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development assistance and a land market was developed, which
suggested a positive learning process and a green economy-
thinking that became self-driven (Charles
et al.
2010).
Another study of 286 agricultural sustainability projects in
developing countries, involving 12.6 million smallholder
farmers on 37 million hectares, found an average yield increase
of 79 per cent across a very wide variety of systems and crop
types while at the same time increasing the supply of ecosystem
services (Pretty
et al.
2006). The farmers used a variety of
resource-conserving technologies and practices including
integrated pest management, integrated nutrient management,
conservation tillage, agroforestry, aquaculture in farm systems
and water harvesting, as well as livestock integration.
A conservative estimate suggest that if a quarter of the 560million
hectares of degraded agricultural land (Oldeman 1992) were
restored, the food calorie increase could feed up to 740 million
people.
2
While the actual numbers may be lower, as production
potential varies, these rough estimates suggest a highly and vastly
unexplored opportunity for boosting food availability locally,
especially as regions with wide prevalence of food insecurity are
also often characterized by extensive land degradation.
Another initiative that would reduce the pressure on global
cropland, as well as free up food is to shift crop production
towards primarily producing food for human consumption. Today
30 to 40 per cent of all cereals produced are used for animal feed,
and it is anticipated that by 2050 as much as 50 per cent may be
needed (Nellemann
et al.
2009). According toCassidy
et al.
(2013),
shifting the production of crops for animal feed and biofuels
towards crops for direct human consumption could theoretically
increase available food calories by as much as 70 per cent, which
could feed an additional 4 billion people. Food waste represents
one alternative that to some extent can replace crop-based
animal feed (FAO 2013c). While it is still a much debated topic
on the industrial level there are examples of countries where it is
practiced. In Japan for example, the so called Food Recycling Law
of 2007 encourages food-related businesses to convert all food
waste to animal feed or fertilizers (FAO 2013c). Identifying safe
ways to capture and convert food waste to animal feed provides
great opportunities for improving future food supplies as well as
minimizing the global environmental footprint.
Restoring forest for food security
Ensuring that forest ecosystems are preserved and restored
while simultaneously producing enough food for a growing
population is a key challenge to sustainability (Lambin and
Meyfroidt 2010). Historically, forests have to a great extent
been cleared to increase food production. According to
Kissinger
et al.
(2010) agriculture is the key driver to as much as
80 per cent of deforestation. While recent findings reveal that
2. The estimate is based on a modest production of 1.925 tonnes of cereal
per hectare, equivalent to 50 per cent of the current global average (FAO
2014c), a calorie value of 3 million kcal per tonne, a daily calorie need of
3000 kcal and 365 days a year.