Transforming U.S. Agriculture

Reganold, John P.; Jackson-Smith, Douglas B.; Batie, Sandra S.; Harwood, Richard R.; Kornegay, Julia L.; Bucks, D. A.; Flora, C. B.; Hanson, James A.; Jury, William A.; Meyer, Donald L.; Schumacher, A.; Sehmsdorf, H.; Shennan, Carol; Thrupp, Lori Ann; Willis, Paul E.

doi:10.1126/science.1202462

Cited by 129 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Transformation is rather used as a metaphor to convey the idea of fundamental, systemic, or radical change, e.g., in livelihoods (Huang et al 2012), finance (Gomez-Echeverri 2013), governance (Biermann et al 2013), energy markets (Aylett 2013), or agriculture (Reganold et al 2011). These articles employ the term 'transformation' in connection with a range of issues related to societal change (e.g., cultural or technical innovation adaptation to climate change), but do not rely upon nor develop a specific theoretical basis of transformation.…”

Section: Concepts Of Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Feola

2014

Ambio

503

352

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The study of societal transformation in response to environmental change has become established, yet little consensus exists regarding the conceptual basis of transformation. This paper aims to provide structure to the dialog on transformation, and to reflect on the challenges of social research in this area. Concepts of transformation are identified through a literature review, and examined using four analytical criteria. It is found that the term 'transformation' is frequently used merely as a metaphor. When transformation is not used as a metaphor, eight concepts are most frequently employed. They differ with respect to (i) system conceptualization, (ii) notions of social consciousness (deliberate/emergent), and (iii) outcome (prescriptive/descriptive). Problem-based research tends to adopt concepts of deliberate transformation with prescriptive outcome, while concepts of emergent transformation with no prescriptive outcome tend to inform descriptive-analytical research. Dialog around the complementarities of different concepts and their empirical testing are priorities for future research.

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Section: Concepts Of Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Feola

2014

Ambio

503

352

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“…Food and nutrition insecurity in the future is likely to be affected by ongoing regional and global trends that have an impact on the potential functioning of the food system, such as climate change (29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35), population growth (3, 36), economic development (37, 38), urbanization (36,38,39), migration (38, 39), and especially environmental and ecosystem dynamics (36,(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). These constitute distinct dynamic systems that interact with food production, distribution, or consumption, and affect the stability and sustainability of the food supply and of nutrition itself.…”

Section: Complexity Of Food and Nutrition Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even given adequate supply and access to food, nutrition security can be influenced by individual heterogeneity in physiology or disease (20,21) and by access to clean water, hygiene, and cooking practices (22, 23). Evidence suggests that malnutrition can be affected by infectious disease, and, in turn, undernutrition (and potentially overnutrition) can shape susceptibility, transmission, and progression of infection, creating reinforcing feedbacks (2,13,20,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28).Food and nutrition insecurity in the future is likely to be affected by ongoing regional and global trends that have an impact on the potential functioning of the food system, such as climate change (29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35), population growth (3, 36), economic development (37, 38), urbanization (36,38,39), migration (38, 39), and especially environmental and ecosystem dynamics (36,(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). These constitute distinct dynamic systems that interact with food production, distribution, or consumption, and affect the stability and sustainability of the food supply and of nutrition itself.…”

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confidence: 99%

A systems science perspective and transdisciplinary models for food and nutrition security

Hammond

Dubé

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

183

143

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We argue that food and nutrition security is driven by complex underlying systems and that both research and policy in this area would benefit from a systems approach. We present a framework for such an approach, examine key underlying systems, and identify transdisciplinary modeling tools that may prove especially useful.complexity | agri-food | health | disease | environment N utrition is a fundamental human need, affecting health and well-being throughout the lifespan in myriad ways. A central concept in the study of human nutrition is food and nutrition security, which is typically defined as "when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life" (1). The absence of food and nutrition security can have significant consequences for individuals and for society, including malnutrition, obesity, disease, and poverty.Despite rapid growth in agricultural production over the past four decades, significant malnutrition persists. Average per-capita food consumption was below the recommended 2,200 kcal/d in 33 countries in 2003. Globally, more than 850 million people lack adequate access to food on a regular basis, with a third of these in East and Southeast Asia, another third in South Asia, and a quarter in sub-Saharan Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, one of the most food-insecure regions, the number of hungry people has gone up by 20% since 1990; more than a third of the population is undernourished in such countries as Kenya and Tanzania. There are 126 million underweight children in the world and over 2 billion people who suffer from micronutrient deficiency (2-4).At the same time, there has been an alarming rise in obesity in the developed world (5, 6) and, increasingly, in the developing world as well (7-9). The obesity rate in the United States doubled between 1970 and 2000, to almost 30% (5); worldwide, nearly 1.5 billion people are now overweight or obese (9). Like malnutrition, obesity has significant implications for public health (10, 11) and health care costs (12). Obesity can coexist in the same populations as malnutrition, and it may be linked to the same forces that drive reductions in malnutrition (13, 14). Complexity of Food and Nutrition SecurityBoth phenomena, malnutrition and obesity, are manifestations of widespread food and nutrition insecurity. The determinants of this insecurity are complex. A primary driver of food security or insecurity is the agricultural food system. The agrifood system spans a series of interrelated processes, including production of raw food materials through farming and raising of livestock, processing and packaging for consumption, distribution, and utilization by consumers (15). These processes are affected by a range of influences, including diffusion of agricultural technology (16, 17), functioning of capital markets, infrastructure at both local and regional/global levels, organization of firms and supply chains, sociopolitical factors ...

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“…In this context, bottom-up local initiatives may be more attractive to farmers in that promoting more efficient use of agricultural inputs (e.g., fertilizer, fuel and water) while maintaining or enhancing crop productivity. While some initiatives by stakeholders will seek transformative change of local agroecolgical systems (e.g., organic agriculture), others will chose to mitigate and adapt using an incremental and marketdriven approach (Reganold et al 2011). No matter the approach, local knowledge on co-benefits and tradeoffs of GHG mitigation must be shared among farmers, extension workers, researchers, and policy makers so as to further empower rural communities to develop sustainable solutions and avoid urbanization (Warner 2005;Cohen and Neale 2006;Reganold et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural Sustainability

2013

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Transforming U.S. Agriculture

Abstract: Achieving sustainable agricultural systems will require transformative changes in markets, policies, and science.

Cited by 129 publications

References 9 publications

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

A systems science perspective and transdisciplinary models for food and nutrition security

Agricultural Sustainability

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