A paper published in Ecology Letters finds that ecosystems with a high degree of biodiversity can cope with more stress, such as higher temperatures or increasing salinity, than those with less biodiversity.

This report by the FAO examines the important issue of the relationship between biofuel production and livestock: there can be synergies (ie. the use of biofuel co-products as animal feed) and trade offs (such as biofuel production effects on the price of grains). 

This modelling study, published in Global Change Biology, finds that if indirect land use change (iLUC) factors are not accounted for when assessing the GHG balance of biofuels, then “the Renewable Energy Directive could be expected to deliver only a 4% carbon saving compared to fossil fuel, with a 30% chance that it would actually cause a net emissions increase.” 

The EU is considering plans to limit crop-based biofuels to 5% of transport fuel. 

This report, entitled “Feeding a thirsty world: Challenges and opportunities for a water and food secure world”, was published by the Stockholm International Water Institute as its official input into the discussions at the 2012 World Water Week in Stockholm on August 26-31 2012.

This book deals with three main food issues in Australia: equity and access to nutritious diets, food production and trade, and the relevance of land use planning for the long-term viability of food production,  articularly around major Australian cities.

Oxfam have published a new report entitled ‘The Food Transformation’. This report, written by Brook Lyndhurst, examines the global food system and the social and environmental injustices inherent in it, and at the potential of consumer action to effect change. 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have launched the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project.  

A new study finds that Tanzania is one developing country that could actually benefit from climate change by increasing exports of corn to the U.S. and other nations. The study, published in the Review of Development Economics, shows that Tanzania has the potential to substantially increase its maize exports and take advantage of higher commodity prices with a variety of trading partners due to predicted dry and hot weather that could affect those countries' usual sources for the crop.