Safeguarding the underlying ecological foundations that support food production, including biodiversity will be central if the world is to feed the seven billion people, climbing to over nine billion by 2050, according to the study 'Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Food Security through Sustainable Food System'.
Inefficiencies along the food delivery chain further complicate the challenge, and the UNEP report highlights that an estimated one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes per year.
The debate on food security so far has largely revolved around availability, access, utilisation and stability as the four pillars, barely touching on the resource base and ecosystem services that prop up the whole food system, it said.
The report aims to increase the focus on these aspects, which are being undermined by overfishing, unsustainable water use, environmentally degrading agricultural practices and other human activities.
It also frames the debate in the context of the green economy, calling for food production and consumption practices that ensure productivity without undermining ecosystem services.
"The environment has been more of an afterthought in the debate about food security. This is the first time that the scientific community has given us a complete picture of how the ecological basis of the food system is not only shaky but being really undermined," UNEP Chief Scientist Joseph Alcamo said.
While pointing out the current challenges, the report offers a way forward to shore up the ecological foundations and improve food security.
"The era of seemingly ever-lasting production based upon maximising inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides, mining supplies of fresh water and fertile arable land and advancements linked to mechanisation are hitting their limits, if indeed they have not already hit them," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said.