ABSTRACT
Food production has undergone significant transformations throughout human history, and particularly during the last 50–60 years. An era of technological innovation, including irrigation, breeding and gene technology, chemical application, mechanisation of labour and farm management – the Green Revolution – has supported rapid productivity growth, particularly of staple grains, resulting in widespread improvements in food security. The combination of population and economic growth, urbanisation, globalisation and dietary transitions has driven expansion in agricultural land, herd sizes, resource use and increasingly complex agricultural value chains. This transformation has not been without significant societal and environmental costs. The focus on staple crops at the expense of more nutrient-rich foods has contributed to the persistence of micronutrient malnutrition as well as the proliferation of low-cost energy-dense, nutrient-poor, ultra-processed foods which are a significant driver of the global obesity epidemic and related non-communicable diseases, even when other aspects of human well-being have advanced significantly. Agricultural extensification has been a major driver of land-use change, deforestation, habitat degradation and biodiversity loss, with significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. Intensification, while positive in many aspects, has also contributed to other environmental problems, such as groundwater depletion, pollution related to fertiliser and pesticide use, and animal welfare issues. Agricultural production is increasingly threatened by climate change via reductions in yields of major crops, as well as vulnerability to shocks and stresses related to increasing intensity and severity of extreme weather events. Both adaptation and mitigation will be essential strategies in responding to climate change. Moving forward, agricultural transformation must continue, and must embrace the multiple objectives of food systems to ensure both human and planetary health in an era of global change.
