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Ebenso B, Otu A, Giusti A, Cousin P, Adetimirin V, Razafindralambo H, Effa E, Gkisakis V, Thiare O, Levavasseur V, Kouhounde S, Adeoti K, Rahim A, Mounir M. Nature-Based One Health Approaches to Urban Agriculture Can Deliver Food and Nutrition Security. Front Nutr 2022; 9:773746. [PMID: 35360699 PMCID: PMC8963785 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.773746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The increasing global human population is projected to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050. This population growth is currently linked to the trends of world-wide urbanization, growth of megacities and shifting dietary patterns. While humankind faces the daunting challenge of feeding and providing healthy lives for its teeming populations, urban agriculture holds promise for improving the quality of life in cities. Fortunately, policymakers and planners are accepting the need to support peri-urban farmers to increase the resilience of food systems while efficiently managing already strained natural resources. We argue that for urban agriculture to significantly increase food yields, it is crucial to adopt a One Health approach to agriculture and environmental stewardship. Here, we propose six nature-based and climate-smart approaches to accelerate the transition toward more sustainable food systems. These approaches include reducing the reliance on synthetic agricultural inputs, increasing biodiversity through producing locally adapted crops and livestock breeds, using probiotics and postbiotics, and adopting portable digital decision-support systems. Such radical approaches to transforming food production will require cross-sectoral stakeholder engagement at international, national, and community levels to protect biodiversity and the environment whilst ensuring sustainable and nutritious diets that are culturally acceptable, accessible, and affordable for all.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bassey Ebenso
- Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Akaninyene Otu
- Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
- Foundation for Healthcare Innovation and Development (FHIND), Calabar, Nigeria
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
- Hull University Teaching Hospital, Hull, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Akaninyene Otu,
| | | | | | - Victor Adetimirin
- Department of Crop and Horticultural Sciences, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
| | | | - Emmanuel Effa
- Foundation for Healthcare Innovation and Development (FHIND), Calabar, Nigeria
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
| | - Vasileios Gkisakis
- Institute of Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops & Viticulture, Department of Olive and Horticultural crops, ELGO – DIMITRA, Kalamata, Greece
| | - Ousmane Thiare
- Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis, Saint-Louis, Senegal
| | | | - Sonagnon Kouhounde
- Laboratory of Applied Biologic Sciences, Université Aube Nouvelle, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
| | - Kifouli Adeoti
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Technologie Alimentaire (LAMITA), Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin
| | | | - Majid Mounir
- Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Biotransformations Laboratory, Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, Rabat Instituts, Rabat, Morocco
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