Research on global food commerce challenges long-held beliefs about how biodiversity fared.

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers report in this week's Nature Food that imports from high-income nations promote biodiversity in low-income ones.

The findings in "International food trade benefits biodiversity and food security in low-income countries" contradict popular belief: that high-income countries harm biodiversity in low-income countries by importing food from them, while low-income countries, particularly those with biodiversity hotspots, are increasingly becoming net importers.

The Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) at MSU looked at the expanding complexities of global food commerce to get a better understanding of the connections and implications of growing food to feed the globe while also safeguarding some of the world's most valuable natural resources.

"Understanding the interrelationships between food security and biodiversity is critical for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," said CSIS director Jianguo "Jack" Liu, co-author and MSU Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability. "In the teleconnected world, our research strives to understand how we may attain global food security to feed a growing population without destroying biodiversity."

Countries that are expanding in population and prosperity require more food and frequently import it. Countries that increase their food exports by converting their land to farms or pastures may discover that the ecology and biodiversity suffer as a result.

Some low-income nations, such as Ukraine, that do not have biodiversity hotspots, have dramatically boosted food exports to biodiversity hotspot countries. These exports might help to mitigate the harmful effects on biodiversity even further.

Between 2000 and 2018, Liu and Min Gon Chung, who earned his PhD at MSU and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Merced, looked at complete datasets containing 189 food items from 157 nations.

The two provide proposals, such as including biodiversity costs in food pricing and using the proceeds to offset biodiversity destruction. All options emphasise countries working together to reach accords that benefit both the economy and the environment.

"As the complexity of food commerce between countries with and without biodiversity hotspots grows, more innovative techniques are required to reduce the negative consequences of global food production and trade on biodiversity in biodiversity hotspot nations throughout the world," Chung added.

The National Science Foundation, Michigan AgBioResearch, and the Sustainable Michigan Endowment Project all contributed to the research.