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Food Systems to Address Climate Challenges
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Food Systems to Address Climate Challenges

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 7556

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tek Sapkota

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Texcoco, Mexico
Interests: food security; climate change adaptation and mitigation; sustainable agriculture
Dr. Tai McClellan Maaz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, United States
Interests: Nitrogen management; sustainable agriculture; environmental metrics; global food production
Dr. Prajal Pradhan

E-Mail Website
Chief Guest Editor
Urban Transformations Group, RD2 Climate Resilience, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany
Interests: sustainable transformation; sustainable food systems; food security; climate change impact; adaptation; mitigation; sustainable cities; ecosystem services; urban transformation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue invites papers that investigate the interlinkages between food systems and climate change across multiple scales. By food system in this Special Issue, we mean the web of all activities from production through processing and transport to consumption. Climate change is closely interlinked with each of these food system components via its impact, adaptation, and mitigation. The current food systems contribute to 21–37% of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. In return, climate change negatively impacts food systems and all four pillars (availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability) of food security. Agriculture that protects the planet and supports a healthy population requires a functional understanding of the interlinkages between climate and food systems. Such an understanding at multiple scales can help to stimulate transformation towards sustainable, inclusive, healthy, and climate-resilient food systems.

We are inviting contributions from the scientists working in the climate change food system nexus in production, processing, transport, and consumption, including the aspects of governance, economics, and sustainable development. The contribution can be original research, an opinion piece, a synthesis, or a systematic review. Contributions are invited as short communications, research articles, perspectives, and review papers focusing on one or more interlinkages (i.e., impacts, adaptation, and mitigation) between climate change and at least one pillar of food security at the global, regional, or local scale.

Dr. Prajal Pradhan
Dr. Tek Sapkota
Dr. Tai McClellan Maaz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • climate change
  • food systems
  • food security
  • climate impact
  • adaptation
  • mitigation
  • climate smart agriculture
  • sustainable land management
  • nature-based solution
  • sustainable intensification
  • ecological intensification
  • agro-ecology

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 1584 KiB  
Article
Achieving Sustainability in Food Systems: Addressing Changing Climate through Real Time Nitrogen and Weed Management in a Conservation Agriculture-Based Maize–Wheat System
by Kapila Shekhawat, Vinod K. Singh, Sanjay Singh Rathore, Rishi Raj and T. K. Das
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5010; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095010 - 29 Apr 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1476
Abstract
The proven significance of conservation agriculture (CA) in enhancing agronomic productivity and resource use efficiency across diverse agro-ecologies is often challenged by weed interference and nitrogen (N) immobilization. The collective effect of real-time N and weed management has been scarcely studied. To evaluate [...] Read more.
The proven significance of conservation agriculture (CA) in enhancing agronomic productivity and resource use efficiency across diverse agro-ecologies is often challenged by weed interference and nitrogen (N) immobilization. The collective effect of real-time N and weed management has been scarcely studied. To evaluate the appropriateness of sensor-based N management in conjunction with a broad-spectrum weed control strategy for the maize–wheat system, an experiment was conducted at ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute—in New Delhi, India, during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017. Weed management in maize through Sesbania brown manure followed by post-emergence application of 2,4-D (BM + 2,4-D) in maize and tank-mix clodinafop-propargyl (60 g ha−1) and carfentrazone (20 g ha−1) (Clodi+carfentra) in wheat resulted in minimum weed infestation in both crops. It also resulted in highest maize (5.92 and 6.08 t ha−1) and wheat grain yields (4.91 and 5.4 t ha−1) during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017, respectively. Half of the N requirement, when applied as basal and the rest as guided by Optical crop sensor, resulted in saving 56 and 59 kg N ha−1 in the maize–wheat system, respectively, over 100% N application as farmers’ fertilizer practice during the two consecutive years. Interactive effect of N and weed management on economic yield of maize and wheat was also significant and maximum yield was obtained with 50% N application as basal + rest as per Optical crop sensor and weed management through BM+2,4-D in maize and Clodi+carfentra in wheat crop. The study concludes that real-time N management, complemented with appropriate weed management, improved growth, enhanced agronomic productivity and endorsed N saving under a CA-based maize–wheat system in Trans Indo-Gangetic Plains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Systems to Address Climate Challenges)
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13 pages, 2756 KiB  
Article
Trade-Offs between Agricultural Production, GHG Emissions and Income in a Changing Climate, Technology, and Food Demand Scenario
by Paresh B. Shirsath and Pramod K. Aggarwal
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3190; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063190 - 15 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1946
Abstract
Climate-smart agriculture targets integrated adaptation and mitigation strategies for delivering food security and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. This study outlines a methodology to identify the trade-offs between food production, emissions, and income under technology and food demand-shift scenario and climate change. The methodology [...] Read more.
Climate-smart agriculture targets integrated adaptation and mitigation strategies for delivering food security and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. This study outlines a methodology to identify the trade-offs between food production, emissions, and income under technology and food demand-shift scenario and climate change. The methodology uses Climate Smart Agricultural Prioritization (CSAP) toolkit a multi-objective land-use allocation model, and detailed databases, characterizing the agricultural production processes at the land-unit scale. A case study has also been demonstrated for Bihar, a state in India. The quantification of trade-offs demonstrates that under different technology growth pathways alone the food self-sufficiency for Bihar cannot be achieved whilst the reduction in emission intensity targets are achievable up to 2040. However, both food self-sufficiency and reduction in emission intensity can be achieved if we relax constraints on dietary demand and focus on kilo-calories maximization targets. The district-level analysis shows that food self-sufficiency and reduction in emission intensity targets can be achieved at a local scale through efficient crop-technology portfolios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Systems to Address Climate Challenges)
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21 pages, 3592 KiB  
Article
Climate Change, Mountain Food Systems, and Emerging Opportunities: A Study from the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape, Pakistan
by Abid Hussain, Faisal Mueen Qamar, Lipy Adhikari, Asif Iqbal Hunzai, Atta ur Rehman and Kosar Bano
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3057; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063057 - 11 Mar 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3509
Abstract
This study investigated the mountain food systems in the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape (HKPL) in Pakistan. It analyzed the impacts of climate change on agriculture and livestock and identified key opportunities which can be tapped into to improve sustainability in food systems. [...] Read more.
This study investigated the mountain food systems in the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape (HKPL) in Pakistan. It analyzed the impacts of climate change on agriculture and livestock and identified key opportunities which can be tapped into to improve sustainability in food systems. The study applied a “multiple case studies approach” and collected data from four study sites at different altitudes, using the method of slow focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and non-participant observation. Findings revealed that the contribution of local agriculture and livestock to people’s food consumption has gradually declined, increasing their dependence on external food items. Local food systems are losing diversity, which has negatively impacted people’s dietary diversity. The youth has lost interest in agriculture due to low productivity and profitability in a high altitude village—Misgar (≈3200 m above sea level). In all sites, local people perceived mixed impacts (both positive and negative) of climate change on food systems. Climate change together with enhanced use of pesticides and inorganic fertilizers, high yielding seed, and improved farm management have positive, and climate-attributed increase in crop pest attacks has negative impact on crop productivity. Moreover, local people perceived negative impacts of climate change on pastures and water availability in traditional irrigation systems without significant influence on crop and livestock productivity. In food systems, these are needed to maximize benefits from the local potential for organic production, livestock integration, value chain development, traditional food crops, medicinal plants, and protected vegetables cultivation to reduce the vulnerability of food systems to climactic and economic shocks, and improve the sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Systems to Address Climate Challenges)
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