Sustainable Agriculture
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Why Sustainable Agriculture?
With human population growing at a rate of approximately 78 million people per year with over 7 billion people living on the planet today and estimates reaching between 8 and 11 billion by 2050 and up to 15 billion by 2100, humanity faces perhaps our greatest challenge of keeping fed while keeping a healthy, productive foundation to feed ourselves with. Current agricultural practices are amongst the biggest threats to the global environment. Without the development of more sustainable agricultural practices, the planet will become even less able to feed our growing population. Despite the odds, this can be done: "Feeding the nine billion people anticipated to live on Earth in 2050 without exhausting the Earth's natural resources is possible, provided that we adopt a more sustainable food production approach." Learn more. "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food" ~Hippocrates
Discover The Remaining Amount Of Arable Land: |
The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity (see also). With 40% of the planet’s land devoted to human food production, up from 7% in 1700, and as the world’s demand for food rises 70% by 2050 (see also), feeding a rapidly growing human population can and should be done by adopting a sustainable food production approach that can run indefinitely with minimized impacts on the environment, animal welfare and human health. By letting go of the currently dysfunctional food production model with its dependence on chemical inputs and technological fixes, and by adopting an ecological and sustainable food production approach with more strategic use of fertilizer and water (see also), we could dramatically boost global crop yields and achieve our goals of alleviating poverty, eliminating hunger, and reducing the adverse environmental impacts of agriculture. Climate change will reduce crop yields in many countries and after 2030 food, fibre and fuel will compete intensively for limited land and water resources, adding to the difficulty of feeding our growing population. A comprehensive examination of nearly 300 studies worldwide shows that organic, small-scale farming can feed the world. Organic farms in developing countries outperformed conventional practices by 57% and organic agriculture could produce enough food, on a per capita basis, to provide 2,640 to 4,380 calories per person per day, which is more than the suggested intake for healthy adults. In conditions of drought, organic corn yields are 31% higher than non-organic since organically managed soils trap more carbon in the soil, which allows the soil to hold in more water and nutrients. According to the study, "With the average yield ratios, we modeled the global food supply that could be grown organically on the current agricultural land base. Model estimates indicate that organic methods could produce enough food on a global per capita basis to sustain the current human population, and potentially an even larger population, without increasing the agricultural land base and while reducing the detrimental environmental impacts of conventional agriculture." A United Nations Human Rights report, “Agro-ecology and the right to food,” is based on an extensive review of recent scientific literature which demonstrates that agroecology, which is the application of ecology to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems, if sufficiently supported, can double food production in entire regions within 10 years while mitigating climate change and alleviating rural poverty." The report states, “To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming techniques available. Today’s scientific evidence demonstrates that agroecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production where the hungry live -- especially in unfavorable environments.” Furthermore, according to the most comprehensive analysis of world agriculture to date, pesticides are not necessary to feed the world. For example, Indonesian farmers have reduced pesticide use on rice fields by 65% and experienced a 15% crop increase. As PAN states, there are alternatives to relying on pesticides: "There is another way. Agroecology is the science behind sustainable farming. This powerful approach combines scientific inquiry with place-based knowledge and experimentation, emphasizing approaches that are knowledge-intensive, low cost, ecologically sound and practical. Home use of pesticides — which on a per acre basis outpaces use on farms by a ratio of 10 to 1 — puts families across the North America at unnecessary risk. Alternatives are available to manage home, lawn and garden pests without toxic pesticides." As Worldwatch Institute states, "A fundamental split has emerged in national and international discussions between embracing an ecological approach to food production and clinging to the currently dysfunctional model with its dependence on chemical inputs and technological fixes. Without radical changes in how we farm, food production will continue to be at odds with the goals of alleviating poverty, eliminating hunger, and restoring natural ecosystems." Moreover, according to a comprehensive, fact-based, balanced two-and-a-half year study by the Independent Pew Commission on industrial farm animal production, factory farms often pose unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals, and recommended that significant changes be implemented immediately. Ecological Farming - Reducing Hunger and Meeting Environmental Goals | Learn more.
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"Agriculture is the largest single cause behind global warming and loss of ecosystem services, and at the same time the key to human wellbeing in all societies. We now have the opportunity to not only cool the planet, but also to build resilient societies, and improve human wealth." ~Johan Rockström, Executive Director at Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and Stockholm Environment Institute. |
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International Team of Scientists' Five Point Plan to Feed the World while Protecting the Planet
"Increasing population and consumption are placing unprecedented demands on agriculture and natural resources. Today, approximately a billion people are chronically malnourished while our agricultural systems are concurrently degrading land, water, biodiversity and climate on a global scale. To meet the world’s future food security and sustainability needs, food production must grow substantially while, at the same time, agriculture’s environmental footprint must shrink dramatically. Here we analyse solutions to this dilemma, showing that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing ‘yield gaps’ on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and reducing waste. Together, these strategies could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture." Source: "Solutions for a cultivated planet," published in Nature, October 20, 2011
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Halt Farmland Expansion
"Reduced land clearing for agriculture, particularly in the tropical rainforests, achieved using incentives such as payment for ecosystem services, certification and ecotourism, can yield huge environmental benefits without dramatically cutting into agricultural production or economic well-being."
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Improve Agricultural Yields
"Many parts of Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe have substantial “yield gaps”—places where farmland is not living up to its potential for producing crops. Closing these gaps through improved use of existing crop varieties, better management and improved genetics could increase current food production nearly 60 percent."
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Use Inputs More Strategically
"Current use of water, nutrients and ag chemicals suffers from what the research team calls “Goldilocks’ Problem”: too much in some places, too little in others, rarely just right. Strategic reallocation could substantially boost the benefit we get from precious inputs."
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Shift Diets
"Growing animal feed or biofuels on top croplands, no matter how efficiently, is a drain on human food supply. Dedicating croplands to direct human food production could boost calories produced per person by nearly 50 percent. Even shifting nonfood uses such as animal feed or biofuel production away from prime cropland could make a big difference."
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Reduce Waste
"One-third of the food farms produce ends up discarded, spoiled or eaten by pests. Eliminating waste in the path food takes from farm to mouth could boost food available for consumption another 50 percent."
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The research team also recommends:
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"For the first time, we have shown that it is possible to both feed a hungry world and protect a threatened planet. It will take serious work. But we can do it."
~Lead Author Jonathan Foley, head of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment
~Lead Author Jonathan Foley, head of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment
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"If the world is to succeed in overcoming hunger and malnutrition and meeting the demand of today’s and future generations, fundamental changes in the agricultural and food systems are needed. At the recent Rio+20 Summit, world leaders reconfirmed that “poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development.” Success in achieving these objectives is literally vital for food security and adequate nutrition for all. This is particularly relevant for the way countries seek to enable their agricultural and food systems to meet the needs of today’s and future generations. It is essential that national governments and all stakeholders promote the gradual realization of the right to adequate food, establish and protect rights to resources, especially for the most vulnerable; incorporate incentives for sustainable consumption and production into food systems; promote fair and well-functioning agricultural and food markets; reduce risk and increase the resilience of the most vulnerable; and invest public resources in essential public goods, including innovation and infrastructure. On the consumption side, there is a need to contribute to sustainable use of resources by reducing over-consumption, shifting to nutritious diets with a lower environmental footprint and reducing food losses and waste throughout the food chain. Regarding food and agricultural production, there is great potential for sustainable intensification. Adequate and stable agricultural productivity growth depends critically on the health of agro-ecosystems and their capacity to provide services such as soil fertility, resistance to pests and diseases and overall resilience of the production system. Healthy ecosystems can also provide important benefits beyond the farm, reducing agricultural pollution that has high costs, and contributing to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and watershed protection." ~The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012, FAO "The future of agriculture and the ability of the world food system to ensure food security for a growing world population are closely tied to improved stewardship of natural resources. Major reforms and investments are needed in all regions to cope with rising scarcity and degradation of land, water and biodiversity and with the added pressures resulting from rising incomes, climate change and energy demands. There is a need to establish the right incentives to harness agriculture’s environmental services to protect watersheds and biodiversity and to ensure food production using sustainable technologies." ~ How to Feed the World in 2050, FAO |
FAO: Climate-Smart Agriculture - Managing Ecosystems for Sustainable Livelihoods
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Click to view full, zoomable image. Source: Food Mythbusters
A report released by a British engineering society reveals that worldwide, billions of tons of food are wasted each year because of poor agriculture practices, which include inefficient harvesting and inadequate infrastructure and storage - and it's depleting Earth's water supply. Learn more. |
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Take Action!
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According to the Marsden Farm Study, "Increasing Cropping System Diversity Balances Productivity, Profitability and Environmental Health," which has received national attention as a potential model for future farmers, a team of U.S. Department of Agriculture and Iowa State University researchers embarked on a ten year study to compare conventional two year rotations of corn and soy, which is the dominant form of commodity growing, with three and four year rotations that mixed in other grains, alfalfa and livestock to provide manure fertilizer, "The results were stunning: The longer rotations produced better yields of both corn and soy, reduced the need for nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides by up to 88 percent, reduced the amounts of toxins in groundwater 200-fold and didn’t reduce profits by a single cent." Learn more. |
Last Revised: 11/20/13
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