Nutritional security and ecosystem sustainability are the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Globally ~ 2.3 billion people suffer from malnutrition. According to estimates by the World Bank, malnutrition globally costs ~ $ 3.5 trillion per year. On the other hand, the production and availability of staple food is the major emphasis for conventional farming in developing and underdeveloped countries for assured food security. These staple foods are high in carbohydrates and energy availability but low in nutritional value, such as concerning micronutrient, phytochemical, and vitamin contents. Apart from adequate food, there should be consistent access, availability, and affordability of foods and beverages that are nutrient-dense, promote well-being, and minimize diseases. From the experience of the recent COVID-19 crisis, the importance of adequate dietary habits has been emphasized globally since food nutrients are considered inherent sources of immunomodulation.
A diversified and resilient agri-food system can play a potential role to overcome or minimize malnutrition, especially for small and marginal farmers. Food and nutritional security are closely linked. Food insecurity negatively affects the diet quality which can lead to undernutrition, overweight, and obesity. Contemporary food production systems are unable to deliver nutritious, affordable, and sustainable diets. Current agri-food production systems have increased production output but have not made agriculture more nutritious and sustainable. Hence, farming practices that aim to produce nutritious diversified foods in addition to minimizing the negative environmental outcomes are the demand of today’s world. Thus, there is an urgent need to include micronutrient and secondary metabolite-rich food in our daily intake for balanced nutrition.
Nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions carry potential for alleviating nutritional deficiencies by farm diversification, integrating nutrient-rich foods including bio-fortified crops - such as vegetables (including leafy vegetables and edible herbs), fruits, livestock, fish, and mushrooms - and adopting dietary diversity at the household level. Despite the enormous positive outlooks, there are several challenges in the adoption of diversified farming. Diversified farming is a multiproduct-oriented production system that needs multi specialties and marketing and appropriate resources. Hence, the designing and development of diversified farming schemes are highly individualistic and location-specific with resource optimization and characterization. Thus, the promotion of farm diversification to maintain food quality with productivity improvement is a challenging issue for researchers, which needs to be addressed.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions spanning across the discipline related to sustainable agri-food systems covering integrated farming system development and farm diversification. Original research and review articles may explicitly cover nutritional security, balanced diet, the economics of systems and ecosystem services, and could have a specific focus on the following areas.
• Sustainable agri-food system for smallholders
• Cropping system diversification for nutritional security
• Integrated farming system for food and nutritional security
• Agronomic and genetic approaches to biofortification for nutrition-rich food
• Role of pulses and millets for nutrient supply to small farmers
• Enterprise diversification for a nutritious diet
• Role of underutilized/potential crops in nutrition and balanced diets
• Critical approaches for nutrition-sensitive food production system
• Soil health and nutrient density for regenerative farming
• Value addition/food-blending for a balanced diet
Nutritional security and ecosystem sustainability are the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Globally ~ 2.3 billion people suffer from malnutrition. According to estimates by the World Bank, malnutrition globally costs ~ $ 3.5 trillion per year. On the other hand, the production and availability of staple food is the major emphasis for conventional farming in developing and underdeveloped countries for assured food security. These staple foods are high in carbohydrates and energy availability but low in nutritional value, such as concerning micronutrient, phytochemical, and vitamin contents. Apart from adequate food, there should be consistent access, availability, and affordability of foods and beverages that are nutrient-dense, promote well-being, and minimize diseases. From the experience of the recent COVID-19 crisis, the importance of adequate dietary habits has been emphasized globally since food nutrients are considered inherent sources of immunomodulation.
A diversified and resilient agri-food system can play a potential role to overcome or minimize malnutrition, especially for small and marginal farmers. Food and nutritional security are closely linked. Food insecurity negatively affects the diet quality which can lead to undernutrition, overweight, and obesity. Contemporary food production systems are unable to deliver nutritious, affordable, and sustainable diets. Current agri-food production systems have increased production output but have not made agriculture more nutritious and sustainable. Hence, farming practices that aim to produce nutritious diversified foods in addition to minimizing the negative environmental outcomes are the demand of today’s world. Thus, there is an urgent need to include micronutrient and secondary metabolite-rich food in our daily intake for balanced nutrition.
Nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions carry potential for alleviating nutritional deficiencies by farm diversification, integrating nutrient-rich foods including bio-fortified crops - such as vegetables (including leafy vegetables and edible herbs), fruits, livestock, fish, and mushrooms - and adopting dietary diversity at the household level. Despite the enormous positive outlooks, there are several challenges in the adoption of diversified farming. Diversified farming is a multiproduct-oriented production system that needs multi specialties and marketing and appropriate resources. Hence, the designing and development of diversified farming schemes are highly individualistic and location-specific with resource optimization and characterization. Thus, the promotion of farm diversification to maintain food quality with productivity improvement is a challenging issue for researchers, which needs to be addressed.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions spanning across the discipline related to sustainable agri-food systems covering integrated farming system development and farm diversification. Original research and review articles may explicitly cover nutritional security, balanced diet, the economics of systems and ecosystem services, and could have a specific focus on the following areas.
• Sustainable agri-food system for smallholders
• Cropping system diversification for nutritional security
• Integrated farming system for food and nutritional security
• Agronomic and genetic approaches to biofortification for nutrition-rich food
• Role of pulses and millets for nutrient supply to small farmers
• Enterprise diversification for a nutritious diet
• Role of underutilized/potential crops in nutrition and balanced diets
• Critical approaches for nutrition-sensitive food production system
• Soil health and nutrient density for regenerative farming
• Value addition/food-blending for a balanced diet
