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Tradeoffs and synergies between food security and forest cover in Brazilian drylands
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  • Felipe Melo,
  • Lucas Alencar,
  • Cristina Baldauf,
  • Adriana Pellegrini Manhães
Felipe Melo
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Centro de Biociencias

Corresponding Author:felipe.plmelo@ufpe.br

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Lucas Alencar
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Centro de Biociencias
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Cristina Baldauf
Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Arido
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Adriana Pellegrini Manhães
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
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Abstract

Global food demand is expected to increase in the next decades pushing agricultural expansion and deforestation. However, food production in agricultural lands is just one dimension of food security, to which forest goods and services also contribute. In this paper, we aimed to explore the relationship between forest cover and food security. We hypothesised that food security is improved by both human-made and green infrastructure combined. To test this relationship, we explore the relationships between forest cover and a multidimensional index of food security that included both socioeconomic and natural variables taken from Brazilian official databases for 1,141 municipalities of the Brazilian Caatinga (a seasonally tropical dry forest). The index was formed by 12 principal components axes (12 PCs) and we found that financial poverty (PC 1) and economic inequality (PC 2) were the main determinants of food insecurity in Caatinga. We found that lowest food security values were found in two contrasting contexts: one is represented by poor and unequal municipalities with high forest cover while the other refers to poor and less unequal municipalities but with little forest cover. Municipalities with intermediate levels of forest cover had slightly higher food security, a consistent pattern across time (2006 and 2017). Win-win scenarios where both forest cover and food security increased with time were almost as common as lose-lose situations (25% and 22% respectively). This suggests a sort of balance between forests and human-made land uses and reinforces that natural capital contributes to food security. Zero-hunger is a main issue for sustainable development goals and our results adds to the notion that both sustainable use of forests and socioeconomic improvements must coexist rather than being treated as antagonistic policies.
10 Nov 2022Submitted to Land Degradation & Development
10 Nov 2022Submission Checks Completed
10 Nov 2022Assigned to Editor
12 Nov 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
17 Nov 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
27 May 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
16 Jun 20231st Revision Received
16 Jun 2023Submission Checks Completed
16 Jun 2023Assigned to Editor
16 Jun 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
25 Jun 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
18 Jul 2023Editorial Decision: Accept