151474 - Food security outcomes.pdf (1.06 MB)
Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: current status and recommended improvements
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-21, 10:10 authored by Nicholson, CF, Stephens, EC, Kopainsky, B, Jones, AD, David ParsonsDavid Parsons, Garrett, JImprovement of food security is a common objective for many agricultural systems analyses, but how food security has been conceptualized and evaluated within agricultural systems has not been systematically evaluated. We reviewed the literature on agricultural systems analyses of food security at the household- and regional-levels, finding that the primary focus is on only one dimension of food security—agricultural output as a proxy for food availability. Given that food security comprises availability, access, utilization and stability dimensions, improved practice would involve more effort to incorporate food access and stability indicators into agricultural systems models. The empirical evidence base for including food access indicators and their determinants within agricultural systems models requires further development through appropriate short and long-term investments in data collection and analysis. Assessment of the stability dimension of food security (through time) is also particularly under-represented in previous work and requires the development and application of appropriate dynamic models of agricultural systems that include food security indicators, coupled with more formalized treatment of robustness and adaptability at both the regional and household levels. We find that agricultural systems models often conflate analysis of food security covariates that have the potential to improve food security (like agricultural yields) with an assessment of food security itself. Agricultural systems modelers should exercise greater caution in referring to analyses of agricultural output and food availability as representing food security more generally.
History
Publication title
Agricultural SystemsVolume
188Article number
103028Number
103028Pagination
1-28ISSN
0308-521XDepartment/School
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)Publisher
Elsevier Sci LtdPlace of publication
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox5 1GbRights statement
© 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Repository Status
- Open