Food security in a perfect storm: using the ecosystem services framework to increase understanding

G. M. Poppy, S. Chiotha, F. Eigenbrod, C. A. Harvey, M. Honzák, M. D. Hudson, A. Jarvis, N. J. Madise, Kate Schreckenberg, C. M. Shackleton, F. Villa, T. P. Dawson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

126 Citations (Scopus)
237 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Achieving food security in a 'perfect storm' scenario is a grand challenge for society. Climate change and an expanding global population act in concert to make global food security even more complex and demanding. As achieving food security and the millennium development goal (MDG) to eradicate hunger influences the attainment of other MDGs, it is imperative that we offer solutions which are complementary and do not oppose one another. Sustainable intensification of agriculture has been proposed as a way to address hunger while also minimizing further environmental impact. However, the desire to raise productivity and yields has historically led to a degraded environment, reduced biodiversity and a reduction in ecosystem services (ES), with the greatest impacts affecting the poor. This paper proposes that the ES framework coupled with a policy response framework, for example Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR), can allow food security to be delivered alongside healthy ecosystems, which provide many other valuable services to humankind. Too often, agro-ecosystems have been considered as separate from other natural ecosystems and insufficient attention has been paid to the way in which services can flow to and from the agro-ecosystem to surrounding ecosystems. Highlighting recent research in a large multi-disciplinary project (ASSETS), we illustrate the ES approach to food security using a case study from the Zomba district of Malawi.

Original languageEnglish
Article number20120288
JournalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences
Volume369
Issue number1639
Early online date5 Apr 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Apr 2014

Keywords

  • Agriculture-forest interface
  • Ecosystem services
  • Food security
  • Malawi
  • Models

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