Food demand is largely met with imports, connecting producers to consumers through global supply chains. The GIFTS project examines the land use spillovers and greenhouse (GHG) emissions from future food demand scenarios by considering trade-mediated teleconnections between food consumption, agricultural expansion, and climate change. GIFTS builds on a physical Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) model developed by the host institution – the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) –, with an unparalleled number of agri-food products.

The overall goal of GIFTS is to assist policy-making and inform consumers’ decisions towards more resilient, circular, and sustainable agri-food systems in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The model will be extended to include GHG emissions from land use change, considering land carbon stocks; as well as from crop and livestock production, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Co-product flows between crop, livestock and energy sectors will also be introduced to represent competition for land between food, feed, and fuel applications. The enhanced MRIO framework will ultimately be used to assess the mitigation potential of different supply and demand strategies across food trade systems.

Neus Escobar

Position:
Postdoctoral Researcher
Marie Slodowska Curie Fellow

Main Research Field:
Agri-food production systems, bioeconomy, environmental footprints, land use change, life cycle assessment, sustainable production and consumption

Iñaki Arto

Position:
Professor

Main Research Field:
Energy-Environmental-Economic modeling