A plea for multifunctional landscapes

There is a growing consensus among ecologists and resource managers that we need smarter landscape management through “sustainable intensification”. After all -- or so the rhetoric goes -- we have a growing population to feed, and more efficient production is an inevitable necessity. Increased food...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in ecology and the environment 2017-03, Vol.15 (2), p.59-59
Main Authors: Fischer, Joern, Meacham, Megan, Queiroz, Cibele
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural production
Food
Food production
Food security
GUEST EDITORIAL
Hunger
Landscape
Poverty
Resource management
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Summary:There is a growing consensus among ecologists and resource managers that we need smarter landscape management through “sustainable intensification”. After all -- or so the rhetoric goes -- we have a growing population to feed, and more efficient production is an inevitable necessity. Increased food production is sold as a panacea for reducing hunger and providing for the world's burgeoning population. But this argument ignores the fact that the vast majority of food-insecure people are constrained by insufficient access to food, not by its lack of availability. There is a real risk that the ever-more-efficient production of global commodity crops will simply exacerbate trends of increasing obesity and inequity, while doing little to help those who are food insecure. Other strategies for improving food security are probably far more important, including reducing poverty, increasing equity, and supporting healthy diets.
ISSN:1540-9295
1540-9309
1540-9309
DOI:10.1002/fee.1464