부산대학교 도서관

Environmental changes, including increasing resource scarcity and climate change, threaten food productivity and nutrition security. Concurrently, the food system is a major driver of environmental change. To safeguard human health, food systems should be sustainable and also resilient to environmental changes. It is vital to consider the role of food trade in developing sustainable and resilient food systems, since any vulnerabilities or environmental impacts at production locations can also be transferred to locations of consumption. These issues are particularly relevant in India, where inter-state food trade is an integral part of the food system and environmental changes present an increasing risk to nutrition security. This thesis examines relationships and inter-dependencies between food supply and environmental change in the Indian context. First, a systematic literature review explores the links between global diets and water resource use. Second, a model is built using secondary data to estimate sub-national food trade that is subsequently used in analyses to link food supply and environmental risks in India. The model is used to 1) quantify the water footprint of food items in Indian states, 2) explore the links between groundwater depletion and the consumption of cereals, 3) estimate the risk of climate hazards disrupting food supply in Indian states, and 4) evaluate policy options for increasing fruit and vegetable supply in the district of Visakhapatnam. The findings illustrate the importance of including food trade in environmental footprint and risk assessments of food supply due to the spatial variation in environmental footprints and risks. Incorporating information on where a state sources its food supply alters the estimated water footprint of consuming food in that state. Additionally, through food imports, each state's food supply is at risk to multiple climate-related hazards beyond its administrative boundary. For Indian policy, this thesis highlights the need to focus on reducing the water use of Indian agriculture to mitigate the risks of groundwater depletion and droughts affecting national food supply. Food trade could be part of the solution to reducing water use and improving nutrition-related health by enabling regions to optimise production based on local resources and redistributing food across the country. Continual monitoring of food supply chains will be needed as the environment continues to change.