Research priorities for global food security under extreme events

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2022.06.008

. 2022 Jul 15;5(7):756-766.

doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.06.008.

Research priorities for global food security under extreme events

Zia Mehrabi^{1

2}, Ruth Delzeit³, Adriana Ignaciuk⁴, Christian Levers^{5

6}, Ginni Braich⁶, Kushank Bajaj⁶, Araba Amo-Aidoo^{7

8}, Weston Anderson^{9

10}, Roland A Balgah^{11

12}, Tim G Benton¹³, Martin M Chari¹⁴, Erle C Ellis¹⁵, Narcisse Z Gahi¹⁶, Franziska Gaupp^{17

18}, Lucas A Garibaldi^{19

20}, James S Gerber²¹, Cecile M Godde²², Ingo Grass²³, Tobias Heimann²⁴, Mark Hirons²⁵, Gerrit Hoogenboom²⁶, Meha Jain²⁷, Dana James⁶, David Makowski²⁸, Blessing Masamha²⁹, Sisi Meng³⁰, Sathaporn Monprapussorn³¹, Daniel Müller³², Andrew Nelson³³, Nathaniel K Newlands³⁴, Frederik Noack³⁵, MaryLucy Oronje³⁶, Colin Raymond³⁷, Markus Reichstein³⁸, Loren H Rieseberg³⁹, Jose M Rodriguez-Llanes⁴⁰, Todd Rosenstock⁴¹, Pedram Rowhani⁴², Ali Sarhadi⁴³, Ralf Seppelt^{44

45}, Balsher S Sidhu⁶, Sieglinde Snapp⁴⁶, Tammara Soma⁴⁷, Adam H Sparks^{48

49}, Louise Teh⁵⁰, Michelle Tigchelaar⁵¹, Martha M Vogel⁵², Paul C West^{53

54}, Hannah Wittman⁶, Liangzhi You⁵⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
² Mortenson Center in Global Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
³ University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁴ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Environmental Geography, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁶ Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁷ Kassel University, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kassel University, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
⁸ Kumasi Technical University, Department of Automotive and Agricultural Mechanization, P.O. Box 854, Kumasi, Ghana.
⁹ Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA.
¹⁰ International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA.
¹¹ College of Technology, The University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon.
¹² Higher Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development, Bamenda University of Science and Technology - BUST, Bamenda, Cameroon.
¹³ Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 10 St James Sq, London SW1Y 4LE, UK.
¹⁴ Risk & Vulnerability Science Centre, Faculty of Science & Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.
¹⁵ Department of Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
¹⁶ Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
¹⁷ International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria.
¹⁸ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany.
¹⁹ Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Río Negro, Argentina.
²⁰ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Río Negro, Argentina.
²¹ Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
²² Agriculture and Food Business Unit, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
²³ Ecology of Tropical Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
²⁴ Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Kiel, Germany.
²⁵ Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²⁶ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
²⁷ School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
²⁸ UMR MIA 518, Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Paris, France.
²⁹ Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA), 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
³⁰ Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
³¹ Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand.
³² Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Theodor-Lieser-Str. 2, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
³³ Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands.
³⁴ Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Summerland Research and Development Centre, Summerland, BC, Canada.
³⁵ Food and Resource Economics Group, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³⁶ Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), 673 Canary Bird, Limuru Road, Muthaiga, Nairobi, Kenya.
³⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
³⁸ Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany.
³⁹ Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁴⁰ European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy.
⁴¹ The Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Rome, Italy.
⁴² Department of Geography, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
⁴³ Lorenz Center, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴⁴ Helmholtz Institute for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany.
⁴⁵ Institute of Geoscience and Geography, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
⁴⁶ Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
⁴⁷ School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
⁴⁸ Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
⁴⁹ University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Crop Health, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia.
⁵⁰ Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁵¹ Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁵² Man and the Biosphere Programme, Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO, Paris, France.
⁵³ Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
⁵⁴ Project Drawdown, 3450 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁵⁵ International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA.

PMID: 35898653
PMCID: PMC9307291
DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.06.008

Research priorities for global food security under extreme events

Zia Mehrabi et al. One Earth. 2022.

. 2022 Jul 15;5(7):756-766.

doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.06.008.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
² Mortenson Center in Global Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
³ University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁴ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Environmental Geography, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁶ Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁷ Kassel University, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kassel University, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
⁸ Kumasi Technical University, Department of Automotive and Agricultural Mechanization, P.O. Box 854, Kumasi, Ghana.
⁹ Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA.
¹⁰ International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA.
¹¹ College of Technology, The University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon.
¹² Higher Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development, Bamenda University of Science and Technology - BUST, Bamenda, Cameroon.
¹³ Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 10 St James Sq, London SW1Y 4LE, UK.
¹⁴ Risk & Vulnerability Science Centre, Faculty of Science & Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.
¹⁵ Department of Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
¹⁶ Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
¹⁷ International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria.
¹⁸ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany.
¹⁹ Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Río Negro, Argentina.
²⁰ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Río Negro, Argentina.
²¹ Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
²² Agriculture and Food Business Unit, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
²³ Ecology of Tropical Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
²⁴ Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Kiel, Germany.
²⁵ Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²⁶ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
²⁷ School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
²⁸ UMR MIA 518, Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Paris, France.
²⁹ Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA), 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
³⁰ Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
³¹ Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand.
³² Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Theodor-Lieser-Str. 2, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
³³ Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands.
³⁴ Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Summerland Research and Development Centre, Summerland, BC, Canada.
³⁵ Food and Resource Economics Group, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³⁶ Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), 673 Canary Bird, Limuru Road, Muthaiga, Nairobi, Kenya.
³⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
³⁸ Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany.
³⁹ Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁴⁰ European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy.
⁴¹ The Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Rome, Italy.
⁴² Department of Geography, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
⁴³ Lorenz Center, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴⁴ Helmholtz Institute for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany.
⁴⁵ Institute of Geoscience and Geography, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
⁴⁶ Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
⁴⁷ School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
⁴⁸ Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
⁴⁹ University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Crop Health, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia.
⁵⁰ Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁵¹ Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁵² Man and the Biosphere Programme, Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO, Paris, France.
⁵³ Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
⁵⁴ Project Drawdown, 3450 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁵⁵ International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA.

PMID: 35898653
PMCID: PMC9307291
DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.06.008

Abstract

Extreme events, such as those caused by climate change, economic or geopolitical shocks, and pest or disease epidemics, threaten global food security. The complexity of causation, as well as the myriad ways that an event, or a sequence of events, creates cascading and systemic impacts, poses significant challenges to food systems research and policy alike. To identify priority food security risks and research opportunities, we asked experts from a range of fields and geographies to describe key threats to global food security over the next two decades and to suggest key research questions and gaps on this topic. Here, we present a prioritization of threats to global food security from extreme events, as well as emerging research questions that highlight the conceptual and practical challenges that exist in designing, adopting, and governing resilient food systems. We hope that these findings help in directing research funding and resources toward food system transformations needed to help society tackle major food system risks and food insecurity under extreme events.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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References

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[1] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security. 2021. https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb3673en/

[2] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security. 2021. https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb3673en/

[3] World Food Programme Global report on food crises. 2021. https://www.wfp.org/publications/global-report-food-crises-2021

[4] World Food Programme Global report on food crises. 2021. https://www.wfp.org/publications/global-report-food-crises-2021

[5] UNCTAD Trade wars are huge threats to food security. 2020. https://unctad.org/news/trade-wars-are-huge-threats-food-security

[6] UNCTAD Trade wars are huge threats to food security. 2020. https://unctad.org/news/trade-wars-are-huge-threats-food-security

[7] Tadesse G., Algieri B., Kalkuhl M., von Braun J. Drivers and triggers of international food price spikes and volatility. Food Pol. 2014;47:117–128. doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.08.014. - DOI

[8] Tadesse G., Algieri B., Kalkuhl M., von Braun J. Drivers and triggers of international food price spikes and volatility. Food Pol. 2014;47:117–128. doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.08.014. - DOI

[9] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Organization for Migration, & World Food Programme The linkages between migration, agriculture, food security and rural development: technical report. 2018. https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/CA0922EN/

[10] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Organization for Migration, & World Food Programme The linkages between migration, agriculture, food security and rural development: technical report. 2018. https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/CA0922EN/

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Research priorities for global food security under extreme events

Affiliations

Research priorities for global food security under extreme events

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