Monitoring the world's agriculture (original) (raw)

• Opinion
• Published: 28 July 2010
• Roseline Remans2,
• Sean Smukler3,
• Leigh Winowiecki4,
• Sandy J. Andelman5,
• Kenneth G. Cassman6,
• David Castle7,
• Ruth DeFries8,
• Glenn Denning9,
• Jessica Fanzo10,
• Louise E. Jackson11,
• Rik Leemans12,
• Johannes Lehmann13,
• Jeffrey C. Milder14,
• Shahid Naeem15,
• Generose Nziguheba16,
• Cheryl A. Palm17,
• Prabhu L. Pingali18,
• John P. Reganold19,
• Daniel D. Richter20,
• Sara J. Scherr21,
• Jason Sircely22,
• Clare Sullivan23,
• Thomas P. Tomich24 &
• …
• Pedro A. Sanchez25

Nature volume 466, pages 558–560 (2010) Cite this article

• 6367 Accesses
• 146 Citations
• 9 Altmetric
• Metrics details

Subjects

To feed the world without further damaging the planet, Jeffrey Sachs and 24 food-system experts call for a global data collection and dissemination network to track the myriad impacts of different farming practices.

References

1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007).
2. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis (Island Press, 2005).
3. Tilman, D. et al. Science 292, 281–284 (2001).
   Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
4. http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pages/statistics
5. Tilman, D. et al. Science 325, 270–271 (2009).
   Article CAS Google Scholar
6. Green, R. E., Cornell, S. J., Scharlemann, J. P. W. & Balmford, A. Science 307, 550–555 (2005).
   Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
7. Lemaux, P. G. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 59, 771–812 (2008).
   Article CAS Google Scholar
8. Lemaux, P. G. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 60, 511–559 (2009).
   Article CAS Google Scholar
9. International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development. Agriculture at a Crossroads: Global Report (Island Press, 2009).
10. Jackson, L., Bawa, K., Pascual, U. & Perrings, C. agroBIODIVERSITY: A New Science Agenda for Biodiversity in Support of Sustainable Agroecosystems (DIVERSITAS, 2005).
    Google Scholar
11. Sachs, J. D. et al. Science 325, 1502–1503 (2009).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
12. http://www.tropag.ei.columbia.edu/?id=global_agriculture
13. http://www.tropag.ei.columbia.edu/?id=research_global_metrics_agriculture

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Jeffrey Sachs is director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and special adviser to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.,
   Jeffrey Sachs
2. Roseline Remans is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and Leuven Sustainable Earth, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.,
   Roseline Remans
3. Sean Smukler is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.,
   Sean Smukler
4. Leigh Winowiecki is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.,
   Leigh Winowiecki
5. Sandy J. Andelman is at Tropical Ecology Assessment & Monitoring Network, Conservation International.,
   Sandy J. Andelman
6. Kenneth G. Cassman is in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.,
   Kenneth G. Cassman
7. David Castle is in the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa.,
   David Castle
8. Ruth DeFries is in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University.,
   Ruth DeFries
9. Glenn Denning is at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.,
   Glenn Denning
10. Jessica Fanzo is at Bioversity International, Rome, Italy.,
    Jessica Fanzo
11. Louise E. Jackson is in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis.,
    Louise E. Jackson
12. Rik Leemans is in the Environmental System Analysis Group, Wageningen University.,
    Rik Leemans
13. Johannes Lehmann is in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University.,
    Johannes Lehmann
14. Jeffrey C. Milder is at EcoAgriculture Partners, Washington DC.,
    Jeffrey C. Milder
15. Shahid Naeem is in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University.,
    Shahid Naeem
16. Generose Nziguheba is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.,
    Generose Nziguheba
17. Cheryl A. Palm is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.,
    Cheryl A. Palm
18. Prabhu L. Pingali is at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington.,
    Prabhu L. Pingali
19. John P. Reganold is in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University.,
    John P. Reganold
20. Daniel D. Richter is in the Environmental Sciences and Policy Division, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University.,
    Daniel D. Richter
21. Sara J. Scherr is at EcoAgriculture Partners.,
    Sara J. Scherr
22. Jason Sircely is in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University.,
    Jason Sircely
23. Clare Sullivan is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.,
    Clare Sullivan
24. Thomas P. Tomich is at the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, University of California, Davis.,
    Thomas P. Tomich
25. Pedro A. Sanchez is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.,
    Pedro A. Sanchez

Authors

1. Jeffrey Sachs
2. Roseline Remans
3. Sean Smukler
4. Leigh Winowiecki
5. Sandy J. Andelman
6. Kenneth G. Cassman
7. David Castle
8. Ruth DeFries
9. Glenn Denning
10. Jessica Fanzo
11. Louise E. Jackson
12. Rik Leemans
13. Johannes Lehmann
14. Jeffrey C. Milder
15. Shahid Naeem
16. Generose Nziguheba
17. Cheryl A. Palm
18. Prabhu L. Pingali
19. John P. Reganold
20. Daniel D. Richter
21. Sara J. Scherr
22. Jason Sircely
23. Clare Sullivan
24. Thomas P. Tomich
25. Pedro A. Sanchez

Additional information

See Editorial, page 531 , and food special at http://www.nature.com/food

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sachs, J., Remans, R., Smukler, S. et al. Monitoring the world's agriculture.Nature 466, 558–560 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/466558a

Download citation

• Published: 28 July 2010
• Issue date: 29 July 2010
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/466558a

This article is cited by

Comments

Commenting on this article is now closed.

1. Matt Chew 28 July 2010, 16:51
   It seems fair to assert that "making the transition to healthy, equitable and sustainable agriculture is a daunting challenge". The 'challenge' is multifarious: cultural, social, political, economic as well as scientific and technical. But these 25 authors did not demonstrate that "to succeed, we will need to track and understand the diverse and changing impact of farming practices". Their argument, in a nutshell, is that agriculture is problematic because it is inadequately described, therefore better description will lead to unproblematic agriculture. How does a new 'big science' initiative dedicated to gathering all the agricultural data in the world?perhaps even fulfilling the dream of making apples and oranges commensurable?actually promise to improve any single, local decision? Can agriculture really be packaged as a global problem with a coordinated, institutional, information-based solution? A stronger case must be made before we buy this hammer and start swinging at this nail. The miracle in the middle of the equation needs to be better explained.
2. Jim Gaffney 4 October 2011, 18:19
   By improving our monitoring and measuring capabilities we'll improve our ability to identify the greatest needs and focus on areas that will create the greatest impact. A better description as proposed by the authors will not by itself make agriculture unproblematic, but will help us hit the nail more squarely on the head more often.