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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
India has natural resource capacity to achieve nutrition security, reduce health risks and improve environmental sustainability
Nature Food, Volume 1, No. 10, Year 2020
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Description
Sustainable development of India’s food system must ensure a growing population is fed while minimizing both widespread malnutrition and the environmental impacts of food production. After assessing current adequacy of nutrient supplies at the national level, associated natural resource use (land, fresh water) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we apply an integrated subnational environmental and nutritional optimization approach to explore resource constraints that might limit the achievement of national food self-sufficiency goals. We find that India currently has the capacity to produce sufficient amounts of nutritious foods, supplying vitamins and minerals that would mostly exceed requirements. Regional cropland use could be reduced by up to 50%, water demand by up to 65% and combined resource inputs by up to 40% while still supporting adequate nutrition. Associated GHG emissions would decline by 26–34% and could possibly be sequestered in agroforestry systems. Such dietary shifts could lower the number of diet-related premature deaths by 14–30%. Achieving these potential gains, however, would require a major transition from current production and consumption patterns, particularly of refined cereals, to free-up resources for more traditional and nutritious foods. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
Authors & Co-Authors
Damerau, Kerstin
United States, Boston
Harvard T.h. Chan School of Public Health
Davis, Kyle Frankel
United States, Newark
University of Delaware
United States, New York
Columbia University
Godde, Cécile M.
Australia, Canberra
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Herrero, Mario
Australia, Canberra
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Springmann, Marco
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
Bhupathiraju, Shilpa N.
United States, Boston
Harvard T.h. Chan School of Public Health
Myers, Samuel S.
United States, Boston
Harvard T.h. Chan School of Public Health
Willett, Walter Churchill
United States, Boston
Harvard T.h. Chan School of Public Health
Statistics
Citations: 25
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/s43016-020-00157-w
ISSN:
26621355
Research Areas
Environmental
Food Security
Maternal And Child Health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study