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Bibliothèque Exploring the biophysical option space for feeding the world without deforestation

Exploring the biophysical option space for feeding the world without deforestation

Exploring the biophysical option space for feeding the world without deforestation
Exploring the biophysical option space for feeding the world without deforestation cover image

Resource information

Date of publication
Mars 2016
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
10.1038/ncomms11382
Pages
9
License of the resource

Safeguarding the world’s remaining forests is a high-priority goal. We assess the biophysical option space for feeding the world in 2050 in a hypothetical zero-deforestation world. We systematically combine realistic assumptions on future yields, agricultural areas, livestock feed and human diets. For each scenario, we determine whether the supply of crop products meets the demand and whether the grazing intensity stays within plausible limits. We find that many options exist to meet the global food supply in 2050 without deforestation, even at low crop-yield levels. Within the option space, individual scenarios differ greatly in terms of biomass harvest, cropland demand and grazing intensity, depending primarily on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of human diets. Grazing constraints strongly limit the option space. Without the option to encroach into natural or semi-natural land, trade volumes will rise in scenarios with globally converging diets, thereby decreasing the food self-sufficiency of many developing regions.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Karl-Heinz Erb
Christian Lauk
Thomas Kastner
Andreas Mayer
Michaela C. Theurl
Helmut Haberl

Publisher(s)
Geographical focus