Governing Environmental and Economic Flows in Regional Food Systems

Globalization, specialization, and intensification have transformed the global food system, generating material flows and impacts that span multiple scales and levels, presenting novel governance challenges. Many argue for a transition toward a sustainable food system, although the scope and specific goals are fiercely contested. Theory and method is needed to evaluate competing normative claims and build legitimacy. In this dissertation Vermont serves as a case study to investigate how environmental and economic flows impact regional governance, focusing on efforts to manage agricultural phosphorus to achieve water quality goals. A material flow account is developed to estimate phosphorus flows embedded in commodities flowing in and out of Vermont’s agricultural system from 1925-2012. The results indicate a net imbalance of phosphorus flows for the entire period, leading to the accumulation of legacy phosphorus in soils that constitutes a long-term threat to water quality. Agricultural intensification and land cover change during this period led to increased phosphorus use efficiency, livestock density, and dependency on imported feed, the largest source of phosphorus entering Vermont since the 1980s. The evidence of persistent imbalance calls into question the effectiveness of current nonpoint source pollution policy. A critical investigation of nutrient management planning policy reveals several shortcomings: pasture is frequently excluded; many phosphorus flows that cross the farm-gate are not captured; critical information on soil phosphorus levels and runoff risk is not collected in a manner that facilitates regional governance. The integration of nutrient management plans and mass-balances is proposed as an alternative approach that can increase accountability, encourage efficiency, and facilitate management and governance, albeit within constraints imposed by Vermont’s position in a globalized market for agricultural commodities. The empirical and policy analysis is complemented by a theoretical investigation that starts from the observation that a sustainability transition inevitably entails tradeoffs amongst competing normative goals. Navigating these tradeoffs is complicated by mismatch between the reach of governance institutions and the spatial and temporal dimensions of the challenges they face. This investigation contributes to understanding how legitimacy and consensus are constructed in the context of competing normative claims and multi-level governance. It considers deliberative democracy as a means for evaluating normative claims and arriving at a shared, legitimate basis for social action. An instrumental perspective on deliberation is contrasted with a deeper notion that sees deliberation as constitutive of sustainability at a local-to-global level. A conclusion grounds this analysis by drawing out the ways in which deliberation can inform Vermont’s efforts to govern its agriculture, water quality, and economic development, sowing the seeds for a sustainability transition

Decision support for agricultural soil carbon sequestration: Multi-lateral development banks’ needs and challenges

Key messages Multi-lateral development banks (MDBs) have committed to financing climate change mitigation in agriculture and have adopted a harmonized methodology for attributing and reporting climate finance; however, design (including practice selection) and measurement of project impacts remains ad hoc. Decision-support tools such as “practice lists” help users identify and select practices for climate-smart agriculture (CSA) or specific outcomes such as soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. However, interviews suggest they are not widely used at MDBs. Practice lists fail to provide absolute quantification of the net mitigation or sequestration impact, which is the parameter of primary interest to MDBs. Hence, many MDBs use ex-ante estimation methods such as EX- ACT to determine the net impact of an investment. MDBs require better guidance on practice selection, recognizing that barriers such as scientific uncertainty, context-dependence, and adoption-dependence (i.e. persistence) limit the value of lists or ex-ante models. Some measurement, such as adopted in the Australian Emissions Reduction Fund, would significantly reduce uncertainties, at a potential cost tradeoff. The potential co-benefits of building SOC have led to interest in developing concessional lending programs and insurance products that factor in SOC levels, provided a means can be found to cost-effectively and reliably estimate and monitor SOC levels

Deliberation and the promise of a deeply democratic sustainability transition

Ecological economics arose as a normative transdiscipline aiming to generate knowledge and tools to help transition the economy toward a scale which is sustainable within the bounds of the earth system. Yet it remains unclear in practice how to legitimize its explicitly normative agenda. One potential means for legitimation can be found in deliberative social and political theory. We review how deliberative theory has informed ecological economics, pointing to three uses: first, to support valuation of non-market goods and services; second, to inform environmental decision-making more broadly; third, to ground alternative theories of development and wellbeing. We argue that deliberation has been used as problem-solving theory, but that its more radical implications have rarely been embraced. Embracing a deliberative foundation for ecological economics raises questions about the compatibility of deeply democratic practice and the normative discourses arguing for a sustainability transition. We highlight three potential mechanisms by which deliberation may contribute to a sustainability transition: preference formation; normative evaluation; and legitimation. We explore each in turn, demonstrating the theoretical possibility that deliberation may be conducive in and of itself to a sustainability transition. We point to a series of challenges facing the scaling up of deliberative systems that demand further empirical and theoretical work. These challenges constitute a research agenda for a deeply democratic sustainability transition and can inform the future development of ecological economics and other normative, critical transdisciplines

Global Warming Potential* (GWP*): Understanding the implications for mitigating methane emissions in agriculture

KEY MESSAGES: - GWP* (global warming potential) complements conventional climate metrics such as GWP100 because GWP* better describes the actual warming caused by methane (CH4) emissions. For example, using GWP100, a constant annual rate of CH4 emissions may be misinterpreted as having a 3-4 times higher impact on warming than observed. The use of GWP* can correct this misestimation. - GWP* was used here to evaluate the impact of agricultural CH4 emissions scenarios from 2020- 2040, finding that: - A sustained ~0.35% annual decline is sufficient to stop further increases in global temperatures due to agricultural CH4 emissions. This is analogous to the impact of net-zero CO2 emissions. - A ~5% annual decline could neutralize the additional warming caused by agricultural CH4 since the 1980s. - Faster reductions of CH4 emissions have an analogous impact to removing CO2 from the atmosphere. - However, a 1.5% annual increase in CH4 emissions would lead to climate impacts about 40% greater than indicated by GWP100. - The application of GWP* to CH4 emissions accounting suggests that avoiding further warming due to CH4 emissions in agriculture is more attainable than previously understood. CH4 reductions can have a rapid and highly substantial impact, which underscores the importance of making significant cuts in CH4 emissions immediately

Livestock solutions to regenerate soils and landscapes for sustainable agri-food systems transformation in Africa

Agri-food systems approaches have gained international recognition over the last years. The role of livestock—both in mixed crop-livestock and pastoral systems—in sustainable agri-food systems transformation remains contested. In this review paper we present new analyses of original data from an international livestock expert survey, a quantitative search in Web of Science, and a literature review to unravel the potential for livestock systems to sustainably transform agri-food systems through regenerating soils and restoring degraded landscapes. We (i) illustrate how livestock is important for people and planet alike; (ii) review how to harness livestock's potential for rehabilitation of soils and landscapes; (iii) demonstrate successful case studies of livestock solutions such as improved forages for cut-and-carry systems and grazing management; and (iv) identify four critical steps required for lasting change at continental scale. We conclude that livestock solutions can be key catalysts for sustainable agri-food systems transformation that merit accelerated public and private investments. More research is needed to develop concrete, operational and practical livestock solutions, and measure, monitor and report their contributions and progress toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Tapping into the environmental co-benefits of improved tropical forages for an agroecological transformation of livestock production systems

Livestock are critical for incomes, livelihoods, nutrition and ecosystems management throughout the global South. Livestock production and the consumption of livestock-based foods such as meat, cheese, and milk is, however, under global scrutiny for its contribution to global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water use, pollution, and land/soil degradation. This paper argues that, although the environmental footprint of livestock production presents a real threat to planetary sustainability, also in the global south, this is highly contextual. Under certain context-specific management regimes livestock can deliver multiple benefits for people and planet. We provide evidence that a move toward sustainable intensification of livestock production is possible and could mitigate negative environmental impacts and even provide critical ecosystem services, such as improved soil health, carbon sequestration, and enhanced biodiversity on farms. The use of cultivated forages, many improved through selection or breeding and including grasses, legumes and trees, in integrated crop-tree-livestock systems is proposed as a stepping stone toward agroecological transformation. We introduce cultivated forages, explain their multi-functionality and provide an overview of where and to what extent the forages have been applied and how this has benefited people and the planet alike. We then examine their potential to contribute to the 13 principles of agroecology and find that integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems follows a wide range of agroecological principles and increases the sustainability of livestock production across the globe. More research is, however, needed at the food system scale to fully understand the role of forages in the sociological and process aspects of agroecology. We make the case for further genetic improvement of cultivated forages and strong multi-disciplinary systems research to strengthen our understanding of the multidimensional impacts of forages and for managing agro-environmental trade-offs. We finish with a call for action, for the agroecological and livestock research and development communities to improve communication and join hands for a sustainable agri-food system transformation

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.Peer reviewe

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

Small business administration impacts on the construction industry

The purpose of this report is to explore the unique opportunities available to the small construction business owner, or prospective owner, for gaining a competitive edge over his big business rivals, and how the Small Business Administrations policies have affected the industry by promoting new construction businesses, making capital available for the expansion of existing businesses, and providing management assistance and training. (sdw)http://archive.org/details/smallbusinessadm00wir