Trends in Global Agricultural Land Use : Implications for Environmental Health and Food Security

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Trends in Global Agricultural Land Use : Implications for Environmental Health and Food Security Ramankutty, Navin; Mehrabi, Zia; Waha, Katharina; Kremen, Claire; Herrero, Mario; Rieseberg, Loren H.

Abstract

The 18th century Malthusian prediction of population growth outstripping food production have not yet come to bear. Unprecedented agricultural land expansion since 1700, and technological innovations from the Green Revolution of the 1950s, have enabled more calorie production per capita than was ever available before in history. This remarkable success, however, has come at a great cost. Agriculture is a major cause of global environmental degradation. Undernourishment and micronutrient deficiencies persist among large parts of the population, and a new epidemic of obesity is on the rise. We review both the successes and failures of the global food system, addressing ongoing debates on pathways to environmental health and food security. To deal with these challenges, a new coordinated research program blending modern breeding with agro-ecological methods is needed. We call on plant biologists to lead this effort, and help steer humanity toward a “safe operating space” for agriculture.

Item Metadata

Title	Trends in Global Agricultural Land Use : Implications for Environmental Health and Food Security
Alternate Title	Agriculture, environment and food security
Creator	Ramankutty, Navin; Mehrabi, Zia; Waha, Katharina; Kremen, Claire; Herrero, Mario; Rieseberg, Loren H.
Contributor	Liu Institute for Global Issues
Date Issued	2018
Description	The 18th century Malthusian prediction of population growth outstripping food production have not yet come to bear. Unprecedented agricultural land expansion since 1700, and technological innovations from the Green Revolution of the 1950s, have enabled more calorie production per capita than was ever available before in history. This remarkable success, however, has come at a great cost. Agriculture is a major cause of global environmental degradation. Undernourishment and micronutrient deficiencies persist among large parts of the population, and a new epidemic of obesity is on the rise. We review both the successes and failures of the global food system, addressing ongoing debates on pathways to environmental health and food security. To deal with these challenges, a new coordinated research program blending modern breeding with agro-ecological methods is needed. We call on plant biologists to lead this effort, and help steer humanity toward a “safe operating space” for agriculture.
Subject	Agriculture; Food production; Food security; Environment; Land use
Genre	Article; Postprint
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2019-04-30
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0376079
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/68267
Affiliation	Science, Faculty of; Other UBC; Non UBC; Botany, Department of; Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Citation	Ramankutty, N., Z. Mehrabi, K. Waha, L. Jarvis, C. Kremen, M. Herrero, and L. H. Rieseberg, Trends in Global Agricultural Land Use: Implications for Environmental Health and Food Security, Annual Review of Plant Biology, 69(1), 789-815, 2018.
Publisher DOI	10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040256
Peer Review Status	Reviewed
Scholarly Level	Faculty; Researcher; Postdoctoral
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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