The yield gap highlights the unrealised yield potential that could be achieved with improved crop management and production practices, such as efficient water management, balanced nutrient use, crop rotation and precision agriculture. by Prince Asiedu Introduction In an era marked by the pressing challenges of climate change, a rapidly growing global population, and escalating food...
Sustainable intensification as a pathway to address the dual challenges of increasing food production and safeguarding natural resources.
The Nova Kakhova Dam destruction in June 2023 was one of the largest environmental disasters of our time. Significant downstream impacts were nitrogen, phosphorus and metal pollution, loss of protected habitats, water logging, loss of biodiversity and marine pollution. Upstream impacts were loss of irrigation and drinking water supply, reduction in hydropower capacity and habitat destruction.
In addition to food production, modern agriculture must provide ecosystem services such as water quality, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and nutrient cycling. Agroforestry provides ecosystem services by managing trees together with annual crops or pasture lands. A paradigm shift toward agroforestry comes with opportunities for technology, diversification, and employment in agriculture.
The cocoa industry negatively impacts the environment across the whole value chain. The industry’s environmental effects range from local-scale deforestation and water pollution to global-scale greenhouse gas emissions Solutions include investing in farming techniques, reducing diesel use, and boosting consumer demand for certified cocoa.
Future food demands are projected to rise, yet deforestation compromises long term food security. The EU has the world’s second largest deforestation footprint, despite policies designed to promote sustainability. The complex interaction between EU and wider policy may be incentivising unnecessary deforestation, thus compromising the achievement of the sustainable development goals.
Deforestation has direct and indirect negative consequences that worsen the climate crisis. Despite past efforts, tropical forests, which play a critical role in counteracting climate change, continue to experience an alarming rate of loss. Agriculture is the biggest cause of deforestation across the globe, and in critical tropical regions. However, it is urbanisation that has largely driven deforestation in Europe.
Land use change refers to the change in function of an area of land. Since the 1960s, demand for food has resulted in an unprecedented rate of land use change. Land conversion for agriculture is a key driver of the current climate emergency.
The Farm to Fork strategy is a milestone EU policy framework that promotes the sustainable and just transition of food systems in the continent. The Farm to Fork strategy advocates environmentally sound practices, including chemical-free and organic agriculture, with neutral or positive environmental effects. Sceptics of the Farm to Fork strategy point to its conceptually ambiguity, lack of legal action, policy incoherence with EU agricultural policy, and implementation challenges.
Aquaculture describes the controlled farming of aquatic organisms, and has become an important part of food production in the modern world. Modern aquaculture began as a result of declining wild fish stocks from overfishing and growing populations. The two main forms of aquaculture are freshwater and marine aquaculture; within these two forms, there are a number of different methods used for a wide variety of aquatic species.