PLOS Climate: Agriculture & Food Systems section

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SECTION SCOPE

The Agriculture and Food Systems section of PLOS Climate explores the complex interplay between climate change and variability, and the food systems that sustain humanity. This section welcomes research that goes beyond agricultural production per se to address the broader social, political, and cultural dimensions of food systems, including gender equality, youth engagement, and social equity. It highlights the need to accelerate innovation and scale transformative practices to create resilient, healthy, and equitable food systems.

We encourage submissions that apply innovative methodological approaches to understand climate change impacts on agricultural and livestock value chains, from production to consumption, and examine the pathways for system-wide adaptation and mitigation that can trigger transformative processes. By integrating insights from biophysical and social sciences, this section aims to foster actionable knowledge that informs policies and practices to ensure sustainable, nutritious, and inclusive food systems under a changing climate.

Example topics include:

Climate-smart agriculture
Agricultural and food systems emissions
Food security
Aquaculture
Forestry
Livestock
Rural livelihoods
Climate-resilient food and land systems
Nutritional impacts of climate change
Food systems transformation

For a full list of the Academic Editors serving in this section, please visit the PLOS Climate editorial board page.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS IN THIS SECTION

Pienaah CKA, Kansanga MM, Luginaah I (2025) Food, climate, and the mind: Food (in)security and climate resilience as social determinants of mental health. PLOS Clim 4(12): e0000793. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000793

Michel J, Leemans V, Weinmann M, Balanzategui-Guijarro I, Bin J, Biver S, et al. (2025) Trade-offs between agronomic yields and sustainability in winter wheat cropping systems under climate change mediated by soil organic matter content. PLOS Clim 4(11): e0000616. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000616

Thornton P, Loboguerrero AM, Alho S, Campbell B, Dinesh D, Helberg U, et al. (2025) Towards a green plant nutrition transition in East and Southern Africa. PLOS Clim 4(11): e0000747. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000747

Ayinde TB, Nicholson CF, Ahmed B (2025) Economic and environmental comparison of open field and screenhouse vegetable farming in Nigeria. PLOS Clim 4(11): e0000745. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000745

Bwalya B, Mwanza K (2025) Co-production of knowledge on climate change, its effects, and adaptation measures: A gender-responsive qualitative study of smallholder farmers. PLOS Clim 4(8): e0000531. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000531

del Prado A, Pauné F, Serrano-Zulueta R, Baez JC, Batalla I, de Tomassi C, et al. (2025) An in-depth approach on ecological and social processes improve quantifying the climatic impact of food production. PLOS Clim 4(6): e0000655. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000655

Wolkovich EM, Cook BI, García de Cortázar-Atauri I, Van der Meersch V, Lacombe T, Marchal C, et al. (2025) Uneven impacts of climate change around the world and across the annual cycle of winegrapes. PLOS Clim 4(5): e0000539. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000539

Khumalo NZ, Sibanda M, Mdoda L (2025) The effect of heterogeneous adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices on household food and nutrition security of small-scale urban crop farmers in eThekwini Municipality. PLOS Clim 4(1): e0000551. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000551

Shoko Kori D, Musakwa W, Kelso C (2024) Understanding the local implications of climate change: Unpacking the experiences of smallholder farmers in Thulamela Municipality, Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. PLOS Clim 3(10): e0000500. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000500

Wiltshire S, Clemins PJ, Beckage B (2024) Granularity of model input data impacts estimates of carbon storage in soils. PLOS Clim 3(10): e0000363. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000363

Blaise GC, Allred SB, Morreale SJ, Meredith GR, Sprenkle-Hyppolite S, Buck LE, et al. (2024) Exploring the scalability and sustainability of community-based agroforestry to achieve planetary health benefits in Haiti’s Lower Artibonite Valley. PLOS Clim 3(10): e0000406. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000406

McAfee A, Alavi-Shoushtari N, Tran L, Labuschagne R, Cunningham M, Tsvetkov N, et al. (2024) Climatic predictors of prominent honey bee (Apis mellifera) disease agents: Varroa destructor, Melissococcus plutonius, and Vairimorpha spp. PLOS Clim 3(8): e0000485. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000485

Pisani Gareau TL, Gao L, Gareau BJ (2024) The enduring nature of cranberry production in a changing climate: The interplay of extreme weather, knowledge networks, and adaptation. PLOS Clim 3(5): e0000350. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000350

Hellin J, Fisher E, Ng’endo M, Loboguerrero AM, Ohenjo N, Rose S (2024) Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ participation in climate policy processes. PLOS Clim 3(4): e0000392. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000392

Fanzo J (2024) Kicking around in the wreck. PLOS Clim 3(4): e0000401. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000401

Troell M, Hurd C, Chopin T, Costa-Pierce BA, Costello MJ (2024) Seaweeds for carbon dioxide removal (CDR)–Getting the science right. PLOS Clim 3(3): e0000377. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000377

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