Centre International deHautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes

Abstract Wheat grain protein concentration is an important determinant of wheat quality for human nutrition that is often overlooked in efforts to improve crop production. We tested and applied a 32‐multi‐model ensemble to simulate global wheat yield and quality in a changing climate. Potential benefits of elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentration by 2050 on global wheat grain and protein yield are likely to be negated by impacts from rising temperature and changes in rainfall, but with considerable disparities between regions. Grain and protein yields are expected to be lower and more variable in most low‐rainfall regions, with nitrogen availability limiting growth stimulus from elevated CO 2 . Introducing genotypes adapted to warmer temperatures (and also considering changes in CO 2 and rainfall) could boost global wheat yield by 7% and protein yield by 2%, but grain protein concentration would be reduced by −1.1 percentage points, representing a relative change of −8.6%. Climate change adaptations that benefit grain yield are not always positive for grain quality, putting additional pressure on global wheat production.

BACKGROUND: Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption has increased drastically worldwide and already represents 50%-60% of total daily energy intake in several high-income countries. In the meantime, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has risen continuously during the last century. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between UPF consumption and the risk of overweight and obesity, as well as change in body mass index (BMI), in a large French cohort. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A total of 110,260 adult participants (≥18 years old, mean baseline age = 43.1 [SD 14.6] years; 78.2% women) from the French prospective population-based NutriNet-Santé cohort (2009-2019) were included. Dietary intakes were collected at baseline using repeated and validated 24-hour dietary records linked to a food composition database that included >3,500 different food items, each categorized according to their degree of processing by the NOVA classification. Associations between the proportion of UPF in the diet and BMI change during follow-up were assessed using linear mixed models. Associations with risk of overweight and obesity were assessed using Cox proportional hazard models. After adjusting for age, sex, educational level, marital status, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol intake, number of 24-hour dietary records, and energy intake, we observed a positive association between UPF intake and gain in BMI (β Time × UPF = 0.02 for an absolute increment of 10 in the percentage of UPF in the diet, P < 0.001). UPF intake was associated with a higher risk of overweight (n = 7,063 overweight participants; hazard ratio (HR) for an absolute increase of 10% of UPFs in the diet = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.08-1.14; P < 0.001) and obesity (n = 3,066 incident obese participants; HR10% = 1.09 (1.05-1.13); P < 0.001). These results remained statistically significant after adjustment for the nutritional quality of the diet and energy intake. Study limitations include possible selection bias, potential residual confounding due to the observational design, and a possible item misclassification according to the level of processing. Nonetheless, robustness was tested and verified using a large panel of sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: In this large observational prospective study, higher consumption of UPF was associated with gain in BMI and higher risks of overweight and obesity. Public health authorities in several countries recently started to recommend privileging unprocessed/minimally processed foods and limiting UPF consumption. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03335644 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03335644).

Abstract Increasing temperature due to global warming has emerged one of the gravest threats to rice production. This study examined the influence of high temperature and exogenously applied plant growth regulators on pollen fertility, anther dehiscence, pollen germination and metabolites synthesis in pollens of two rice cultivars ( IR ‐64 and Huanghuazhan (HHZ)). Plants were subjected to high day temperature ( HDT ), high night temperature ( HNT ) and control temperature ( CT ) in controlled growth chambers. Four different combinations of ascorbic acid (Vc), alpha‐tocopherol (Ve), brassinosteroids (Br), methyl jasmonates (MeJA) and triazoles (Tr) were used along with a nothing applied control. Our results depicted that high temperature severely reduced the pollen fertility, anther dehiscence, pollen retention, germination and metabolites synthesis in pollens of both rice cultivars. Nonetheless, exogenous application of various plant growth regulators assuaged the adverse effects of high temperature and Vc + Ve + MeJA + Br was found the best combination than the other treatments for every studied characteristic. The HNT posed more negative effects than the HDT . Variations were also apparent between cultivars and HHZ performed better than IR ‐64 under high‐temperature stress, with higher pollen fertility, better anther dehiscence, and greater pollen retention and germination rates. The greater tolerance of HHZ to high temperature was related with the higher synthesis of metabolites in this cultivar.

The processes underlying environmental, economic, and social unsustainability derive in part from the food system. Building sustainable food systems has become a predominating endeavor aiming to redirect our food systems and policies towards better-adjusted goals and improved societal welfare. Food systems are complex social-ecological systems involving multiple interactions between human and natural components. Policy needs to encourage public perception of humanity and nature as interdependent and interacting. The systemic nature of these interdependencies and interactions calls for systems approaches and integrated assessment tools. Identifying and modeling the intrinsic properties of the food system that will ensure its essential outcomes are maintained or enhanced over time and across generations, will help organizations and governmental institutions to track progress towards sustainability, and set policies that encourage positive transformations. This paper proposes a conceptual model that articulates crucial vulnerability and resilience factors to global environmental and socio-economic changes, postulating specific food and nutrition security issues as priority outcomes of food systems. By acknowledging the systemic nature of sustainability, this approach allows consideration of causal factor dynamics. In a stepwise approach, a logical application is schematized for three Mediterranean countries, namely Spain, France, and Italy.

For a transition from a linear, ‘take-make-dispose’ economy to a sustainable usage of all constituents of renewable resources in cascading and circular pathways, new business models valorising streams that are currently considered as waste are needed. The aim of this article is to understand critical success and risk factors of eco-innovative business models that contribute to a circular economy via agricultural unavoidable waste or by-products valorisation. 39 cases were studied focusing on agricultural side stream conversion into valuable products. Semi-structured interviews were performed and secondary data collected. Cases were analysed according to types of initiatives, main objectives, resources and valorisation pathways, as well as external and internal factors that have influenced the businesses over time. Following success and risk factor categories are identified: (1) technical and logistic, (2) economic, financial and marketing, (3) organisational and spatial, (4) institutional and legal, (5) environmental, social and cultural. Herein, specific factors for the agricultural sector are innovative conversion technologies, flexible in and out logistics, joint investments in R&D, price competitiveness for bio-based products, partnerships with research organisations, space availability, subsidies, agricultural waste management regulations, local stakeholder involvement and acceptance of bio-based production processes. Insights from this study can help farmers and agribusiness managers by defining and adapting their strategies within their local contexts. They also show that for shifting from linear agro-food chains to a circular system, individual businesses need to evolve towards more dynamic and integrated business models, in which the macro-environment sets the boundary conditions for successful operations.

Pulses display nutritional benefits and are recommended in sustainable diets. Indeed, they are rich in proteins and fibers, and can contain variable amounts of micronutrients. However, pulses also contain bioactive compounds such as phytates, saponins, or polyphenols/tannins that can exhibit ambivalent nutritional properties depending on their amount in the diet. We characterized the nutritional composition and bioactive compound content of five types of prepared pulses frequently consumed in France (kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas, brown and green lentils, flageolets), and specifically compared the effects of household cooking vs. canning on the composition of pulses that can be consumed one way or the other. The contents in macro-, micronutrients, and bioactive compounds highly varied from one pulse to another (i.e., 6.9 to 9.7 g/100 g of cooked product for proteins, 4.6 to 818.9 µg/100 g for lutein or 15.0 to 284.3 mg/100 g for polyphenols). The preparation method was a key factor governing pulse final nutritional composition in hydrophilic compounds, depending on pulse species. Canning led to a greater decrease in proteins, total dietary fibers, magnesium or phytate contents compared to household cooking (i.e., −30%, −44%, −33% and −38%, p &lt; 0.05, respectively, in kidney beans). As canned pulses are easy to use for consumers, additional research is needed to improve their transformation process to further optimize their nutritional quality.

Dietary diversity has long been recognized as a key component of diet quality and many dietary diversity indicators (DDIs) have been developed. This systematic scoping review aimed to present a comprehensive inventory of DDIs and summarize evidence linking DDIs and dietary adequacy or health outcomes in adolescents and adults. Two search strategies were developed to identify peer-reviewed articles published in English up until June 2018 and were applied to Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus. A 2-stage screening process was used to select the studies to be reviewed. Four types of DDIs were identified among 161 articles, the majority of them belonging to the food group-based indicator type (n = 106 articles). Fifty studies indicated that DDIs were proxies of nutrient adequacy, but there was a lack of evidence about their relation with nutrients to limit. Associations between DDIs and health outcomes were largely inconsistent among 137 studies, especially when the outcomes studied were body weight (n = 60) and noncommunicable diseases (n = 41). We conclude that the ability of DDIs to reflect diet quality was found to be principally limited to micronutrient adequacy and that DDIs do not readily relate to health outcomes. These findings have implications for studies in low- and lower-middle-income economies where DDIs are often used to assess dietary patterns and overall diet quality.

This study proposes an effective method to map rice crops using the Sentinel-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) time series over the Camargue region, Southern France. First, the temporal behavior of the SAR backscattering coefficient over 832 plots containing different crop types was analyzed. Through this analysis, the rice cultivation was identified using metrics derived from the Gaussian profile of the VV/VH time series (3 metrics), the variance of the VV/VH time series (one metric), and the slope of the linear regression of the VH time series (one metric). Using the derived metrics, rice plots were mapped through two different approaches: decision tree and Random Forest (RF). To validate the accuracy of each approach, the classified rice map was compared to the available national data. Similar high overall accuracy was obtained using both approaches. The overall accuracy obtained using a simple decision tree reached 96.3%, whereas an overall accuracy of 96.6% was obtained using the RF classifier. The approach, therefore, provides a simple yet precise and powerful tool to map paddy rice areas.

Abstract Efforts to limit global warming to below 2°C in relation to the pre‐industrial level are under way, in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, most impact research on agriculture to date has focused on impacts of warming &gt;2°C on mean crop yields, and many previous studies did not focus sufficiently on extreme events and yield interannual variability. Here, with the latest climate scenarios from the Half a degree Additional warming, Prognosis and Projected Impacts (HAPPI) project, we evaluated the impacts of the 2015 Paris Agreement range of global warming (1.5 and 2.0°C warming above the pre‐industrial period) on global wheat production and local yield variability. A multi‐crop and multi‐climate model ensemble over a global network of sites developed by the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) for Wheat was used to represent major rainfed and irrigated wheat cropping systems. Results show that projected global wheat production will change by −2.3% to 7.0% under the 1.5°C scenario and −2.4% to 10.5% under the 2.0°C scenario, compared to a baseline of 1980–2010, when considering changes in local temperature, rainfall, and global atmospheric CO 2 concentration, but no changes in management or wheat cultivars. The projected impact on wheat production varies spatially; a larger increase is projected for temperate high rainfall regions than for moderate hot low rainfall and irrigated regions. Grain yields in warmer regions are more likely to be reduced than in cooler regions. Despite mostly positive impacts on global average grain yields, the frequency of extremely low yields (bottom 5 percentile of baseline distribution) and yield inter‐annual variability will increase under both warming scenarios for some of the hot growing locations, including locations from the second largest global wheat producer—India, which supplies more than 14% of global wheat. The projected global impact of warming &lt;2°C on wheat production is therefore not evenly distributed and will affect regional food security across the globe as well as food prices and trade.

Abstract Shifting from a linear to a circular bio‐economy requires new business models. The objective was getting insights into the uncharted research field of business model innovation for a circular and sustainable bio‐economy within the agrifood sector. Eight European cases valorising agricultural waste and by‐products by closing loops or cascading were studied regarding their innovation drivers and elements, via interviews, on‐site visits and secondary data. In this domain, the findings highlight that business model innovations are depending on the (i) macro‐environmental institutional‐legal conditions and market trends, (ii) driven by internal economic, environmental and/or social objectives, but especially strongly linked to (iii) other actors often from different sectors seeking synergies and (iv) value co‐creation via combined organisational and technological innovations. Business models for a circular bio‐economy thus depend on various action levels and need radical combined organisational and technological innovations for a most efficient usage of agricultural waste and by‐products. This also means new business configurations instead of linear innovation strategies currently still being dominant due to economic viability.

High rates of resource consumption and waste generation have put pressure on environmental systems and one of the solutions to this concerning behavior is a circular bioeconomy (CBE). However, for a CBE to succeed, new businesses and business models are needed, for which many drawbacks might be faced. Therefore, this article aimed (i) to identify the drivers, opportunities, challenges, and barriers for businesses in a CBE both from theoretical and practical perspectives, and (ii) to present the regional differences in those aspects for different continents. A mixed-method approach was adopted, comprising a systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with 32 organizations from 18 countries in 4 continents (Africa, America, Australia, and Europe). Eight barriers and twenty challenges, as well as fifteen drivers and eight opportunities were identified. The main barrier and challenge pointed out by stakeholders were lack of financial resources/capital, and price competitiveness with traditional/linear product offers. The most prominent driver and opportunity were establishment of public policies/governmental support, and waste recovery. Regional aspects of CBEs (by continent) were also identified. Advancing CBEs requires setting strategies to overcome the lack of financial resources/capital, developing and/or making the adequate technology available locally, and enabling price competitiveness with traditional (linear and non-renewable-based) options. This study also unveils a series of managerial and business implications. There is the risk of rebound effects, such as waste becoming mainstream feedstock and bioproducts being introduced to the market on low-price strategies, thus triggering increased consumption. Premium pricing strategies need to be considered for bio-based products (compared with non-bio-based products). Moreover, technological development plays a role in driving innovation, and pioneers might lead the development of policies. For CBE systems to succeed there needs to be further technological development and greater connection among the actors in the value chain, converging in resilient circular business models for a CBE.

Both food safety and dietary behaviors are major contributors to the global burden of disease, especially in rapidly urbanising environments. The impact that food safety concerns have on dietary behaviors in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is insufficiently documented. Therefore, we examined whether food safety concerns influence consumer behaviors/diets in LMICs. A systematic review identified 46 relevant studies from 20 LMICs for inclusion. A socio-ecological food environment framework was used to map food safety factors that influence consumer behaviors (food acquisition/purchase, eating out of home, food preparation/storage) and diets (consumption of nutrient rich/poor foods). Several studies (n = 11) reported that despite food safety concerns, consumers could not always ensure that they consumed safe food; barriers were affordability, accessibility and appeal. Key concerns included fear of pesticides, fertilizers, hygiene in/around food outlets, unhygienic vendor practices and household storage/preparation methods. These concerns may reduce consumption of animal sourced food and fresh fruit and vegetables; and increase consumption of starchy staples and processed/packaged foods. Policies such as upgrading urban market infrastructure to enhance food safety, accompanied by nutrition and hygiene education, could lead to increased accessibility, affordability and appeal of safe, nutrient-rich foods. Thus, reducing the appeal of packaged/processed food as a means to mitigate food safety risk; thereby contributing to preventing foodborne disease and multiple forms of malnutrition.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: It is not known whether dietary changes able to simultaneously achieve nutritional adequacy and reduce diet-related greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) are similar across Europe when cultural and gender specificities are taken into account. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Starting from each mean observed diet in five European countries (France, UK, Italy, Finland, and Sweden) and for each gender, nutritionally adequate diets departing the least from observed diet were designed with linear programming by applying stepwise 10% GHGE reductions. Other models directly minimized GHGE. RESULTS: For most countries and whatever the gender, achieving nutritional adequacy implied between-food-group subtitutions (i.e., replacing items from the sugar/fat/alcohol food-group with items from the fruit and vegetables and starchy food-groups), but increased GHGE. Once nutritional adequacy was met, to decrease GHGE, the optimization process further induced within-food-groups substitutions that were reinforced by stepwise GHGE reductions. Diet modeling results showed the need for changes in consumption of animal-based products but those changes differed according to country and gender, particularly for fish, poultry, and non-liquid milk dairy. Depending on country and gender, maximal GHGE reductions achievable ranged from 62% to 78% but they induced large departures from observed diets (at least 2.8 kg/day of total absolute weight change) by modifying the quantity of at least 99% of food items. CONCLUSIONS: Setting nutritional goals with no consideration for the environment may increase GHGE. However, diet sustainability can be improved by substituting food items from the sugar/fat/alcohol food group with fruit, vegetables, and starches, and country-specific changes in consumption of animal-based products. Standardized surveys and individual diet modeling are promising tools for further exploring ways to achieve sustainable diets in Europe.

OBJECTIVE: To explore dietary differences according to socio-economic and sociocultural characteristics of adolescents and young adults. DESIGN: A systematic review was conducted. SETTING: The main search source was MEDLINE, consulted between January 2012 and March 2017. Quality of selected studies was assessed based on dietary measurement method, sample selection, socio-economic indicator choice and statistical modelling. PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, assessing relationships between socio-economic status and dietary intake (patterns, scores and food groups) in the 10- to 40-year-old general population of high-income countries, were selected. RESULTS: Among the 7250 reports identified, forty were selected, seventeen of which were of high quality; their conclusions, related only to adolescents, were combined and presented. The most favourable dietary patterns, higher dietary scores, greater consumption of fruits, vegetables and dairy products, and lower consumption of sugary sweetened beverages and energy-dense foods, were associated with better parental socio-economic status, particularly in terms of higher education. Migrant status was associated with plant-based patterns, greater consumption of fruits and vegetables and of sugary sweetened beverages and energy-dense foods. For the other food groups, and for young adults, very few high-quality studies were found. CONCLUSIONS: The socio-economic gradient in adolescent diets requires confirmation by higher-grade studies of a wider set of food groups and must be extended to young adult populations. Future nutritional interventions should involve the most vulnerable adolescent populations, taking account of socio-economic status and migration.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager sea surface temperature (SST) and QuikSCAT wind stress satellite data are used to investigate the intraseasonal upwelling variability along the coat of Peru over the period 2000-2008. Two regions of peak variance correspond to the central Peru region (Pisco region, 15°S) and the northern Peru region (Piura region, 5°S). A covariance analysis reveals a significant coherency between winds and SST anomalies off Pisco, consistent with Ekman pumping and transport dynamics. The upwelling cell consists in a meridionally extended fringe of colder (warmer) water extending as far as 250 km from the coast at 15°S. In the Piura region, the intraseasonal covariability pattern is represented by two modes, one relevant to the direct Ekman dynamics and the other one associated with the remote forcing of intraseasonal oceanic Kelvin wave. Two regimes of variability are evidenced. A low-period regime (10-25 days) is the signature of Ekman transport/pumping dynamics and is remotely forced by the migratory atmospheric disturbances across the southeastern Pacific anticyclone. A high-period regime (35-60 day band) is associated with the combined forcing of oceanic equatorial Kelvin waves and migratory atmospheric disturbances in the midlatitudes. In particular, the modes of covariability exhibit a prominent ∼50 day period energy peak. It is shown that this period arises from the impact of the first two baroclinic modes Kelvin wave, with the second baroclinic mode Kelvin wave being more influential on the Piura region. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

The ability of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Sentinel-1 data to detect the main wheat phenological phases was investigated in the Bekaa plain of Lebanon. Accordingly, the temporal variation of Sentinel-1 (S1) signal was analyzed as a function of the phenological phases’ dates observed in situ (germination; heading and soft dough), and harvesting. Results showed that S1 data, unlike the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, were able to estimate the dates of theses phenological phases due to significant variations in S1 temporal series at the dates of germination, heading, soft dough, and harvesting. Particularly, the ratio VV/VH at low incidence angle (32–34°) was able to detect the germination and harvesting dates. VV polarization at low incidence angle (32–34°) was able to detect the heading phase, while VH polarization at high incidence angle (43–45°) was better than that at low incidence angle (32–34°), in detecting the soft dough phase. An automated approach for main wheat phenological phases’ determination was then developed on the western part of the Bekaa plain. This approach modelled the S1 SAR temporal series by smoothing and fitting the temporal series with Gaussian functions (up to three Gaussians) allowing thus to automatically detect the main wheat phenological phases from the sum of these Gaussians. To test its robustness, the automated method was applied on the northern part of the Bekaa plain, in which winter wheat is harvested usually earlier because of the different weather conditions. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the estimation of the phenological phases’ dates was 2.9 days for germination, 5.5 days for heading, 5.1 days soft dough, 3.0 days for West Bekaa’s harvesting, and 4.5 days for North Bekaa’s harvesting. In addition, a slight underestimation was observed for germination and heading of West Bekaa (−0.2 and −1.1 days, respectively) while an overestimation was observed for soft dough of West Bekaa and harvesting for both West and North Bekaa (3.1, 0.6, and 3.6 days, respectively). These results are encouraging, and thus prove that S1 data are powerful as a tool for crop monitoring, to serve enhanced crop management and production handling.

Recurrent food crises and global environmental change are critical issues that pushed food security and sustainability to the top of the policy agenda. Policy-makers need assessment tools that help them decide what actions they should take to achieve these goals. This paper proposes a new metric system assessing the sustainability of food systems and diets at a subnational level adapted to the context of the Mediterranean area. Recognizing the systemic dimension of sustainability, the proposed information system builds on a vulnerability/resilience conceptual framework and considers the interactions between a set of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers of vulnerability and a number of context-specific food and nutrition security issues. A three-round iterative Delphi survey was conducted to involve a number of selected experts in the indicator selection process. 18 indicators were finally identified for eight preselected causal models of vulnerability and resilience at the interactions between a set of four drivers of change (water depletion, biodiversity loss, food price volatility, and changes in food consumption patterns) and four food and nutrition security outcomes (nutritional quality of food supply, affordability of food, dietary energy balance, and satisfaction of cultural food preferences). Each interaction was disentangled in exposure, sensitivity and resilience. The exercise allowed discussion of a conceptual and dynamic framework for food systems, and identification of indicators that gather consensus among the expert community.

Among all causes of grapevine decline, Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTDs) are major concerns for grape growers. This paper reviews knowledge and proposes hypotheses on two major GTDs, esca and Botryosphaeria dieback, and assembles a conceptual model. The objective was to collect information into a sequence, from grapevine nursery propagation processes, through foliar symptom expression, to plant death in mature vineyards. Pathogen infection and colonization steps in woody vine tissues, and the hypotheses that have been formulated to explain the outburst of foliar symptoms, are reported and discussed. Factors that could aggravate or repress GTD symptoms and incidence expansion are also addressed. Vine physiology and pathology together could expand understanding of these diseases. Knowledge and hypotheses that need validation are summarized, and a conceptual model is proposed to explain the occurrence of symptoms and the influencing factors. The model could be useful to cope with the complexity of GTDs, and as a starting point for research to unravel knowledge gaps and suggest new disease management strategies.

ABSTRACT We develop a classification of traditional versus restructured cooperative organizational attributes based on an inductive approach. Using this classification and integrating concepts from the business literature (i.e., market and brand orientation), we hypothesize three types of relationships: (a) the influence of organizational attributes, i.e., ownership, control and cost/benefit allocation, on organizational performance; (b) the influence of strategic, i.e., market and brand orientation, attributes on organizational performance, and (c) the influence of organizational attributes on market orientation. We examine these relationships empirically in two studies. In study 1, using data from 114 agribusiness cooperatives, we demonstrate that strategic attributes have a greater influence on organizational performance than organizational attributes. In study 2, we replicate the design from study 1, i.e., tracking attribute scores over time, with a subsample of 25 cooperatives 4 years later. This second study generally confirms the findings of study 1. Taken together, the results suggest that greater emphasis should be placed on strategic attributes both in the literature and in practice.

Since 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced five Assessment Reports (ARs), in which agriculture as the production of food for humans via crops and livestock have featured in one form or another. A constructed database of the ca. 2,100 cited experiments and simulations in the five ARs was analyzed with respect to impacts on yields via crop type, region, and whether adaptation was included. Quantitative data on impacts and adaptation in livestock farming have been extremely scarce in the ARs. The main conclusions from impact and adaptation are that crop yields will decline, but that responses have large statistical variation. Mitigation assessments in the ARs have used both bottom-up and top-down methods but need better to link emissions and their mitigation with food production and security. Relevant policy options have become broader in later ARs and included more of the social and nonproduction aspects of food security. Our overall conclusion is that agriculture and food security, which are two of the most central, critical, and imminent issues in climate change, have been dealt with an unfocussed and inconsistent manner between the IPCC five ARs. This is partly a result of not only agriculture spanning two IPCC working groups but also the very strong focus on projections from computer crop simulation modeling. For the future, we suggest a need to examine interactions between themes such as crop resource use efficiencies and to include all production and nonproduction aspects of food security in future roles for integrated assessment models.