Towards a Better Understanding of the Interactions between the Environment, Agriculture and Trade, Focusing on the Role of Biodiversity

Striving to feed a population set to reach almost 10 billion people by 2050 in a sustainable way is high on the research and policy agendas. However, food production often negatively affects biodiversity with global demand driving cropland expansion and intensification. This means that sustainable development, food security and conservation are affected by interactions between the environment, agriculture, and the trade of agricultural products. There is a need to understand better the impacts on biodiversity from the global food system. In particular, since biodiversity underpins functions and services that are essential to agriculture, more consideration of the role of biodiversity in the food system is needed.