Who cares, and why?

Identifying stakeholders within volcanic agriculture is simple; it is anyone who will not undergo famine as a result of higher agricultural yields and exports from volcanic countries. It is the countries with millions of people- millions of its workforce- who would otherwise go hungry.

Food that would likely otherwise go to waste due to abundance in volcanic regions would be redirected to those who really need it; 1/4th of all food wasted each year could feed all of the worlds hungry people .

Food is wasted at every point along the production process; 40% occur post-harvest & during processing in developing countries, whereas higher income countries waste food at retail and consumer levels. With the land-efficient and economic ways volcanic agriculture works, volcanic farmers' high yields could be key to stopping world hunger. Though why should they care, and why should we?

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals focus heavily on zero hunger, aiming to achieve it by 2030. With zero hunger, we could move to achieve other sustainable development goals, such as education, health and gender equality. An increase in volcanic agriculture also hits other SDGS; decent work and economic growth (8), sustainable communities (11), responsible consumption and production (12), and life on land(15). Volcanic tourism and the production of geothermal energy have increased the need for people to live in volcanic areas, so sustainable food production is essential. The tragedy of the commons reflects upon shared resources and where the 'tipping point' in those resources is; too many people with not enough food will cause mass famine, as a result of how human beings are incentivised to act for their own welfare. Alongside an increase in scientific research around how to preserve food effectively, the SDG2's achievement progression could be on target for 2030.

The stakeholders within volcanic agriculture run broad, varying on different scales; there is the local villagers who can learn to farm the land, humanitarian aid workers who help to recover the land after an eruption, small businesses who sell products from the volcanic fields, local scientists studying the volcano itself, and members of the government of these volcanic areas. There is a dependency on how developed the country is, for example, the Campania region may be able to benefit from a more customer-based, product-making style of agriculture, selling wines and oils to Europe's wealthy. However, SIDs (small island developing states) along the Pacific Ring of Fire may have a more urgent need for a range of sustainable agriculture, with the volcanic land being the only place they are able to grow food. Whether the volcano is active or not also impacts stakeholders, as an active volcano puts all crops and livestock at risk when there is an eruption, and can then take anywhere from several months to several decades for the land to recover and the soil to be productive.

The ability for these stakeholders to work together to improve the production of food in volcanic areas in a trans-disciplinary manner is essential; joined-up, local thinking will act to support a global cause. Ultimately, we all need to eat.