Search

Using group model building we developed a series of causal loop diagrams identifying the environmental impacts of ultra-processed food (UPF) systems, and underlying system drivers, which was subsequently validated against the peer-reviewed literature. The final conceptual model displays the commercial, biological and social drivers of the UPF system, and the impacts on environmental sub-systems including climate, land, water and waste. It displays complex interactions between various environmental impacts, demonstrating how changes to one component of the system could have flow-on effects on other components. Trade-offs and uncertainties are discussed. The model has a wide range of applications including informing the design of quantitative analyses, identifying research gaps and potential policy trade-offs resulting from a reduction of ultra-processed food production and consumption.

Governments are updating national strategies to meet global goals on biodiversity, climate change and food systems proposed in the Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 framework and agreed at the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference (COP26) and Food Systems Summit (UNFSS). This represents a unique and crucial opportunity to integrate and accelerate food system actions to tackle interconnected global challenges. In this context, agroecology is a game-changing approach that can provide the world’s growing population with nutritious, healthy afordable food, ensure fair incomes to farmers and halt and reverse the degradation of the natural environment. Here, we explore agroecological transition pathways in four case studies from low- and middle- income countries and identify catalysts for change. We fnd that enabling policy and market environments, participatory action research and local socio-technical support each plays a critical role in stimulating transitions towards agroecology. We propose strategies and priorities for research to better support agroecological transitions using these catalysts of change as entry points. Engagement of governments, private sector, civil society, farmers and farm workers in this research agenda is essential., Sustainability Science, 17 (6), ISSN:1862-4065, ISSN:1862-4057

A B S T R A C T Shade coffee systems provide a refuge for biodiversity; however, research has been dominated by bird and insect studies with few studies that have focused on mammals living within coffee-dominated landscapes. Relative to other taxa studied, only 5% of the articles published on coffee and biodiversity pertain to mammals. We surveyed non-volant mammals, with an emphasis on small mammals, in 3 coffee-forest landscapes in Costa Rica with a particular focus on forest, shade coffee, and sun coffee habitats. Each of the 3 sites contained a 500- � 500-m trap grid that was sampled in 4 sessions, totaling 46 sampling nights per site. This novel approach allowed us to compare mammal abundance and richness on both a plot level and meso-landscape scale (radius 25, 50, 100, 150, 200 m). We made 976 captures (501 individuals) and detected 17 small and medium mammal species during the seven-month study period. The abundance and richness of small non-volant mammals found in the shade coffee was not significantly different that of forest habitats embedded and adjacent to coffee. Both forest and shade coffee had significantly more species and higher abundances than sun coffee habitats. Within habitats, at the plot level, higher amounts of canopy cover and lower strata vegetation (i.e., weeds, grasses, plants, and understory shrubs from 5 cm–1 m tall) significantly increased small mammal abundance and richness. Within coffee habitats (sun and shade), greater amounts of canopy cover were significantly associated with higher small mammal abundance and richness. At the meso-landscape scale, small mammal density and richness significantly decreased with increasing proportion of sun coffee within the landscape and increased as the amount of shade coffee increased. Furthermore, small mammals thrived in areas adjacent to forest patches and as the proportion of forested areas within the landscape increased. Our study indicates that while there is no substitute for native forest, shade coffee provides habitat for small non-volant mammals, particularly in comparison to sun coffee. Based on our findings, we recommend including shade trees, maintaining high amounts of canopy cover, and retaining lower strata vegetation (5 cm–1 m) within coffee farms. We also recommend preserving or reestablishing forested areas embedded within the coffee landscape to enhance small mammal diversity. Shade coffee shows promise as a conservation strategy to promote wildlife conservation and protect mammalian biodiversity.