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The Russia–Ukraine war has impacted food access globally, but the exact drivers behind it and the broader consequences for human and environmental health are unclear. Through scenario analysis, this study assesses the relative importance of higher agricultural input prices and export disruption to food access, and estimates undernourishment and cropland expansion.
This study uses arable soils subjected to consistent management for over 160 years to understand the influence of organic matter on arable soil nitrogen metabolism. The nonlinear and systems-level approach shows that important increases in nutrient-use efficiency can be achieved to improve soil organic carbon stocks and reduce N2O emissions.
Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions associated with feeding the world population rarely account for specific nutrient gaps. This study applies a composite indicator of emissions intensity of nutrient production to calculate non-CO2 emissions of closing the global dietary gaps for energy, protein, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and folate in 2030 under five climate-friendly scenarios.
Immortalized chicken fibroblasts grown in serum-free media yield up to 36% w/v. Direct transdifferentiation generates adipocytes that, when blended with extruded soy protein, produce cultured chicken comparable with chicken breast.
Integrated structural and technological changes across the Chinese pork supply chain can improve production and meet demand while reducing phosphorous and nitrogen losses.
Whether, how and to what extent integrating crop production, livestock production and bioenergy systems can enhance the sustainability of specialized farming remains poorly understood at downscaled regional levels. This study quantifies life cycle impacts of agricultural integration in China, including bioenergy provision.
A whole life cycle perspective demonstrates that rearing ruminants that utilize human-inedible biomass, instead of monogastric livestock that require grain for feed, can shift cropland demand from feed to food production.
Nanotechnology has the potential to increase the net revenue from agricultural products and alleviate the environmental impact of conventional fertilizers and pesticides. Further improving the efficiency of nanoformulations is necessary for their wide adoption.
A database from a survey of farmers, published articles and statistical yearbooks was developed to map crop- and county-specific yields, farm inputs, reactive N losses and greenhouse gas emissions in China. Optimized crop distributions combined with improved management are estimated to improve crop productivity and decrease farm inputs and environmental costs.
The exact contribution of food systems to air pollution is unknown. On the basis of the European Commission’s EDGAR-FOOD database, a global emission inventory of air pollutants from the food systems, this study quantifies historic emissions of major pollutant compounds at each stage of the food supply chain at country level.
Feeding industrial hemp silage affected feed intake, milk yield, respiratory and heart rates, and behaviour of dairy cows. Transfer of cannabinoids from feed to milk was investigated with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and toxicokinetic computer modelling, and potential exposure to consumers explored.
Gaps in the literature include empirical sustainability assessments of blockchain technology and plant-based seafood alternatives, public health consequences of food deliveries and socio-economic consequences of vertical farming.
Waste-to-nutrition pathways are explored with process-based life cycle assessments of four valorization pathways for a panel of representative agrifood co-product streams. Although the principles of circular bioeconomy represent important guidelines for overall sustainability, they are not enough to support decisions for resource allocation.
Policies that centre principles of justice and human rights, specify inclusive decision-making processes and identify and challenge underlying drivers of injustice are linked to more just food system outcomes.
Simulated annual wheat yields during 1889–2020 show that, since the 1990s, Indian Ocean Dipole has replaced El Niño Southern Oscillation as the dominant climate driver across most of the Australian wheatbelt. The occurrences of more positive Indian Ocean Dipole events in recent decades resulted in severe yield reductions.
This study examines Arabica coffee production responses to key seasonal climate drivers, namely, temperature, precipitation, soil moisture and vapour pressure deficit, in 13 of the world’s most important producing countries. Through threshold regression and generalized additive models, threshold responses are identified that could translate into rapid coffee yield declines under climate change.
Dietary quality is reported at the global, regional and national level across 185 countries. Though diet quality increased modestly since 1990 at the global level, in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa it did not improve. In some regions, children’s dietary quality is lower than that of adults.
Farm to fork supply of bioactive compounds in food is traced for 173 countries over 60 years, and the availability of nutrients is compared with nutrient requirements of populations at age–sex distributions. This accounting method identifies nutrient gaps to be filled from from food production, trade, fortification and supplementation scenarios.
An empirical model captures and separates influences of water-supply and temperature stresses on global crop yields. Soil moisture is shown to play an important role in determining variations in global agricultural productivity.
Optimizing biomass use by reducing food–feed competition is paramount to achieving sustainable food systems. This study assesses global food systems in terms of livestock and aquaculture feed use and the availability of food system by-products and residues to quantify the potential for replacing food-grade feeds with food system by-products.