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Climate change mitigation beyond agriculture: a review of food system opportunities and implications

CSS Publication Number
CSS18-09
Full Publication Date
June 2018
Abstract

A large body of research has explored opportunities to mitigate climate change in agricultural systems; however, less research has explored opportunities across the food system. Here we expand the existing research with a review of potential mitigation opportunities across the entire food system, including in pre-production, production, processing, transport, consumption and loss and waste. We detail and synthesize recent research on the topic, and explore the applicability of different climate mitigation strategies in varying country contexts with different economic and agricultural systems. Further, we highlight some potential adaptation co-benefits of food system mitigation strategies and explore the potential implications of such strategies on food systems as a whole. We suggest that a food systems research approach is greatly needed to capture such potential synergies, and highlight key areas of additional research including a greater focus on low- and middle-income countries in particular. We conclude by discussing the policy and finance opportunities needed to advance mitigation strategies in food systems.

Co-Author(s)
Cristina Tirado
Diana Portner
Jimena Esquivel
Meredith T. Niles
Nelson Mango
Rex Raimond
Richie Ahuja
Sonja Vermeulen
Sophie Gutterman
Todd Barker
Research Areas
Food & Agriculture
Food Systems and Consumer Products
Keywords
adaptation, diet, food waste, greenhouse gas emissions, processing
Publication Type
Journal Article
Digital Object Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170518000029
Full Citation
Niles, Meredith T., Richie Ahuja, Todd Barker, Jimena Esquivel, Sophie Gutterman, Martin C. Heller, Nelson Mango, Diana Portner, Rex Raimond, Cristina Tirado, and Sonja Vermeulen. (2018) “Climate change mitigation beyond agriculture: a review of food system opportunities and implications.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 33(3): 297-308.