Bioremediation of Emerging Contaminants from Soils: Soil Health Conservation for Improved Ecology and Food Security

Bioremediation of Emerging Contaminants from Soils: Soil Health Conservation Along with Food Security deals with current challenges of sustainable soil health using eco-friendly approaches. This book provides ways of reducing the chemicals burden on the soil by maintaining balance in terms of society, environment and economy, which are considered basic pillars of sustainability.

Designed to highlight soil health best practices for both environmental and agricultural sustainability, these approaches are also considered important for improving global food security by ensuring safe growing conditions for crops for food and feed. Presented in two parts, the book first highlights emerging contaminants and their sources. The second part explores a variety of steps and tools for addressing contaminated soils including bio- and phytoremediation options. Case studies in each part provide real-world insights for practical application.

This book will be unique in the specified area of sustainability using the principles of bioremediation. Moreover, scientists, researchers, and policymakers will receive insights to develop and explore innovate approaches to achieve sustainable development goals.

• Contains the latest practical and theoretical aspects of the soil health crisis and its management

• Presents collective information to ensure the remediation of soil from emerging contaminants

• Serves as baseline information for environmental issues in agriculture along with their alternative eco-friendly solutions

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: May 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9780443139949

Book preview

Chapter 1

Exponential population growth and global food security: challenges and alternatives

Arpita Ghosh¹, Anurag Kumar² and Gargi Biswas³,    ¹Department of Environmental Management, Indian Institute of Management Sirmaur, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, India,    ²Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Durgapur, West Bengal, India,    ³Waste Management (I) Division, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, India

Abstract

The ever-growing world population is continuously hitting the food security issue sharply. Food security is the central backbone of any nation concerning wealth and economic development. The present food system has fueled urbanization and has been trying to support a fast-growing population. However, a billion people worldwide struggle with chronic hunger daily. Providing food and nutritional security using a human life cycle perspective, giving access to enough quantities and quality of food at reasonable prices to people to ensure they may live free from hunger, and eliminating malnutrition and child stunting are the goals of this study. By 2050, the planet must feed about 10 billion people without diminishing our planet’s resources or harming environmental ecology, and this will be one of the significant social challenges with respect to (w.r.t.) scientific and technical advancements, government policies, institutional actions, and commercial investments. The present system may be modified to create healthy cities and rejuvenate biodiversity. In this study, the authors have demonstrated how scientific and technical approaches in the agricultural and food sectors can attain nutrition sustainably and fulfill global food demand. Scientists also discuss ways to reuse food and farming wastes as new ingredients in the forthcoming economy. The Scopus analysis suggests that developed countries (the United States and the United Kingdom) focusing on Food Security are major research contributors.

Keywords

Sustainability; food security; circular economy; agri-waste management; policy

Chapter outline

Outline

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Literature review 4

1.2.1 Main approaches to the analysis of food security 7

1.2.2 Agricultural sector in the Asian economy 10

1.2.3 Pathways to reduce food production demand 10

1.2.4 Food security policy in developing and developed countries 12

1.2.5 Effect of pandemic on food crisis 13

1.2.6 Food and agricultural security in circular economy 14

1.2.7 Global research on food security 15

1.3 Conclusions and recommendation 15

References 18

1.1 Introduction

Food security is the most essential sector for human survival and growth. The most populated countries have already exceeded their carrying capacity. There are several challenges to developing a sustainable food chain, such as increasing population, pollution, water resource depletion, and food demand. In a quest to lessen global food insecurity, increased food production remains a cornerstone approach. Although the global food supply has maintained pace with demand (over the last half-century), around one billion people suffer from hunger, and another billion are malnourished (Prosekov & Ivanova, 2018). Urbanization, globalization, illness, unsuitable storage, lack of set-up, production management, and various other factors contribute to the increasing gap between supply and demand. These factors also affect food consumption patterns. According to a statement (Fig. 1.1) given by United Nations on Global Food Security, all human beings must have physical, social, and economic access to adequate, safe, nutritious food to fulfill their dietary needs for an active and healthy life cycle (Fleetwood, 2020). As the global population has more than doubled during the last half-century, food production has grown considerably, allowing for a significant drop in the proportion of the starving population. In 2021, 11.7% of the world’s population was severely food insecure, compared to 7.7% in 2014 (Fig. 1.2). In almost every region globally, the proportion of people suffering from hunger increased. Still, Africa is the region most affected by severe food insecurity (FAO survey, 2022).

Figure 1.1 Food insecurity & SDG 2.

In 2021, 11.7% of the world’s population was severely food insecure, compared to 7.7% in 2014.

Figure 1.2 Level of undernourishment.

As the global population has more than doubled during the last half-century, food production has grown considerably, allowing for a significant drop in the proportion of the starving population.

Further, researchers report the need to feed an estimated 10 billion people by 2050 with declining natural resources which would need about 70% more food compared to what is consumed today. Half of the universal population currently lives in metropolises, which is expected to increase up to 68% by 2050. At that point, 80% of the global food will be taken by metropolitans. Consequently, scientists link future international food requirements to agricultural science to increase sustainable food production. The challenges faced by the farming system due to climate change have also received attention from researchers as ways to minimize food intake and reduce losses or wastage (Ginanneschi, 2022). Research studies have explored the application of circular material management via recycling spoiled foods to make new ingredients for further usage in many fields. This vision-based approach links food security with agricultural production, processing of health and nutrition products, and provision of supply chain efficiency in dealing with global megatrends and industries. Extant studies describe this as a collaborative and flexible approach to attaining food security (Herrero et al., 2021). This use of the relevant technologies to achieve food and nutritional safety and security is commensurate with social, commercial, and global practices. Regenerative food manufacturing systems may replenish and improve the regional ecosystem globally. Such techniques may support the transformation of the enhanced ecosystem, as well as improve the quality of air and water. A megatrend is a significant economic change in geopolitical conditions that redesigns how the industry may operate in the long run. These trends include declining natural resources, urbanization, growth of megacities, statistical fluctuations, and dietary patterns, which would significantly impact food safety (Pawlak & Kołodziejczak, 2020). To provide food security for everyone globally, the food supply must be large enough to fulfill the overall food demand. While this is a prerequisite for guaranteeing food safety, more urbanization is needed. Global food production is already sufficient, but some 800 million people in developing nations need access to adequate food, primarily because they need more resources to purchase it (Prosekov & Ivanova, 2018).

We illustrate the different challenges posed by unequal access to food via figures. Fig. 1.2 shows the level of adult obesity for all the continents and the world average. While comparing 2019 and 2020, adult obesity was found to be highest in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and the values are more than the world’s average for both years. Fig. 1.2 shows the level of child stunting for all the continents and the world average. Child stunting was found to be highest in Africa and Asia. The world’s average child stunting was more than that in North America and European countries, a significant concern worldwide. Fig. 1.2 shows the level of undernourishment for all the continents and the world average, compared with 2019 and 2020. The story of undernourishment was highest in African countries, followed by Asia and South America (Morales et al., 2021). On the other hand, North America and European countries showed a shallow level of undernourishment. The world average is also more than these continents. There is a need to bring down the level of undernourishment worldwide.

People experiencing poverty who lack access to food can be divided into several categories depending on their geographic location, employment patterns, wealth ownership, race, ethnicity, age, and gender. Figs. 1.1 and 1.2 show that most people suffering from hunger, undernourishment, and stunted growth live in underdeveloped or developing countries like Africa, Asia, and South America. Also, the majority of this underprivileged population resides in rural areas. These people need access to land or help develop a sustainable living on the available land (World Health Organization, 2020). Low pay rates and low employment rates are the main contributors to the problem of household food security in metropolitan areas. Although malnutrition and food insecurity are typically less prevalent in urban settings, they can become more significant in the future with the rapid increase in urbanization. Through area extension and productivity improvement, the agricultural communities seek to boost the output of commercial crops such as rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals, and wheat. It helps to improve the farm-level economy and restore soil fertility and production at the individual farm level (Pawlak & Kołodziejczak, 2020). The above discussions reveal that ensuring food security is a significant challenge for all of us.

Population growth demands more intensive food production. Groundwater extraction and irrigation are well connected with this. Large-scale food processing units consume vast volumes of freshwater and generate large volumes of wastewater. Simultaneously, food waste is also an important source of methane gas as greenhouse emissions. Regarding the economic impact of food waste, the cost of 700 billion each year will be exceeded (Segneanu et al., 2018). Therefore, a circular economy action plan has been adopted to shift a linear economy to a sustainable economy. The main advantages of such a circular economy model will be:

1. Waste used as a resource;

2. Life cycle extension of products;

3. Advanced sustainable technology;

4. Reserve and restoration of natural capital.

1.2 Literature review

The United Nations has forecast that the population growth will continue, with estimates ranging from 8.3 to about 10 billion in 2050 and approximately 11 billion in 2100. With population growth, eliminating food insecurity by 2050 will be challenging, as population expansion, poverty, and natural disasters are the primary causes of food insecurity and malnutrition (Bahar et al., 2020). Many government institutions and UN agencies are collaborating to find a solution to the food crisis. Present trends lean toward a more significant amount. Such growth rates would necessitate a 50%–75% increase in the food supply. The limited environmental reserves and worldwide food and energy resource output will negatively influence UN initiatives in developed and developing nations.

In developing nations, the agricultural sector is crucial for expanding the food supply and guaranteeing food security. In turn, every nation’s agricultural industry relies on available natural resources. Essential food crops, including rice, wheat, sweet potatoes, maize, and cassava, are the primary sources of the human diet. Improving food production via improving agricultural productivity and expanding agricultural land is a realistic strategy for increasing food supply and reducing food insecurity. However, the currently employed technological know-how would only allow low-income developing countries (e.g., some African countries) to produce some of the required food in the right quantities shortly. In this regard, FAO should facilitate technology transfer from developed nations to developing ones to support the process of modern agriculture techniques, close technical gaps, and overcome knowledge obstacles, all of which would help eliminate food insecurity in developing countries. While poverty is undeniably the cause of hunger, lack of proper nutrition is one of the primary causes of poverty. The developed countries have created a topology of food security measurement based on the following dimensions:

1. Undernourishment prevalence (percent)

2. Per capita area of land arable (hectare)

3. Agriculture’s GDP share (percent)

4. The percentage of arable land that is irrigated (percent)

5. Per capita agri-food trade balance

According to estimates from 2019, roughly 690 million individuals, or 8.9% of global people, were undernourished before the COVID-19 outbreak. If the current trends continue, the number of people suffering from malnutrition will reach 840 million around 2030. Consequently, the planet is not close to achieving its target of Zero Hunger (World Health Organization, 2019). Malnutrition impacts food quality, including nutrients for children and women’s health. Millions of people worldwide suffer from hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity because they cannot afford to buy nutritious and healthy food. In addition to food insecurity and malnutrition, stunting and child homicide are linked to the unaffordability of expensive, healthy foods.

Asia is the home to more than half of the global malnourished population, with approximately 381 million in 2019. Recently, Asia has made headway in lowering the number of starving people. In 2019, the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) in Latin America and the Caribbean was 7.4%, much below the global average of 8.9%, resulting in around 48 million malnourished individuals. By 2019 Africa and Asia were home to around 9 out of 10 malnourished children, accounting for 40% and 54% of worldwide undernourishment, respectively. Also, by 2019, Africa’s PoU had increased to 19.1% of its population (over 250 million malnourished people), up from 17.6% in 2014. UNICEF (2021) mentions that the hunger rate among Africans is expected to rise by 3% every year.

Several initiatives, like close monitoring, have been initiated to track the evolution of essential food, security indices, access, and consumption among individuals in developing nations.

The definition of food security consists of four main dimensions: availability of adequate food, access to the proper food supply, consumption of nutritious food and clean water (SDG 6), and finally, sustainability. Understanding long-term food security determinants and their relationships is crucial for policymakers deciding on present and future food safety laws. According to FAO’s basic concept, the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is more than just a list of objectives, benchmarks, and metrics. It is also a system of connected parts. A rigorous approach is required, and the linkages between the factors must also be considered rather than only focusing on the individual food security indicators (van Meijl et al., 2020). Even though 2030 is only 8 years away, most SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) targets are becoming more distantly achievable each year. An animal consumes lots of food, grains, and water throughout his lifetime. By drinking this animal as a food source, the nonvegetarian human being indirectly consumes a considerable amount of feed daily. It is the cause of another issue in overcoming zero hunger for the whole population. Somehow, it is related to the Tragedy of Common concepts, that is, if nonvegetarian and vegetarian people stay together, and the animal farms (poultry/sheep) procure lots of water and crop grains in a day, then the other population may face scarcity of enough food, water, and adequate supply. Also, if the animals are fed with polluted water, metal contaminated crops, and drugs, consuming these animals-meat affect the human beings’ health due to biomagnification of pollutants into the human body from the mass of the animal. This is another concern regarding food safety. This is also true for polluted vegetarian food.

While attempts are being made to advance SDG 2, they need more, given the context’s increased difficulty and unpredictability. The leading causes of current food insecurity and malnutrition trends will likely continue to intensify, along with the high cost of nutritious foods and widening inequality. This may be more robust and supply everyone with lower-cost, nutrient-dense foods and affordable healthy diets until agrifood systems are altered. Through a systematic model to analyze progress in other food safety measures, the Agricultural Model Comparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) investigated and eliminated disparities between models of long-term implications on agricultural pricing and productivity (Pawlak & Kołodziejczak, 2020; van Meijl et al., 2020).

The benefits of incorporating food safety and nutrition metrics into the framework are threefold:

1. Providing continuity by planning long-term complex exit-period modeling systems;

2. Allowing comparisons between the same FNS metrics of past and present;

3. Future predictions of total linkages using figurative metrics.

1.2.1 Main approaches to the analysis of food security

1.2.1.1 Food availability approach

This analysis method emphasizes the balance between population and food. Food security advancement should be at most the population increase to preserve the balance. It relies mainly on food production and inventories in a closed economy and equally on food trading in an open economy. This strategy has two potential policy ramifications:

1. On the demand-side, the need to decrease population growth—that is, the fertility rate—via suitable policies; and

2. On the supply side, the need to increase food production and ensure equitable distribution—through appropriate policies.

The requirement to improve food production (per capita), that is, agricultural productivity, is on the supply side. The international debate on food security continues to be dominated by agricultural productivity, the food supply chain, and technology. The units of analysis are one of the most important aspects of any food safety approach (Philippidis et al., 2020). The method may also be economical, focusing on a specific sector or a collection of food sectors (e.g., the food system or chain) or the economy in general. Given these considerations, the country’s food security (and the food balance sheet) or the land and agricultural sector are frequently utilized as units of study w.r.t., both production and output (Burchi & De Muro, 2016).

1.2.1.2 Income-based approach

The long-held view of food safety as a concern has been reassessed as part of the macroeconomic approach. Economists have been criticized for focusing too much on one area of the economy: agricultural production and, subsequently, the food trade. Given the economy’s numerous interrelated industries, food shortage cannot be viewed as affecting only the agriculture/food sector. It necessitated a dynamic study that relied not on food supply but on factors such as GDP and economic growth. A robust financial system in a market economy may allow food import. Each country should focus on its profitable sector, given the quantity of reasonable or low production costs. All these approaches can be seen as integrating national strategies to increase integrated food security within the food security framework (Burchi & De Muro, 2016).

This method is precisely the same as the traditional poverty assessment method. Food insecurity is considered when human caloric intake exceeds the international dietary threshold. Theoretically, household surveys that collect income data may estimate the amount consumed, given that low-income families spend most of their income on food. The food is then converted into calories: if the calories consumed at home are less than required, the food does not spare some or all family members. Many economists calculate the calorie content of various foods and then add them to determine the overall number of calories a household may consume. The most significant disadvantage of each method is many assumptions, ranging from income to food security. Per capita income can be estimated as a unit of analysis. On the other hand, children whose food supply relies on adult income have difficulties (Nordhagen et al., 2022).

1.2.1.3 Basic needs approach

Numerous methods of evaluating food security exist within this paradigm. The first is to regulate meal frequency, which can be done by asking them how much they eat each day or how frequently they eat different kinds of food. This research is easy; however, focusing on quality rather than the quantity consumed makes caloric equivalent calculations extremely difficult. The second approach takes a more direct approach to food intake. During meals, all household members are observed to obtain precise information on all foods ingested. Measuring dietary items against their nutritional content and composition yields the final calorie intake. Various indicators based on food quality and varieties (compatible with the original diet) have been created recently. For example, the food variety school displays the number of food categories ingested regularly. It was a significant shift away from concentrating on the amount of food consumed.

On the other hand, the food frequency of the sting is often done at home. In contrast, direct monitoring and assessment of frequent foods are typically done at the person (and kid) level. As a result, the function of home meal delivery is optional in the final two circumstances. This is critical because, when we consider women’s events, we do not believe they receive the same nourishment as males. This method emphasizes the need for temporary food security. It reveals if a family now has or has in the past enough food to feed all of its members. Insight into impending food shortages is limited (Andreea, 2020).

1.2.1.4 Entitlement approach

The entitlement mindset aided in the challenging of ideas around hunger and malnutrition. The emphasis is now shifting away from the nation’s food supply and toward people’s access to food. It addresses the need caused by not having access to good food. Rights are based on two things:

1. Personal rights that are personal property such as home, livestock, land, and intangibles;

2. A collection of goods produced and traded for, or mapping a trade rights map, if a person has sufficient funds to support himself.

A sudden rise in the price of foods produced for reasons outside one’s control makes it harder for a person to purchase adequate food, for example, even with the same rights. This is because the map of the exchange of rights has regressed. Also, the failure of a request can occur in various ways (Lindgren & Lang, 2022).

In terms of economics, where each group produces a single asset (including labour) and is given a price (value of goods/value of food) in exchange for food, any group is at risk of starvation due to a failure due to entitlement or demotion due to a decrease in food production for consumption or food exchange rates. In the first case, there is direct bankruptcy of the right, in the second case, nontrading of rights is in question. A direct violation of rights occurs in food producers due to reduced production; trade rights violations occur in nonfood production groups where trade standards or overall food security declines. However, the same concept applies to chronic hunger and malnutrition. At the national level, having enough food for everyone is necessary, but more food for some people is needed. Compared to the original diet, the entitlement approach ensures that future food shortages are predictable.

1.2.1.5 Sustainable livelihoods approach

Sustainable livelihood (SL) is a type of development and poverty alleviation that goes beyond food security. This method has been applied in various fields, including food safety (Burchi & De Muro, 2016). The standard SL framework has two key elements that provide advantages over earlier techniques for investigating food safety. The first is its long-term vision; the latter focuses on settings (political, economic, physical, social, cultural, and so on). However, it mainly concentrates on agricultural operations and rural regions, seldom considering macroeconomic or global concerns. The combination of two parts of home analysis and research brings to the examination of food additives the following three linked notions, which are not prevalent in the SL framework and have been missed in prior approaches:

1. When it comes to hazards and vulnerabilities, lousy weather and seasons can create a sense of vulnerability that is not there or is not present in any way other than exposure and self-defense. It has two sides: the exterior side of the shock, tension, and danger and the interior side of helplessness to defend oneself, that is, the inability to cope with the loss without damaging it.

2. The SL framework’s notion of resilience, closely related to vulnerability and resilience, is one of its fundamental tenets.

3. Coping strategies are a series of behaviors conducted in a certain order in the family in response to external shocks that result in a decrease in food security.

Livelihood strategies include coping techniques and a mix of what people choose to do to attain their livelihood goals. Food safety is commonly measured using SL ideas, especially in humanitarian circumstances.

1.2.2 Agricultural sector in the Asian economy

Nearly two-thirds of the global agricultural GDP comes from Asia. It may be advantageous for Asian countries to have the world’s best agrarian conditions. It is undeniable that Asia has an incredible amount of the world’s arable land. For example, agriculture covers more than 60% of the land in Bangladesh and India. Furthermore, several Asian nations, like Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Indonesia, are seeing an increase in the percentage of new cropland (Abu Hatab et al., 2019).

Agriculture is a significant part of the economy because Central Asia needs to establish industrial sectors and services. Because of the importance and scale of the agricultural industry in this region, its employment component is critical. The most crucial percentage of farming activities contributing significantly to GDP remains in India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Nam, and many other nations, representing the employment structure of typical low-middle- and high-income countries in agriculture (Taghizadeh-Hesary et al., 2019).

In any country, food security is vital to human progress and peace. On the other hand, food shortages continue to be a problem in many Asian developing nations. According to recent research by the World State of Food Insecurity, the number of undernourished individuals in Asian developing countries is as high as 512 million, with 780 million malnourished people worldwide. High agricultural prices of commodities will jeopardize and exacerbate food security in Asia, as well as lead to more people who are underweight. Like other commodities, power costs significantly influence food prices, and increased electricity prices will lead to more food and energy instability, especially in economically vulnerable nations.

1.2.3 Pathways to reduce food production demand

1.2.3.1 Reduction of food waste

Simple methods to improve food security without increasing the natural burden of production include reducing food waste, food loss, and disposal. Food loss is the term used to describe dietary weight loss that occurs in the food supply chain during the postharvest and food-processing phases. Food loss in stores, particularly by clients, is food waste. A total of 1.6 billion tons of food is lost yearly, whereas 1.3 billion tons are consumed (Cole et al., 2018). Food loss and waste are distributed differently across different countries of the globe. Suitable postharvest management measures, including material and infrastructural assistance, may help to minimize the loss of fresh crops in the food supply chain. As food produced in rural regions must reach the populations in urban and metropolitan areas, this needs to be revised. To maintain long-term food security, additional emphasis must be placed on better access to the food supply, adequate transportation, infrastructure, and better management of cold storage systems (Cole et al., 2018). Several nations have established food banks to save nutritious food and distribute it to needy people to minimize food insecurity.

1.2.3.2 Reducing overconsumption in human diets

The dietary framework analyzes future food demands concerning calories. Indeed, it must examine the need for food to offer food that will meet the future requirements for a healthy and balanced diet. New crop nutrition metrics based on a ton/ha of the crop have been proposed to address the relevance of nutritional demands in enabling sustainable farming. On the other hand, small farms that produce diverse crops may need help to purchase modern technology like hybrid seeds and genetically modified organisms, which are essential to maintaining resilience. As we need to raise the proportion of food access, food security is becoming more complex; nonetheless, there are more than two billion individuals who are overweight or obese. Reducing the abuse of this number provides a significant potential to increase food security without harming the environment and lowering the global health cost associated with hunger (Cole et al., 2018).

1.2.3.3 Expanding the water resources used for agricultural irrigation

Water security is increasingly becoming a worldwide concern. By integrating weather forecasting with hydrological modelling and data from modern environmental monitoring technologies and space observations, better forecasting of demand for soil moisture aquatic plants and efficient usage of irrigation water may be achieved (Ramazani et al., 2017). These modifications are part of an irrigation strategy to conserve water and improve water efficiency. Improved agricultural water systems can be accomplished by boosting irrigation and improving water management to reduce wasteful water channelized to plants. These include reducing soil evaporation, controlling water flow, and increasing irrigation system and soil penetration capacity and efficiency (Cole et al., 2018).

1.2.3.4 Transdisciplinary practice to address food and nutrition security

Sustainable food production and better nutrition for the entire population have been challenges for the world. However, an increasing population, dwindling natural resources, shifting consumption patterns, and the complexity of food and nutrition security tip the ecosystem out of balance. In this way, transdisciplinary research approaches help us better comprehend the complicated situations, choices, and actions that influence socioecological systems that affect our access to food and nutrition. We can better understand the salient characteristics of transdisciplinary research techniques by looking at the case of urban agriculture, which presents both opportunities and difficulties for healthy nutrition and food systems. It is crucial to consider how emerging technology in other sectors (such as data science, robotics, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology) can influence food safety. The complete diet plan must be considered when dealing with food safety and nutrition. The process should involve collaboration and a disciplinary approach to the world’s changing social, market, and megatrends.

1.2.4 Food security policy in developing and developed countries

Global food security, defined by the availability, accessibility, use, and stability of food, is essentially the idea that everyone should always have access to the necessities for a healthy life. Agriculture is crucial to ensure and enhance food security. It is generally accepted that the world will consume more food in the upcoming decades. As a result, global agriculture will be able to satisfy their needs while enhancing food security. A feasible strategy to end hunger appears to be increasing agricultural productivity and the amount of agricultural land used to produce food of a particular standard (Pawlak & Kołodziejczak, 2020). The food requirements of low-income developing countries underline the necessity of expanding agricultural research and development initiatives to raise agricultural output per acre of land and rural workers. In many developing countries, rising food costs due to decreased household incomes and the global economic slump have led to a rise in undernourished households. According to preliminary estimates for 2009, the number of malnourished individuals in developing nations has increased by more than one billion due to rising food prices. For decades, developing nations’ media and political institutions paid little attention to food shortages. However, the situation changed when food price riots occurred in developing countries in 2008. The rebirth of interest in food security initiatives for developing nations has been attributed to rising food insecurity and a well-defined relationship between food security, national security, and global security. Governments have employed short- and long-term goal-based policies to advance food security in developing nations (Wegren & Elvestad, 2018). Major food security strategies involve encouraging market integration through infrastructure, policies favoring independent trade, government trade, public stockpiles, and assuring high productivity and production standards. Governments in developing countries should invest in research and development (R&D), agricultural infrastructures such as irrigation and conservation technology, extension services, early warning systems, and farm investments to change how food is produced in these nations. For instance, enhancing regional foods and nutrition is a top goal for public health in Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Social welfare and encouraging regional foods remain the two major strategies for ensuring food security in developed nations. At the same time, governments retreat from this problem, as shown by the explosive rise of food banks and community-based food programs. Naturally, food aid does not do much to address the underlying issues that lead to food insecurity and poverty. The political will to recognize the problem and take action is lacking in many nations. Internal food security has long been a priority for Canada and the United States. Food banks have increased in certain countries, such as the United Kingdom, garnering attention in this respect. All countries should be required to monitor food safety using the same procedures. Some authorities in Canada, who have tracked food insecurity since 2005 and have produced national guidelines, have turned off voluntary tracking.

Large sections of people use food banks in low-income nations. For instance, in 2011, the United States spent 19.7% of its GDP on public expenditures, compared to Belgium’s 1.9% on food bankers out of its 29.6% of GDP. The United Kingdom and other affluent nations are seeing a rise in the popularity of food aid due to the fast expansion of food banks and public concerns about food contributions or food costs. Food shortages are becoming more significant in developed nations despite food banks, food service groups, and government initiatives.

1.2.5 Effect of pandemic on food crisis

In 2019–20 the COVID epidemic suddenly affected food systems through a series of interconnected forces with many factors that are often difficult to separate, given below.

1. Illnesses spread among the workers in the food system, and door-closure measures have caused considerable disruption to the food supply chains.

2. The global economic downturn due to the pandemic caused massive livelihood losses, leading to widespread poverty and loss of food security.

3. Several factors have contributed to the unequal distribution of food prices, domestically and internationally, exacerbating hunger in many areas.

These abrupt changes have severely compromised agricultural health and food security, reducing people’s access to nutrient-dense foods. It has impacted different sorts of food producers differently (Laborde et al., 2020). Consumers are also affected differently depending on whether they live in rural or urban regions and if their government offers enough social security services. The effect of the problem’s inequity makes it challenging to integrate its implications into food security systems fully. Global equities’ existing accessibility is also less effective if they cannot reach markets or if customers cannot afford to buy them. Nevertheless, the outbreak and its effects on food systems were unexpected, at least in timing and immediate results. Countries implementing these dietary recommendations are among the most impacted by the COVID-19 food crisis. The virus’s eradication in afflicted nations has wreaked havoc on the food supply inside and beyond the country. Farmers and food producers were in a challenging situation due to this. When international buyers broke their contracts and governments imposed restrictions on worker mobility, farmers were left to take care of crops they could not sell or crops in fields they could not harvest (Clapp & Moseley, 2020). Due to travel limitations during the outbreak, migrant farm laborers could not access their overseas occupations. Farmers in certain circumstances, such as in the United Kingdom, wish to replace migrant agricultural laborers with domestic employees; however, newly recruited workers frequently lack the essential skills, causing production to suffer. Volatile food price patterns exacerbate uncertainty. The COVID-19 food crisis’s pricing trends for food, at least so far, diverge significantly from those of previous food crises. The issue, unlike the food crises of 1972–74 and 2007–08, the problem is not an increase in food costs on international markets due to shortages of grains and high commodity prices that make food expensive for most people. Instead, despite sluggish economic growth, global grain stocks were at record highs, and commodity prices were also at record highs. According to the FAO food price index, international food expenses significantly decreased in the first 3 months of 2020. They recovered in June, July, and August and gained slightly over 2% from August 2019. Global pricing trends also mask the wide range of local price fluctuations brought on by the epidemic, where prices have risen gradually or slightly in some nations but have risen substantially in others. About half of the nations with the most significant food price increases, mainly developing countries, are importers. There are a variety of possible causes for these disparities in pricing dynamics, and each situation is unique (Clapp & Moseley, 2020). International trade plays a crucial role in the distribution or supply of goods; if a global shock disrupts it, this could have long-term consequences for food security. Trade restrictions or limitations governments impose to regulate prices have historically acted as destructive agents of change in global trade, whereas trade agreements intended to preserve local food security have traditionally served as constructive agents of change. To combat the spread of COVID-19, nations worldwide have put in place various legal measures, typically involving laws and emergencies, calling for the closure of domestic and international travel routes, arrival times, and service access restrictions. Aside from travel regulations, the transportation of raw materials and harsh international trade restrictions have affected business and industry at all scales, from local to global. Due to widespread labor shortages (local and migrant employees), these closures will significantly impact many areas of the world’s food-related operations, such as the timely production and transfer of natural and agricultural goods. This is especially true in rural areas that are more focused on food production and dependent on agrarian activity (Udmale et al., 2020). As a result, COVID-19 poses an unparalleled public health concern, with the potential to inflict catastrophic economic decline, food production threats, and worldwide supply disruptions. When combined with trade restrictions imposed on major producing countries, these consequences can considerably influence food security in countries that rely on trade.

1.2.6 Food and agricultural security in circular economy

Implementing a circular economy may result in a sustainable food system, followed by environmental, economic, and social protection. Consequently, establishing an intelligent and long-lasting agricultural system strategy is the determining factor in ensuring food security. Promoting and expanding the notion of local economy may directly contribute to shortening the food chain and imply direct access to fresh, high-quality organic products from local farmers and small food manufacturers.

1.2.7 Global research on food security

The Scopus database, one of the most trustworthy scientific databases, has also been chosen as the data source for this study. In this study, keywords like food security and sustainability were used for searching the data on the Scopus database with institutional login ID. Fig. 1.2 shows the distribution of articles in different countries in the Food Security domain. It entails that developed countries like the United States (1383 articles) and the United Kingdom (811 articles) are the major researcher’s countries focusing on this domain, followed by developing countries and large populous countries like India (679 articles).

1.3 Conclusions and recommendation

The current study closely examines the complementary regulations inside and outside the agri-food systems crucial to bolstering repurposing initiatives. Foods that are nourishing are essential for human health development. Increasing food production is one of the most effective methods for eliminating food shortages worldwide. Food insecurity was exacerbated by rising supply and demand-side pressures; key contributors include illness, population increase, urbanization, climate change, and many other variables that alter nutrition. The analysis implies that industrialized nations like the United States and the United Kingdom are the major research countries focused on Food Security.

Improving food security primarily depends on promoting investment in agricultural infrastructure, growing services, and implementing actions to boost household food security, particularly in urban areas. The food security problem is complicated and calls for a health emergency. Global digitization enables farmers and other people to connect with relevant organizations and information that eventually helps to decrease food risk and uncertainty in the supply chain. Developing an integrated intervention program based on multidisciplinary research and innovation would be necessary, and global megatrends would impact these initiatives. The researcher discovered that blockchain-based technology is designed for information security, traceability, and agri-food processing. These research results may be used by policymakers, concerned government and private agencies, agro-stakeholders, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to develop effective strategies for raising the adoption rate of blockchain technology. Such research is, however, only available in the Indian context. Therefore, the results must be supported by other geographic areas or industrialized nations.

Persistent food shortages, fuel hunger, and malnutrition result from the unequal economic progress distribution the world is witnessing. Maintaining food security should be a top priority for developing nations with low individual GDP levels, which frequently need better farming conditions and more infrastructure. It is necessary to ensure that food availability, security, and consumption are growing globally due to requirements and security concerns. Population increase, climate change, and other environmental changes are at the root of these pressures. However, urbanization and globalization also shift supply and demand patterns, significantly influencing food systems. The COVID-19 epidemic has caused some food delivery delays and severely threatens the world food supply. This shortcoming is also attributable to policy solutions to previous food crises, specifically a continuous and nearly singular concentration on industrial production techniques, know-how, and food marketing through utilizing international supply chains held by highly specialized market businesses. As the circular economy concept sustenance, food system innovation designed for regenerating the national capital toward the food value chain enhancement, food waste valorization, and development of innovative and durable strategy of food security system is need of the hour. India is predicted to have the third-largest economy by 2031, and this would be made feasible by emphasizing the advancement of the agricultural sector and minimizing the effects of climate change on the farm sector, labour markets, and micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME), among other things. Additionally, numerous business opportunities exist to improve the green supply chain in agriculture and manage organic waste for biogasification or the production of other byproducts. Considering all of these interrelationships factors represent the most appropriate way to manage natural resources and food and agro-security in rural areas of developing countries. Moreover, future research can also assess the healthy and regenerative food economy.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to the work under consideration (i.e., financial and personal relationships that might interfere with the interpretation of the work) (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1

References

Abu Hatab et al., 2019 Abu Hatab AA, Cavinato MER, Lindemer A, Lagerkvist CJ. Urban sprawl, food security and agricultural systems in developing countries: A systematic review of the literature. Cities. 2019;94:129–142 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.06.001.

Andreea, 2020 Andreea IR. The role of the population’s access to basic needs in building resilience and ensuring food security Case study of Romania. Економика пољопривреде. 2020;67(2):345–357.

Armanda et al., 2019 Armanda DT, Guinée JB, Tukker A. The second green revolution: Innovative urban agriculture’s contribution to food security and sustainability–a review. Global Food Security. 2019;22:13–24 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2019.08.002.

Bahar et al., 2020 Bahar NH, Lo M, Sanjaya M, et al. Meeting the food security challenge for nine billion people in 2050: What impact on forests. Global Environmental Change. 2020;62:102056.

Boratyńska and Huseynov, 2017 Boratyńska K, Huseynov RT. An innovative approach to food security policy in developing countries. Journal of Innovation and Knowledge. 2017;2(1):39–44 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2016.01.007.

Burchi and De Muro, 2016 Burchi F, De Muro P. From food availability to nutritional capabilities: Advancing food security analysis. Food Policy. 2016;60:10–19 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.03.008.

Cafiero et al., 2018 Cafiero C, Viviani S, Nord M. Food security measurement in a global context: The food insecurity experience scale. Measurement. 2018;116:146–152 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2017.10.065.

Clapp and Moseley, 2020 Clapp J, Moseley WG. This food crisis is different: COVID-19 and the fragility of the neoliberal food security order. Journal of Peasant Studies. 2020;47(7):1393–1417 https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2020.1823838.

Cole et al., 2018 Cole MB, Augustin MA, Robertson MJ, Manners JM. The science of food security. NPJ Science of Food. 2018;2(1):1–8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-018-0021-9.

FAO survey, 2022 FAO survey. (2022). Prevalence of severe food insecurity worldwide by region 2014–2021. Statista Research Department.

Fleetwood, 2020 Fleetwood J. Social justice, food loss, and the sustainable development goals in the era of COVID-19. Sustainability. 2020;12(12):5027.

Ginanneschi, 2022 Ginanneschi M. From farm to fork: The difficult journey of healthy food. World Food Policy 2022;.

Herrero et al., 2021 Herrero M, Thornton PK, Mason-D’Croz D, et al. Articulating the effect of food systems innovation on the sustainable development goals. The Lancet Planetary Health. 2021;5(1):e50–e62.

Laborde et al., 2020) Laborde, D., Martin, W., & Vos, R. (2020). Research post: Poverty and food insecurity could grow dramatically as COVID-19 spreads (04, p. 16). International Food Policy Research Institute.

Lindgren and Lang, 2022 Lindgren KA, Lang T. Understanding the policy discourse within the formulation of the 2013 Indian National Food Security Act. Food Security 2022;:1–15.

McDonald and Stukenbrock, 2016 McDonald BA, Stukenbrock EH. Rapid emergence of pathogens in agro-ecosystems: Global threats to agricultural sustainability and food security. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2016;371(1709):20160026.

Morales et al., 2021 Morales DX, Morales SA, Beltran TF. Racial/ethnic disparities in household food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic: A nationally representative study. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2021;8(5):1300–1314.

Napier et al., 2019 Napier JA, Haslam RP, Tsalavouta M, Sayanova O. The challenges of delivering genetically modified crops with nutritional enhancement traits. Nature Plants. 2019;5(6):563–567.

Nordhagen et al., 2022 Nordhagen S, Lambertini E, DeWaal CS, McClafferty B, Neufeld LM. Integrating nutrition and food safety in food systems policy and programming. Global Food Security. 2022;32:100593.

Osabohien et al., 2019 Osabohien R, Matthew O, Gershon O, Ogunbiyi T, Nwosu E. Agriculture development, employment generation and poverty reduction in West Africa. The Open Agriculture Journal. 2019;13.

Pawlak and Kołodziejczak, 2020 Pawlak K, Kołodziejczak M. The role of agriculture in ensuring food security in developing countries: Considerations in the context of the problem of sustainable food production. Sustainability. 2020;12(13):5488 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135488.

Philippidis et al., 2020 Philippidis G, Shutes L, M’Barek R, Ronzon T, Tabeau A, van Meijl H. Snakes and ladders: World development pathways’ synergies and trade-offs through the lens of the sustainable development goals. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020;267:122147.

Prosekov and Ivanova, 2018 Prosekov AY, Ivanova SA. Food security: The challenge of the present. Geoforum; Journal of Physical, Human, and Regional Geosciences. 2018;91:73–77 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.02.030.

Ramazani et al., 2017 Ramazani ME, Mosaferi M, Abedi S. Development of management strategies for the urban environment with SWOT approach: A case study in Iran. Anthropogenic Pollution Journal. 2017;1(1):25–33.

Segneanu et al., 2018 Segneanu AE, Grozescu I, Cepan C, Cziple C, Lazar V. Food security into a circular economy. Journal of Food Science and Nutrition. 2018;4:038.

Taghizadeh-Hesary et al., 2019 Taghizadeh-Hesary F, Rasoulinezhad E, Yoshino N. Energy and food security: Linkages through price volatility. Energy Policy. 2019;128:796–806 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.12.043.

Udmale et al., 2020 Udmale P, Pal I, Szabo S, Pramanik M, Large A. Global food security in the context of COVID-19: A scenario-based exploratory analysis. Progress in Disaster Science. 2020;7:100120 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100120.

van Meijl et al., 2020 van Meijl H, Shutes L, Valin H, et al. Modelling alternative futures of global food security: Insights from FOODSECURE. Global Food Security. 2020;25:100358.

Wegren and Elvestad, 2018 Wegren SK, Elvestad C. Russia’s food self-sufficiency and food security: An assessment. Post-Communist Economies. 2018;30(5):565–587.

Workie et al., 2020 Workie E, Mackolil J, Nyika J, Ramadas S. Deciphering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security, agriculture, and livelihoods: A review of the evidence from developing countries. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability. 2020;2:100014 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2020.100014.

World Health Organization, 2019) World Health Organization. (2019). The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2019: Safeguarding against economic slowdowns and downturns. Food & Agriculture Org.

World Health Organization, 2020) World Health Organization. (2020). The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2020: Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets. Food & Agriculture Org.

Chapter 2

Agricultural soil contamination due to industrial discharges: challenges for public health protection and food security

Prerana Shakti¹ and Ashutosh Kumar Pandey²,    ¹Department of Chemistry, Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk, Rajasthan, India,    ²School of Earth Sciences, Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Industries have significantly impacted environmental pollution and degradation in the past few decades. One of the most critical challenges of today’s world is the contamination of agricultural soil and food safety. Food safety is primarily dependent on the condition of the earth and the presence of contaminants such as inorganic nonmetallic contaminants (synthetic fertilizers, pesticides) and inorganic metallic pollutants (arsenic, cadmium, lead, etc.) have interfered with the crop quality putting the human health in danger. The heavy metals (HMs) continuously released into the environment by industries, using synthetic fertilizers as well as pesticides, etc., have led to the contamination of agricultural soil, which has become one of the significant challenges of our time worldwide. These contaminants are nonbiodegradable and toxic to environmental elements like air, water, or soil; it causes lethal effects on human beings and other living organisms. These contaminants have the potential to be mutagenic, carcinogenic, and genotoxic. They may cause neurological issues, developmental issues, endocrine disruptors, and behavioral changes in humans. They build up in the environment and damage the food supply. Therefore it has become essential to have thorough knowledge regarding the harmful effects of these soil contaminants. Removing these harmful soil contaminants from our natural environment is necessary for rehabilitating contaminated areas since they may impact even at low concentrations. The removal strategies for soil remediation include bioremediation, thermal desorption, soil chemical oxidation, encapsulation, soil washing, stabilization, and soil disposal. This chapter can provide a holistic approach to policymakers, environmental engineers, and agro-technicians in managing and controlling soil contamination. An effort has been made to analyze the current situation, problems regarding soil contamination due to industrialization, and prospects for removing HMs from polluted soils. The most promising alternative technologies for soil remediation are given the most attention. The background, ideas, and potential directions for the elimination of HMs are all covered in the chapter. Finally, management strategies are proposed to regain sustainability in soil-food subsystems.

Keywords

Industrialization; agricultural soil; inorganic nonmetallic; metallic contamination; health risks; food safety

Chapter outline

Outline

2.1 Introduction 21

2.2 Inorganic chemical contaminants 24

2.2.1 The role of inorganic metallic contaminants in agriculture 24

2.2.2 The role of inorganic, nonmetallic agrochemical contaminants in agriculture 24

2.3 Remediation technologies of heavy metal-contaminated soils 31

2.4 Challenge to food security, policy responses, and future perspectives 31

2.5 Conclusions and recommendations for policy making for future soil use 34

References 35

2.1 Introduction

Heavy metal (HM) soil contamination is a severe environmental issue on a global scale (Alloway, 1995). The massive economic growth and rapid growth in numerous sectors are contaminating the soil with toxic chemicals, including agriculture (using HM-containing pesticides, mineral fertilizers, sewage sludge, contaminated manure, and irrigation with contaminated water) and industry (steel, iron, power plants, chemical industries, etc.) (Ali et al., 2019). Most of the time, ecological pollutants like pesticides and HMs substantially threaten the ecosystem, seriously impairing its structure and function (Chin, 2010). Therefore one of the biggest environmental challenges in countries is the dreadful soil conditions in industrialized regions. The term heavy metal is conventionally defined as a group of metals (loid)s with a high relative atomic density greater than 5 g/cm³ and highly toxic or poisonous even at low concentrations (Duffus, 2002). These are nonbiodegradable materials found in the earth’s crust, such as cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn), etc. (GWRTAC, 1997); pesticides, and fertilizers (Gimeno-García et al., 1996). This type of contamination is biologically toxic, widely distributed, and persists long-term in the soil environment (Zhang et al., 2019). Any element’s nuclides with atomic numbers greater than bismuth-83 are unstable and radioactive. They are called heavy nucleons, that is, ⁴⁰K, ⁸⁷Rb, ¹⁴C, etc. (Zheng & Wang, 2002). They build up in soils and sediments by numerous industrial businesses, frequently discharging their raw trash into the atmosphere (Wuana & Okieimen, 2011) because they are stable and cannot be removed or degraded. Typically, the soils of agricultural land close to urban areas, mines, and industrial sites have excessive concentrations of noxious elements viz., Cd, As, Cr, Se, Ni, and Pb around the world (Rajendiran et al., 2015). There are numerous sources of HMs, which have become damaging for the variety of life on earth as hazardous metals are continuously used in anthropogenic actions from industrial manufacturing areas, including mining, papermaking, thermal power plants, chemical, chloralkali, dyes, leather, textiles, tanning, painting, with electroplating, iron and steel, aluminum, copper refineries and smelters, zinc, and lead smelters (Dhal et al., 2013). These industrial sources contaminate the environment and produce harmful chemicals which may enhance the salinity of soil and groundwater, indicating potential threats faced by the atmosphere, including agroecosystem (Saha et al., 2017), as shown in Fig. 2.1. These industrial operations frequently discharge hazardous metals at high concentrations (beyond allowed limits), which eventually enter in the food chain and end up being dangerous for both human beings and wildlife. Rapid industrialization and poor industrial waste management create a greater risk of HM pollution. Despite their industrial resources, the buildup of harmful toxic metals can affect the quality of the soil, crop productivity, and agricultural products, which has a detrimental effect on human, animal, and ecosystem health (Nagajyoti et al., 2010). They can also harm soil microbes and agricultural plants. Appropriate solutions must be sought to reduce these HM pollution hazards. Considering the ecological risks, this chapter discusses the different kinds of HM toxicants and the classification of fertilizers and pesticides. Additionally, negative consequences on biological species have been examined, ranging from illness to loss of lives. Moreover, the present chapter summarizes the physicochemical remediation and bioremediation mechanisms of pesticides, fertilizers, and HMs. The methods for assessing the efficacy of soil remediation are all reviewed. This chapter suggests the additional research needed in this area based on the above. Finally, management strategies are proposed to regain sustainability in soil-food subsystems.

Figure 2.1 The role of inorganic metallic contaminants in agriculture.

Industrial heavy metal contamination in agricultural soil, effects on human health and its remediation technologies.

2.2 Inorganic chemical contaminants

Contamination by chemicals, including metals/metalloids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceutical and personal care products, persistent organic pollutants, electronic waste, plastics, perfluorinated compounds, nanomaterials, as well as radioactive elements are posing a severe threat to agricultural crop and human well-being (Thompson & Darwish, 2019). Two groups of soil chemical contaminants are considered for this chapter’s purposes. These include inorganic metallic chemical contaminants (arsenic, cadmium, lead, etc.) and inorganic nonmetallic chemical contaminants (fertilizers and pesticides), which adversely impact the living organisms in the soil. The toxicants, including HMs, fertilizers, and pesticides, are released from industries and irrigated in agricultural soil (Van Straalen & Krivolutsky, 1996). These toxicants of metal are a commonly known ecological health issue that is risky owing to bioaccumulation through the food chain, which could harm humans and animals (Aycicek et al., 2008).

2.2.1 The role of inorganic metallic contaminants in