Why biodiversity is vital to food security

As the COP16 summit in Cali, Colombia wraps up, it is increasingly clear that biodiversity and food insecurity are intimately linked. Why is the biological richness of the world so important to the food we eat?

Why is biodiversity so important to food?​”To put it simply – we rely on biodiversity to survive,” Theodora Ewer, Project Manager at Systemiq and the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) told FoodNavigator. “Species diversity plays a key role in providing ecosystem services that support food systems, including pollination, natural pest control, nutrient cycling, soil health, and water retention. Genetic diversity within crop and livestock species is equally important . This diversity represents the range of genetic variations and breeds within species, which enhances the adaptability of populations to environmental pressures and breeding challenges.

“For instance, genetic diversity allows for the selection of traits that support survival under extreme conditions, such as drought, heat, and salinity, and enables resistance to specific pests and diseases. Dietary diversity is also enhanced by species variety in food systems, as different species provide distinct micronutrients necessary for human health.”

“There is no human food without the food chain, from the smallest microorganism transforming the inorganic to the organic to the largest ruminants enhancing ecosystem functioning in the largest terrestrial biome on earth – grasslands,” Simon Kraemer, policy steward for regenerative agrifood systems at the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA), told FoodNavigator.

“Indigenous food systems have stewarded ecosystems for biocultural diversity increase for thousands of years. Since agriculture has become exploitative with the use of ploughs and the segregation of plant and animal cultivation, biodiversity has been decreasing the last 2000 years.”

“Soil health is highly impacted by biodiversity, which in turn affects the way plants grow,” Tom Stuart, senior policy advisor at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), told FoodNavigator. “Soil is more than just a lifeless material; it’s a complex ecosystem full of living things, or organisms. These organisms help soil function effectively, making nutrients available to plants, forming structures that support root growth, and regulate water flow to both retain moisture in dry weather and prevent flooding during heavy rain.

“Nature also provides essential ‘ecosystem services’,” he continued, “like pollination, pest control, and waste decomposition. When biodiversity decreases, these services are reduced, making it harder to grow the food we rely on.”

How does reduced biodiversity affect food security?​Without biodiversity, EARA’s Kraemer told us, production will be more fragile, crop diseases more prevalent, and food less nutritious.

Poor soil health impacts the food system in clear and significant ways, WWF’s Stuart told us. “Soil loss and degradation pose significant risks to long-term food production, and in some cases, fields are already unproductive – such as with the ‘wasted peat’ issue. In 2024, the UK saw its second-lowest yield for arable crops since records began in 1983 – this is largely down to flooding.

“More resilient, better-structured soils that are adapted to climate change would have reduced the impact of this extreme rainfall. In severe cases, the collapse of local pollinator populations has forced some Chinese growers to pollinate cherry trees by hand.”

A decline in biodiversity disrupts the ecosystem services biodiversity provides us, Systemiq’s Ewer told us. “In the absence of these critical ecosystem functions, farmers often become reliant on a narrower range of crops, increasing the likelihood of farmer adoption of  monocultural production systems – which themselves further reduce bio-diversity – and necessitating the increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Increased chemical application then further exacerbates biodiversity loss, soil degradation, pollution, economic losses, and adverse health outcomes.

“With fewer species and genetic varieties available, agricultural systems become more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and the impacts of climate change. The resulting lack of diversity means that crop failure in one species can have widespread repercussions, potentially leading to severe food shortages and heightened food insecurity.”

Acheivments of COP16COP16 concluded on 1 November. How significant were its achievements?

Governments agreed to establish a fund dedicated to sharing the benefits from using digital sequence information (DSI) from genetic resources. DSI is sequenced genetic data from the natural world made available online. Research derived from DSI could have relevance for agriculture and conservation, as well as medicines, vaccines and public health. The deal means that businesses using DSI from genetic biodiversity resources must contribute to this fund, with half the proceeds going to indigenous people and local communities.

However, discussions of a wider biodiversity fund were put on hold. According to WWF, progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to halt and reverse further nature loss by 2030, also fell by the wayside.

How does food production affect biodiversity loss?​Seemingly paradoxically, while biodiversity is essential for food production, food production is, WWF’s Stuart suggested, a key culprit in biodiversity loss as well.

“Pesticide use directly affects both target and non-target plants, fungi and animals. Excessive ploughing and overstocking livestock are major contributors to soil degradation, as is the decline of soil organic matter on cropland because we’ve largely shifted from animal manures to synthetic fertilisers (especially in the UK and other parts of the Global North).” Biodiversity can be supported with regenerative agriculture, he added.

According to Systemiq’s Ewer, 85% of the species currently at risk of extinction are threatened by the expansion of agricultural land. 

How can biodiversity be increased?​There are many ways to increase biodiversity, said WWF’s Stuart. These include “ploughing less often and less deeply, reducing livestock stocking rates, using fewer artificial inputs and boosting nature with pollinator strips, field margins or riparian buffers.”

These can be supported by farming schemes such as Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in England, and Pillar 2 schemes (a rural development policy of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP) in the EU, added Stuart.

COP29Next week, the COP19 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan will begin. Commentators predict that the food focus from last year’s COP28 will continue. Read more here.​ 

Regenerative agriculture could also contribute positively to biodiversity. “Regenerative agriculture, though lacking a universally accepted definition, generally refers to agricultural practices that support and enhance biodiversity rather than deplete it,” Ewer told us. 

Analysis from FOLU, for example, indicates that crop diversification has a positive impact on the biodiversity of both domesticated and wild species. Techniques such as crop rotation, cover cropping, intercropping and agroforestry can lead to greater biodiversity, according tot he analysis. 

“Incorporating natural infrastructure also positively impacts biodiversity. At the field level, practices like establishing hedgerows, flower strips, grass borders, or fallow periods of over six months create habitats that support diverse species. At the landscape level, increasing structural complexity through these features enhances biodiversity by providing varied microhabitats and ecosystem services.”