The plants, animals, and micro-organisms that are the bedrock of food production are in decline, according to a UN study.
If these critical species are lost, the report says, it “places the future of our food system under severe threat”.
The study says that land-use changes, pollution, and climate change are all …
Global agriculture is increasingly dominated by just a handful of crops with limited genetic richness, says a group of researchers writing in PLOS One.
The research shows that despite an uptick in the diversity of crops grown across the planet over the last 60 years, the largest share of our crops worldwide is …
Podcast:
There is enough food to feed the entire population. Yet there are 821 million people in the world who are hungry. Achieving Zero Hunger means meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ensure food security for everyone across the globe. So how can we achieve Zero Hunger by …
The ongoing worldwide loss of biological diversity is one of the most pressing challenges humankind currently faces. Biodiversity is vital to humans not least because it supports ecosystem services such as the provision of clean water and the production of biomass and food. Many experiments have shown that diverse communities …
Professor Sir Gordon Conway writes:
“Growing more, growing better for Africa’s food security”
The combination of population growth, urbanisation, climate change, and – in some countries –conflict, is placing increasing pressure on Africa’s food systems. By 2050, Africa’s population will top 2.5 billion, 55% of whom will be in urban areas. To …
We need to transform agriculture for good!
Like human societies, agriculture is at a crossroads. We can either enforce and protect monocultures or facilitate and celebrate diversity. It is not a question of whether the Green Revolution has successfully fed most of us (it has), but whether this model can nourish …
Growing demand for agricultural commodities for food, fuel and other uses is expected to be met through an intensification of production on lands that are currently under cultivation. Intensification typically entails investments in modern technology — such as irrigation or fertilizers — and increases in cropping frequency in regions suitable …
A “sixth mass extinction” is already under way, scientists are now warning us. Species such as the Bengal tiger and blue whale are vanishing at an alarming rate, and mournful eulogies are being written on how those born in 20 years’ time may never see an African elephant. But who …
New research has revealed that countries increasingly rely on introduced plants for food and need to cooperate to protect crop diversity.
The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that awareness of the geographic origin of major food crops is shrinking, threatening conservation and breeding efforts.
Governments should spend …
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