Trade-offs between environment and livelihoods: Bridging the global land use and food security discussions

This paper connects the discussion on the trade-offs between agricultural production and environmental concerns, including the asserted need for global land use expansion, and the issues of rural livelihoods and food security. Several widespread narratives are challenged. The key insights are: 1/ There is a severe research gap about how concrete interventions can reduce the need for agricultural expansion through changing consumption. 2/ Increasing global food production can hardly be achieved without environmental trade-offs. 3/ The food security/environment trade-offs can be mitigated by recognizing that some supply chains benefit little to food security, while entailing high environmental impacts such as deforestation. 4/ Through prices, global food production is linked to food security of the - mainly urban - low income, net food buyers. 5/ Developing commercial farming, including medium-scale farms providing high labor productivity employment, can contribute to food security through rural wages. 6/ Developing such value chains based on commodities with high income- and price-elasticity of demand requires interventions to avoid deforestation through a rebound-effect.