The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has published its first edition of the Global Land Outlook (GLO), addressing future challenges and opportunities for the management and restoration of land resources in the context of sustainable development.

This book aimed at an academic audience is edited by A. Bryce Hoflund, John C. Jones and Michelle C. Pautz. It has sections on topics such as the regulation of food, food insecurity and the role of local food system in public health.

This book, edited by Jessica Duncan and Megan Bailey, includes chapters on a wide range of topics such as cultured meat, aquaculture, land rights and Arctic food security initiatives.

This collection of papers in the journal Global Food Security assesses the situation of food security and the implications of food security governance on people’s lives in several Latin American countries, using experience-based food security scales questionnaires (EBFSSs). Ultimately these papers seek to address deficiencies in food security governance and put forward the case for more empirical research into the subject. The authors argue that improving food security governance in the region is complex but of the utmost importance. This would require improved cross-sector coordination and household (in)security monitoring through empirical measures such as EBFSSs.

The IFST, a UK-based body for food professionals in Europe, has commissioned a report aimed at identifying areas of future work which they feel would be of most use to their members. The report focuses on food sustainability,  technology and evidence-based practice. 

International trade in critical commodities is growing, which, this report poses, is increasing pressure on a small number of ‘chokepoints’ – critical junctures on transport routes through which exceptional volumes of trade pass. Were a serious interruption at one or more of these chokepoints to occur, this could potentially lead to supply shortfalls and price spikes, both within and outside of the food system.  Smaller disruptions might add to delays, spoilage and transport costs, constraining market responsiveness and contributing to higher prices and increased volatility.

This report provides an overarching framework document on Sustainable Food Systems which outlines the areas of sustainability that are relevant for IFST and where they want to engage. The report is written by IFST (Institute of Food Science and Technology) – an institute representing some of the UK’s food science and technology professionals and working to promote the advancement and application of food science and technology.

This policy brief by the NGOs IIED and Hivos describes how diversification of agriculture and food systems in Zambia can contribute to improving Zambian food and nutrition security, while also building more resilient food systems. It outlines policy recommendations on how the food and agriculture sector can better serve the country’s population through the development of sustainable diets for all.

Using a political-economic approach supplemented with insights from human ecology, this books analyzes the long-term dynamics of food security and economic growth.