Among micronutrients, the nutrients for humans that are imperative to survive are A, eight types of B vitamins, C, D, E, and K. Their functions range from fighting infections, strengthening bones, healing wounds, and regulating hormones.
For instance, rice and wheat represent staple foods in most cultures; however, teff and minor millets have more significant concentrations of protein, fat, and iron.
[9] On a global scale, the decline in genetic diversity weakens the resilience of food systems, leaving them vulnerable to various challenges, encompassing pests, pathogens, and severe weather.
[11] Food biodiversity in the Neolithic era represented a shift from hunting and scavenging to agriculture where people started to herding animals and cultivating plants.
[14] Human food biodiversity between species is put at risk when there are severe alterations to the climates surrounding crops.
Extreme or abnormal weather events can cause unfavorable effects on crop yields, poor communities, rural farmers, and food sellers.
After droughts in Russia and China, and floods in Australia, India, Pakistan, and Europe in (time) the World Bank in 2011 concluded that 44 million people returned to poverty.
[16] Since the U.S. Corn Belt makes up a third of the world's global supply, climate prevention tactics protect the plant from future damaging catastrophes.
[18] For example, inventory management techniques are used in determining the rate of consumption, and 78% of studies indicate that agroecological practices provide beneficial outcomes for those in low and middle-income countries.
Agro-ecological practice creates comprehensive strategies integrating ecological, health, social, and economic factors into planning and executing agricultural and food systems.
These advantages are immunity to diseases, tolerance to drought, heat, cold or salinity, flavor enhancement, and superior growth traits.
[21] Global trade allows people access to a wider variety of foods from different regions and climates, giving them more complex and balanced diets.
[8] The UNCDAT map 1 represents different basic food needs in countries by calculating the amount of trade balance divided by the total imports.
Such populations contribute positively to, for example, nutrient cycling, decomposition of organic matter, crusted or degraded soil rehabilitation, pest and disease regulation, water quality maintenance, and pollination.
Maintaining species diversity while building on and enhancing ecosystem functions reduces external input requirements by increasing nutrient availability, improving water use, and soil structure, and controlling pests.