Presentation of a journal paper led by Prof Mario Herrero, Dr. Philip Thornton of CCAFS, and several co-authors in The Lancet Planetary Health that examines the interactions between farm size, crops, and nutrient production for human use.

1. Farming and the geography of nutrient production for human use:
a transdisciplinary analysis
Prof Mario Herrero, PhD, Philip K Thornton, PhD, Brendan Power, MSc, Jessica R Bogard, PhD, Roseline Remans, PhD, Steffen Fritz,
PhD, James S Gerber, PhD, Prof Gerald Nelson, PhD, Linda See, PhD, Katharina Waha, PhD, Prof Reg A Watson, PhD, Paul C West,
PhD, Leah H Samberg, PhD, Jeannette van de Steeg, PhD, Eloise Stephenson, MSc, Mark van Wijk, PhD, Petr Havlík, PhD
The Lancet Planetary Health
Volume 1, Issue 1, Pages e33-e42 (April 2017)
DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30007-4

2. Motivation
1. Shifts in the global research agenda on food security – beyond production
2. Funders are asking for information on the importance of smallholders in food
production and nutrition – competing visions of the future?
3. The need to incorporate structure of production in global integrated
assessments (big farms vs small farms, diversity, …)
4. Promoting better linkages between agriculture, nutrition and health
5. Attaining the SDGs on poverty, food & nutrition security, and others

3. W. Africa 1966 – pastoral system 2004 – crop-livestock system
What role for smallholders in the future?
Systems and livelihoods in transition: the target is moving
Herrero et al 2009

4. Projections of global food demand to 2050
4
Alexandratos and Bruinsma 2012
Projected consumption per capita: Cereals stable, meats and oils increasing

5. Nutritional diversity matters
Castelon et al 2013

6. Using nutrition as a driver for shaping the supply
response in agriculture
Nutritional security? Resource use and emissions?
Agro-ecosystems health? Value chains and zoonosis?
Risk management? Income and employment?
Maize field in Kansas Smallholder mixed farming

7. Study inputs: global map of field size
Fritz et al. 2015

8. Study inputs
Comparison of farm size distribution in Burkina Faso
Lowder et al. (2014) data from 1993; recent LSMS data (van Wijk et al, 2016)

9. Study inputs
• Crop production data for 41 crops, 2005 (Ray et al. 2012; Monfreda
et al. 2008)
• Global livestock production 2005 (eight system types, large & small
ruminants, monogastrics; Herrero et al. 2013)
• Fish production data, farmed and wild (FAO 2016; Watson et al.
2016)
• Nutrient composition and nutrient requirements (USDA online
databases)

10. 11 |
Small and medium farms produce between 50-75% of the world’s food

11. 12 |
A similar pattern emerges for nutrient production

12. 13 |
More diverse landscapes produce more food

13. 14 |
v. small small medium large
As farm sizes increase, agricultural diversity decreases
Shannondiversity(H)index

14. 15 |
More diverse landscapes produce more nutrients, regardless of farm size

15. Uses and some research issues
1. Uses: Global burden of disease, Global Nutrition Report, Lancet EAT
Commission
2. How can we promote sustainable intensification without losing diversity?
3. How may climate change affect nutrient production?
4. Policy influence on the structure of farming - e.g. smallholders, livelihoods,
national policy objectives
5. Is agricultural diversity linked to biological diversity, resilience, climate
adaptation/mitigation, health outcomes?

16. Food Matters website
http://www.environmentreports.com/foodmatters/
ESRI Story Maps
http://arcg.is/2pYtnHf
mario.herrero@csiro.au
p.thornton@cgiar.org