The top 100 questions of importance to the future of global agriculture

Pretly, Jules and Sutherland, William J and Ashby, Jacqueline and Auburn, Jill and Baulcombe, David and Bell, Michael and Bentley, Jeffrey and Bickersteth, Sam and Brown, Katrina and Burke, Jacob and Campbell, Hugh and Chen, Kevin and Crowley, Eve and Crute, Ian and Dobbelaere, Dirk and Edwards-Jones, Gareth and Funes-Monzote, Fernando and Godfray, H. Charles J and Griffon, Michel and Gypmantisiri, Phrek and Haddad, Lawrence and Halavatau, Siosiua and Herren, Hans and Holderness, Mark and Izac, Anne-Marie and Jones, Monty and Koohafkan, Parviz and Lal, Rattan and Lang, Timothy and McNeely, Jeffrey and Mueller, Alexander and Nisbett, Nicholas and Noble, Andrew and Pingali, Prabhu and Pinto, Yvonne and Rabbinge, Rudy and Ravindranath, NH and Rola, Agnes and Roling, Niels and Sage, Colin and Settle, William and Sha, JM and Shiming, Luo and Simons, Tony and Smith, Pete and Strzepeck, Kenneth and Swaine, Harry and Terry, Eugene and Tomich, Thomas P and Toulmin, Camilla and Trigo, Eduardo and Twomlow, Stephen and Vis, Jan Kees and Wilson, Jeremy and Pilgrim, Sarah (2010) The top 100 questions of importance to the future of global agriculture. In: International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 8 (4). pp. 219-236.

PDF Top_100.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (268kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Despite a significant growth in food production over the past half-century, one of the most important challenges facing society today is how to feed an expected population of some nine billion by the middle of the 20th century. To meet the expected demand for food without significant increases in prices, it has been estimated that we need to produce 70-100 per cent more food, in light of the growing impacts of climate change, concerns over energy security, regional dietary shifts and the Millennium Development target of halving world poverty and hunger by 2015. The goal for the agricultural sector is no longer simply to maximize productivity, but to optimize across a far more complex landscape of production, rural development, environmental, social justice and food consumption outcomes. However, there remain significant challenges to developing national and international policies that support the wide emergence of more sustainable forms of land use and efficient agricultural production. The lack of information flow between scientists, practitioners and policy makers is known to exacerbate the difficulties, despite increased emphasis upon evidence-based policy. In this paper, we seek to improve dialogue and understanding between agricultural research and policy by identifying the 100 most important questions for global agriculture. These have been compiled using a horizon-scanning approach with leading experts and representatives of major agricultural organizations worldwide. The aim is to use sound scientific evidence to inform decision making and guide policy makers in the future direction of agricultural research priorities and policy support. If addressed, we anticipate that these questions will have a significant impact on global agricultural practices worldwide, while improving the synergy between agricultural policy, practice and research. This research forms part of the UK Government's Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures project.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
Publisher:	Earthscan
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Earthscan.
Keywords:	Farming; food security; global agriculture; horizon scanning; policy; research questions
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Sustainable Technologies (formerly ASTRA)
Date Deposited:	08 Mar 2011 06:41
Last Modified:	08 Mar 2011 06:41
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/35899

Actions (login required)

View Item