Sustainable food security | TableDebates

Book cover of "Sustainable Agriculture: Adaptation Strategies to Address Climate Change by 2050" with image of two hands holding soil surrounded by sustainability icons.

Sustainable Agriculture: Adaptation Strategies to Address Climate Change by 2050

This book presents up-to-date climate change projections and their potential impacts on agriculture, soil and water resources, and food security. The book strives to provide concrete adaptation strategies by presenting examples and case studies relevant to policymakers around the world.

The FAO 2023 State of Food and Agriculture report cover featuring a photo of some fruit at a market

The State of Food and Agriculture 2023

This year's State of Food and Agriculture report is the first in a two year focus on the true cost of food for sustainable agrifood systems. The report uses the true cost accounting approach to demonstrate the hidden environmental, health and social costs and benefits of the agrifood system, so that actors can make more informed choices that lead to transformative policies and decision making.

Front cover of Critical Mapping for Sustainable Food Design showing an aerial view of farmland

Critical Mapping for Sustain Food Design

This book introduces critical mapping as a problematizing, reflective approach for analysing systemic societal problems like food, scoping out existing solutions, and finding opportunities for sustainable design intervention.

Colourful rows of squash, cauliflower, cabbage, parsnips and potatoes. Photo by Pixabay

Journal articles

How diversifying the agrifood systems can ensure global food security

The conflict in Ukraine has spotlighted significant insecurities in the global food system. Many countries with restricted access to imported staples have seen their food prices soaring and populations become increasingly food insecure, with effects most pronounced in the world’s poorest countries who tend to be import reliant. This paper highlights the impacts of current international crises on food security, highlights over-reliance on imports as the major threat to food security, and offers four suggestions as to how food systems can be diversified to enhance future food security

Aerial view of patchwork of small fields, Indonesia. Photo by Tom Fisk via Pexels.

Journal articles

Agroecology Can Promote Climate Change Adaptation Outcomes Without Compromising Yield In Smallholder Systems

This study set out to assess whether agroecology can effectively mitigate the effects of and promote adaptation to climate change without compromising food security.

A new essay on the TABLE website titled "Is agroforestry a solution to food insecurity in Sudan?" by Hatim Rijal and Marwa Akola. The background image is a stand of trees in Sudan.

Essay: Is agroforestry a solution to food insecurity in Sudan?

In this piece, Hatim Rijal and Marwa Akola reflect on the challenges facing Sudan’s food system. They explain the pressures facing different types of agriculture and forestry in Sudan, and explore the potential of agroforestry, specifically alley cropping systems, to provide food while also meeting environmental and social goals. About the authors: Hatim Rijal (MSc. in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development) is the fundraising officer of the Deriba Center for Environmental Studies (DCES), a Forest Inspector at Forests National Corporation, South Darfur State, and a Co-founder of Sudan Youth Organization on Climate Change (SYOCC). Marwa Akola (MSc. in Nutrition and dietetics) is a clinical dietitian nutritionist, a lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at Ahfad University for Women (AUW), the head of the Research and Studies Unit in DCES, and was recently assigned as a program coordinator for the Public Health Training and Research Unit (PHTRU) in AUW.

Sustainable Food Production: A primer

Sustainable Food Production: A primer

This book explains the ecological and environmental impacts of today’s agricultural systems as well as their contribution to social inequality. It looks at how agrifood systems can use the principles of environmental sustainability.

Orphan crops for sustainable food and nutrition security

Orphan crops for sustainable food and nutrition security

This book sets out the potential benefits and challenges associated with farming so-called orphan crops, also called “neglected and underutilised species”, such as certain types of millet and buckwheat.

News and resources

FAO podcast: Target - Zero Hunger

Target: Zero Hunger is a podcast series produced by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations about the stories, issues, and policies at the root of global food security. The most recent episode is “Desert locusts: Are we winning the fight?” It can be listened to in English here and in French here.