Approaches to sustainable agriculture
The high amount of land used for cultivation and livestock farming has dramatically shaped landscapes in Europe and throughout the rest of the world. Agriculture is a fundamental human activity that intrinsically depends on nature and at the same time poses a threat to it. Thus, sustainability has emerged as a necessity in future agricultural policy and practice. Sustainable agriculture will need first and foremost to consider two inseparable, intertwined societal priorities – preserving the environment and providing safe and healthy food for all. It will be necessary for all sectors and stakeholders involved in the food system and nature conservation to find a common path for the future which embraces these two priorities.
With many different attempts to find solutions and pathways for sustainable agriculture already underway, there is a growing number of terms applicable to sustainable agriculture. Rather than helping to advance meaningful action, this broad number of terms can lead to confusion, cloud understanding, and divert focus from what is relevant. In this context, we hope that this report can help overcome an important roadblock by shedding some light on the different terms relating to sustainable agriculture. Structured as a factual collection of information based on existing literature, this report can thereby serve as a helpful tool and reference, providing a common footing for the stakeholders involved and helping move the debate along.
This report examines a number of approaches to sustainable agriculture, as well as supporting activities. The approaches include: agroecology, nature-inclusive agriculture, permaculture, biodynamic agriculture, organic farming, conservation agriculture, regenerative agriculture, carbon farming, climate-smart agriculture, high nature value farming, low external input agriculture, circular agriculture, ecological intensification, and sustainable intensification. The main supporting activities examined are: genetic improvement, precision farming, mixed farming systems, integrated farming tools, pasture-based and free-range farming, landscape and ecosystems approaches, and supporting socio-economic activities including community-supported agriculture, urban farming, and agritourism.
Although each may consider sustainable agriculture from a different angle, the approaches examined in this report would appear to share more similarities with each other than with conventional agricultural approaches. The approaches all share the common goal of striving for sustainability, which includes environmental aspects but also socio-economic considerations. Furthermore, many of the approaches share similar environmentally-friendly practices, including: crop rotation, cover and companion cropping, mixed and intercropping, the reduction of synthetic pesticide and mineral fertiliser use, no or minimal tillage, lower livestock densities, managed and free range grazing, as well as: crop diversification, mixing farming and forestry, mixed crop and animal farming, nutrient balancing, recovery and reuse, and the inclusion of landscape elements such as hedgerows and flower strips. Without being exhaustive, we may nevertheless conclude that all the practices listed can be considered “sustainable agricultural practices”.
Many approaches also face common challenges. Some of these relate to uptake and scalability, some to costs and profitability. Approaches with stronger markets already in place have seen more success. Regardless, it is important to keep in mind the recognition by scientists that nature and its contributions to people can be safeguarded only by transformative change to a sustainable global economy. In this context, potential costs and/or a reduction in profitability might be mitigated through public support or private investments in a transition towards sustainable land use; the short-term savings of inaction will otherwise likely be outweighed by resultant longer-term societal and material costs. A crucial factor underpinning another common challenge, related to knowledge, is the lack of common metrics and indicators. A lack of quantitative evidence of the benefits of these approaches will convince neither farmers, consumers, nor policy makers to adopt and promote them. With respect to the environmental component of sustainability, some approaches might have difficulties giving all crucial environmental aspects the same level of consideration – i.e. soil, water, biodiversity, and the climate – which in some cases could lead to perverse outcomes for one or another aspect. In any case, we should keep in mind that true environmental sustainability would need to consider and strive for the better state of all key aspects in a balanced, integrated manner.
Each of the approaches described in this report addresses sustainable agriculture from a somewhat different angle. Each of these approaches, therefore, might be valid in a given set of specific circumstances. While the approaches described in this report focus on how to produce food, the spatial considerations, or where (is this approach best suited for the landscape and environmental conditions in which it would be implemented in?) as well as the temporal considerations, or when (will implementing this approach mean this environment is better off than before?) need to be considered as well. Other considerations relating to social and economic sustainability will also be fundamental when choosing what approach to implement, in particular how much we produce (considering the immense amounts of food waste we are witness to today) and what we produce (considering what informs and drives the demand for healthy and nutritious food).
These last two questions also reflect the fact that our food system as we know it today is global. The many interdependencies and issues along the global food value chain should be acknowledged and further explored in order to arrive at practical and actionable ways by which to set in motion a transition towards sustainable agriculture. This will include looking into global consumption patterns, what exactly impacts demand, our key trade flows, and linked to all of this, the externalities and ecological footprint of our global food system, among other issues. The COVID-19 crisis, for instance, has shown some interesting examples of how global supply chains may have given way to more local production and consumption chains in food systems.
It is in this context that we need to focus on sustainable agriculture, where the most striking fact arises: we do not have a common vision for what sustainable agriculture should look like in the future. This is a fundamental question, considering the main societal goal for agriculture to produce food, the necessary use of land for this purpose, and the negative impacts that this activity can have on the environment. This report shows that different approaches exist, that they have a number of important commonalities, but also that their diversity is a strength in itself.
When it comes to implementation, the choice of approach depends very much on local contexts and specific priorities. The challenge for policymaking is to enable dialogue and create the (market or regulatory) environment that will help prioritise according to local contexts, helping land managers follow the societally desired path.
Underpinning all of this and helping to inform these choices is the need for common metrics to ascertain and monitor the environmental performance of the various approaches, which are currently lacking. Considering that the production of healthy food at affordable prices with environmental protection at the core is crucial for our survival as a species, addressing these challenges is the most important step we need to take for our common future, right now.
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