water, food and energy and on the biodiversity we cannot do without. Secure supplies of water, food and energy are essential to human dignity and well-being around the globe. In turn, the vitality of these three depends on a thriving biodiversity supported by healthy ecosystems. The complex interdependence among these four factors is known as the Nexus. Global demand for the first three elements is increasing due to population growth and rising per capita incomes in developing countries, with steadily worsening consequences for the fourth of these elements. The four Nexus elements are also coming under increasing pressure from climate disruption: more frequent and severe flooding and storms, droughts, extreme heat, pest outbreaks. What's more, Nature's capacity to moderate these impacts is being steadily eroded by rapid, widespread land-use development and associated pollution. This impending "perfect storm" of increasing demand, decreasing supplies and rapidly changing hydro-climatic conditions throughout the Nexus requires transformative policy responses that encompass economy, equity, social justice, fairness and the environment. This book outlines these challenges and offers a pathway to resolving them."--

Humankind is facing a perfect storm of climate change, biodiversity loss, and multiple forms of malnutrition (stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, and obesity) coexisting in the same country, community, household, and even individual. Challenges from each of these areas are well known and recognized, but what seems to be missing in many development and policy circles is a recognition that food is at the centre of all three of these issues. This paper identifies entry points within agri-food systems to improve biodiversity and diets, two levers that can be used to enhance nutrition and optimize environmental sustainability while ensuring social equity, especially of the most vulnerable people. It also presents recommendations for concrete actions by key stakeholders – governments, academia, civil society, private sector, and development partners –to build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agri-food systems.

Global trends of population growth, rising living standards and the rapidly increasing urbanized world are increasing the demand on water, food and energy. Added to this is the growing threat of climate change which will have huge impacts on water and food availability. It is increasingly clear that there is no place in an interlinked world for isolated solutions aimed at just one sector. In recent years the "nexus" has emerged as a powerful concept to capture these inter-linkages of resources and is now a key feature of policy-making. This book is one of the first to provide a broad overview of both the science behind the nexus and the implications for policies and sustainable development. It brings together contributions by leading intergovernmental and governmental officials, industry, scientists and other stakeholder thinkers who are working to develop the approaches to the Nexus of water-food-energy and climate. It represents a major synthesis and state-of-the-art assessment of the Nexus by major players, in light of the adoption by the United Nations of the new Sustainable Development Goals and Targets in 2015. With a foreword by HRH the Prince of Wales

This book contributes to the on-going debates on climate change by focusing on the SDGs and exploring linkages between environmental change and food security as well as the relevance and need to consider the management of natural resources, especially water, soil and forest. Compared to relevant existing publications, this book covers case studies that capture the everyday realities of the local people and how they react and adapt to similar situations in different geographical settings. Each case study presented in this book gives a particular message. The strength of this book lies in the fact that it covers the most neglected topics in climate negotiations in spite of the fact that these decide the fate of millions of people around the world, especially the developing countries. By presenting a collection of case studies from Africa, Asia and Europe, this book encourages cross-continental knowledge sharing. The scope of the book ranges from impacts to mitigation and from in-field experiments to policy implementation. It contributes to the existing knowledge on climate-food nexus and connects climate change to sectors it could impact directly. All chapters in this book emphasise local ownership of strategy processes, effective participation from all levels, and high-level commitment. Besides being relevant for the academicians and scholars working in the field of climate change, forest and agriculture, it aims to catch interest of the policy makers and practitioners to understand ground realities for appropriate action. It is also bound to make an impact on the Non-Governmental Organizations around the world and in the three different continents that this book covers, considering the indigenous and local issues highlighted in this book.

Global environmental change (GEC) represents an immediate and unprecedented threat to the food security of hundreds of millions of people, especially those who depend on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. As this book shows, at the same time, agriculture and related activities also contribute to GEC by, for example, intensifying greenhouse gas emissions and altering the land surface. Responses aimed at adapting to GEC may have negative consequences for food security, just as measures taken to increase food security may exacerbate GEC. The authors show that this complex and dynamic relationship between GEC and food security is also influenced by additional factors; food systems are heavily influenced by socioeconomic conditions, which in turn are affected by multiple processes such as macro-level economic policies, political conflicts and other important drivers. The book provides a major, accessible synthesis of the current state of knowledge and thinking on the relationships between GEC and food security. Most other books addressing the subject concentrate on the links between climate change and agricultural production, and do not extend to an analysis of the wider food system which underpins food security; this book addresses the broader issues, based on a novel food system concept and stressing the need for actions at a regional, rather than just an international or local, level. It reviews new thinking which has emerged over the last decade, analyses research methods for stakeholder engagement and for undertaking studies at the regional level, and looks forward by reviewing a number of emerging 'hot topics' in the food security-GEC debate which help set new agendas for the research community at large. Published with Earth System Science Partnership, GECAFS and SCOPE

The resilience of food systems and security to emerging challenges and threats, especially in the context of environmental and climate risks and global pandemics such as the Covid-19 crisis, is currently gaining growing importance in research, policy, and practice. Based on this, the core focus of this book, as a part of a series of CERES publications, consists of identifiying and exploring the best ways to overcome such challenges and shocks and to build resilience in the Global South. More precisely, the book analyzes current dynamics and trends related to the climate resilience of food security and assess the relevance of emerging approaches such as climate-smart agriculture, new roles of agriculture extension, smart farming, and climate adaptation of farming systems.The book includes both conceptual and empirical research reporting lessons learned from many geographical, environmental, social, and policy settings while focusing on Africa, Middle East, and Asia. It also provides research and policy-oriented inputs and recommendations to guide change processes at multiple scales.