The Center on Food Security and the Environment is a joint effort of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
The Americas
Scholarly Publications
Model vs. experiment to predict crop losses—Response
December 2018
Our Report draws attention to a complex but understudied issue: How will climate warming alter losses of major food crops to insect pests?
Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate
August 2018
Crop responses to climate warming suggest that yields will decrease as growing-season temperatures increase.
The paradox of irrigation efficiency
August 2018
Reconciling higher freshwater demands with finite freshwater resources remains one of the great policy dilemmas.
Other Publications
Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis
November 2012
SummaryClimate change can reasonably be expected to increase the frequency and intensity of a variety of potentially disruptive environmental events-slowly at first, but then more quickly.
News
Microsatellite data can help double impact of agricultural interventions
October 2019
Data from microsatellites can be used to detect and double the impact of sustainable interventions in agriculture at large scales, according to a new study led by the University of Michigan.
Flood, Drought and Political Invasion: A Lament From Rural Iowa
September 2019
This posting, my eighth annual edition, comes again from our mid-sized corn, soybean, and cattle farm in Linn County, Iowa. My wife and I may not be typical owners, but our farming operation is a...
Connecting food and agriculture professionals
October 2018
The recently launched Stanford Alumni in Food & Ag group aims to bring together Stanford graduates with a background or interest in food and agriculture issues.
Events
Everything that Can Go Wrong in a Field Experiment (round 2)
February 19, 2016
The Global Development and Poverty Initiative (GDP) seminar series returns with a reprise of its most popular seminar last year.
Doomsday Vaults, Genebanks and Plant Breeding in the Age of Climate Change
May 6, 2015
Read a full event summary here. Agricultural crops are on the front lines of climate change. Can we expect increased food production in the context of global warming?
Projects
The Yaqui Valley Revisited: A case study on agricultural sustainability in Mexico
The Yaqui Valley is the birthplace of the Green Revolution and one of the most intensive agricultural regions of the world, using irrigation, fertilizers, and other technologies to produce some of...
English
Quantification and reduction of uncertainties in projections of climate impacts on drought and agriculture for North America
Introduction to the Problem: Agricultural productivity is highly dependent on climate variability and is thus susceptible to future changes including temperature extremes and drought.
English
Agricultural applications of multi-year remote sensing
While remote sensing has been widely used for broad-scale production forecasts and early famine warning, its potential contribution to agricultural management is still far from realized.
English
Multimedia
Food Insecurity: A 21st Century Threat to Global Security and Stability
May 2018
Ertharin Cousin, Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Visiting Fellow at the Center on Food Security and the Environment, presented her ongoing research on food insecurity as a global threat on...
Ertharin Cousin, Tales from the War on Hunger
February 2018
After the 2007 Global Food Crisis, President Barack Obama in his Inaugural Address committed to the world’s poor nations: “We pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed...
David Little, Aquaculture, Food Security, and the Marine Environment
October 2016
David Little is a senior lecturer and researcher of The Institute of Aquaculture Systems Group, with over twenty years’ experience in tropical aquaculture.
People
Rosamond L. Naylor Senior Fellow William Wrigley Professor of Earth System Science, Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute and Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Professor, by courtesy, Economics, Senior Fellow and Founding Director, Center on Food Security and the Environment 
