Climate Mitigation Policies and Food Security
Land using sectors (agriculture and forestry) are collectively responsible for nearly one third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but they also provide a commensurately large share of the globe’s GHG mitigation potential (McKinsey & Co. 2009; IPCC 2007). Mitigation measures in the forestry sector are estimated to contribute between half (IPCC 2007) to two-thirds (McKinsey & Co. 2009) of this potential, mostly through avoided deforestation, with the remainder achievable through measures in agriculture. Despite empirical support for their high potential and affordability, the limited range of mitigation policies observed in practice mostly exclude land-based mitigation,[1] particularly in agriculture.
Possible reasons for this neglect include measurement and verification difficulties, which stem from the diffuseness of most land-based emission sources and complex ecological processes governing their emissions fluxes, especially in agriculture. Further, a large majority of land-based mitigation potential is located in developing countries where relatively weak environmental governance, institutional, financial and technical capacity, constrain the implementation and enforcement of mitigation policies. Land-based mitigation measures have also attracted additional scrutiny from policy makers with concerns about their potential to jeopardize food security and agricultural growth in developing countries. Nevertheless, the substantial land-based mitigation potential should, in the long run, provide sufficient motivation to overcome these obstacles.
International mitigation arrangements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change bypass the equity concerns surrounding developing country mitigation by according all mitigation obligations to developed (or Annex I) countries. However, the effectiveness of this politically accommodating approach is likely to be compromised by emissions leakage; as international commodity trade will cause agricultural carbon constraints in Annex I countries to be partially offset by greater agricultural production and emissions in non-Annex I countries.
This study assesses the effectiveness of global mitigation polices that are broadly aligned with the different responsibilities of developed and developing countries under the UNFCCC, and examines emission leakage effects as well as impacts on food security in developing countries. An economic model that incorporates emissions and mitigation opportunities from all sectors in the global economy, with explicit spatial representation of competing land uses, is employed for this purpose.
For more information about this project:
Tom Hertel: Hertel@purdue.edu
Alla Golub: golub@purdue.edu
US Borlaug Fellows in Global Food SecurityThe U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security fellowship grant program supports exceptional graduate students who are interested in developing a component of their graduate research in a developing country setting, in collaboration with a mentor from an International Agricultural Research Center or a national-level agriculture institution within the host country. Doubling Down on the Challenge of Feeding the World at Mid-Century December 15, 2011 
A commentary authored by Gebisa Ejeta and Joachim von Braun. The Next Generation: Confronting the Hunger Challenges of Tomorrow October 12-14, 2011
Gebisa Ejeta moderates the African Presidential Leadership Roundtable at the 2011 Borlaug Dialogue Save the date: Informal Institutions and Intractable Problems Workshop 
This international workshop (April 16-17, 2012) will seek new perspectives from the latest research on “informal institutions,” such as social and ethical norms, in shaping policy design, adoption, and implementation with a focus on three “intractable” problems in particular that have confounded policy makers for decades: food security, women’s rights, and climate change. For more information, foodsecurity@purdue.edu Purdue World Food Prize Laureates
Gebisa Ejeta The 2009 World Food Prize was awarded to Dr. Ejeta of Ethiopia, whose sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and the devastating Striga weed have dramatically increased the production and availability of one of the world's five principal grains, enhancing the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. 
Philip E. Nelson 2007 World Food Prize was awarded to Dr. Nelson for his innovative breakthrough technologies which have revolutionized the food industry, particularly in the area of large-scale storage and transportation of fresh fruit and vegetables using bulk aseptic food processing. The aseptic bulk processing and packaging technology pioneered by Nelson can be found in almost every country in the world. 
Food Security A journal for the science, sociology and economics of food production and access to food.