Achieving food security is a major global challenge. Anticipated population increases, economic growth and climate change impacts, in addition to the possibility of natural disasters or multiple food supply shocks, necessitate concerted action to ensure sustainable food production. This is recognised in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with SDG2 focused entirely on food security and most other SDGs having strong links to sustainable and healthy food systems. Recent studies warn that failure to mitigate the environmental impacts of agricultural production could lead to crossing key environmental limits, as described by planetary boundaries that define a safe operating space for humanity.
Australian and international studies identify a critical need to develop high-resolution land and food system models and other analytical frameworks that encompass the complementary dimensions of food security, environmental sustainability, and resilience. Such approaches are integral to guiding decision-making towards more sustainable food production, by providing scenario-based outputs on key quantitative indicators that allow the testing of appropriate policies and practices for alternative futures.
This session will focus on the development of suitable metrics, indicators and modelling frameworks for monitoring the sustainability of current and future food systems, encompassing dynamic changes under future uncertainty.
Topic areas:
Key topics: Food system model, Sustainable production, Life cycle assessment, Resilience