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Title Improved water management can increase food self-sufficiency in urban foodsheds of Sub-Saharan Africa
Full text https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/improved-water-management-can-increase-food-self-sufficiency-in-u
Date 2024
Author(s) Siderius, Christian; van der Velde, Ype; Gülpen, Marijn; de Bruin, Sophie; Biemans, Hester
Abstract Rising urban food demand in Sub-Saharan Africa will put pressure on local resource boundaries, such as the available land area and water resources. In assessing the extent to which urban centres can source from nearby areas in future, earlier analysis has concentrated on agronomic measures, aiming at yield gap closure. Here, we address the potential of local water conservation measures to help achieve food self-sufficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2061'2070, along the concept of urban 'foodsheds', matching crop-based food supply and demand in the surroundings of large cities for all major food groups. We find that ambitious but plausible levels of water conservation, primarily raising productivity on rainfed lands, have the potential to increase overall food production by 12% and food self-sufficiency levels in all major foodsheds to over 75%, with the region as a whole becoming self-sufficient. The increase in production could limit the projected required expansion of agricultural land use by more than 25%, which has important implications for biodiversity, land use-related conflicts and carbon sequestration.
Subject(s) Life Science
Language en
Relation https://edepot.wur.nl/671386
Type of publication Article/Letter to editor
Format application/pdf
Source Global Food Security 42 (2024); ISSN: 2211-9124
Rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/; Wageningen University & Research
Identifier 10.1016/j.gfs.2024.100787
Repository Wageningen - University of Wageningen
Added to C-A: 2024-09-25;10:04:05