Sonja Vermeulen

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Food system innovations will be instrumental to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, major innovation breakthroughs can trigger profound and disruptive changes, leading to simultaneous and interlinked reconfigurations of multiple parts of the global food system. The emergence of new technologies or social solutions, the...

To operationalize the great food system transformation and ensure its sustainability, five areas of research and action require more attention: economic and structural costs; political economy; diversity of cultural norms; equity and social justice; and governance and decision support tools.

An aspirational global food system is one that delivers across a suite of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including universal access to healthy diets, which can also codeliver on climate and environment SDGs. The literature has downplayed the relative contribution of dietary change to sustainable food systems. In this perspective article,...

Future technologies and systemic innovation are critical for the profound transformation the food system needs. These innovations range from food production, land use and emissions, all the way to improved diets and waste management. Here, we identify these technologies, assess their readiness and propose eight action points that could accelerate t...

In an aspirational global food system, everyone would meet but not exceed their nutritional needs, and fulfill personal preferences for tasty, affordable, varied, convenient and healthy food—while keeping climate change under 2°C. Diets are an outcome of people’s choices and are profoundly shaped by socio-cultural, physical and economic factors in...

Policymakers and investors have perceived securing soil organic carbon as too difficult, with uncertain returns. But new technical, policy and financial opportunities offer hope for rapid progress.

Value chains in agriculture and food production involve large numbers of private-sector participants, from agricultural suppliers and farmers through to food manufacturers and processors, retailers, caterers and insurers. Companies coming together in shared agendas and actions on climate risks may offer a means to accelerate responses in the food s...

The goal of this toolkit is to help supporters of small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) work more effectively. We have written this toolkit for ‘facilitators’, for example donors at the international level and, most importantly, government extension services and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at the national level. We have not written...

Incremental adaptation may be inadequate to deal with rapid shifts and tipping points for food production under climate change. The concepts of transformative and transformational adaptation have emerged in recent years to address the need for major, non-marginal transitions in sectors, such as agriculture in response to climate change. However, th...

The food system is a major driver of climate change, changes in land use, depletion of freshwater resources, and pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through excessive nitrogen and phosphorus inputs. Here we show that between 2010 and 2050, as a result of expected changes in population and income levels, the environmental effects of the...

The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted under the Paris Agreement propose a country’s contribution to global mitigation efforts and domestic adaptation initiatives. This paper provides a systematic analysis of NDCs submitted by South Asian nations, in order to assess how far their commitments might deliver meaningful contributions...

A large body of research has explored opportunities to mitigate climate change in agricultural systems; however, less research has explored opportunities across the food system. Here we expand the existing research with a review of potential mitigation opportunities across the entire food system, including in pre-production, production, processing,...

The CCAFS Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Strategy is an update of the CCAFS 2012 Gender Strategy. The new strategy addresses gender as well as social inclusion for different social groups while bearing in mind that women are central to agriculture in developing countries. The CCAFS approach to GSI allies with the CGIAR objectives to create oppor...

A large body of research has explored opportunities to mitigate climate change in agricultural systems; however, less research has explored opportunities across the food system. Here we expand the existing research with a review of potential mitigation opportunities across the entire food system, including in pre-production, production, processing,...

Increasing weather risks threaten agricultural production systems and food security across the world. Maintaining agricultural growth while minimizing climate shocks is crucial to building a resilient food production system and meeting developmental goals in vulnerable countries. Experts have proposed several technological, institutional, and polic...

Agricultural research for development has made important contributions to poverty reduction and food security over the last 40 years. Nevertheless, it is likely that both the speed of global change and its impacts on natural and socio-economic systems are being under-estimated. Coupled with the moral imperative to justify the use of public resource...

We reviewed studies addressing the extent to which more integrated agricultural systems ( IAS ) have been found to be more resilient to climate variability and climate change than more specialized agricultural systems. We found limited literature directly addressing the topic, necessitating the use of proxy measures to enlarge the sample. Where nec...

This report is aimed at readers who seek to build economic evidence in support of the inclusion of actions on agriculture in climate change plans and programmes, particularly at the national level under the umbrella of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the December 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to restrict a rise in global temperatur...

SBSTA 45 in Marrakech represents a unique opportunity for Parties to decide on the future of agriculture within the UNFCCC. The process of discussions on issues related to agriculture initiated at COP17 in Durban 2011 culminates at COP22 in Marrakech 2016. • The explicit reference to food security in the preamble of the Paris Agreement and the Inte...

Climate change will have far-reaching impacts on crop, livestock and fisheries production, and will change the prevalence of crop pests. Many of these impacts are already measurable. Climate impact studies are dominated by those on crop yields despite the limitations of climate-crop modelling, with very little attention paid to more systems compone...

More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Richards et al., 2015a) in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector versus how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary globa...

Climate change is projected to constitute a significant threat to food security if no adaptation actions are taken(1,2). Transformation of agricultural systems, for example switching crop types or moving out of agriculture, is projected to be necessary in some cases(3-5). However, little attention has been paid to the timing of these transformation...

With limited global resources, and in the face of environmental changes, meeting future food security challenges will first require a shift in thinking from just ‘producing food’ (and other sectoral interests) to ‘food systems.’ Solutions will need to be applied at local and regional levels, but still be interlinked through dialogue and alliances b...

A 2015 climate agreement should reference food security and provide the financial, technical and capacity building support for countries to devise ambitious actions for the agricultural sector.  The various components of an expected COP21 agreement that relate to agriculture could be made more coherent as action unfolds after Paris. The significa...

Regional planning workshops are a good value-for-money investment for the following reasons: • To build coherent projects and a cohesive regional research for development program portfolio, it is important to have structural dimensions to help harmonize science with development demands. • Bringing project teams together very early in the process wi...

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Background: Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) addresses the challenge of meeting the growing demand for food, fibre and fuel, despite the changing climate and fewer opportunities for agricultural expansion on additional lands. CSA focuses on contributing to economic development, poverty reduction and food security; maintaining and enhancing the produ...

As countries around the world face urgent agricultural challenges, the concept of 'climate-smart' agriculture (CSA) has been put forward to achieve climate change adaptation, mitigation, and food security synergistically. A new report explores how three countries are using integrated policy approaches to CSA and offers insights for how other countr...

Agriculture, and consequently food security and livelihoods, is already being affected by climate change, according to latest science from the IPCC. The various strands of work already underway on agriculture within the UNFCCC process can be strengthened and made more coherent. A 2015 climate agreement should reference food production and provide t...

Where power lies and how it is conceived in studies of governance and institutions is often not discussed. This is due to the ubiquitous nature of the topic. Power is shaped by a variety of institutional factors, including the architecture of governing structures, questions of scale and level, and access to key resources including knowledge and cap...

Agriculture is considered to be "climate-smart" when it contributes to increasing food security, adaptation and mitigation in a sustainable way. This new concept now dominates current discussions in agricultural development because of its capacity to unite the agendas of the agriculture, development and climate change communities under one brand. I...

Clearer understanding is needed of the premises underlying SI and how it relates to food-system priorities.

We present a framework for prioritizing adaptation approaches at a range of timeframes. The framework is illustrated by four case studies from developing countries, each with associated characterization of uncertainty. Two cases on near-term adaptation planning in Sri Lanka and on stakeholder scenario exercises in East Africa show how the relative...

Participatory research, using the FAO’s Aquacrop model, is investigating crop yields under several climate change scenarios, and feeding the findings in to a national, cross-sectoral economic model. Stakeholders, from farmers to national decision makers, are using the same model to guide their decisions. The project will contribute to a National Ad...

Food systems contribute 19%–29% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, releasing 9,800–16,900 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2008. Agricultural production, including indirect emissions associated with land-cover change, contributes 80%–86% of total food system emissions, with significant regional variation. The...

Sonja Vermeulen ponders two takes on the twinned global issues of consumption and waste.

Agriculture and food security are key sectors for intervention under climate change. Agricultural production is highly vulnerable even to 2C (low-end) predictions for global mean temperatures in 2100, with major implications for rural poverty and for both rural and urban food security. Agriculture also presents untapped opportunities for mitigation...

Lorenzo Cotula and Sonja Vermeulen examine the extent to which local people have control over the land allocation processes which have such enormous impacts on their livelihoods and cultures. They examine the procedural issues of consultation and consent, to examine how accountable current processes are to differentiated local interests, and at the...

Recent spikes in world food and energy prices have fostered renewed momentum for agricultural investment in lower and middle-income countries. Governments in some food-importing countries are promoting the acquisition of land overseas as a means to ensure long-term national food security. Businesses are recognizing new opportunities for strong retu...

West et al.’s recent paper (1) compared tradeoffs of carbon and crop production in temperate and tropical zones. We welcome the empirical evidence in support of agricultural intensification rather than extensification. We strongly caution against the implicit conclusion that food production might need to be concentrated in the temperate zone, howev...

To achieve food security for many in low-income and middle-income countries for whom this is already a challenge, especially with the additional complications of climate change, will require early investment to support smallholder farming systems and the associated food systems that supply poor consumers. We need both local and global policy-linked...

Highly publicised large-scale land deals for biofuels are raising prospects for macro-level benefits in recipient countries, but also carry the threat of appropriation of land and natural resources from the poor local people who depend on these assets. This paper examines the extent to which local people are party to land allocation processes, cons...

Recent sharp increases in food prices have prompted some food-importing countries to promote the acquisition of farmland abroad as a strategy to secure food supplies at affordable prices. Businesses are recognizing new opportunities for strong returns from agricultural investment, including agri-food, biofuels and other agricultural commodities. Du...

"Forests are power bases, but often for the wrong people. As attention turns from making an international deal on REDD to making it work on the ground, the hunt will be on for practical ways of shifting power over forests towards those who enable and pursue sustainable forest-linked livelihoods. The Forest Governance Learning Group – an alliance ac...

"How can business pull a local farming community out of poverty? Tackle climate change? Protect a forest’s biodiversity? This, the first of eight briefings in the IIED ‘business models for sustainable development’ series, shows how business can help to deliver the Millennium Development Goals. This overview covers all the stages in the process, fro...

"Global demand for climate-friendly transport fuels is driving vast commercial biofuels projects in developing countries. At the opposite end of the spectrum is small-scale bioenergy production. This offers a way for the poor to meet their energy needs and diversify their livelihoods without compromising food security or environmental integrity. Go...

"Large-scale acquisitions of farmland in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia are making headlines in a flurry of media reports across the world. Lands that only a short time ago seemed of little outside interest are now being sought by international investors by the tune of hundreds of thousands of hectares. And while a failed at...

This study examines the extent of elephant damage in two State Forests and investigates whether wildlife utilization, particularly of elephant ( Loxodonta africana ), produces economic returns which offset the negative impact of elephant damage on the timber resource. Eight common timber species were studied; 25% of trees >9·5 cm diameter at breast...

The jury is still out on biofuels. But one thing at least is certain: serious trade-offs are involved in the production and use of these biomass-derived alternatives to fossil fuels. This has not been lost on the European Union. The year kicked off with an announcement from the EU environment commissioner that it may be better for the EU to miss it...

At the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, partnerships were touted as one of the key routes to sustainable development. But can partnerships really deliver improvements to rural livelihoods? This paper reviews one set of claimed partnerships, those between forestry companies and local individuals or communities, to assess the benefits, and the c...

Recent years have witnessed a rapid and accelerating expansion of bioethanol and biodiesel production. This expansion is driven by government targets for biofuel substitution in energy budgets for transport, driven in turn by concerns about high oil prices, prospects for rural development, export opportunities and means to mitigate climate change....

Introduction Forest-dependent people face both poverty and marginalisation. Their difficulties are often much broader than low incomes. They have to do with powerlessness and insecurity, the absence of ‘decent’ work, geographical and social isolation, the degradation of natural resources on which they are particularly dependent, and cultural disin...

This guide provides a set of concepts and analytical tools for finding ways to better link small-scale producers to the modern markets associated with today’s largescale supermarket retail and wholesale operations. It is has been developed through iterative testing with partners in several organisations and countries. The guide is a product of the...

"This study aims to open up discussion of the way in which biofuels are likely to impact on access to land. Many observers and activists have raised concerns that the spread of biofuels may result in loss of land access for poorer rural people in localities that produce biofuel crops. However, since liquid biofuels are a relatively new phenomenon i...

Achieving effective conservation in the tropics is a global concern but implicates local people. Despite considerable rhetoric about local participation the vast majority of conservation initiatives continue to be devised and controlled by a small group of powerful, external voices. What is widely overlooked is that local people often have positive...

Both commentators,find,problems,in our,abstract. Robinson,dislikes our premise,that global conservation is largely ‘ ... devised,and,controlled by a small group,of powerful, external voices’. This he suggests ’ .. .does not forward,[our] analysis’. Nonetheless,he avoids engaging with the charge,and,the implications,of the democratic deficit it enta...

Achieving effective conservation in the tropics is a global concern but implicates local people. Despite considerable rhetoric about local participation the vast majority of conservation initiatives continue to be devised and controlled by a small group of powerful, external voices. What is widely overlooked is that local people often have positive...

Policy makers should actively support an alliance of local institutions that seek to co-develop social and forest resilience in areas most vulnerable to climate change. • • • • • Significant global climate change is inevitable. Tree species have a limited capacity to tolerate climate change or migrate through natural or artificial means. We do not...

Stakeholder influence mapping is a tool to examine and visually display the relative influence that different individuals and groups have over decision-making. This paper describes one approach to doing this and presents several examples from its use.

"The aim of this Gatekeeper is to provide basic guidance on the different facets and values of biodiversity and how these matter to different interest groups. Most emphasis is put on the level of communities who live with biodiversity, to point out some of the local contexts and choices that external agents may want or need to incorporate in biodiv...

Two questionnaire surveys of fuel use by low-income households in Zimbabwe were conducted in four small towns in 1994, and in these towns plus four larger towns in 1999. An energy transition from wood through kerosene to electricity occurred (a) with rising household income, (b) with increasing electrification status among towns and (c) over time i...

Partnerships for development are spreading like wildfire – at least in rhetoric. This report examines a set of partnerships in forestry – those between companies and communities – to see whether there is any substance beyond the hype. Some 57 examples in 23 countries are reviewed – from informal arrangements and social responsibility efforts to out...

Forestry is no magic bullet for poverty eradication any more than any other sector is on its own. But good forestry does offer some high potential routes out of rural poverty. Forestry can contribute to food security, provide resource safety nets and sometimes enterprise opportunities where little else exists. Forests have also proven to be fertile...

"Assessing the performance of management is central to natural resource management, in terms of improving the efficiency of interventions in an adaptive-learning cycle. This is not simple, given that such systems generally have multiple scales of interaction and response; high frequency of nonlinearity, uncertainty, and time lags; multiple stakehol...

A questionnaire survey of fuel and wood use was administered to approximately 1500 households in rural Zimbabwe in 1994 and repeated in 1999. The nine localities covered by the survey fell into four strata distinguished by woodland cover, distance from urban centres and whether communal or resettlement (ex-commercial farming) areas. Over time house...

Mafungabusi State Forest, Zimbabwe, is a protected area of indigenous miombo woodland surrounded almost entirely by communal areas. Tree cutting by residents of the communal areas is legal in the communal areas but illegal in the state forest. The objectives of this study were to determine the spatial pattern of tree cutting in the state forest and...

Soil Changes Under Agroforestry (SCUAF), a computer model designed to predict changes in erosion, soil carbon and soil nitrogen over time within various agroforestry systems and climatic regimes, was assessed using input data from an undisturbed miombo woodland and an adjacent maize field in Zimbabwe. Predicted changes in soil carbon were in a real...

International agencies are committed to conservation and development that shares costs, benefi ts and decision-making powers more equitably. People-centred conservation does not mean that poverty reduction or local development priorities should always override other social goals, but does mean that we need to work on practical solutions to reconcil...