Life's bottleneck: Sustaining the world's phosphorus for a food secure future

Cordell, D; White, S

Life's bottleneck: Sustaining the world's phosphorus for a food secure future

Cordell, D

White, S

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2014, 39 pp. 161 - 188
Issue Date:: 2014-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Cordell, D https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5138-1569	en_US
dc.contributor.author	White, S https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8078-5327	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2014, 39 pp. 161 - 188	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1543-5938	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33828
dc.description.abstract	Copyright © 2014 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved. Phosphorus security is emerging as one of the twenty-first century's greatest global sustainability challenges. Phosphorus has no substitute in food production, and the use of phosphate fertilizers in the past 50 years has boosted crop yields and helped feed billions of people. However, these advantages have come at a serious cost. Mobilizing phosphate rock into the environment at rates vastly faster than the natural cycle has not only polluted many of the world's freshwater bodies and oceans, but has also created a human dependence on a single nonrenewable resource. The 2008 phosphate price spike attracted unprecedented attention to this global situation. This review provides an updated and integrated synthesis of the biophysical, social, geopolitical, and institutional challenges and opportunities for food security. Remaining phosphorus resources are becoming increasingly scarce, expensive, and inequitably distributed. All farmers require fertilizers, yet a sixth of the world's farmers and their families are too poor to access fertilizer markets. Inefficient use of this fossil resource from mine to field to fork calls for substantial reduction in demand through efficiency and recycling. Phosphorus governance at global, regional, and local scales is required to stimulate and support context-specific sustainable strategies to ensure all the world's farmers have sufficient access to phosphorus to feed the world and ensure ecosystem integrity and farmer livelihoods.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Annual Review of Environment and Resources	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1146/annurev-environ-010213-113300	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Energy	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Ecology	en_US
dc.title	Life's bottleneck: Sustaining the world's phosphorus for a food secure future	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	39	en_US
utslib.for	1605 Policy and Administration	en_US
utslib.for	0701 Agriculture, Land and Farm Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.declined	2015-04-30T13:15:10.665+1000
pubs.deleted	2015-04-30T13:15:10.698+1000
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	39	en_US

Abstract:

Copyright © 2014 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved. Phosphorus security is emerging as one of the twenty-first century's greatest global sustainability challenges. Phosphorus has no substitute in food production, and the use of phosphate fertilizers in the past 50 years has boosted crop yields and helped feed billions of people. However, these advantages have come at a serious cost. Mobilizing phosphate rock into the environment at rates vastly faster than the natural cycle has not only polluted many of the world's freshwater bodies and oceans, but has also created a human dependence on a single nonrenewable resource. The 2008 phosphate price spike attracted unprecedented attention to this global situation. This review provides an updated and integrated synthesis of the biophysical, social, geopolitical, and institutional challenges and opportunities for food security. Remaining phosphorus resources are becoming increasingly scarce, expensive, and inequitably distributed. All farmers require fertilizers, yet a sixth of the world's farmers and their families are too poor to access fertilizer markets. Inefficient use of this fossil resource from mine to field to fork calls for substantial reduction in demand through efficiency and recycling. Phosphorus governance at global, regional, and local scales is required to stimulate and support context-specific sustainable strategies to ensure all the world's farmers have sufficient access to phosphorus to feed the world and ensure ecosystem integrity and farmer livelihoods.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33828