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Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm...
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Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm to Fork

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecosystem, Environment and Climate Change in Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 May 2023) | Viewed by 24149

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Azizur Rahman

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Toronto, ONRamp at UTE, Toronto, ON M5G 1L5, Canada
Interests: marine proteins; soft corals; marine collagen; marine chitin; marine polysaccharides; drug discovery; biomineralization; biomaterials; marine invertebrates; marine algae; proteomics; marine biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Lianhai Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, UK
Interests: process-based modelling; plant-environment interactions; mitigation and adaptation to climate change; ecosystem services
Prof. Dr. Luis Antonio de Avila

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Crop Protection, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil
Interests: weed science; herbicide physiology; weed resistance; weed biology and ecology; climate change; environmental stresses; rice weed management; rice crop management; environmental fate of pesticides
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Lewis H. Ziska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Interests: plant physiology; climate change; food security; invasive species; public health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change represents multi-factorial challenges to all aspects of global food security. From a physical perspective, extremes in water availability, temperature and extreme events will impact production capacity as well as nutrition, safety and distribution. From a biological perspective, rising levels of carbon dioxide and an uncertain climate will alter populations of known agronomic pests, including weeds, insects and disease. Such pest pressures impose an additional set of challenges, from production and quality, as well as pest management. Overall, the threat from climate, in relation to other threats, including conflict and COVID, poses an unprecedented challenge for all aspects of food availability, and we warmly welcome manuscripts that touch on all relevant issues.

Dr. Azizur Rahman
Prof. Dr. Lianhai Wu
Dr. Luis Antonio de Avila
Dr. Lewis H. Ziska
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. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • agriculture
  • climate change
  • food security
  • food safety
  • crop production
  • pest management
  • organic agriculture

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1244 KiB  
Article
Potential of Underutilized Grain Crops in the Western Mountains of Nepal for Food and Nutrient Security
by Bijay Regmi, Samir Kunwar, Tri Dev Acharya and Purushottam Gyawali
Agriculture 2023, 13(7), 1360; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13071360 - 06 Jul 2023
Viewed by 3941
Abstract
Malnutrition, hunger, and rural poverty in Nepal are prevalent issues that have been exacerbated by the negative impacts of climate change on crop production. To create a more sustainable and resilient food system, it is crucial to explore alternative options beyond the small [...] Read more.
Malnutrition, hunger, and rural poverty in Nepal are prevalent issues that have been exacerbated by the negative impacts of climate change on crop production. To create a more sustainable and resilient food system, it is crucial to explore alternative options beyond the small number of input-intensive crops that the country currently relies on. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of six underutilized food crops—amaranth, buckwheat, finger millet, foxtail millet, naked barley, and proso millet—in four mountainous districts of the Karnali province, Nepal. Using several approaches that included a literature review, key informant surveys, focus group discussions, and direct observations, we explored the production and utilization aspects of these crops, as well as their potential for improving nutrition and food security. Our findings indicate that these underutilized crops continue to be a vital element of the diets of people residing in Karnali and play an important role in their livelihoods. This study also highlights the diversity and potential of these underutilized crop landraces, and their significance in addressing nutrition and food insecurity, as well as in improving livelihoods in regions with marginal lands and inadequate food supply. Thus, promoting the cultivation and consumption of underutilized crops can create a more sustainable and diverse food system that is resilient to climate change. However, further investigation is needed to fully understand the socioeconomic importance and other potential benefits of these crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm to Fork)
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21 pages, 2187 KiB  
Article
How to Measure the Performance of Farms with Regard to Climate-Smart Agriculture Goals? A Set of Indicators and Its Application in Guadeloupe
by Stan Selbonne, Loïc Guindé, François Causeret, Pierre Chopin, Jorge Sierra, Régis Tournebize and Jean-Marc Blazy
Agriculture 2023, 13(2), 297; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13020297 - 26 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2196
Abstract
Conceptualized by the Food and Agriculture Organization in 2010, climate-smart agriculture aims to simultaneously tackle three main objectives. These are increasing food security, building the resilience of agricultural systems for adaptation to climate change and mitigation of GHG. As much research focuses on [...] Read more.
Conceptualized by the Food and Agriculture Organization in 2010, climate-smart agriculture aims to simultaneously tackle three main objectives. These are increasing food security, building the resilience of agricultural systems for adaptation to climate change and mitigation of GHG. As much research focuses on one of these three objectives, our understanding of how agricultural systems address these three challenges simultaneously is limited by the lack of a comprehensive evaluation tool. In order to fill this gap, we have developed a generic evaluation framework that comprises 19 indicators that we measured in a sample of 12 representative farms of the North Basse-Terre region in Guadeloupe. The evaluation revealed clear differences in the performance of these farming systems. For example, nutritional performance varied from 0 to 13 people fed per hectare, the average potential impact of climatic conditions varied from 27% to 33% and the GHG emissions balance varied from +0.8 tCO2eq·ha−1 to +3.6 tCO2eq·ha−1. The results obtained can guide the design of innovative production systems that better meet the objectives of climate-smart agriculture for the study region. The evaluation framework is intended as a generic tool for a common evaluation basis across regions at a larger scale. Future prospects are its application and validation in different contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm to Fork)
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19 pages, 2067 KiB  
Article
Co-Design and Experimentation of a Prototype of Agroecological Micro-Farm Meeting the Objectives Set by Climate-Smart Agriculture
by Stan Selbonne, Loïc Guindé, François Causeret, Thierry Bajazet, Lucienne Desfontaines, Mathieu Duval, Jorge Sierra, Franck Solvar, Régis Tournebize and Jean-Marc Blazy
Agriculture 2023, 13(1), 159; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13010159 - 08 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2477
Abstract
Developing climate-smart agriculture is an urgent necessity to ensure the food security of a growing global population, to improve the adaptation of agricultural systems to climatic hazards, and to reach a negative carbon balance. Different approaches are being explored to achieve those objectives, [...] Read more.
Developing climate-smart agriculture is an urgent necessity to ensure the food security of a growing global population, to improve the adaptation of agricultural systems to climatic hazards, and to reach a negative carbon balance. Different approaches are being explored to achieve those objectives, including the development of new technologies for efficiency improvements to current systems and substitution of chemical inputs by bio-inputs, but the urgency of the climatic, social, and environmental context calls for more disruptive actions to be taken. We propose an approach to the design of climate-smart production systems structured in four steps: (1) diagnosis of the study region on the basis of the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture, (2) co-design of a disruptive system only based on agroecological and bioeconomic principles, (3) long-term experimentation of this system, and (4) in itinere adjustment of the system based on collected data and on-field evaluations with agricultural stakeholders. The outcome of this approach is the agroecological microfarm named KARUSMART, settled in 2018 on one hectare in the North Basse-Terre region of Guadeloupe (F.W.I.). This study presents its co-design and experimentation stages as well as the first performance results. At the end of the first two years, this microfarm showed a clear improvement in 15 of the 19 indicators used to evaluate the performance of the actual farming systems in the study region. Among the most striking results are a clear superiority in nutritional performance from 3 pers.ha−1 to 8 pers.ha−1 and a reduction in GHG balance from +2.4 tCO2eq.ha−1 to −1.1 tCO2eq.ha−1 for the study area and the microfarm, respectively. These results are promising for developing climate-smart agricultural systems and need to be consolidated further through longer-term monitoring data, the implementation of more similar systems in the study area, and the implementation of the design principles in other contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm to Fork)
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18 pages, 1958 KiB  
Article
Multidimensional Typology of Mexican Farmers in the Context of Climate Change
by María de Lourdes Maldonado-Méndez, José Luis Romo-Lozano, Julio Baca del Moral and Alejandro Ismael Monterroso-Rivas
Agriculture 2022, 12(8), 1079; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12081079 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1801
Abstract
Mexico has a wide range of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions that result in farmers with highly diverse traits and activities in relation to their livelihoods. The aim of this research was to identify specific traits of Mexican farmers that would allow them to [...] Read more.
Mexico has a wide range of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions that result in farmers with highly diverse traits and activities in relation to their livelihoods. The aim of this research was to identify specific traits of Mexican farmers that would allow them to be classified through a multidimensional approach that includes the risk of production in the face of exposure and vulnerability to climate change. The method included three dimensions: producer sensitivity, production destination, and exposure to climate change. Principal component analysis combined with the Dalenius and Hodges optimal stratification technique was used to stratify the universe of agricultural producers. The results show that up to 227 groups of agricultural producers can be identified in Mexico, and it was possible to classify them into 19 types, ranging from agricultural producers at greatest risk due to the adverse effects of climate change to agricultural producers with fewer difficulties to produce in conditions of climate change. This proposed multidimensional typology of agricultural producers can become an essential input for designing, reorienting, or focusing public policies in the agricultural sector and moving towards fulfilling the commitments declared in the INDC-2030. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm to Fork)
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Review

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15 pages, 1845 KiB  
Review
An Overview of Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Their Mitigation Strategies
by Farhana Bibi and Azizur Rahman
Agriculture 2023, 13(8), 1508; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13081508 - 27 Jul 2023
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 9295
Abstract
In recent years, the adverse effect of climate change on soil properties in the agricultural sector has become a dreadful reality worldwide. Climate change-induced abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought and temperature fluctuations are devastating crops’ physiological responses, productivity and overall yield, which [...] Read more.
In recent years, the adverse effect of climate change on soil properties in the agricultural sector has become a dreadful reality worldwide. Climate change-induced abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought and temperature fluctuations are devastating crops’ physiological responses, productivity and overall yield, which is ultimately posing a serious threat to global food security and agroecosystems. The applications of chemical fertilizers and pesticides contribute towards further deterioration and rapid changes in climate. Therefore, more careful, eco-friendly and sustainable strategies are required to mitigate the impact of climate-induced damage on the agricultural sector. This paper reviews the recently reported damaging impacts of abiotic stresses on various crops, along with two emerging mitigation strategies, biochar and biostimulants, in light of recent studies focusing on combating the worsening impact of the deteriorated environment and climate change on crops’ physiological responses, yields, soil properties and environment. Here, we highlighted the impact of climate change on agriculture and soil properties along with recently emerging mitigation strategies applying biochar and biostimulants, with an aim to protecting the soil, agriculture and environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm to Fork)
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21 pages, 1455 KiB  
Review
The Potential of Novel Gene Editing-Based Approaches in Forages and Rumen Archaea for Reducing Livestock Methane Emissions
by Udaya Subedi, Kazi Kader, Kethmi N. Jayawardhane, Hari Poudel, Guanqun Chen, Surya Acharya, Luiz S. A. Camargo, Daniela Matias de C. Bittencourt and Stacy D. Singer
Agriculture 2022, 12(11), 1780; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12111780 - 26 Oct 2022
Viewed by 3419
Abstract
Rising emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) are a key driver of climate change, which is predicted to have myriad detrimental consequences in coming years if not [...] Read more.
Rising emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) are a key driver of climate change, which is predicted to have myriad detrimental consequences in coming years if not kept in check. Given the potency of CH4 in terms of trapping heat in the atmosphere in the short term, as well as the fact that ruminant production currently contributes approximately 30% of anthropogenic emissions, there is an impetus to substantially decrease the generation of ruminant-derived CH4. While various strategies are being assessed in this context, a multi-faceted approach is likely required to achieve significant reductions. Feed supplementation is one strategy that has shown promise in this field by attenuating methanogenesis in rumen archaea; however, this can be costly and sometimes impractical. In this review, we examine and discuss the prospect of directly modulating forages and/or rumen archaea themselves in a manner that would reduce methanogenesis using CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene editing platforms. Such an approach could provide a valuable alternative to supplementation and has the potential to contribute to the sustainability of agriculture, as well as the mitigation of climate change, in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Food Security: Tackling the Challenges from Farm to Fork)
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