Grassland-based farming systems underpin food security, rural livelihoods and ecosystem services, yet are increasingly exposed to climate extremes. Building resilience is therefore a societal priority. Existing assessments and adaptation strategies often focus on individual spatial or temporal scales, overlooking trade-offs and synergies across scales. Here we present an integrated framework for assessing and enhancing resilience in grassland systems that considers multiple functions, including fodder production, farm income and ecosystem services, across space and time. We identify pathways to resilience through natural, social and formal insurance mechanisms, providing insights for balancing risks, trade-offs and opportunities in climate adaptation. Grassland-based farming systems face increasing climate challenges. This Perspective presents a holistic framework to assess resilience, identifying trade-offs and synergies among natural, social and formal insurance strategies to enhance adaptability.
Irrigation expansion and water-saving technologies are essential for future water and food security, yet approaches that jointly improve resource conservation, yield stability and investment efficiency remain elusive. Here we integrate 42,190 county-level agricultural records, a nationally representative farmer survey comprising 3,576 observations and 2,230 controlled field experiments on maize, wheat and rice. We show that China’s shift towards more efficient irrigation reduced water use by 6.6–13.4% since 2010, but the continuation of historical trends is insufficient to meet national targets or protect yields under future climate change. We identify an optimized investment pathway that combines upgrades in existing irrigated areas with targeted expansion. This crop- and region-specific approach could raise yields by 0.1–10.9% while reducing water use by at least 25.5%, with rice offering the greatest savings potential. This framework provides actionable guidance for strategic irrigation investment in China to support sustainable agricultural intensification. Using farmer surveys, meta-analyses and county-level data, this study develops a region-specific framework showing that targeted irrigation investments can improve water efficiency and sustain crop yields in China under future climate conditions.
Despite decades of research and surveillance, millions of Africans continue to be exposed to mycotoxin-contaminated food. Addressing this is a fundamental condition for public health, market fairness and development justice.
Equitable and sustainable governance of small-scale fisheries (SSFs) is essential for achieving food security and conservation in coastal areas. Yet in increasingly industrialized oceans, competition and conflict with large-scale fisheries (LSFs) threaten the contributions of SSFs to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Here we have developed a small-scale and industrial fisheries interaction index and applied it to 126 countries using 2 recent global datasets. Vulnerability to conflict is highest in countries where SSFs are vital for nutrition, but governance is weak, especially in Africa, Oceania and Asia. We also identify low-exposure outlier countries with unexpectedly low risk of SSF–LSF interactions, providing insights for proactive policy. Preferential access areas granting spatial rights to SSFs are common in both low- and high-vulnerability countries, suggesting such policies are often reactive and may be insufficient alone without strong enforcement. As ocean industries expand, it will be necessary to strengthen SSF access rights and limit LSF overcapacity to reduce conflict and advance sustainable development. Small-scale fisheries are vulnerable to conflict with industrial fishing. The small-scale and industrial fisheries interaction index reveals regions with weak governance and emphasizes the need for enhanced access rights and management strategies.
Plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs), designed to mimic the sensory properties of meat, may help reduce animal-sourced protein consumption and support a shift towards plant-based diets. Here we integrated PBMAs into a land-use model to assess their effects on nutrition, greenhouse gas emissions and food system sustainability. PBMA adoption not only substantially reduced agricultural land expansion and greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector but also increased risks of micronutrient inadequacy. Across regions, PBMA diets exhibited diminishing marginal returns. Replacing ruminant meat alone achieved nearly half of the potential emission reductions while incurring relatively small nutritional costs. By contrast, broader substitution of livestock products delivered additional environmental benefits but markedly increased micronutrient deficiencies. Targeted policy support, sustainable land management and improved PBMA formulations will be essential to ensure equitable dietary transitions and progress towards global climate and sustainability goals. Substitution of ruminant meat with plant-based meat alternatives can support lower food system greenhouse gas emissions and limit agricultural land expansion, but micronutrient inadequacy may arise from this dietary shift.
