The virtual Nature Café on Environmental Stress and Food Crisis addresses the simple question of how to grow enough food to meet global population demands, with a focus on agricultural production and farming practices. Among the speakers is ATB-scientist Barbara Amon ...
Degradation of the biosphere is precipitating global food crises. There are many factors driving the depletion of resources to sustainably feed current and future human populations – including: land, water and air degradation; non-circular food supply chain processes; emergence/lack of mitigation of pests and pathogens; underpinned by unsubstantial and uncoordinated global policy initiatives. The 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets for 2030 aim to comprehensively redress global practices that deplete human and planetary health, with the efforts of the Nature Food community most immediately focused on SDG2: Zero Hunger. However, it is widely recognized that the SDG targets are not being met, and in fact that there are trade-offs between goals and targets that complicate their achievement. It has become evident with the resilience of our food systems tested by, for example, COVID-19 and current locust plague in East Africa, that we are playing ‘catch-up’ with regard to mitigation of environmental stress to avert food crisis – the leadership needed from the UN Food System Summit of 2021 is urgent.
The aim of the virrtual meeting Nature Café on Environmental Stress and Food Crisis is to address the simple question of how to grow enough food to meet global population demands, with a focus on agricultural production and farming practices.
To answer this question, the spheres that need to be addressed are:
1. An overview of the impacts of food production on the biosphere, and the impact of environmental stress on food production – the two-way relationship between food and environment – and the resilience of the food system to feed 10 billion people by 2050
2. Applying science and technology to food systems – disruptive technologies (eg: AI and machine learning in the food supply chain; the use of satellite data to monitor biodiversity, soil health/degradation, pest & pathogens – eg the FAO GeoNetwork, culture meat and alternative proteins)
3. Challenges faced by the global farming community and the policy framework to support their work.
Speakers are:
- Atsufumi Yokoi, UNESCO Chairholder in Research and Education for Sustainable Development
- Nathan Mueller, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University
- Barbara Amon, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, University of Zielona
- Alexander Mathys, ETH Zurich
- Anne Mullen, Nature Food
Time:
Nov 12, 2020
8:00 - 11:00 p.m. GMT
The virtual meeting is organized by the journal nature food.
For more information and registration please click here