Global food futures and desertification

Hekstra, G. P.; Liverman, Diana

doi:10.1007/bf00140525

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There are, however, many problems with such population carrying capacity studies. For example, many of them fail to assess the social, economic, and political constraints to increased food production (Hekstra and Liverman 1986). This discussion illustrates just a few of the ways in which population indicators can be used to assess sustainability and some of the disadvantages of certain measures.…”

Section: Populationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Global sustainability: Toward measurement

Liverman

Hanson

Brown

et al. 1988

Environmental Management

169

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT/The widespread interest in the concept of sustainable environment and development has been accompanied by the need to develop useful systems of measurement. We discuss the use of indicators which might be used to assess such conditions. Our characteristics, or criteria, for desirable global sustainability indicators are: 9 sensitivity to change in time 9 sensitivity to change across space or within groups 9 predictive ability 9 availability of reference or threshold values 9 ability to measure reversibility or controllability 9 appropriate data transformation 9 integrative ability 9 relative ease of collection and useWe discuss the basis of these characteristics, and examine two categories of indicators (soil erosion and population) and two specific indicators (physical quality of life index and energy imports as a percentage of consumption) for their value as sustainability measures.

show abstract

Section: Populationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Global sustainability: Toward measurement

Liverman

Hanson

Brown

et al. 1988

Environmental Management

169

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…production systems (Bentley and Leskiw 1985, CAST 1981, Cloudsley-Thompson 1988, Hekstra and Liverman 1986, Irving 1983, Postei 1986.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Review and appraisal of concept of sustainable food production systems

Brklacich

Bryant

Smit

1991

Environmental Management

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

/ Environmental degradation, competition for resources, increasing food demands, and the integration of agriculture into the international economy threaten the sustainability of many food production systems. Despite these concerns, the concept of sustainable food production systems remains unclear, and recent attempts to appraise sustainability have been hampered by conceptual inconsistencies and the absence of workable definitions. Six perspectives are shown to underpin the concept. Environmental accounting identifies biophysical limits for agriculture. Sustained yield refers to output levels that can be maintained continuously. Carrying capacity defines maximum population levels that can be supported in perpetuity. Production unit viability refers to the capacity of primary producers to remain in agriculture. Product supply and security focuses on the adequacy of food supplies. Equity is concerned with the spatial and temporal distribution of products derived from resource use. Many studies into sustainable agriculture cover more than one of these perspectives, indicating the concept is complex and embraces issues relating to the biophysical, social, and economic environments. Clarification of the concept would facilitate the development of frameworks and analytical systems for appraising the sustainability of food production systems.

show abstract

The limits to growth debate and future crisis in Africa: A case‐study from Swaziland

Proctor

1990

Land Degrad Dev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although projections of future human and environmental crisis in subSaharan Africa caused by population growth beyond resource limits are common, they are often criticized due to their weak empirical or theoretical basis. This paper attempts to predict whether in 2000 AD there will be adequate cropland, grazing land and fuelwood reserves for a study area located in rural Swaziland. The objective was to establish the likelihood of future crisis, as well as to provide empirical evidence pertinent to the underlying theoretical debate about the relative significance of physical limits to growth. Data used for the study include past and recent aerial photography and census information, plus a field environmental assessment and household survey. Based on this information, projected year 2000 resource constraints for the study area range from minimal (in the case of fuelwood reserves) to extreme (in the case of livestock grazing areas). Other factors, however, such as unequal cropland allocation, household shortages of labour, and privatization of fuelwood supplies, have been found either to exacerbate these constraints or hinder rural resource utilization in the absence of significant physical constraints. A comparison of this study with the United Nations' Potential PopulationSupporting Capacities of Lands in the Developing World (see Higgins, et al., 1983) suggests that the U N projections, based on highly optimistic assumptions and little empirical evidence, are essentially meaningless. Although the results lend some support to the application of the limits to growth scenario to rural Swaziland, the classic 'overshoot and collapse' trend associated with that scenario is called into question. The results ultimately suggest that neither the Malthusian emphasis on physical constraints nor the Marxian emphasis on social and political constraints can be dismissed outright in research and policy related to future crisis in subSaharan Africa.

show abstract

Global food futures and desertification

Cited by 5 publications

References 4 publications

Global sustainability: Toward measurement

Global sustainability: Toward measurement

Review and appraisal of concept of sustainable food production systems

The limits to growth debate and future crisis in Africa: A case‐study from Swaziland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About