tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/agroecology-8461/articlesAgroecology – The Conversation2023-05-09T05:05:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2039222023-05-09T05:05:29Z2023-05-09T05:05:29Z‘Regenerative agriculture’ is all the rage – but it’s not going to fix our food system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525041/original/file-20230509-23-89ksn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4947%2C2791&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Decades of <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/75659">industrial agriculture</a> have caused environmental and social damage across the globe. Soils have deteriorated and plant and animal species are disappearing. Landscapes are degraded and small-scale farmers are struggling. It’s little wonder we’re looking for more sustainable and just ways of growing food and fibre.</p>
<p>Regenerative agriculture is one alternative <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727021998063">creating</a> a lot of buzz, especially in rich, industrially developed countries. </p>
<p>The term “regenerative agriculture” was coined in the 1970s. It’s generally understood to mean farming that improves, rather than degrades, landscape and ecological processes such as water, nutrient and carbon cycles. </p>
<p>Today, regenerative agriculture is promoted strongly by multinational food companies, advocacy groups and some parts of the farming community. And the Netflix documentary <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81321999">Kiss the Ground</a> features celebrity activists <a href="https://kisstheground.com">promoting</a> the regenerative agriculture movement.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-023-10444-4">our new research</a> shows, regenerative agriculture may not be the transformation our global food system needs.</p>
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<img alt="machines harvest soybean crop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525013/original/file-20230509-23-1xqv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525013/original/file-20230509-23-1xqv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525013/original/file-20230509-23-1xqv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525013/original/file-20230509-23-1xqv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525013/original/file-20230509-23-1xqv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525013/original/file-20230509-23-1xqv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525013/original/file-20230509-23-1xqv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Industrial farming has left vast swathes of land degraded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Farming must change</h2>
<p>About <a href="https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/2022-04/UNCCD_GLO2_low-res_2.pdf">20-40%</a> of the global land area is degraded. Agriculture caused 80% of global deforestation in recent decades and comprises 70% of freshwater use. It is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss on land and contributes <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2019/08/4.-SPM_Approved_Microsite_FINAL.pdf">significantly</a> to greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>Global corporations such as Nestlé, PepsiCo, Cargill and Bayer <a href="https://www.etcgroup.org/sites/www.etcgroup.org/files/files/blockingthechain_english_web.pdf">dominate</a> the food system. Some 70% of the global agrochemicals market is owned by just four companies and 90% of global grain trade is dominated by four businesses. This gives these corporations immense power.</p>
<p>Many small-scale farmers struggle to compete in global markets – especially those in poorer, less developed countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In an effort to keep up, these farmers also often go into debt to buy chemicals and expensive machinery to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00297-7">boost production</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s regenerative agriculture?</h2>
<p>Regenerative agriculture is proposed as a more sustainable alternative to industrial agriculture. It can include practices such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>integrating livestock into cropping systems to replenish soil and reduce the cost of animal feed and fertiliser</li>
<li>leaving soil undisturbed and covered with plants to retain carbon, moisture and nutrients and reduce erosion</li>
<li>regularly moving livestock between paddocks to give pasture a chance to recover </li>
<li>using less synthetic chemicals in farming.</li>
</ul>
<p>But can regenerative agriculture transform the global food system? Our research examined this question.</p>
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<img alt="cows grazing in field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525018/original/file-20230509-29-uslr52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525018/original/file-20230509-29-uslr52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525018/original/file-20230509-29-uslr52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525018/original/file-20230509-29-uslr52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525018/original/file-20230509-29-uslr52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525018/original/file-20230509-29-uslr52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525018/original/file-20230509-29-uslr52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Regenerative agriculture can involve rotating livestock between pastures to increase soil health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Our research findings</h2>
<p>We explored the origins and current status of regenerative agriculture. We then compared this to other sustainable farming approaches: organic agriculture, conservation agriculture, sustainable intensification, and agroecology.</p>
<p>We found regenerative agriculture shares many similarities with the first three movements listed above. Most importantly, it originated in the rich, industrially developed <a href="https://ipes-food.org/_img/upload/files/SmokeAndMirrors.pdf">Global North</a>, primarily North America, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/land-of-opportunity-more-sustainable-australian-farming-would-protect-our-lucrative-exports-and-the-planet-166177">Land of opportunity: more sustainable Australian farming would protect our lucrative exports (and the planet)</a>
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<p>This means the movement often fails to credit Indigenous practices it draws from. It also tends to overlook the needs of farmers in the Global South and broader power inequality in the food system. </p>
<p>Like some other movements, regenerative agriculture is increasingly being embraced by corporations. <a href="https://www.nestle.com/csv/regeneration/regenerative-agriculture">Nestlé</a>, for instance, aims to source 50% of its key ingredients through regenerative agriculture by 2030. </p>
<p>There are concerns companies may be using regenerative agriculture to “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/can-regenerative-agriculture-reverse-climate-change-big-food-banking-it-n1072941">greenwash</a>” their image. For example, experts <a href="http://www.ipes-food.org/pages/smokeandmirrors">warn</a> corporations could be using the term to repackage existing commitments, rather than substantially improving their systems.</p>
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<h2>Agroecology: a different path</h2>
<p>We also found that regenerative agriculture is threatening to marginalise another promising sustainable farming movement: agroecology.</p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/agro/2009004">Agroecology</a> combines agronomy (agricultural science) and ecology, and also seeks to address injustice and inequity in food systems.</p>
<p>The movement is associated with the world’s largest smallholder farmer organisation, <a href="https://viacampesina.org/en/">La Via Campesina</a>, and has been endorsed by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2020.1808705">United Nations</a>.</p>
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<img alt="people march in protest holding sign in Spanish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525022/original/file-20230509-25-fiq7oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525022/original/file-20230509-25-fiq7oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525022/original/file-20230509-25-fiq7oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525022/original/file-20230509-25-fiq7oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525022/original/file-20230509-25-fiq7oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525022/original/file-20230509-25-fiq7oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525022/original/file-20230509-25-fiq7oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Agroecology is a global movement endorsed by the UN.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Agroecology advocates for Indigenous knowledge and land rights, and support for small-scale farmers. It seeks to <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/19/5272">challenge</a> neoliberalism, corporate dominance, and globalisation of food systems.</p>
<p>Some researchers <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305693875_How_to_feed_the_world_sustainably_an_overview_of_the_discourse_on_agroecology_and_sustainable_intensification">question</a> if agroecology alone can produce enough food for a growing global population. But <a href="https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/2022-04/UNCCD_GLO2_low-res_2.pdf">80% of the world’s food</a>, in value terms, is produced by small family farms. And globally, we already grow enough food to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10440046.2012.695331">feed ten billion people</a>. The problem is how that food is distributed and wasted, and how much is made into <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/3/e008269">ultra-processed foods</a> and other products such as bio-fuels.</p>
<p>Agroecology brings many benefits to farmers and communities. An agroecology project in <a href="https://www.ipes-food.org/_img/upload/files/CS2_web.pdf">Chololo village</a> in Tanzania, for example, saw the number of households eating three meals per day rise from 29% to 62%. Average household income increased by 18%. The average period of food shortage shortened by 62% and agricultural yields increased by up to 70%.</p>
<p>But the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1051/agro/2009004">origins of the agroecology movement</a> in the Global South, and its resistance to corporatisation, mean it is often marginalised. At events such as the UN Food Systems Summit, for example, corporate stakeholders guide policy decisions while vulnerable farmers can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/23/small-producers-boycott-un-food-summit-corporate-interests">feel sidelined</a>.</p>
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<img alt="two men prepare soil" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525040/original/file-20230509-28-5qvg2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525040/original/file-20230509-28-5qvg2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525040/original/file-20230509-28-5qvg2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525040/original/file-20230509-28-5qvg2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525040/original/file-20230509-28-5qvg2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525040/original/file-20230509-28-5qvg2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525040/original/file-20230509-28-5qvg2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Agroecology focuses on both ecological and social principles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Transforming our food systems</h2>
<p>Despite regenerative agriculture’s popularity and its focus on sustainable food production, it fails to tackle systemic social and political issues. As a result, the movement may perpetuate business-as-usual in the food system, rather than transform it.</p>
<p>But our food system includes many landscapes and cultures. That means regenerative agriculture could still support more sustainable farming in some settings – though it’s not a catch-all solution.</p>
<p>And voices in regenerative agriculture have <a href="https://www.greenamerica.org/native-growers-decolonize-regenerative-agriculture?fbclid=IwAR1zwXhFddjPALOCrCed0yPyGmgPsoG_CUMhsVRDMg64DqQ4l8ba27BirPU">called for</a> a shift in the movement’s agenda, putting more emphasis on equity, justice and diversity. So there is hope yet that the movement may help turn the tide against industrial agriculture. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cotton-on-one-of-australias-most-lucrative-farming-industries-is-in-the-firing-line-as-climate-change-worsens-191864">Cotton on: one of Australia's most lucrative farming industries is in the firing line as climate change worsens</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anja Bless receives funding from the Australian Government research training program. </span></em></p>We know industrial farming needs to change. But regenerative agriculture may not be the transformation our global food system needs.Anja Bless, PhD Candidate, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1733322022-02-06T08:34:07Z2022-02-06T08:34:07ZNo perfect solution: Africa’s smallholder farmers must use both traditional and new practices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441079/original/file-20220117-21-1bkl67u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Farmers test new practices to cope with climate impacts in Kenya. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cecilia Schubert/Climate Smart Kenya/CCAFS/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As an agricultural and environmental scientist, I’ve worked <a href="https://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/ratemomichieka/content/biography-5">for decades</a> exploring the practical challenges that smallholder farmers encounter in East Africa. These include controlling weeds that can choke their crops and looking for new ways to deal with pests or diseases that threaten their harvests.</p>
<p>I focus on smallholder agriculture because most of the food in the region is <a href="https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/sustainability_pathways/docs/Factsheet_SMALLHOLDERS.pdf">generated by farms</a> that are only a few acres or hectares in size. And, while African economies are diversifying, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS?locations=ZG">most Africans</a> still depend on crops and livestock production for income.</p>
<p>Across the region there is <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/09/16/agricultural-innovation-technology-hold-key-to-poverty-reduction-in-developing-countries-says-world-bank-report">a strong link</a> between fighting hunger, poverty and improving productivity and incomes on smallholder farms. But we must be careful to avoid pursuing solutions that damage the broader ecosystem.</p>
<p>In my research, I have explored how <a href="https://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/ratemomichieka/publications/farmer-innoviations-and-indigenous-knowledge-which-promote-agrobiodivers">farmer innovations and local knowledge</a> can contribute to maintaining crop varieties, livestock, pollinators, soil micro-organisms and other variables essential for a sustainable agriculture system. What scientists call agriculture biodiversity or agrobiodiversity.</p>
<p>My work puts me firmly on the side of people who today advocate for an approach to food production that’s called “<a href="http://www.fao.org/agroecology/home/en/">agroecology</a>” or “environmental conservation.” This means a focus on farming methods that protect natural resources and vulnerable ecosystems while respecting local knowledge and customs. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, in certain contexts I do support approaches that are viewed as “<a href="https://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/distributing-seeds-fertilizer-pesticides-poor-farmers-agroecology/">wrong</a>” to many contemporary advocates of agroecology. These include the use of certified, commercial seeds for improved crop varieties, fertilisers, and genetically modified crops. </p>
<p>Opposition by agroecologists is rooted in a mix of concerns. With certified seeds, there is wariness about the cost to farmers and the impact on the common practice of saving seeds from one season to the next. For fertilisers, the focus is on run-off caused by their excessive use in places like North America and Europe. Opposition to genetically modified crops involves unease with using genes from unrelated species to improve crops. In addition to this is the potentially higher price of modified varieties.</p>
<p>While this may seem contradictory to some, I know that agroecology and advanced farming practices can co-exist in Africa. Indeed, to ensure African farmers and food markets can thrive while protecting local ecosystems – especially as climate change presents a host of new food-related challenges —- they must co-exist.</p>
<p>In my view, supporters of agroecology who strongly oppose new inventions are sincere in their beliefs that they are advocating for the interests of Africa’s farmers and the preservation of vulnerable ecosystems. Unfortunately, if successful, such hardline positions will narrow the options available in ways that will be harmful to both.</p>
<h2>Weighing up the options</h2>
<p>The three issues that appear to be most contentious for certain advocates of agroecology: fertilisers, commercially produce improved seeds and genetically modified crops.</p>
<p>Let’s start with synthetic fertilisers. The main concerns with fertilisers are related to their misguided and excessive application. In some places, this has <a href="https://news.jrn.msu.edu/2021/01/midwest-fertilizer-runoff-adds-to-low-oxygen-zone-in-gulf-of-mexico/">contributed to the degradation</a> of freshwater and saltwater ecosystems. However, rather than an absolute ban on using them, I prefer strategies that consider their safe and, modest use. </p>
<p>There are many situations on African farms today where modest amounts of synthetic fertilisers – <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-69626-3_71-1">applied in combination</a> with other sustainable soil management strategies, such as crop rotation and intercropping – will do more to restore degraded landscapes than cow or sheep manure alone.</p>
<p>For the farmers I’ve worked with, the manure from their livestock may be enough to fertilise the small garden outside their kitchen, but it won’t be nearly enough to fertilise entire farms. Particularly if they hope to grow enough food to sell.</p>
<h2>Seed debates</h2>
<p>Some agroecology advocates also firmly oppose commercial seeds in favour of those saved by farmers from season to season. There are concerns about the cost of new seeds to farmers and also that crop diversity will narrow as varieties, that farmers have planted for generations, will be lost.</p>
<p>Again, I look for evidence of outcomes, as do most farmers I encounter. Overall, the farmers I’ve worked with in Africa are radically practical and carefully evaluate their options. They will purchase a commercial seed if they see clear evidence that it is worth the investment. For instance, that it provides superior yields, or other qualities, while retaining the flavour and texture they and their customers prefer. If not, they will use seeds saved from previous years.</p>
<p>Expanding their options with commercial seeds can empower farmers. It helps them make choices that can help to improve both household income and sustainably boost production to meet consumer demands. These outcomes align with agroecological principles.</p>
<h2>Genetically modified crops</h2>
<p>When it comes to genetically modified crops, I focus on the traits they contain and the agroecological conditions where they are to be used. Again, context is critical. There are clearly contexts where genetically modified seeds —- once thoroughly tested to prove they are safe —- can be compatible with agroecology.</p>
<p>For example, varieties of <a href="https://www.cimmyt.org/projects/tela-maize-project/">maize</a>, <a href="https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/08/bt-cotton-in-africa-role-models-and-lessons-learned/">cotton</a> and <a href="https://www.iita.org/news-item/major-breakthrough-for-farmers-and-scientists-as-nigerian-biotech-body-approves-commercial-release-of-genetically-modified-cowpea/">cowpea</a> are now being developed for, and increasingly cultivated by, African farmers. The genetically modified traits are used to help address pests and other stresses, including drought. These crops undergo <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.605937/full">extensive trials and national regulatory reviews</a> to assess their safety and consider their release to farmers for use.</p>
<p>New varieties of genetically modified maize and cowpea that can fight off destructive crop pests are especially attractive. They contain traits acquired from a safe, naturally occurring soil bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt. It has also been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559445/">used for decades</a> as an organic crop protection spray. Incorporating Bt traits directly into the crop itself reduces the need to treat fields with expensive and, in some instances, potentially toxic pesticides that may result in huge problems for people and the environment from inappropriate use. In this context, the genetically modified seeds —- if affordable – could be the optimal choice from an agroecological perspective.</p>
<p>Bt cowpea was recently <a href="https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Agricultural%20Biotechnology%20Annual_Lagos_Nigeria_10-20-2020">approved in Nigeria</a> and Bt maize is being <a href="https://www.cimmyt.org/news/announcing-cimmyt-derived-fall-armyworm-tolerant-elite-maize-hybrids-for-eastern-and-southern-africa/">evaluated as an option</a> for fighting destruction caused by the recent arrival of fall armyworm pests on the continent. Bt cotton is already grown in several countries in Africa where it offers higher yields and reduces the need for pesticides. </p>
<p>However, farmers in Burkina Faso are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-power-shaped-the-success-story-of-genetically-modified-cotton-in-burkina-faso-144959">no longer growing</a> Bt cotton due to concerns about the quality of the fibres produced by the variety available to them, though not its pest-fighting properties. These quality concerns point to the need to support local breeding efforts, <a href="https://sciafmag.com/2019/10/04/this-is-how-nigeria-plans-to-avoid-burkina-fasos-gm-cotton-curse/">as Nigeria is now doing</a> with its Bt cotton varieties, as opposed to rejecting the technology itself.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-power-shaped-the-success-story-of-genetically-modified-cotton-in-burkina-faso-144959">How power shaped the 'success story' of genetically modified cotton in Burkina Faso</a>
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<h2>No perfect solution</h2>
<p>The difficult issues around Bt cotton production in Burkina Faso are evidence that there are no perfect solutions. </p>
<p>But we know the results of a lack of choices – where African farmers plant only the seeds from varieties they have been cultivating for decades and have limited options for maintain soil health and dealing with crop pests. It has contributed to a situation where crop yields have stagnated, lands are degraded of basic nutrients, consumers’ demands must be met with costly food imports. Those who depend on agriculture suffer high rates of poverty and hunger. </p>
<p>We also know from the experience of farmers in other countries about the pitfalls of an over-reliance on a small range of commercially produced crop varieties and unchecked use of fertilisers and pesticides.</p>
<p>But we will not overcome these challenges by narrowing the options for addressing them. Instead, we should be open to a wider range of practices and innovations. </p>
<p>For me that means embracing the core focus of agroecology – supporting environmentally sustainable food production that benefits local farmers, consumers and ecosystems – while avoiding the wholesale rejection of certain technologies that, in the right context, can be instrumental to achieving this critical goal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173332/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ratemo Michieka does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hardline positions could narrow the options available to farmers and conservation practitioners in a way that can be harmful to both.Ratemo Michieka, Professor, University of NairobiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1626312021-06-30T13:18:21Z2021-06-30T13:18:21ZFour ways to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises simultaneously<p>A <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/4920414#.YNmcvR3TUlU">landmark report</a> by the world’s most senior <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">climate</a> and <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/">biodiversity</a> scientists argues that the world will have to tackle the climate crisis and the species extinction crisis simultaneously, or not at all.</p>
<p>That’s because Earth’s land and ocean already absorbs about <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320/320155/how-to-save-our-planet/9780241472521.html">half of the greenhouse gases</a> that people emit. Wild animals, plants, fungi and microbes help maintain this carbon sink by keeping soils, forests and other ecosystems healthy.</p>
<p>Failing to tackle climate change meanwhile will accelerate <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/4920414#.YNmcvR3TUlU">biodiversity loss</a>, as higher temperatures and changing rainfall patterns make survival for many species more difficult. Both problems are intertwined, and so solutions to one which exacerbate the other are doomed to fail.</p>
<p>Luckily, there are options for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss together, called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15513">nature-based solutions</a>. If implemented properly, these measures can enhance the richness and diversity of life on Earth, help habitats store more carbon and even reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, making ecosystems more resilient while slowing the rate at which the planet warms.</p>
<h2>1. Protect and restore ecosystems</h2>
<p>Everyone is familiar with the need to preserve tropical rainforests, but there are other pristine habitats, on land and in the ocean, which are in dire need of protection. </p>
<p>Mangrove swamps occupy less than 1% of Earth’s surface, but store the equivalent of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aabe1c">22 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide</a>. That’s around two-thirds of total emissions from burning fossil fuels each year. These <a href="https://www.unep-wcmc.org/news/5-facts-about-mangroves-and-why-we-must-protect-them">coastal habitats</a> act as a home, nursery, and feeding ground for numerous species. More than 40 bird, ten reptile and six mammal species are only found in mangroves.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Under the canopy in a tropical mangrove forest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409106/original/file-20210630-21-3bu754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409106/original/file-20210630-21-3bu754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409106/original/file-20210630-21-3bu754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409106/original/file-20210630-21-3bu754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409106/original/file-20210630-21-3bu754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409106/original/file-20210630-21-3bu754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409106/original/file-20210630-21-3bu754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mangroves are particularly good at storing carbon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mangrove-forest-reflection-lake-submerged-pichavaram-1172081407">Velavan K/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Peatlands – those soggy ecosystems which include <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/peatlands-store-twice-much-carbon-all-worlds-forests">bogs, marshes and fens</a> – store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests. The top 15cm stores <a href="https://peatlands.org/peatlands/what-are-peatlands/">more carbon below ground</a> than tropical rainforests do above ground. In the UK, peatlands store the equivalent of <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/Nature_Based_Solutions_NDC_ReportV2.pdf">ten billion tonnes of carbon dioxide</a> and host <a href="http://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/sites/www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/files/Review%203%20Peatland%20Biodiversity.pdf">precious plant and animals</a> such as red grouse, mountain hares and marsh earwort. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, more than 80% of the UK’s peatlands are <a href="https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/about-peatlands/peatland-damage">degraded</a> in some way. A single hectare of damaged peatland can emit more than 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – equivalent to the yearly emissions of <a href="https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/research/indicators-and-trends/indicators/nb18-annual-greenhouse-gas-ghg-emissions-from-degraded-peatlands/">seven family cars</a>. </p>
<p>Protecting these ecosystems can prevent carbon being released into the atmosphere. Restoring them where they’ve been damaged can suck carbon dioxide from the air and guarantee shelter for rare wildlife. Diverse natural systems also <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2021-06/20210609_workshop_report_embargo_3pm_CEST_10_june_0.pdf">bounce back better</a> from climate extremes than do species-poor, highly degraded systems, and will keep helping biodiversity and people even as Earth continues to warm.</p>
<h2>2. Manage farmland and fisheries sustainably</h2>
<p>Not all of the world’s land and ocean can be left to nature, but the land and ocean people use to produce food and other resources can be managed better.</p>
<p>People currently use about <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320/320155/how-to-save-our-planet/9780241472521.html">25% of the planet’s land surface</a> for growing food, extracting resources and living. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00225-9">The global food system</a> contributes one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>Methods of farming – such as agroecology, which involves incorporating trees and habitats within farm fields – and sustainable fishing practices can protect and regenerate topsoil and seabed habitats, boosting biodiversity and improving how resilient these ecosystems are to climate change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rows of vegetable beds with lines of young trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409104/original/file-20210630-3600-1k90l18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409104/original/file-20210630-3600-1k90l18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409104/original/file-20210630-3600-1k90l18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409104/original/file-20210630-3600-1k90l18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409104/original/file-20210630-3600-1k90l18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409104/original/file-20210630-3600-1k90l18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409104/original/file-20210630-3600-1k90l18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reforestation in tandem with food growing: lettuce, cauliflowers and tomatoes grow among saplings in Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/petropolis-rjbrazil-july-27-2018-productive-1144851836">Luisaazara/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Create new forests – with care</h2>
<p>People have already <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320/320155/how-to-save-our-planet/9780241472521.html">cut down three trillion trees</a> – half of all the trees which once grew on Earth.</p>
<p>Creating new woodlands and forests can draw down atmospheric carbon and provide diverse habitats for a range of species, but great care must be taken to plant the right mix of trees in the right place. Vast plantations of non-native trees, particularly when they’re a single species, offer less useful habitat for wildlife, but a mix of native trees can benefit <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/4920414#.YNmcvR3TUlU">biodiversity and store more carbon</a> in the long run. </p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2018.1240">A study</a> in south-east China showed that forests containing several tree species stored twice as much carbon as the average single-species plantation.</p>
<p>We can do the same thing in the ocean by restoring <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.629962/full">seagrass meadows</a>.</p>
<h2>4. Shift to more plant-based diets</h2>
<p>Globally, animal agriculture is a major contributor to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aal2011">biodiversity loss</a>. <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/food_practice/sustainable_production/soy/">Millions of hectares</a> of Amazon rainforest, African Savanna and Central Asian grassland have been ploughed up to create pasture and plant feed crops for the cows, pigs and chickens that we eat. Nearly 60% of all planet-warming <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">emissions from food production</a> originate in livestock rearing.</p>
<p>Reducing demand for meat and dairy, through diet changes and cutting waste, would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions – which itself benefits biodiversity by limiting climate change – it would also lower pressure for farmland and so reduce deforestation and habitat destruction, freeing more land for the wider use of nature-based solutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A vegan burger with a side of sweet potato fries." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409107/original/file-20210630-19-1uqcrmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409107/original/file-20210630-19-1uqcrmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409107/original/file-20210630-19-1uqcrmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409107/original/file-20210630-19-1uqcrmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409107/original/file-20210630-19-1uqcrmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409107/original/file-20210630-19-1uqcrmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409107/original/file-20210630-19-1uqcrmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A vegan diet is better for wildlife and the climate than a high-meat one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/SIO_bOZoStA">Rolande PG/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meat, especially <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31788-4/fulltext">highly processed meat</a>, has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and bowel and stomach cancer. <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31788-4/fulltext">Plant-based diets are healthier</a>, reduce healthcare costs and reduce carbon emissions.</p>
<h2>A note of caution</h2>
<p>It’s important to remember that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15513">nature-based solutions</a> aren’t a substitute for the rapid phase out of fossil fuels. They should involve a wide range of ecosystems on land and in the sea, not just forests. Wherever they’re implemented, nature-based solutions must proceed with the full engagement and consent of Indigenous peoples and local communities, respecting their cultural and ecological rights. And nature-based solutions should be explicitly designed to provide measurable benefits for biodiversity – not just carbon sequestration.</p>
<p>With all this in mind, the world can design robust and resilient solutions for the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, sustaining nature and people together, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15513">now and into the future</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pete Smith currently receives research funding from UKRI, EU, Wellcome Trust and Scottish Government. He is on the science advisory team for Carbon Direct (<a href="https://carbon-direct.com/">https://carbon-direct.com/</a>).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Maslin is a Founding Director of Rezatec Ltd, Co-Director of The London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership, a member of Cheltenham Science Festival Advisory Committee and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. He is an unpaid member of the Sopra-Steria CSR Board and Sheep Included Ltd Advisory Board. He has received grant funding in the past from the NERC, EPSRC, ESRC, DFG, Royal Society, DIFD, BEIS, DECC, FCO, Innovate UK, Carbon Trust, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Research England, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, The Children's Investment Fund Foundation Sprint2020, and British Council. He has received research funding in the past from The Lancet, Laithwaites, Seventh Generation, Channel 4, JLT Re, WWF, Hermes, CAFOD, HP, and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camille Parmesan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Solve the climate and extinction crises together, or solve neither.Pete Smith, Professor of Soils and Global Change, University of AberdeenCamille Parmesan, Professor of Climate Change Impacts, CNRS, University of Texas, University of PlymouthMark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1590672021-04-23T16:11:56Z2021-04-23T16:11:56ZWhy the humble legume could be the answer to Europe’s fertiliser addiction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396801/original/file-20210423-17-z40fft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5628%2C3757&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An assortment of legumes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/variety-legumes-glass-jars-zero-waste-1426134863">Morinka/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Peas, lentils, chickpeas, beans and peanuts: if it comes in a pod then chances are it’s a legume. These unassuming food crops have a special ability that makes them fairly unique in the plant kingdom. </p>
<p>They can convert nitrogen gas – which is abundant in the air – to something altogether more rare and important to plants: ammonia. Ammonia can be immediately converted to proteins within a plant, helping it grow. That’s why legume crops don’t need nitrogen fertiliser, and they even leave some of the nitrogen they produce in the soil for other plants to use.</p>
<p>Most modern farms add nitrogen to fields in synthetic fertilisers. Since the 1960s, annual nitrogen fertiliser production worldwide has increased by a staggering 458%, boosting cereal production in Europe to <a href="http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC">more than 188 million tonnes</a> a year. At best, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2400">half of the nitrogen</a> fertiliser applied to farmland will be taken up and used by the crop. Much of the remainder is lost to the atmosphere, often in the form of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases">300 times more potent</a> than CO₂. Some of it leaches into freshwater stored deep underground, predominantly as nitrate.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nine-esf.org/node/204/ENA.html">most comprehensive study</a> to date found that in the early 2000s, nitrate pollution in drinking water had shortened the lifespan of the average European by six months by promoting conditions such as <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/methemoglobinemia#acquired-methemoglobinemia">methemoglobinemia</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09603123.2020.1815664">thyroid disorders</a>, and <a href="https://iwaponline.com/jwh/article/15/4/602/28585/The-risk-of-cancer-as-a-result-of-elevated-levels">gastric cancer</a>.</p>
<p>Globally, <a href="https://theconversation.com/global-food-system-emissions-alone-threaten-warming-beyond-1-5-c-but-we-can-act-now-to-stop-it-149312">nitrous oxide emissions</a> from fertilisers and methane from livestock contribute most of agriculture’s greenhouse gases – a sector responsible for <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data">about a quarter</a> of all human activity’s planet-warming gases. The EU has set itself <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en">a 2030 target</a> for reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and chemical pesticide use by 50%, and synthetic fertiliser use by 20%. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/global-food-system-emissions-alone-threaten-warming-beyond-1-5-c-but-we-can-act-now-to-stop-it-149312">Global food system emissions alone threaten warming beyond 1.5°C – but we can act now to stop it</a>
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<p>Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best one. By reintroducing an age-old system of growing legumes in rotation with other crops, farms could slash the amount of fertiliser they use while producing nutritious and wildlife-friendly food.</p>
<h2>The wonder crop</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.656005">In a recent study</a>, we found that using legumes in conventional cereal crop rotations can deliver the same amount of nutrition but at a markedly lower environmental cost. That’s because some of the nitrogen that cereal crops need is provided by the previous year’s cropping of legumes on the same field.</p>
<p>As grain legumes such as beans, peas and lentils have more protein and fibre by weight than cereal crops such as wheat, barley and oats, we calculated that an average cereal farm in Scotland could grow a legume crop for one year in a five-year cycle and reduce the amount of nitrogen fertiliser needed over the entire rotation cycle by nearly 50%, while producing the same nutritional output.</p>
<p>By using substantially less fertiliser, greenhouse gas emissions would be expected to fall by as much as 43% over the same period. Grain legumes can also be used as animal feed along with cereals – providing more digestible protein at lower environmental cost.</p>
<p>Scientists only discovered the process by which legumes take nitrogen from the air in the late 19th century, nearly a hundred years after they discovered elemental nitrogen. Special tissues on the roots of legume plants provide a safe haven for thousands of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. In return for a steady supply of sugars, which the legume generates in its leaves using photosynthesis, these bacteria provide ample nitrogen in a form that’s most useful for plant growth. </p>
<p>After the crop is harvested, the legume residues decompose and deliver the useful nitrogen to the soil so that other plants can use it. These crops even work as green manure, by ploughing the still growing plants into the soil to give it more nitrogen.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rows of peanut crops." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396803/original/file-20210423-17-1jg5ihs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396803/original/file-20210423-17-1jg5ihs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396803/original/file-20210423-17-1jg5ihs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396803/original/file-20210423-17-1jg5ihs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396803/original/file-20210423-17-1jg5ihs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396803/original/file-20210423-17-1jg5ihs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396803/original/file-20210423-17-1jg5ihs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peanuts – not just a tasty snack.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/peanuts-field-lush-growth-1110101516">Zhengzaishuru/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But legumes crops offer many more benefits beyond reducing how much farms rely on fertiliser. Diversifying crop rotations with legumes can reduce the incidence of cereal pests and disease by cutting off their life cycle between years and reducing the need for pesticides. </p>
<p>By virtue of their deep roots, many legumes are also more resistant to drought than conventional crops. Legume flowers provide an <a href="https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/pollen-and-pollinators-legumes#:%7E:text=Most%20legumes%20are%20pollinated%20by,of%20remote%20or%20inaccessible%20species.">excellent source</a> of nectar and pollen for pollinating insects too, and consuming more legumes in the human diet offers a wide variety of health benefits.</p>
<p>Despite all these positives, legumes are not widely cultivated in Europe, covering only 1.5% of European arable land, compared to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065211317300202">14.5% worldwide</a>. In fact, Europe imports a lot of its protein-rich crops from South America, where booming demand for soya beans is <a href="https://theconversation.com/demand-for-meat-is-driving-deforestation-in-brazil-changing-the-soy-industry-could-stop-it-151060">driving deforestation</a>. It’s high time farmers in Europe restored these wonder crops to their fields – for less pollution and more nutritious food.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159067/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Williams receives funding from the TRUE project, funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020, Grant Agreement number 727973.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Styles receives funding from the TRUE project, funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020, Grant Agreement number 727973.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcela Porto Costa receives funding from the TRUE project, funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020, Grant Agreement number 727973.</span></em></p>Legumes have a superpower: they can convert nitrogen in the air into a form plants can use to grow.Michael Williams, Assistant Professor of Botany, Trinity College DublinDavid Styles, Lecturer in Carbon Footprinting, Bangor UniversityMarcela Porto Costa, PhD Candidate in Sustainable Agriculture, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1313572020-06-10T12:14:00Z2020-06-10T12:14:00ZCuba’s clean rivers show the benefits of reducing nutrient pollution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340387/original/file-20200608-176538-bngvkb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C960&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aniel Arruebarenna, a team member from the Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Cienfuegos, prepares to collect flow measurements.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Brown/University of Vermont</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most of the past 60 years, the United States and Cuba have had very limited diplomatic ties. President Barack Obama started the process of <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/10/14/presidential-policy-directive-united-states-cuba-normalization">normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations</a>, but the Trump administration reversed this policy, <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-cuba/">sharply reducing interactions</a> between the two countries.</p>
<p>Scientific cooperation is a bright spot in this difficult history. Since the 19th century, U.S. institutions like the Smithsonian and the National Academy of Sciences have <a href="https://www.scielosp.org/pdf/medicc/2018.v20n2/23-26/en">worked with Cuban counterparts</a> to understand topics such as vector-borne disease transmission. Although political friction has often made such partnerships challenging, many scientists on both sides believe their countries <a href="https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-cuba-partnership-health-diplomacy-celebrated-us-release-medicc-review-special-edition">stand to gain</a> by tackling health and environmental challenges together.</p>
<p>We are geoscientists who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nZ6d2zUAAAAJ&hl=en">how landscapes change</a> through processes such as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h3DEhtEAAAAJ&hl=en">erosion</a>. For the past two and a half years, we and our team of U.S. scientists have been working with Cuban geoscientists to understand the environmental and water quality effects of progressive agricultural policies in Cuba.</p>
<p>In a recently published study, we show that Cuban rivers are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG419A.1">cleaner than the mighty Mississippi</a>. Why? Because Cuban farmers practice organic farming and conservation agriculture to <a href="https://collections.elementascience.org/cubas-agrifood-system-in-transition/">reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss</a>. In sum, Cuba is doing a better job than the U.S. at keeping farming from hurting its rivers, and its results offer useful lessons. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8MsnXTMC1-E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Cuba’s organic farming system has gained attention from many other parts of the world.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A test case in sustainable farming</h2>
<p>Cuban rivers run from the mountains to the ocean through cow-filled pastures, fields of sugar cane and rice paddies, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2017.1026">forests, wetlands and mangroves</a>. Along the way, groundwater seeps into river channels from below. When heavy thunderstorms strike, water pours off the land. </p>
<p>These flows carry soil and dissolved material into streams, which deliver this load to the coast. Cuba’s coastlines have abundant mangrove thickets, underwater seagrass beds and some of the Caribbean’s <a href="https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/cuba/cuba-s-coral-reefs">best-preserved coral reefs</a>.</p>
<p>We became interested in teaming with Cuban scientists because of their nation’s country-wide experiment in organic agriculture dating back to the late 1980s. When the Soviet Union, Cuba’s former trading partner, broke apart, Cuban farmers lost access to fertilizers, pesticides and heavy equipment, and had to <a href="https://theconversation.com/cubas-sustainable-agriculture-at-risk-in-u-s-thaw-56773">adopt a more ecologically based aproach</a>. Could their experience provide a blueprint for more sustainable approaches to feeding the world? </p>
<p>We used the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/">ResearchGate</a> network to find Cuban collaborators. Supported by the <a href="http://nsf.gov">U.S. National Science Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://www.ceac.cu">Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Cienfuegos</a>, the research we are doing in Cuba builds on measurements we have done all over the world. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314294/original/file-20200209-27533-12g2uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cuban scientists Aniel Arruebarenna and Victor Perez filter sediment from river water in western Cuba so that elements dissolved in the water can be analyzed accurately.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Bierman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Less fertilizer runoff in Cuba</h2>
<p>For this study we analyzed water samples from each of 25 rivers in central Cuba, looking for elements from across the periodic table and for bacteria.
Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG419A.1">first results</a> show that Cuba’s sustainable agricultural practices minimize the impact of agriculture on river water quality by reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer that washes off from fields into local waters. </p>
<p>Cuban farmers use about half as much fertilizer for each acre of farmland than their U.S. counterparts (3 versus 6 tons per square kilometer per year in 2016). As a result, rivers in central Cuba contain much lower concentrations of dissolved nitrogen than the Mississippi River, which drains <a href="https://www.nps.gov/miss/riverfacts.htm">more than 1 million square miles</a> of America’s agricultural heartland. On average, the Cuban rivers we analyzed contained 0.76 milligrams of nitrogen per liter of water, compared to 1.3 milligrams per liter in the Mississippi River from 2012-2019.</p>
<p>American crop yields per acre are higher than Cuba’s, thanks partly to fertilizer use, but the trade-off is stark. Nutrients that pour off U.S. farm fields and flow down the Mississippi River create the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-forecasts-very-large-dead-zone-for-gulf-of-mexico">Gulf of Mexico dead zone</a>, a patch of ocean where oxygen levels are so low that almost no marine life survives. The dead zone forms every summer, fed by spring rainfall, and has covered an <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/large-dead-zone-measured-in-gulf-of-mexico">average of 6,000 square miles</a> in recent years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=180&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=180&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=180&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314297/original/file-20200209-27560-zgllxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Organopónico El Alba, an organic urban garden in Cienfuegos, Cuba.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Bierman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cuba’s rivers do contain other pollutants. We found high levels of bacteria and sediment in most of the rivers we sampled. DNA analysis suggests that at least some of these bacteria were from the guts of cows. We saw many cows during our field work in central Cuba, and those animals had free access to local streams. Simple solutions, like fencing river banks, could greatly lower bacteria levels in surface waters.</p>
<p>We also found naturally high levels of calcium, sodium and magnesium in Cuban river water. These materials come from rocks that are naturally dissolved by rainwater. None of them are hazardous to humans, although they might leave scale in tea kettles and alter the water’s taste.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314318/original/file-20200209-27538-10uqpxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Limestone cliffs in the Vinales Valley, western Cuba, dissolve in abundant warm rain and add calcium to river water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Bierman, University of Vermont</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Enabling more scientific cooperation</h2>
<p>Although we’ve done field work on Greenland’s ice sheet and in rice paddies of southwest China, this work in Cuba has been a uniquely valuable experience for us, both professionally and personally. We found Cuban culture to be warm and welcoming, even to Americans whose leaders for the most part have shunned the Cuban people for decades. </p>
<p>Sharing and teamwork are key parts of Cuban culture. When we brought out American snacks during our first visit to Cuba, our collaborators insisted these gifts must be shared with the entire lab staff. In the tropical January sunshine, scientists, technicians, secretaries and directors gathered outside to eat Vermont maple candies and blueberry jam.</p>
<p>We view this project as <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.367.6483.1274">science diplomacy</a> in action. But our Cuban partners cannot visit us until the United States agrees to grant visas to Cuban scientists. The Trump administration is going in the opposite direction: It has <a href="https://www.state.gov/united-states-further-restricts-air-travel-to-cuba/">suspended commercial and public charter flights</a> to Cuba from the U.S. and imposed sanctions that are designed to <a href="https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_fact_sheet_20190906.pdf">deny Cuba access to hard currency</a>.</p>
<p>As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps around the world, scientific cooperation is more important than ever. To us, it doesn’t make sense to increase sanctions against a country that has more doctors per capita than any country on Earth and has <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-response-why-cuba-is-such-an-interesting-case-135749">responded more successfully than many nations</a> to COVID-19. We believe that science in the U.S. would gain from reopening communication with Cuba and sharing knowledge that could help heal the global community.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131357/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Bierman receives funding from the US National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda H. Schmidt receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Cuba’s sustainable approach to farming has protected its rivers from the kind of nutrient pollution that impairs many US waterways.Paul Bierman, Professor of Geology and Natural Resources and Fellow of the Gund Institute for Environment, University of VermontAmanda H. Schmidt, Associate Professor of Geology, Oberlin College and ConservatoryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1290412020-01-30T16:03:02Z2020-01-30T16:03:02ZFood that feeds the world and heals it too – Imagine newsletter #6<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309491/original/file-20200110-97130-1m0qlmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1179%2C1035%2C4106%2C2953&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The future of farming is ours to decide.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-globe-withaustralia-south-east-1196597263?src=f-nTGi4bKPTWtREhil7WUA-1-63">Raggedstone/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>According to experts, today’s global agriculture system <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovation_with_a_Purpose_VF-reduced.pdf">faces a crisis</a>. Intensive farming with heavy ploughing machinery is causing soil to be lost <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipccs-land-report-shows-the-problem-with-farming-based-around-oil-not-soil-121643">up to 100 times faster than it is formed</a> – and <a href="https://theconversation.com/soil-is-our-best-ally-in-the-fight-against-climate-change-but-were-fast-running-out-of-it-128166">valuable stored carbon with it too</a>. The soil that remains is becoming depleted of nutrients, thanks to repeated cultivation of the same staple crops without respite.</p>
<p>To delay the consequences of this “cereal abuse” and soup up crop yields, farmers artificially fertilise soils with synthetic nitrogen, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipccs-land-report-shows-the-problem-with-farming-based-around-oil-not-soil-121643">typically made using natural gas or coal</a>. This, combined with methane released by cattle and the loss of stored carbon from <a href="https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/land-use/industrial-agriculture">deforestation for agriculture</a>, means that <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-020411-130608">a quarter of all planet-heating gases</a> come from how we feed the world. These gases are bringing weather patterns so extreme that some experts believe multiple crop failures and food system collapse could be a possibility <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-climate-is-like-reckless-banking-before-the-crash-its-time-to-talk-about-near-term-collapse-128374">in as little as a decade</a>.</p>
<p>Agriculture is <a href="https://theconversation.com/single-crop-farming-is-leaving-wildlife-with-no-room-to-turn-38991">eroding wildlife too</a>. Run-off of fertilisers is causing dead zones in <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/07/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-3-times-larger-than-long-term-targets/">downstream rivers</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ocean-dead-zones-are-spreading-and-that-spells-disaster-for-fish-39668">oceans</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-how-important-are-they-and-what-would-happen-if-they-went-extinct-121272">Pesticides and the conversion of wild habitats to farmland</a> are harming the insects that <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/CA3129EN/CA3129EN.pdf">pollinate crops</a>, and the plants they rely on to thrive.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311672/original/file-20200123-162210-1xqd6yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311672/original/file-20200123-162210-1xqd6yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311672/original/file-20200123-162210-1xqd6yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311672/original/file-20200123-162210-1xqd6yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311672/original/file-20200123-162210-1xqd6yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311672/original/file-20200123-162210-1xqd6yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311672/original/file-20200123-162210-1xqd6yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Modern farming sheds valuable topsoil and fertilisers into aquatic ecosystems, where they smother wildlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrient_pollution#/media/File:Runoff_of_soil_&_fertilizer.jpg">Lynn Betts/U.S. Department of Agriculture</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To top it all off, by the middle of the century there are expected to be a <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html">quarter more mouths on the planet to feed</a>. By that point, the global food system is predicted to cause the planet to <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-food-system-is-at-risk-of-crossing-environmental-limits-heres-how-to-ease-the-pressure-104715">exceed key environmental limits</a> that define a safe operating space for humanity.</p>
<p>The future of food, then, may sound rather bleak. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With drastic changes, the food system could help solve environmental challenges and support human wellbeing.</p>
<p>The question is how to bring about this future – and there are some radically different suggestions out there. In this sixth issue of Imagine, academic experts explore the competing visions on offer, and assess what needs to be done to create a food system that feeds the world and heals it too.</p>
<p>The “green revolution” that produced a <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-the-earth-feed-11-billion-people-four-reasons-to-fear-a-malthusian-future-43347">fourfold increase in global food production</a> since the middle of the 20th century relied on pesticides, fertilisers, machinery, and monocultures. What should the next agricultural revolution hold?</p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>We can hack photosynthesis</h2>
<p>According to some, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-could-lead-to-a-dark-future-125897">a technological revolution</a> that could solve the food crisis is already underway. In this <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-battle-for-the-future-of-farming-what-you-need-to-know-106805">imagined future</a>, next generation biotechnologies will re-engineer plants and animals. Global food systems will rely on smart robots, blockchain technology and the Internet of Things to manufacture synthetic foods for personalised nutrition. Nanotechnology will <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-agricultural-revolution-how-2050s-farms-can-feed-the-planet-and-heal-it-too-128853">maximise the efficiency of fertilisers and pesticides</a>, and improve gene-editing to create crops resistant to the impacts of extreme weather.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284583/original/file-20190717-147295-16meq90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indoor plants need plenty of artificial light.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ventilator-special-led-lights-belts-above-1428413504?studio=1">josefkubes/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One techno-fix in particular lights up the <a href="https://theconversation.com/micro-naps-for-plants-flicking-the-lights-on-and-off-can-save-energy-without-hurting-indoor-agriculture-harvests-120051">night sky with a bright pink glow</a>: vertical farms. They use high-tech lighting and carefully control the indoor climate to bypass the constraints of Earth’s natural cycles to grow crops 24 hours a day, all year round.</p>
<p>Because they recycle water that evaporates from the plants, these closed systems use <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170405-how-vertical-farming-reinvents-agriculture">as little as one-twentieth the water</a> of traditional farms. Most <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa-needs-its-own-version-of-the-vertical-farm-to-feed-growing-cities-74929">don’t need soil either</a>, because they dispense nutrients via mist or water.</p>
<p>They’re at much lower risk of crop loss from contamination, pests, and storms, too. And because they can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/apocalypse-cow-documentarys-vision-for-the-future-of-food-could-leave-farming-in-the-past-129631">placed on unproductive and urban land</a>, they can decrease food miles and provide local produce to city dwellers.</p>
<p>According to expert in food security Asaf Tzachor, they can even help save rainforests. He went to investigate a cutting-edge indoor farm project in Iceland’s Hellisheidi geothermal park. It closely regulates temperature, lighting, nutrient concentrations, and harvest timing to grow not crops, but plant microorganisms.</p>
<p>Using this technique, the project’s photo-bioreactors can produce microalgae with similar nutritional content to soybeans at less than 0.6% of the land and water use.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270529/original/file-20190423-175539-1rwo9ps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270529/original/file-20190423-175539-1rwo9ps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270529/original/file-20190423-175539-1rwo9ps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270529/original/file-20190423-175539-1rwo9ps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270529/original/file-20190423-175539-1rwo9ps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270529/original/file-20190423-175539-1rwo9ps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270529/original/file-20190423-175539-1rwo9ps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Quite a difference.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asaf Tzachor/Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is important because soy cultivation for animal feed is a <a href="https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amazon/land-use/soy">leading cause of deforestation</a> in the Amazon basin. And thanks to projected rapid growth in both <a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/publications/files/key_findings_wpp_2015.pdf">world population</a> and in the meat-eating global <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/global_20170228_global-middle-class.pdf">middle class</a>, demand for soybean is <a href="https://www.aciar.gov.au/node/12101">set to grow 80%</a> by 2050 – more than any other staple crop.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hacking-photosynthesis-could-fight-deforestation-and-famine-114929">How hacking photosynthesis could fight deforestation and famine</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Is technology the saviour, really?</h2>
<p>The trouble is that these technologies often require vast amounts of energy and resources to produce and maintain. As sustainable design researcher at Queen’s University Belfast Andrew Jenkins <a href="https://theconversation.com/food-security-vertical-farming-sounds-fantastic-until-you-consider-its-energy-use-102657">argues</a>, why ramp up power demand at a time of climate crisis, only to replace what the Sun gives us for free?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/food-security-vertical-farming-sounds-fantastic-until-you-consider-its-energy-use-102657">Food security: vertical farming sounds fantastic until you consider its energy use</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/micro-naps-for-plants-flicking-the-lights-on-and-off-can-save-energy-without-hurting-indoor-agriculture-harvests-120051">Micro-naps for plants: Flicking the lights on and off can save energy without hurting indoor agriculture harvests</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Who needs humans?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smart-robotic-farmers-agriculture-futuristic-robot-1149341534?src=EbcmegHOr4ARrcXtt8W5sg-1-3">Kung_tom/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For agricultural ecologist Michel Pimbert and food systems expert Colin Anderson, both at Coventry University, there are deeper problems with a high-tech agricultural future. They argue that it would:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>reinforce the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of a <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovation_with_a_Purpose_VF-reduced.pdf">small number of corporations</a>, such as the World Economic Forum’s “<a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovation_with_a_Purpose_VF-reduced.pdf">Transformative Twelve</a>”; technologies that intend to redesign food systems, but are already under growing monopoly control</p></li>
<li><p>further increase the role that financial markets play in controlling food systems, risking the repeat of earlier <a href="https://www.righttofoodandnutrition.org/files/rtfn-watch-2018_eng.pdf">food crises</a></p></li>
<li><p>result in an increasingly nature-less and people-less food system. As they put it:</p></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Flying robots will pollinate crops instead of living bees. Automated machines will replace farmers’ work on soil preparation, seeding, weeding, fertility, pest control and harvesting of crops.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-battle-for-the-future-of-farming-what-you-need-to-know-106805">The battle for the future of farming: what you need to know</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Agroecology: because nature knows best</h2>
<p>Rather than filling the gaps humans have created in the biosphere with technology, Pimbert and Anderson suggest that the biosphere itself can help solve the food crisis.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/techno-fix-futures-will-only-accelerate-climate-chaos-dont-believe-the-hype-125678">Techno-fix futures will only accelerate climate chaos – don't believe the hype</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Agroecology – a system of farming that <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i9037en/I9037EN.pdf">uses or mimics natural interactions between organisms and their environments</a> – has been highlighted as the most promising pathway to sustainable food by <a href="http://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/7862">several UN reports</a>. According to Karen Rial-Lovera, a senior lecturer in agriculture at Nottingham Trent University, agroecologists promotes <a href="https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0169-5347%2818%2930273-8">circular systems for growing food</a> that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>improve soil quality</strong> by planting nutrient-fixing “cover crops” in between harvest crops, rotating crops across fields each season, and composting organic waste – often including human manure</p></li>
<li><p><strong>support wildlife</strong>, store carbon, and conserve water through the planting of trees and wildflower banks</p></li>
<li><p><strong>control pests and diseases</strong> by harnessing natural repellents and traps. Peppermint, for example, disgusts the flea beetle, a scourge to oilseed rape farmers.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-ways-farms-of-the-future-can-feed-the-planet-and-heal-it-too-128853">Three ways farms of the future can feed the planet and heal it too</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nasturtiums are pest magnets – and they’re edible too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bright-nasturtium-flowers-green-colorful-leaves-1025596633">Shutova Elena/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Pimbert and Anderson explain, agroecology can also help break monopoly power over food systems and return control over the way food is produced, traded and consumed to communities. The system’s short food chains and local markets <a href="https://theconversation.com/break-agricultures-chemical-monopolies-to-free-our-food-16497">reduce the dependence of farmers</a> on expensive external inputs, distant commodity markets and patented technologies.</p>
<p>Research and innovations in agroecology are also being driven largely <a href="http://www.agroecologynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Farming-Matters-Agroecology-EN.pdf">from the bottom up</a> by civil society, social movements and allied researchers. Pimbert and Anderson argue that this offers hope that the system can regenerate not just local ecologies, but local economies and livelihoods too, increasing the income, working conditions, skills and political capital of small-scale farmers. They believe that, compared to technology-dependent visions of agriculture, it’s much more likely to nourish communities in a fair, ecologically regenerative, and culturally rich way.</p>
<h2>Millennia of trial and error</h2>
<p>Many agroecological practices are nothing new. As Anna Krzywoszynska – associate director of the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food – explains, while limited soil fertility can now be bypassed with <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipccs-land-report-shows-the-problem-with-farming-based-around-oil-not-soil-121643">fossil fuel-derived fertilisers</a>, for most of human history, using the local environment and labour to maintain soils in a good state was key to survival. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ipccs-land-report-shows-the-problem-with-farming-based-around-oil-not-soil-121643">IPCC's land report shows the problem with farming based around oil, not soil</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There are plenty of success stories from ancient civilisations that managed to do just that with rather simple means. Kelly Reed, an archaeobotanist at the University of Oxford, thinks we could learn a thing or two from them when building a sustainable future for food. She shares how in southern China, farmers add fish to their rice paddy fields in a method that dates back 2,000 years. </p>
<p>The fish are an additional protein source, so the system produces more food than rice farming alone. They also provide a <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/108/50/E1381.short">natural pest control</a> by eating weeds and harmful pests such as the <a href="http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/training/fact-sheets/pest-management/insects/item/planthopper">rice planthopper</a>. Compared to fields that only grow rice, rice-fish farming increases <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12562-010-0299-2">rice yields</a> by up to 20%, while using less of the agricultural chemicals that pollute water and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipccs-land-report-shows-the-problem-with-farming-based-around-oil-not-soil-121643">generate greenhouse gases</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287510/original/file-20190809-144868-15e9lpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rice-fish farms produce more food and need fewer chemical pesticides.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mina-padi-cultivation-rice-fields-combination-1090069508?src=GMIpY9ixwMjwQPDaWFZ0TA-1-14">Tirtaperwitasari/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But according to Reed this practice, like many others with ancient history, is a dying art. Today, smallholder rice-fish paddies are increasingly being pushed out by larger commercial organisations wishing to expand monoculture rice or fish farms. </p>
<h2>Power to the producers</h2>
<p>But research suggests it’s not too late to reorient farms around age-old wisdom and natural solutions. <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/mj760e/mj760e.pdf">At least 75%</a> of the world’s 1.5 billion smallholder farmers <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2018.1472507">still practise agroecological techniques today</a>.</p>
<p>Most of these are in emerging economies such as Brazil, India, China and South Africa – countries in which industrial agriculture also occupies a growing share of land. Boosting small-scale farming <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-developing-countries-should-boost-the-ways-of-small-scale-farming-100097">is particularly important for such countries</a>, say University of Cape Town’s Rachel Wynberg and Stellenbosch University’s Laura Pereira, both experts in agricultural transformations.</p>
<p>They argue that these emerging economies could and should invest heavily in agroecological research and training programmes, especially where resources are scarce. If they do, they could avoid having to depend on technology and monopolies for food security, improve the livelihoods of small-scale, resource-poor and often marginalised farmers, and address the environmental damage wrought by industrial agriculture at the same time. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-developing-countries-should-boost-the-ways-of-small-scale-farming-100097">Why developing countries should boost the ways of small-scale farming</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Carbon farming</h2>
<p>Nature-inspired agriculture can also play an important role in tackling the climate crisis – and not just from using less fertiliser. </p>
<p>Healthy peatlands contain more carbon than <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011EO120001">all the world’s vegetation combined</a>, but the vast majority of them <a href="https://www.schweizerbart.de/publications/detail/isbn/9783510653836/Joosten_Tanneberger_Moen_Mires_and_peat">throughout Europe</a> and much of the world have been drained and converted into farm fields. The drained peat soils that stand in their place emit vast quantities of carbon dioxide – the total emitted each year from just the UK’s East Anglian Fens and damaged upland peat soils may be equivalent to around <a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-farming-how-agriculture-can-both-feed-people-and-fight-climate-change-111593">30% of the country’s annual car emissions</a>.</p>
<p>This widespread draining is largely owed to the fact that our agricultural system spread from the dry semi-desert conditions of the Middle East during the shift from hunter-gathering to settled farming. This means that farming has been dominated for the past 5,000 years by the principle that dry land is good and wet land is bad.</p>
<p>Peatland conservationist Richard Lindsay <a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-farming-how-agriculture-can-both-feed-people-and-fight-climate-change-111593">wants to change farming’s celebration of dryness</a>. He says that wetlands can provide highly productive new forms of farming that not only grow crops, but also reduce the risk of floods and add to rather than deplete reservoirs of soil carbon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261029/original/file-20190226-150728-cntx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sphagnum cultivation: the moss is useful as it is excellent at retaining water and nutrients.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Neal Wright</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Germany, for instance, a type of “bulrush” is already being grown on wetlands and used to produce fire-resistant <a href="https://typhaboard.com/">building board</a>. At the University of East London, Lindsay is testing two potential crops: sphagnum bog moss as a <a href="https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FR021686%2F1">replacement for peat</a> in garden-centre “grow bags”, and “sweet grass” as a food crop.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-farming-how-agriculture-can-both-feed-people-and-fight-climate-change-111593">Carbon farming: how agriculture can both feed people and fight climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the future then, many farmers could be cultivating carbon as well as crops. Here’s a vision for what life could be like for a “carbon farmer” three or four generations from now:</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/303463841" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In the future, farmers could be peatland guardians, producing crops and healing the planet.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Taking the carbon out of cows</h2>
<p>It’s impossible to discuss farming and the climate crisis without mentioning animal agriculture. The livestock industry alone accounts for about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/11/meat-tax-inevitable-to-beat-climate-and-health-crises-says-report">15% of global emissions</a>. But, according to Rial-Lovera, that doesn’t mean it should be done away with entirely.</p>
<p>Rial-Lovera outlines how carefully managed grazing can actually help the environment, not harm it. Grassland captures carbon dioxide. Animals eat the grass, and then return that carbon to the soil as excrement. The nutrients in the excrement and the continuous grazing of grass both help new grass roots to grow, increasing the capacity of the land to capture carbon.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Carefully managed grazing can help the environment, not harm it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/qvVgDIE05PI">Millie Olsen/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Keep too many grazing animals in one place for too long and they eat too much grass and produce too much excrement for the soil to absorb, meaning carbon is lost to the atmosphere. But if small numbers are constantly rotated into different fields, the soil can <a href="https://www.fcrn.org.uk/sites/default/files/project-files/fcrn_gnc_report.pdf">store enough extra carbon</a> to counterbalance the extra methane emitted by the digestive rumblings of livestock.</p>
<p>Ian Lunt – associate professor of vegetation ecology and management at Charles Sturt University in Australia – insists that livestock bring other benefits to the land too. They keep soil naturally fertilised, and can <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-livestock-grazing-benefit-biodiversity-10789">also improve biodiversity</a> by eating more aggressively competitive plants, allowing others to grow. And if local breeds are adopted, they generally don’t require expensive feed and veterinary care, as they’re adapted to local conditions.</p>
<p>University of California animal biotechnologist Alison Van Eenannaam <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cows-are-getting-a-bad-rap-in-lab-grown-meat-debate-103716">argues</a> that this is a much more environmentally friendly way of producing meat than lab-grown equivalents. She writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Nature has already developed a fully functional biological fermentation bioreactor for the conversion of inedible solar-powered cellulosic material, such as grass, into high-quality protein. It is called a cow.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cows-are-getting-a-bad-rap-in-lab-grown-meat-debate-103716">Why cows are getting a bad rap in lab-grown meat debate</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Less grazing, more rewilding</h2>
<p>But the global livestock population will still need to fall drastically if agriculture is to stem rather than accelerate global heating. In the UK at least, this transition can bring multiple environmental benefits without compromising the livelihoods of livestock farmers, says the University of St Andrews’ Ian Boyd.</p>
<p>Around 20% of the UK’s farms account for 80% of the country’s total food production, and they do this on about half of all the farmed land there is. At least 80% of farms in the UK don’t produce very much at all, and <a href="https://fullfact.org/economy/farming-subsidies-uk/">rely heavily on government subsidies</a> to stay viable. Livestock farms are the least profitable of all, yet they take up <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/uknaturalcapitallandcoverintheuk/2015-03-17">45% of the UK’s land surface</a>.</p>
<p>Instead of propping up unproductive crop and grazing land, subsidies could instead task farmers with rewilding their land to forest or other habitats that can lock away CO₂ and expand habitats for wildlife, says Boyd. Farmers could also be rewarded for opening land near urban areas for public access, creating places of recreation that <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(08)61689-X/fulltex">support human wellbeing</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300082/original/file-20191104-88382-v7xx70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300082/original/file-20191104-88382-v7xx70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300082/original/file-20191104-88382-v7xx70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300082/original/file-20191104-88382-v7xx70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300082/original/file-20191104-88382-v7xx70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300082/original/file-20191104-88382-v7xx70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300082/original/file-20191104-88382-v7xx70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spending just two hours a week in nature has been shown to benefit a person’s health and mental wellbeing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/2ShvY8Lf6l0">Lukasz Szmigiel/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This would free up not only grazing land, but vast swathes of land currently used to grow animal feed. The livestock industry is an inefficient use of land – only 10-20% of the vegetable matter fed to livestock is converted into meat. <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-environ-081710-161014">Around 75%</a> of the calories fed to livestock in the UK comes from land that could produce human food, or be rewilded, says Boyd.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-crisis-the-countryside-could-be-our-greatest-ally-if-we-can-reform-farming-126304">Climate crisis: the countryside could be our greatest ally – if we can reform farming</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rewild-25-of-the-uk-for-less-climate-change-more-wildlife-and-a-life-lived-closer-to-nature-123836">Rewild 25% of the UK for less climate change, more wildlife and a life lived closer to nature</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Anything is possible</h2>
<p>Of course, this would mean us all eating much less meat. Bringing people on board with this might seem like an impossible task. But Paul Young, associate professor of Victorian literature and culture at the University of Exeter, shows us that meat-eating habits are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-victorians-caused-the-meat-eating-crisis-the-world-faces-today-but-they-might-help-us-solve-it-109310">more malleable than we might think</a>.</p>
<p>In 19th-century Britain, a fast increasing population caused a mid-Victorian “meat famine”. To stave it off, groundbreaking preservation and transportation technologies were developed that enabled the British to eat livestock reared in the Americas and Australasia. This laid the foundations for the global meat markets that support the <a href="https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/01/EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf">overproduction and consumption of meat today</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252721/original/file-20190107-32127-16b6x4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252721/original/file-20190107-32127-16b6x4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252721/original/file-20190107-32127-16b6x4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252721/original/file-20190107-32127-16b6x4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252721/original/file-20190107-32127-16b6x4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252721/original/file-20190107-32127-16b6x4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252721/original/file-20190107-32127-16b6x4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Today’s mechanised meat industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/meat-processing-plant-carcasses-beef-hang-740301826?src=LCp0yH4B5kYyYQ1qGVW3ag-1-7">Mehmet Cetin/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mass marketing campaigns alongside positive media coverage also helped promote these new forms of meat, until they became seen as an essential part of everyday meals for all. As a result, per capita meat consumption <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3742485?read-now=1&seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents">rose by nearly half</a> between the 1850s and the 1910s, despite the fact that Britain’s population nearly doubled during this period.</p>
<p>The globalisation of Victorian meat eating was revolutionary, but it was also highly controversial. Many were wary of eating long-dead animals from far flung parts of the world. Overseas competition provoked demands to protect British agriculture, both to preserve traditional ways of life and to guarantee food security. Animal rights campaigners too were concerned at the increasingly intensive farming methods and assembly line slaughter techniques associated with developing meat markets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-victorians-caused-the-meat-eating-crisis-the-world-faces-today-but-they-might-help-us-solve-it-109310">The Victorians caused the meat eating crisis the world faces today – but they might help us solve it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For Young, this Victorian history shows that hundreds of millions of people eat meat in the way and the quantities they do, not because they’re inherently designed to do so, but because of a global system set in motion by British imperial power. Not so long ago, the prospect of eating frozen lamb from the other side of the world provoked scepticism and disgust. Who’s to say that we can’t transform our dietary habits once more – or the future of our food system, for that matter?</p>
<h2>Further reading</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/meat-tax-why-taxing-sausages-and-bacon-could-save-hundreds-of-thousands-of-lives-every-year-106399">Meat tax: why taxing sausages and bacon could save hundreds of thousands of lives every year</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-insects-can-help-fight-hunger-in-the-world-104951">How insects can help fight hunger in the world</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-ways-to-halt-a-global-food-crisis-118436">Eight ways to halt a global food crisis</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gardeners-are-reclaiming-agriculture-from-industry-one-seed-at-a-time-128071">How gardeners are reclaiming agriculture from industry, one seed at a time</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/we-know-how-food-production-needs-to-change-if-crisis-is-to-be-avoided-so-why-isnt-this-happening-92903">We know how food production needs to change if crisis is to be avoided – so why isn’t this happening?</a></p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1129041">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
We all need to eat. Experts imagine how the next agricultural revolution can feed us while fighting climate change and habitat destruction, instead of accelerating it.Jordan Raine, Commissioning EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1288532019-12-20T11:12:29Z2019-12-20T11:12:29ZThree ways farms of the future can feed the planet and heal it too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308086/original/file-20191220-11891-1cd7ggs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6016%2C4007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nature and technology can combine to help farms of the future nourish the earth and its inhabitants.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-farmers-using-digital-tablet-cultivation-548038507">SimplyDay/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Intensive agriculture may be nourishing most of the Earth’s inhabitants, but it’s doing the opposite to earth itself. Its dependence on singular crops, heavy ploughing machinery, fossil-fuel based fertilisers and pesticides is <a href="https://theconversation.com/soil-is-our-best-ally-in-the-fight-against-climate-change-but-were-fast-running-out-of-it-128166">degrading our soils</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-how-important-are-they-and-what-would-happen-if-they-went-extinct-121272">wildlife</a> and nutrient cycles, and contributing <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-020411-130608">a quarter of the planet’s unwanted extra heat</a>.</p>
<p>But we’re not powerless to change the future of food. Nature and technological innovation are tackling these problems head on – and if the solutions they’re offering are incorporated on a large scale and used together, a new agricultural revolution could be on its way. Here are three of the most exciting developments that can help farms not just feed the planet, but heal it too.</p>
<h2>Crops, trees and livestock in harmony</h2>
<p><a href="http://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/7862">Several UN reports</a> have <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i9037en/I9037EN.pdf">highlighted agroecology</a> – farming that mimics the interactions and cycles of plants, animals and nutrients in the natural world – as a path to sustainable food.</p>
<p>The approach uses <a href="https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0169-5347%2818%2930273-8">a wide variety of practices</a>. For example, instead of artificial fertilisers, it improves soil quality by planting nutrient-fixing “cover crops” in between harvest crops, rotating crops across fields each season and composting organic waste. It supports wildlife, stores carbon, and conserves water through the planting of trees and wildflower banks.</p>
<p>It also <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/2041-7136-1-26">integrates livestock with crops</a>. This may seem counter-intuitive given their <a href="https://theconversation.com/eating-less-meat-is-a-climate-priority-whatever-the-sceptics-say-105884">inefficient land use and high emissions</a>. But having a small number of animals grazing land doesn’t have to accelerate global heating.</p>
<p>Grassland captures carbon dioxide. Animals eat the grass, and then return that carbon to the soil as excrement. The nutrients in the excrement and the continuous grazing of grass both help new grass roots to grow, increasing the capacity of the land to capture carbon.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308087/original/file-20191220-11904-3sboy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Carefully managed grazing can help the environment, not harm it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/qvVgDIE05PI">Millie Olsen/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Keep too many grazing animals in one place for too long and they eat too much grass and produce too much excrement for the soil to take on, meaning carbon is lost to the atmosphere. But if small numbers are constantly rotated into different fields, the soil can <a href="https://www.fcrn.org.uk/sites/default/files/project-files/fcrn_gnc_report.pdf">store enough extra carbon</a> to counterbalance the extra methane emitted by livestock’s digestive rumblings.</p>
<p>While this doesn’t make them a carbon sink, livestock bring other benefits to the land. They keep soil naturally fertilised, and can <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-livestock-grazing-benefit-biodiversity-10789">also improve biodiversity</a> by eating more aggressive plants, allowing others to grow. And if local breeds are adopted, they generally don’t require expensive feed and veterinary care, as they’re adapted to local conditions. </p>
<h2>Pesticides no more</h2>
<p>Pests, diseases and weeds cause almost 40% of <a href="http://www.fao.org/tempref/docrep/fao/010/i0142e/i0142e06.pdf">crop losses globally</a> – and without care, the figure could rise dramatically. Climate change is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate1990">shifting where pests and diseases</a> thrive, making it harder for farmers to stay resilient.</p>
<p>Many commonly used <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/04/germany-ban-glyphosate-weedkiller-by-2023">herbicides</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/yet-another-widely-used-insecticide-found-to-harm-bees-regulators-need-to-change-their-approach-126000">pesticides</a> and fungicides are now also under pressure to be banned because of their negative effects on the health of humans and wildlife. Even if they’re not, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0470-1">growing resistance to their action</a> is making controlling weeds, pests and diseases increasingly challenging.</p>
<p>Nature is again providing answers here. Farmers are starting to use <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1470160X18302917">pesticides derived from plants</a>, which tend to be much less toxic to the surrounding environment.</p>
<p>They’re also using natural enemies to keep threats at bay. Some may act as repellents, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-99768-1_10#Sec2">“pushing” pests away</a>. For example, peppermint disgusts the flea beetle, a scourge to oilseed rape farmers. Others are “pulls”, attracting pests away from valuable crops. Plants that are attractive for egg-laying but that don’t support the survival of insect larvae are <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-99768-1_10#Sec2">commonly used for this purpose</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308088/original/file-20191220-11946-qx4hma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nasturtiums are pest magnets – and they’re edible too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bright-nasturtium-flowers-green-colorful-leaves-1025596633">Shutova Elena/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Technology is also offering solutions on this front. Some farmers are already using apps to monitor, warn and predict when pest and diseases will attack crops. Driverless tractors and intelligent sprayers that can <a href="https://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/crop-management/weed-management/video-worlds-first-robotic-weed-mapping-service-launched">target specific weeds or nutritional needs</a> have recently entered the market. Agritech companies are now also developing robots that can scan fields, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-38343-3">identify specific plants</a>, and decide whether to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168169918316612">use pesticide</a> or to remove a plant mechanically.</p>
<p>In combination, these methods can dramatically reduce agriculture’s reliance on herbicides and pesticides without lowering crop yields. This is important, since the world’s population is set to <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html">rise by a quarter in the next three decades</a>.</p>
<h2>Small tech, big difference</h2>
<p>Soon, technology at an almost impossibly small scale could make a big difference to the way we grow our food. <a href="http://www.urthagriculture.com/nano-ag-fertilizer">Companies have designed nanoparticles</a> 100,000 times smaller then the width of a human hair that release fertiliser and pesticides slowly but steadily, to minimise their use and maximise crop yields.</p>
<p>New gene-editing techniques will also increasingly use <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/comments/S0167-7799(18)30093-3">nanomaterials to transfer DNA to plants</a>. These techniques can be used to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882401018300901#fig1">detect the presence of pests and nutrient</a> deficiencies, or simply improve their resistance to extreme weather and pests. Given that <a href="https://issuu.com/easaceurope/docs/easac_statement_extreme_weather_eve">increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather</a> events due to global heating are putting the very functioning of the global food system <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-climate-is-like-reckless-banking-before-the-crash-its-time-to-talk-about-near-term-collapse-128374">at risk</a>, these advancements could be vital for preventing agricultural collapse.</p>
<p>Nanotechnologies aren’t cheap yet and researchers have yet <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/180704">to conduct rigorous tests</a> of how toxic nanomaterials are to humans and plants, and how durable they are. But should they pass these tests, agriculture will surely <a href="https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1657">follow the path of other industries</a> in adopting the technology on a large scale.</p>
<p>Save for nanotechnology and advanced robots, the above solutions are already in use in many small-scale and commercial farms – just not in combination. Imagine them working in synchrony and suddenly a vision of sustainable agriculture doesn’t seem so far away anymore.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1128853">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128853/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Rial-Lovera does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’re not powerless to change the future of food. Nature and technology can combine to nourish both the earth and its inhabitants.Karen Rial-Lovera, Senior Lecturer in Agriculture, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1136282019-09-19T17:11:39Z2019-09-19T17:11:39ZTaking back the hills: a tale of women rights and lands in the Catalan Pyrenees<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290741/original/file-20190903-175682-ih2e0q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C177%2C4898%2C3076&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Montse Barado, casa Armengol (Sorpe). In summer, once a week, cattle ranchers and shepherds climb to the communal lands to have a look at the animals and give them some salt.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Tarrasón i Cerdá, </span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I met Meritxell and Laia one bright sunny day in April, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallars_Sobir%C3%A0">Pallars Sobirà</a>, a mountainous county in the Catalan Pyrenees. Both are women farmers and work in livestock management – Meritxell is a cattle rancher, while Laia herds goats and makes cheese. </p>
<p>Unlike most women in the region, both have made a conscious choice to live and work in the Pallars’ hills, despite the harsh conditions. Even as spring unfolds, from their houses they can watch the flakes of snow still covering the mountain pastures. Soon the foothills are slowly revealed, uncovering green meadows and flowers, with bees popping out from the white winter coating.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292408/original/file-20190913-8661-dqzvp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catalunya Pallars Sobirà.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallars_Sobir%C3%A0#/media/Fichier:Catalunya_Pallars_Sobir%C3%A0.png">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I met Meritxell and Laia through the <a href="http://www.agata.cat">AGATA research project</a> on the social and agricultural dynamics in the Pallars Sobirà region. I am trying with my colleagues to understand the threats to agricultural and pastoral systems in mountainous areas, including environmental and socio-economic changes, with a specific look at gender issues. In addition to Pallars Sobirà, we are also looking at two other case studies in Spain, in the mountains near the Mediterranean. </p>
<p>In our research, we found that traditional farming is not acknowledged and that people like Meritxell and Laia, who through their activities take care of the mountain ecosystems, have become largely invisible. Yet they fight back, in particular trying to make a difference to adapt to and mitigate climate change.</p>
<h2>The choice of a rural life</h2>
<p>Meritxell is from an old <em>casa</em> (household in Catalan) in the countryside. Historically, the <em>casa</em> was at the productive and reproductive core of the Pyrenees society. Originally, only the <em>hereu</em> and the <em>pubilla</em> (the first man or woman of the family) were in charge of the transmission of the socio-economic heritage. In an unequal society, women were in charge of chores, children, activities close to the house. They also helped in all the other farming activities. A triple burden of work, often invisible.</p>
<p>But times have changed. Meritxell is not the <em>pubilla</em>, but she “always wanted to be a woman rancher, to live in the mountain and manage animals”. After studying and working away from the farm, she ultimately decided to come back to preserve the traditional activity of her family. For Laia, she studied arts and moved from the city because she, like many other newcomers, was seeking a different life and wanted to “reconnect with nature and silence”. The economic crisis and “love” eventually led to this choice.</p>
<p>Both women believe that mountains and villages are the gatekeepers of an ancestral rural culture to which they gave birth. Combined with new socio-economic models, this culture may offer responses that can help mitigate climate change.</p>
<h2><em>Matança</em> for breakfast</h2>
<p>Laia rises at 6 a.m. every day. After helping her husband milk the goats, she attends to their children and then prepares the tools she needs to make cheese. Today she will be making a typical cheese from the Pyrenees, <em>el Serrat</em>, whose recipe she learned from the oldest women of the village, known as <em>las padrinas</em>.</p>
<p>In the afternoon Laia will take over from her husband working with the shepherd dogs. She will walk with them and a hundred of goats to the communal lands, where the animals have been grazing, generation after generation, spring after spring, maintaining this cultural landscape.</p>
<p>Meritxell also wakes up early. She quickly finishes her chores, feeds chickens and waters the home garden. She wakes up her 10 year-old daughter, home for Easter holidays. Their breakfast is made of handmade cheese and <em>xulís</em>, a salami prepared during the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1HtaAXpxxA">traditional slaughter of pigs</a> (<em>matança</em> in Catalan) in every house.</p>
<p>After, they will walk a few kilometres to the <em>granja</em> (farm), where they will have a look at the new-born calves and their mothers. After, they will have to move the cows from one field to the other. Meritxell’s daughter is eager to accompany her today and learn how to take care of the vegetable garden and the animals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290745/original/file-20190903-175691-gai6g3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290745/original/file-20190903-175691-gai6g3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290745/original/file-20190903-175691-gai6g3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290745/original/file-20190903-175691-gai6g3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290745/original/file-20190903-175691-gai6g3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290745/original/file-20190903-175691-gai6g3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290745/original/file-20190903-175691-gai6g3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Victòria Vilalta, casa Serraire (València d'Àneu). The animals have been grazing communal lands for generations, conserving the cultural landscape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Tarrasón i Cerdá</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Villages are emptying</h2>
<p>Meritxell is one of the few women in her family to pursue the traditional agropastoral activity. Her sisters were not interested and believe that a job in the city would earn them a better livelihood. Besides, they feel that hill life was too hard for women. But to Meritxell, traditional activities and local knowledge are precious and perhaps the only way to save the mountains.</p>
<p>In recent decades, local economics and Pyrenees society have been transformed drastically. This is due to the <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecoru_0013-0559_1991_num_202_1_4184">progressive urbanisation and the modernisation of agriculture</a> that started in the 1960s and continued through the 1990s, progressively depopulating rural areas.</p>
<p>This process has been amplified by the economic crisis and the European agrarian policies in the last two decades. They prioritise intensive production <a href="https://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/318_2016-AGRICECON.pdf">in the plains</a> and tourism or conservation-based policies in the hills. Such policies reflect a certain “colonisation” of the mountains and how its imaginary has been captured by the urban.</p>
<h2>Transmission of traditional farming culture weakens</h2>
<p>Such changes have encouraged farmers to leave their local livelihoods, migrate or look for other work. Women were particularly interested by such shift from the agropastoral system to tertiary activities. In return, their transmission of traditional farming culture and knowledge to children weakened.</p>
<p>In Meritxell’s village, only three families remain today, compared to the 25 that lived and worked here in the 1960s. Many young people have left, others are unemployed and disdain “traditional jobs and ways” of <em>pagès</em> (farmer in Catalan). Many fields in the region have been progressively abandoned, starting with less accessible lands, where mechanisation was not possible. Others gradually followed, due mainly to the shortage of youth and specialised employees, progressively increasing the rewilding of mountain pastures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292784/original/file-20190917-19055-1xdh6h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292784/original/file-20190917-19055-1xdh6h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292784/original/file-20190917-19055-1xdh6h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292784/original/file-20190917-19055-1xdh6h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292784/original/file-20190917-19055-1xdh6h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292784/original/file-20190917-19055-1xdh6h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292784/original/file-20190917-19055-1xdh6h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many scenic villages of the Catalan Pyrenees, such as Gavàs (Vall d'Àneu), could disappear or empty.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Tarrasón i Cerdá</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Without <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217847">human presence and activities of animals</a>, this hilly cultural landscape is at risk of disappearing, with stark consequences. It can directly affect key ecosystem services such as healthy food, provision of water and <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/soil-carbon-storage-84223790/">soil carbon storage</a>. Rewilding can also disturb biodiversity and its associated ecological functions, such as pollination, dispersion and the protection of lands, animals and people against destructive fires. Such dynamics leave the land vulnerable, a process that can be accelerated by <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/">climate change</a>.</p>
<h2>Losing control over resources</h2>
<p>Current EU environmental and agrarian policies have not been designed to protect small families and producers of livestock or these cultural Mediterranean landscapes. European decisions have also tampered with traditional livelihoods. </p>
<p>As the stock market defines food value, small producers become dependent of its fluctuations. <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/540374/IPOL_STU(2015)540374_EN.pdf">Unfair pricing and an unequal distribution of subsidies</a> within a complex bureaucracy deepen the <a href="http://indicadors.arrandeterra.org">wealth gap</a> between agriculture and herding and other professions. In the process, farmers lose control over lands and resources, as transformation, distribution and consumption patterns are being dictated by institutions and markets.</p>
<p>Mind-sets are also increasingly urbanised, leading to new dietary and consumption habits. Many Catalonians, including farmers, now buy cheap products of poor quality they find in supermarkets rather than looking to their own lands for high-quality meat and produce. As such pressure and changes grown, women have suffered collateral damage.</p>
<h2>Fighting invisibility and stereotypes</h2>
<p>In Catalonia’s rural areas, the culture is conservative and centred around work, and women still have few rights. <a href="https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/athdig/athdig_a2014m11v14n3/athdig_a2014m11v14n3p3.pdf">Studies indicate</a> that only 26% of women in Catalonia own land in their own names. While this is better than in Spain as a whole – the <a href="http://www.fao.org/gender-landrights-database/data-map/statistics/en/">rate is 21%</a> – many women who run farms are not even registered as farmers.</p>
<p>The numbers would rise if underprivileged and migrant women were fully accounted for. Often invisible, they can become the <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/604966/IPOL_STU%282018%29604966_EN.pdf">victims of abuse and exploitation</a> in intensive farming. </p>
<p>On the top of such discriminations, Meritxell, Laia and other rural women farmers also have to fight against stereotypes that affect their daily lives. They denounce the negative social image that can paint them as secondary players, the ones who “help” the man, or are the “wife of”, “mother of” or “daughter of”.</p>
<p>Sexist and paternalistic views within society and the livestock-management sector undermine the value of such women’s work. They usually hear the same unsolicited advices over and over again:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Nena (baby), this is not a work for a woman”</p>
<p>“A girl should not drive a tractor”</p>
<p>“A woman should not walk alone in the mountain”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When they hear such comments, Meritxell and Laia usually shrug. They dismiss the idea that they should conform to gender stereotype of being “feminine” while working as farmers. “I have neglected my hands because they take care of the animals and the earth” says Laia. Meritxell adds: “People are surprised because I drive a truck, wear boots and still use makeup”.</p>
<h2>Women-only farmers Facebook groups</h2>
<p>Despite so many obstacles, Meritxell and Laia are striving to make a difference. Like other women I have met, they are demanding a voice in the decisions made within the household, the community and society. They ensure that responsibilities between the houses and the farm are shared, and they’re becoming more involved in traditional organisations such as trade unions, shepherds associations and communal institutions.</p>
<p>Today, two young cattle ranchers from the county head the “Association of the <em>Vaca Bruna</em>” (an native breed of Pyrenees cow) and other women are part of the “Association of the Pyrenees Horse”. In this way, they ensure that roles are not defined on a gender line, and work to establish a better and more equitable production. They expect empathetic behaviour toward animals (and individuals), which they want to nurture through a more respectful, patient and less “macho” approach. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292268/original/file-20190912-190007-zv8qkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ramaderes Facebook page.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Personal-Blog/Ramaderescat-787838001413853">Facebook</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They also organise themselves online, using social networks to connect with other women shepherds and farmers. Networks include the site <a href="https://donesmonrural.wordpress.com/">Dones Mon Rural</a> and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Personal-Blog/Ramaderescat-787838001413853/">Ramaderes Facebook page</a>.</p>
<p>These women-only groups prove safe spaces beyond the boundaries of traditional farming communities to express emotions, lobby for gender equality among farmers, or simply exchange information and knowledge. Women can also access information and join public debates and panels with governmental and non-governmental institutions. It also allows them to take part in decisions on key policies and measures for the sector, give voice their concerns for women or other marginalised groups in rural areas and campaign for alternative economical models.</p>
<h2>Blending traditions and innovations</h2>
<p>In their communities, Laia and Meritxell try to fight the economic constraints of the agrobusiness model, mixing traditions and innovations. They promote their products based on the way they are conceived: respectful of the nature, the seasonal migration of animals, and mindful of the hills’ resources and their own bio-cultural heritages.</p>
<p>Meritxell learned from her parents and ancestors. She went to the fields with her father, worked with in the garden with her mother. Her grandmother taught her the use of natural therapies for animals and local names of plants and flowers. Names of the rocks she learned from her grandfather, who would take her to the mountains in summer like all the other cattle ranchers and shepherds.</p>
<p>Meritxell keeps up the tradition. Every Sunday she and her family meet with groups of other farmers. Together they manage the shared communal lands. It is important for her to spend time in the community, discussing and making decisions together, and one day she will pass on all her knowledge to her daughter.</p>
<h2>“Adopt” a sheep</h2>
<p>In the case of Laia, she studied at a specialised school. The Shepherds School works toward saving the intangible heritage of local farming to transmit it to new generations, as well as introducing new agro-ecological principles.</p>
<p>A few years ago she started making artisanal cheeses. She prefers direct selling or farmers market so she can build new relationships with consumers and within the rural-ecological touristic sector. Other local creative initiatives sprouted, such as the <a href="http://www.xisqueta.cat/en/">Xisqueta Obrador</a>, which was establish to valorise the use of the wool from a native breed of sheep, as well as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecomuseum"><em>ecomuseos</em></a>. They allow visiting families to “adopt” a sheep or a goat, spend a day in the mountains with a shepherd, or visit a farm and taste cheese.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292250/original/file-20190912-190035-1oecw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292250/original/file-20190912-190035-1oecw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292250/original/file-20190912-190035-1oecw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292250/original/file-20190912-190035-1oecw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292250/original/file-20190912-190035-1oecw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292250/original/file-20190912-190035-1oecw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292250/original/file-20190912-190035-1oecw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clara Ferrando, Casa Mateu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Tarrasón i Cerdá</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Laia isn’t afraid of innovation – last year her French-style cheese won several national competitions – but she always prepares the traditional cheeses to ensure that local taste and traditions live on. Along with other shepherds, she feels that “a culture of quality and restraint”, “based on rescuing the commons” can maintain the extensive livestock management and keep small farmers alive. In fact, four of her friends, two men and two women, recently funded the first cooperative in the area of ecological goats.</p>
<h2>Where are mountains and women going?</h2>
<p>Yet many questions remain to be answered. How do we envision the future in such Mediterranean mountainous regions among traditions, rural abandonment and alternative innovations? As we observed <a href="http://www.agata.cat">during our project</a>, saving the mountains and their key ecological functions requires defending livestock management, preserving local knowledge and pioneering local socioeconomic and agri-food models. To do it, social inclusion and gender equality play a key role.</p>
<p>Will Meritxell be able to interest her older daughter in the way she has been working with animals and seeds at home and in her fields? Will Laia be able to face up to the risks involved, defend traditions while continuing to innovate, connect with other sectors to defend a close, sustainable and alternative economic model? Will that be enough to deal with global environmental challenges ahead?</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The “Meritxell” and “Laia” stories and names have been intertwined with real-life accounts of women farmers and cheese makers we interviewed in the Pallars Sobirà in 2018-2019. They are archetypes of women in the area we can find among old families and newcomers.</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Created in 2007 to help accelerate and share scientific knowledge on key societal issues, the Axa Research Fund has been supporting nearly 600 projects around the world conducted by researchers from 54 countries. To learn more, visit the site of the <a href="https://www.axa-research.org/en/">Axa Research Fund</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113628/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Federica Ravera is a member of the Chair of Agroecology and Food Systems at the University of Vic - UCC and a member of the FRACTAL collective (<a href="http://fractalcollective.org">http://fractalcollective.org</a>), a collective of women researchers who work in a space of collaboration, mutual support and feminist activism. She also receives funding from AXA Research Fund.</span></em></p>In the Catalan Pyrenees, women shepherds and cattle ranchers try to valorise the ancestral agropastoral culture to save the mountains from climate change.Federica Ravera, Postdoctoral researcher, Chair in Agroecology and Food systems, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de CatalunyaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1184362019-07-08T04:38:10Z2019-07-08T04:38:10ZEight ways to halt a global food crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282734/original/file-20190704-51268-ao4980.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-tractor-spraying-chemicals-on-281487311?studio=1">Stockr/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are serious challenges to global food supply everywhere we look. Intensive use of fertilisers in the US Midwest is causing nutrients to run off into rivers and streams, degrading the water quality and causing a <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/07/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-3-times-larger-than-long-term-targets/">Connecticut-size dead zone</a> in the Gulf of Mexico. Chocolate production will soon be <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10584-013-0774-8">challenged in West Africa</a> – home to over half of global production. A variety of <a href="https://www-annualreviews-org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044356">nutritional impacts</a> are predicted due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide – including decreased protein content in food, which has a potential to exacerbate malnutrition. And this is just a very small sample of the risks to the food supply chain that are foreseen.</p>
<p>The future of food then, may sound rather bleak. But this does not have to be the case. The food system could become part of the solution for environmental challenges, if we make some changes to it. It could also be an instrument of human health, well-being, dignity, and livelihood – rather than the opposite.</p>
<p>But this won’t happen without a radical rethink of our food systems and consumption patterns across the globe – particularly within the context of our cities. Upwards of <a href="http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_c/popups/mod13t01s009.html">75%</a> of the global north’s population is urbanised and the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization">global south is rapidly moving</a> in this direction. Strategies for how these city regions can be fed using more local resources are crucial.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282737/original/file-20190704-51278-cexin9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282737/original/file-20190704-51278-cexin9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282737/original/file-20190704-51278-cexin9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282737/original/file-20190704-51278-cexin9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282737/original/file-20190704-51278-cexin9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282737/original/file-20190704-51278-cexin9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282737/original/file-20190704-51278-cexin9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rooftop vegetable garden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rooftop-garden-vegetable-growing-vegetables-on-1010959666?src=vpUe__56Xqq1Aou7Oiv10Q-1-0&studio=1">YuRi Photolife/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those living in the urban global north are very comfortable with having any foods desired available at any point across the calendar year. This comes at a high cost. Foods transported by air cause nearly four times <a href="http://www.cleanmetrics.com/pages/Ch9_0923.pdf">the CO₂ released</a> compared to truck and 38 times that of a comparable amount transported by rail. Biodiversity and ecosystem loss <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/CA3129EN/CA3129EN.pdf">threatens</a> food production – and meanwhile, agriculture is a key driver of this <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/whats-causing-deforestation-new-study-reveals-global-drivers">loss</a>. Furthermore, excessive water use for export agriculture in water-stressed areas can negatively impact local food and livelihoods – for example to secure large quantities of avocados for global north markets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-urban-farmers-are-learning-to-grow-food-without-soil-or-natural-light-88720">How urban farmers are learning to grow food without soil or natural light</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we are to avoid some of these crises, we need to re-imagine where our food comes from and move, at least in part, towards more seasonal diets with a lower use of land and a serious reduction in global trade – especially for fruits, vegetables, and protein.</p>
<p>We can do all of this by addressing eight factors that have exacerbated and reinforced environmental disasters in our food systems.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282738/original/file-20190704-51262-1ybprho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282738/original/file-20190704-51262-1ybprho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282738/original/file-20190704-51262-1ybprho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282738/original/file-20190704-51262-1ybprho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282738/original/file-20190704-51262-1ybprho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282738/original/file-20190704-51262-1ybprho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282738/original/file-20190704-51262-1ybprho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our food future?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dry-corn-field-440046946?src=IaH_CV_LtEaF6IeTQbCGjw-1-3&studio=1">Wildeside/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Dietary patterns</h2>
<p>It is especially important that meat consumption and excess calories in countries with high levels of meat consumption and obesity are reduced. Consuming far less meat provides the <a href="https://nutrition.tufts.edu/news/feeding-growing-population">greatest ability</a> to feed more people with less land within the US, for example, where meat consumption is particularly high. Every <a href="https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/pdfs/scientific-report-of-the-2015-dietary-guidelines-advisory-committee.pdf">global study</a> of diet and greenhouse gases indicates that reduced meat consumption is the biggest driver of reducing greenhouse gas release via dietary change. Approximately <a href="http://teebweb.org/agrifood/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ch4.pdf">1.1m hectares of excess corn production</a> are needed to produce the excess calories consumed by just Americans annually.</p>
<h2>2. Production practices</h2>
<p>Greater organic and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-battle-for-the-future-of-farming-what-you-need-to-know-106805">agroecological</a> strategies should be prioritised over highly industrialised farming practices. These forms of farming use much less fertiliser – which is not only bad for biodiversity but also produces high emissions. In 2011, agriculture in my home state of Michigan collectively purchased about <a href="https://www.epa.gov/nutrient-policy-data/commercial-fertilizer-purchased">200,000 metric tons</a> of nitrogen fertiliser at a CO₂ cost of 1.34 million metric tons (the equivalent of that produced by 291,000 US cars in a year). Meanwhile, organic bread wheat production <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20713398">in the UK</a> appears to use less energy per ton than conventional production, with very little of it accrued from nitrogen fertiliser production and use.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282740/original/file-20190704-51297-1wl95p8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282740/original/file-20190704-51297-1wl95p8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282740/original/file-20190704-51297-1wl95p8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282740/original/file-20190704-51297-1wl95p8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282740/original/file-20190704-51297-1wl95p8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282740/original/file-20190704-51297-1wl95p8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282740/original/file-20190704-51297-1wl95p8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Agroecology emphasises the benefits of growing several crops in the same field.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/petropolis-rjbrazil-july-27-2018-productive-1144851842?src=3TSbUvA3OODWPJ_J0whAig-1-2&studio=1">Luisaazara/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Supply chains</h2>
<p>Large quantities of food are needed for any city region – an American city region of a million people will <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/38623-pounds-of-food-united-states-calories?refresh=10">require</a> about 900m kg of food annually. Although “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/mar/23/food.ethicalliving">food miles</a>” are problematic as a discriminator for greenhouse gas release, shorter supply chains are <a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0306261918318361?token=B594A8614DF7E94FB973A6B7C93D43615D7CDB19851035F6D6134D923BE33C56DDB24245163ECA8C895EE23D1F25B8A6">probably more amenable</a> to electric vehicle transportation than long-distance transport – and hence ultimately to renewable energy use. As such, cities should aim to source their food from the surrounding region rather than globally. Within city regions it should also be possible to use waste recycling more robustly, creating <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/carbon-cycle.html">carbon cycles</a> as well as <a href="https://enviroliteracy.org/air-climate-weather/biogeochemical-cycles/nitrogen-cycle/">biogeochemical cycles</a> for plant nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. Since phosphorus is essential and non-renewable while production of nitrogen fertilisers requires a great input of energy this is very useful.</p>
<h2>4. Food waste</h2>
<p>Although food is lost throughout the supply chain, it’s estimated <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i2697e.pdf">the greatest losses</a> occur at the consumer level in the global north. In addition, a large amount of produce is wasted for <a href="https://cdn.friendsoftheearth.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/food-waste-briefing-2016.pdf">not meeting retail cosmetic standards</a>. All of the energy towards production, transportation, and processing of this food is also wasted. This modern culture of waste must be addressed.</p>
<h2>5. Concentrated production</h2>
<p>Some crops are grown in an intensely concentrated manner, which leaves them vulnerable to climate changes and pests. For example, <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2013/07/california-grows-all-of-our-fruits-and-vegetables-what-would-we-eat-without-the-state.html">over half</a> of US fresh produce and nuts are grown in California, and a number of these crops will be <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/03/02/590056872/from-almonds-to-rice-climate-change-could-slash-california-crop-yields-by-2050?t=1559914644120">negatively impacted</a> this century. While there is research to develop more drought and heat tolerant varieties across a range of crops, it also seems prescient to distribute production more broadly. Variations in weather patterns can make this a challenge. But structures such as poly tunnels can <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/mi-produce-availability">markedly expand the season</a> – to 12 months for lettuce and an additional two-to-three months for tomatoes. And a number of crops, for example apples, can be stored fresh for several months with controlled atmosphere storage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282741/original/file-20190704-51305-1m77tr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282741/original/file-20190704-51305-1m77tr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282741/original/file-20190704-51305-1m77tr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282741/original/file-20190704-51305-1m77tr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282741/original/file-20190704-51305-1m77tr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282741/original/file-20190704-51305-1m77tr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282741/original/file-20190704-51305-1m77tr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tomatoes ripen in a poly tunnel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/poly+tunnels+tomato?search_source=base_landing_page">Chrisatpps/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>6. Reward structures</h2>
<p>Making negative effects (or costs) of production (such as soil loss) transparent so that <a href="http://teebweb.org/agrifood/scientific-and-economic-foundations-report/">all costs are accounted</a> for and then rewarding farmers for things such as soil carbon sequestration, minimised external inputs, and low energy use instead of just total production would greatly help reduce these impacts.</p>
<h2>7. Future protein sources</h2>
<p>The idea of farming <a href="https://theconversation.com/bug-burgers-anyone-why-were-opening-the-uks-first-insect-restaurant-49078">insects</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/sep/25/are-you-ready-for-that-jelly-why-its-time-to-start-eating-jellyfish">jellyfish</a> are just some examples of the innovative suggestions that have been made for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0196-8">diversifying protein sources</a> beyond meat and, say, soya. This would allow for reduced levels of animal protein in the global north and increased levels in much of the global south.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bug-burgers-anyone-why-were-opening-the-uks-first-insect-restaurant-49078">Bug burgers, anyone? Why we’re opening the UK’s first insect restaurant</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>8. Public policy</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-commodity-policy/projected-spending-under-the-2014-farm-bill/">Very little</a> of the global north’s enormous farm policy budgets tend to be spent on policies such as conservation, agroecological research, and organic production. Policies that stimulate new farmer development, regional market and supply chain development (such as <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/2017-food-hub-survey">food hubs</a>), prioritise appropriate technology development at smaller scales and price points (including robotics), sustainable energy production and research to minimise external inputs while maintaining high productivity are needed in order to help propel their development.</p>
<p>All in all, much more attention needs to be paid on the sustainability of the planet’s urban food systems. If the situation continues unchanged, our food supply chains will soon be in deep trouble.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Hamm does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The food system urgently needs to be redesigned if we are to avoid crisis.Michael Hamm, Oxford Martin Visiting Fellow, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1159402019-04-24T13:49:52Z2019-04-24T13:49:52ZPasha 16: Small-scale farming and agroecology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270700/original/file-20190424-19276-ghvsme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>The intensive production of livestock, poultry, fish and crops, is environmentally damaging. This is because industrial farming can affect the soil, water and climate. The answer lies in promoting less intensive farming methods, known as agroecology. </p>
<p>In this week’s episode, Rachel Wynberg the bio-economy research chair at the University of Cape Town and Laura Pereira, a researcher at the centre for complex systems in transition at Stellenbosch University, look at what is agroecology and how it can make a difference. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-developing-countries-should-boost-the-ways-of-small-scale-farming-100097">Why developing countries should boost the ways of small-scale farming</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p><strong>Photo:</strong>
By videsign
Salad growing in the garden ground. Natural healthy ingredient. - Image. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/salad-growing-garden-ground-natural-healthy-1095101714?src=4epoJkVCysRgHoVMDGCgCA-1-4">Shutterstock</a></p>
<p><strong>Music</strong>
“Happy African Village” by John Bartmann found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115940/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Developing countries present an opportunity for agroecological innovations to help small-scale farmers.Ozayr Patel, Digital EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1064352019-02-13T11:49:03Z2019-02-13T11:49:03ZHow urban agriculture can improve food security in US cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258547/original/file-20190212-174883-vzf7sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">City Farm is a working sustainable farm that has operated in Chicago for over 30 years.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_crops-Chicago_urban_farm.jpg">Linda from Chicago/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the partial federal shutdown in December 2018 and January 2019, news reports showed furloughed government workers standing in line for donated meals. These images were reminders that for <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx">an estimated one out of eight Americans</a>, food insecurity is a near-term risk.</p>
<p>In California, where I teach, 80 percent of the population lives in cities. Feeding the cities of the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, with <a href="http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov">a total population of some 7 million</a> involves importing 2.5 to 3 million tons of food per day over an <a href="https://abag.ca.gov/planning/pdfs/BA%20Food%20Economy%20White%20Paper_Final.pdf">average distance of 500 to 1,000 miles</a>. </p>
<p>This system requires enormous amounts of energy and generates significant greenhouse gas emissions. It also is extremely vulnerable to large-scale disruptions, such as major earthquakes.</p>
<p>And the food it delivers fails to reach 1 of every 8 people in the region who live under the poverty line – mostly senior citizens, children and minorities. Access to quality food is limited both by poverty and the fact that on average, California’s low-income communities have 32.7 percent <a href="https://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/es196/projects/2010final/FlemingL_2010.pdf">fewer supermarkets than high-income areas</a> within the same cities. </p>
<p>Many organizations see urban agriculture as a way to enhance food security. It also offers environmental, health and social benefits. Although the full potential of urban agriculture is still to be determined, based on <a href="http://urban.agroeco.org/research-projects/">my own research</a> I believe that raising fresh fruits, vegetables and some animal products near consumers in urban areas can improve local food security and nutrition, especially for underserved communities. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1088287646651162624"}"></div></p>
<h2>The growth of urban agriculture</h2>
<p>Urban farming has grown by <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su10092988">more than 30 percent</a> in the United States in the past 30 years. Although it has been estimated that urban agriculture can meet <a href="http://www.jacsmit.com/book/AppC.pdf">15 to 20 percent of global food demand</a>, it remains to be seen what level of food self-sufficiency it can realistically ensure for cities.</p>
<p>One recent survey found that 51 countries do not have enough urban area to meet a recommended nutritional target of 300 grams per person per day of fresh vegetables. Moreover, it estimated, urban agriculture would require <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000536">30 percent of the total urban area</a> of those countries to meet global demand for vegetables. Land tenure issues and urban sprawl could make it hard to free up this much land for food production.</p>
<p>Other studies suggest that urban agriculture could help cities achieve self-sufficiency. For example, researchers have calculated that Cleveland, with a population of 400,000, has the potential to meet 100 percent of its urban dwellers’ fresh vegetable needs, 50 percent of their poultry and egg requirements and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2011.06.003">100 percent of their demand for honey</a>. </p>
<h2>Can Oakland’s urban farmers learn from Cuba?</h2>
<p>Although urban agriculture has promise, a small proportion of the food produced in cities is consumed by food-insecure, low-income communities. Many of the most vulnerable people have little access to land and lack the skills needed to design and tend productive gardens. </p>
<p>Cities such as Oakland, with neighborhoods that have been <a href="https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/west-oaklands-food-desert-remains/Content?oid=14130481">identified as “food deserts</a>,” can lie within a half-hour drive of vast stretches of productive agricultural land. But very little of the twenty million tons of food produced annually within 100 miles of Oakland reaches poor people. </p>
<p>Paradoxically, Oakland has 1,200 acres of undeveloped open space – mostly public parcels of arable land – which, if used for urban agriculture, could produce <a href="http://www.hopecollaborative.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/hp_cultivatingthecommons.pdf">5 to 10 percent of the city’s vegetable needs</a>. This potential yield could be dramatically enhanced if, for example, local urban farmers were trained to use well-tested agroecological methods that are <a href="https://theconversation.com/cubas-sustainable-agriculture-at-risk-in-u-s-thaw-56773">widely applied in Cuba</a> to cultivate diverse vegetables, roots, tubers and herbs in relatively small spaces.</p>
<p>In Cuba, over 300,000 urban farms and gardens produce about 50 percent of the island’s fresh produce supply, along with 39,000 tons of meat and 216 million eggs. Most Cuban urban farmers reach yields of <a href="http://monthlyreview.org/2012/01/01/the-paradox-of-cuban-agriculture">44 pounds (20 kilograms) per square meter per year</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258542/original/file-20190212-174851-1hoozif.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An organic farm in Havana, Cuba, that produces outputs averaging 20 kilograms (44 pounds) per square meter per year without agrochemical inputs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Miguel Altieri</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>If trained Oakland farmers could achieve just half of Cuban yields, 1,200 acres of land would produce 40 million kilograms of vegetables – enough to provide 100 kilograms per year per person to more than 90 percent of Oakland residents. </p>
<p>To see whether this was possible, my research team at the University of California at Berkeley established a diversified garden slightly larger than 1,000 square feet. It contained a total of 492 plants belonging to 10 crop species, grown in a mixed <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/polyculture">polycultural</a> design.</p>
<p>In a three-month period, we were able to produce yields that were close to our desired annual level by using practices that improved soil health and biological pest control. They included rotations with <a href="https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-farming-practices/crop-rotations/">green manures</a> that are plowed under to benefit the soil; heavy applications of compost; and synergistic combinations of crop plants in various <a href="https://permaculturenews.org/2016/08/12/intercropping-what-it-is-what-it-isnt-and-why-we-do-it/">intercropping</a> arrangements known to <a href="https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Manage-Insects-on-Your-Farm">reduce insect pests</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258541/original/file-20190212-174861-1tngbs8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research plots in Berkeley, Calif., testing agroecological management practices such as intercropping, mulching and green composting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Miguel Altieri</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Overcoming barriers to urban agriculture</h2>
<p>Achieving such yields in a test garden does not mean they are feasible for urban farmers in the Bay Area. Most urban farmers in California lack ecological horticultural skills. They do not always optimize crop density or diversity, and the University of California’s extension program lacks the capacity to provide agroecological training. </p>
<p>The biggest challenge is access to land. University of California researchers estimate that over 79 percent of the state’s urban farmers <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su10092988">do not own the property that they farm</a>. Another issue is that water is <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061963">frequently unaffordable</a>. Cities could address this by providing water at discount rates for urban farmers, with a requirement that they use efficient irrigation practices.</p>
<p>In the Bay Area and elsewhere, most obstacles to scaling up urban agriculture are political, not technical. In 2014 California enacted AB511, which set out mechanisms for cities to establish <a href="https://ucanr.edu/sites/UrbanAg/Laws_Zoning_and_Regulations/The_Urban_Agriculture_Incentive_Zones_Act_AB551/">urban agriculture incentive zones</a>, but did not address land access. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Curtis Stone, owner of an urban organic farm in Kelowna, British Columbia, describes major challenges of urban farming.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One solution would be for cities to make vacant and unused public land available for urban farming under low-fee multiyear leases. Or they could follow the example of <a href="http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/greenercities/en/GGCLAC/rosario.html">Rosario, Argentina</a>, where 1,800 residents practice horticulture on about 175 acres of land. Some of this land is private, but property owners receive tax breaks for making it available for agriculture. </p>
<p>In my view, the ideal strategy would be to pursue land reform similar to that practiced in Cuba, where the government provides 32 acres to each farmer, within a few miles around major cities to anyone interested in producing food. Between <a href="http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/55378">10 and 20 percent of their harvest</a> is donated to social service organizations such as schools, hospitals and senior centers. </p>
<p>Similarly, Bay Area urban farmers might be required to provide donate a share of their output to the region’s growing homeless population, and allowed to sell the rest. The government could help to establish a system that would enable gardeners to <a href="http://www.ipes-food.org/_img/upload/files/Cities_full.pdf">directly market their produce to the public</a>.</p>
<p>Cities have limited ability to deal with food issues within their boundaries, and many problems associated with food systems require action at the national and international level. However, city governments, local universities and nongovernment organizations can do a lot to strengthen food systems, including creating agroecological training programs and policies for land and water access. The first step is increasing public awareness of how urban farming can benefit modern cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106435/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miguel Altieri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Urban farming can make it easier for city residents to obtain healthy, affordable food. But to raise big yields from small pieces of land, farmers need training and support.Miguel Altieri, Professor of Agroecology, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1068052018-11-21T10:48:45Z2018-11-21T10:48:45ZThe battle for the future of farming: what you need to know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245795/original/file-20181115-194509-1l1czwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-combine-harvester-harvest-rapeseed-681770029?src=GC5-y754NLt_zeKjhpiBkw-1-5">Kletr/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is widely agreed that today’s global agriculture system is a <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovation_with_a_Purpose_VF-reduced.pdf">social and environmental failure</a>. Business as usual is no longer an option: biodiversity loss and nitrogen pollution are <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/1259855">exceeding planetary limits</a>, and catastrophic risks of climate change <a href="https://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/about-the-iaastd-report/about-iaastd.html">demand immediate action</a>.</p>
<p>Most concede that there is an urgent need to radically transform our food systems. But the proposed innovations for more sustainable food systems are drastically different. Which we choose will have long-lasting effects on human society and the planet.</p>
<p>Suggested innovations in food systems can be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016715000650">broadly understood</a> as either seeking to conform with – or to transform – the status quo. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246404/original/file-20181120-161615-19wr8pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246404/original/file-20181120-161615-19wr8pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246404/original/file-20181120-161615-19wr8pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246404/original/file-20181120-161615-19wr8pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246404/original/file-20181120-161615-19wr8pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246404/original/file-20181120-161615-19wr8pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246404/original/file-20181120-161615-19wr8pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The future of farming is ours to decide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-globe-withaustralia-south-east-1196597263?src=f-nTGi4bKPTWtREhil7WUA-1-63">Raggedstone/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A technological future</h2>
<p>Some want to keep the agriculture industry as close to existing practices as possible. This is true of the increasing number of corporate and financial actors who seek to solve the food crisis by developing new technologies. These technologies are envisaged as being part of what is being called the “<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/">fourth industrial revolution</a>” (4IR). The “answer” here is thought to lie in a fusion of technologies that blurs the lines between physical, digital and biological domains.</p>
<p>For example, the World Economic Forum is currently supporting agricultural transitions in 21 countries through its “New Vision for Agriculture” initiative. This initiative supports “innovation ecosystems” to re-engineer food systems based on “<a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovation_with_a_Purpose_VF-reduced.pdf">12 transforming technologies</a>”. In this imagined future, next generation biotechnologies will re-engineer plants and animals. Precision farming will optimise use of water and pesticides. Global food systems will rely on smart robots, blockchain and the internet of things to manufacture synthetic foods for personalised nutrition.</p>
<p>Like previous green revolution technologies in agriculture, this effort is designed by and for powerful agricultural giants. These technological innovations reinforce the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of a small number of corporations. Indeed, the latter have <a href="http://www.etcgroup.org/sites/www.etcgroup.org/files/files/blockingthechain_english_web.pdf">a growing monopoly</a> control over the “12 transforming technologies” protected by patents.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246422/original/file-20181120-161612-rjklnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Who needs humans?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smart-robotic-farmers-agriculture-futuristic-robot-1149341534?src=EbcmegHOr4ARrcXtt8W5sg-1-3">Kung_tom/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most notably, the spread of these technologies will expand the technosphere at the expense of the biosphere. Flying robots will pollinate crops instead of living bees. Automated machines will replace farmers’ work on soil preparation, seeding, weeding, fertility, pest control and harvesting of crops. </p>
<p>These hi-tech innovations radically depart from most farming practices. They are moving us towards an increasingly people-less food system. Yet they show a remarkable continuity with the logic of capitalist accumulation – hence their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/04/factory-farming-destructive-wasteful-cruel-says-philip-lymbery-farmageddon-author">staying power</a> despite their significant risks.</p>
<p>The spread of automated, de-localised and digitalised production and commercialisation of food is part of the “financialisation” of the global food system. Financial markets play an increasing role in controlling food systems from a distance. This generates huge social and human risks. For example, the significant growth in the sale and purchase of financial products linked to food commodities was <a href="https://www.righttofoodandnutrition.org/files/rtfn-watch-2018_eng.pdf">one of the determining factors</a> in the 2008 world food crisis.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246423/original/file-20181120-161618-jv4fj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246423/original/file-20181120-161618-jv4fj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246423/original/file-20181120-161618-jv4fj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246423/original/file-20181120-161618-jv4fj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246423/original/file-20181120-161618-jv4fj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246423/original/file-20181120-161618-jv4fj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246423/original/file-20181120-161618-jv4fj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We could be seeing an extension of the megafarms we know today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/automated-farming-irrigation-sprinklers-system-on-328394111?src=8Gad0eUYL1MaUAi9tF_onw-1-6">Igorstevanovic/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Another option</h2>
<p>But there is <a href="https://www.epw.in/node/152802">an alternative</a> to this future. Agroecology involves the application of ecological principles for the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems. <a href="https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/areas-of-research/agroecology-water-resilience/">Our research</a> on agroecology focuses on how it can contribute to food sovereignty, which emphasises the democratisation of food systems. Agroecology’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals <a href="http://www.fao.org/agroecology/knowledge/10-elements/en/">is now recognised</a>.</p>
<p>In contrast to the technological vision described above, agroecological innovations promote circular systems that involve recycling, reuse and combining resources to reduce dependency on external inputs, in particular fossil fuels. They mimic natural cycles and the functional diversity of <a href="https://theconversation.com/grafting-timeless-farming-skills-on-to-modern-techniques-14866">natural ecosystems</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246424/original/file-20181120-161627-1p0pe9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246424/original/file-20181120-161627-1p0pe9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246424/original/file-20181120-161627-1p0pe9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246424/original/file-20181120-161627-1p0pe9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246424/original/file-20181120-161627-1p0pe9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246424/original/file-20181120-161627-1p0pe9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246424/original/file-20181120-161627-1p0pe9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An organic coffee plantation in Ecuador.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/coffee-bushes-shadegrown-organic-plantation-on-162794039?src=3w5h8np0ans2FOH7ZCixeg-1-55">Dr Morley Read/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Farming systems are designed in a way that is based on beneficial interactions between plants, animals and environments. Trees and shrubs might be planted amongst or around crops, say. Or two or more crops might be grown in proximity. Agroecology <a href="https://theconversation.com/break-agricultures-chemical-monopolies-to-free-our-food-16497">reduces the dependence</a> of food producers on expensive external inputs, distant commodity markets and patented technologies. This is achieved by relying on appropriate biodiversity to ward off pests and increase farm yields.</p>
<p>At broader scales, agroecology involves circular systems that combine food and energy production with water and waste management. Pollution is minimised and synergies achieved by <a href="http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/17133IIED.pdf">carefully clustering industries</a> into functional wholes. The re-localisation of production and consumption within territories enhances local economic regeneration and sustainability. </p>
<p>Agroecological innovations in transitions to sustainable food systems are being driven largely <a href="http://www.agroecologynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Farming-Matters-Agroecology-EN.pdf">from the bottom up</a> by civil society, social movements and allied researchers. In this context, priorities for innovations are ones that increase citizen control for food sovereignty and decentralise power. This is in direct contrast to the monopoly control <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057%2Fs41301-016-0014-4.pdf">enabled by 4IR technologies</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246427/original/file-20181120-161630-1ridv8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246427/original/file-20181120-161630-1ridv8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246427/original/file-20181120-161630-1ridv8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246427/original/file-20181120-161630-1ridv8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246427/original/file-20181120-161630-1ridv8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246427/original/file-20181120-161630-1ridv8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246427/original/file-20181120-161630-1ridv8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growing multiple crops at once.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-onion-lettuce-onions-rucola-beans-752049907?src=26DbiCNSCurZjRYN5pOJvw-1-0">Katarzyna Mazurowska/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A democratic debate</h2>
<p>Government, civil society and private sector representatives will <a href="http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/agricultural-innovation-family-farmers-symposium/en/">soon meet</a> in Rome at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to discuss the future of farming. Who controls the global governance of innovation will be a hotly debated topic.</p>
<p>But given these highly contested views on innovations for food and agriculture, it is vital that everyone is able to exercise their right to have a say on the future of their food supply. Deliberative and inclusive processes such as <a href="http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G02574.pdf">citizens’ juries</a>, peoples’ assemblies and community-led <a href="https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/areas-of-research/agroecology-water-resilience/our-publications/everyday-experts-how-peoples-knowledge-can-transform-the-food-system/">participatory processes</a> are urgently needed to <a href="http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/14603IIED.pdf">decide priorities</a> for food and agricultural innovations. This is all the more important in today’s context of rapid global change and uncertainty. </p>
<p>So. Do you want to live in a world in which artificial food is produced by intelligent robots and corporations that put profits before people? Or one where agroecological innovations ensure we can nourish ourselves and our communities in a fair, ecologically regenerative, and culturally rich way?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michel Pimbert receives funding from the European Union and the Agroecology Fund. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Anderson receives funding from the British Academy and the Agroecology Fund. </span></em></p>A guide to the battle for the future of farming.Michel Pimbert, Professor and Director, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry UniversityColin Anderson, Senior Research Fellow, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1030502018-09-19T22:40:42Z2018-09-19T22:40:42ZThe future of food is ready for harvest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236803/original/file-20180918-158234-1n2s02e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In this July 2011 photo, an Inuit fisherman pulls in a fish on a sea filled with floating ice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For more than 20 years, a movement has been building that recognizes the vital role that small-scale farmers, fishers and harvesters, women, traditional knowledge and appropriate technologies will play in transforming our unsustainable and inequitable food system.</p>
<p>While the chemical- and carbon-intensive practices of industrial agriculture play a role in feeding people across the globe, they are a major contributor to the degradation of <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/hidden-costs-of-industrial.html#.W5Vkg34nacI">land, water and ecosystems</a>, <a href="https://www.grain.org/bulletin_board/entries/5196-food-farming-and-climate-change-it-s-bigger-than-everything-else">climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/publication/wcms_538710.pdf">labour inequality</a> and the <a href="http://www.ipes-food.org/images/Reports/Health_FullReport.pdf">diminishing health of the Earth and its population</a>. </p>
<p>Agribusiness corporations that increasingly <a href="http://www.etcgroup.org/content/too-big-feed-short-report">control food and seeds</a> are getting bigger and more powerful, while the small-scale farmers that <a href="http://www.etcgroup.org/whowillfeedus">produce 70 per cent of the world’s food</a> are increasingly impoverished. </p>
<p>These were the concerns on the minds of more than 150 people who gathered in Ottawa in late August for the <a href="https://fledgeresearch.ca/agroecologyfieldschool2018/">Canadian Agroecology Field School and Research Summit</a> hosted by the <a href="https://fledgeresearch.ca/">FLEdGE research network</a>, <a href="http://justfood.ca/">Just Food</a>, <a href="https://www.usc-canada.org/">USC Canada</a> and a number of other partners. </p>
<p>Participants included small-scale family farmers, civil society organizations, researchers and Indigenous leaders who came together to share knowledge and experiences, and to map out a direction for healthier, more equitable and sustainable food systems in Canada and beyond.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-developing-countries-should-boost-the-ways-of-small-scale-farming-100097">Why developing countries should boost the ways of small-scale farming</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>From the three days of farm visits, demonstrations and discussions, it was clear that listening carefully to researchers and practitioners involved with <a href="https://theconversation.com/break-agricultures-chemical-monopolies-to-free-our-food-16497">agroecology</a> offers promise and possibility for feeding global populations with <a href="https://theconversation.com/feeding-the-world-with-a-mix-of-science-and-tradition-15693">a mix of science</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/feeding-the-world-with-a-mix-of-science-and-tradition-15693">time-tested knowledge</a>. </p>
<h2>Easy, cheap to implement</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.ipes-food.org/images/Reports/UniformityToDiversity_FullReport.pdf">Evidence from around the world</a> shows these opportunities can be implemented fairly easily and at a low cost.</p>
<p>While the term agroecology has no fixed definition, it is best described as a <a href="http://www.foodsovereignty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/NYELENI-2015-ENGLISH-FINAL-WEB.pdf.">science, practice and movement</a>. As a movement, agroecology is a call to action for a food system driven by the world’s food providers — small-scale farmers, fishers, livestock keepers, Indigenous peoples and other movements like the global peasant movement <a href="https://viacampesina.org/en/tag/agroecology/">La Via Campesina</a>, whose members include 200 million small-scale food producers and harvesters from around the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.socla.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/socla-contribution-to-FAO.pdf">As a science</a>, agroecology encompasses knowledge that uses time-tested scientific principles, natural processes and materials to replace synthetic fertilizers and herbicides that destroy our soils, waters, biodiversity and pollinators. </p>
<p>Through farmer-led research and innovation, agroecology aims for resilient, biodiverse ecosystems. As a practice, agroecology has been developed through experience and field observation by farmers, Indigenous peoples and food providers, and spread out around the world. <a href="https://foodfirst.org/the-campesino-a-campesino-movement/">Farmer-to-farmer</a> learning and knowledge sharing are at the heart of agroecology.</p>
<h2>Local seeds</h2>
<p>Over the first two days of the Agroecology Summit on farms in Ottawa and Gatineau, the group observed and discussed many agroecological practices. </p>
<p>They included rotational livestock grazing, farmer-led participatory research and breeding of vegetables, the selection of hardy, locally adapted seed varieties, agroforestry, the practice of adding value to crops through on-farm processing, establishing cooperatives to lease otherwise unaffordable farmland and selling food directly to consumers.</p>
<p>On the third day, a keynote presentation from Peter Rosset, a researcher from the Center of Studies for Rural Change in Oaxaca, Mexico, <a href="https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/05/EN-12.pdf">on the evolution of agroecology through La Via Campasina</a> kicked off two keynote panels. The first focused on Indigenous perspectives on agroecology, and the second on the future of agroecology in Canada. Both included researchers, farmers and Indigenous leaders from across the country.</p>
<p>From the three days of farm tours, demonstrations and discussions, one thing was clear: Agroecology is a growing movement around the world. </p>
<p>Fuelled by a rising public appetite for more ecologically and socially sustainable approaches to food production and the push to do things differently, <a href="https://foodsecurecanada.org/resources-news/webinars-podcasts/webinar-agroecology-integrating-science-practice-and-social-justice">agroecology offers practical solutions</a> for a new generation of farmers who can learn from more experienced growers while connecting to a global social movement. </p>
<h2>Building a different food system</h2>
<p>With the rejection of an outmoded and unfair model of agriculture, the Agroecology Summit highlighted a mission that’s about more than just changing our agricultural methods. It’s also about being part of a global movement that is actively building a food system based on a <a href="https://foodsecurecanada.org/who-we-are/what-food-sovereignty">different set of values</a> — working with nature, valuing food producers and the spiritual nature of food.</p>
<p>The benefits of agroecology are already being appreciated in other places. </p>
<p>For example, those benefits meet most of the United Nation’s <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300">Sustainable Development Goals</a>: Reduced hunger and poverty, enhanced biodiversity, sustainable livelihoods, the empowerment of women and youth and climate resilience. The combination of innovation, scalable practices and system-wide benefits has attracted governments, international organizations and donor agencies alike.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237109/original/file-20180919-158228-13tu5t0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237109/original/file-20180919-158228-13tu5t0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237109/original/file-20180919-158228-13tu5t0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237109/original/file-20180919-158228-13tu5t0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237109/original/file-20180919-158228-13tu5t0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237109/original/file-20180919-158228-13tu5t0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237109/original/file-20180919-158228-13tu5t0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A farmer uses a buffalo to plow a rice field in rural Thailand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.pan-uk.org/site/wp-content/uploads/Agroecology-Update-French-National-Agroecology-Programme-Sep-16.pdf">France</a>, the champion of climate-friendly agriculture and host to the 2015 Paris Climate Summit, has shown leadership that can inspire other countries. For example, France has a <a href="https://www.ecologique-solidaire.gouv.fr/">Minister for Ecological Transition</a>, something sure to be on the agenda as the French take over from the Canadians as the next G7 president. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.agroecologyfund.org/">Agroecology Fund</a>, a U.S.-based philanthropic foundation, provides funding to civil society organizations for agroecology. What’s more, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has become a leading proponent of agroecology. At the <a href="http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/second-international-agroecology-symposium/en/">International Agroecology Symposium</a> in April 2018, FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva called for a transformation in the way we produce and consume food, and towards a new future of agriculture.</p>
<h2>Women’s rights</h2>
<p>Canada’s new <a href="http://international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/priorities-priorites/policy-politique.aspx?lang=eng">Feminist International Assistance Policy</a> has taken a cue from the international agroecology movement that puts women’s rights and smallholder farmers’ rights at the centre of development strategies. </p>
<p>A strategic investment in agroecology is a highly effective way to advance Canada’s objectives of women’s empowerment, environment and climate action, human dignity and economic growth that works for everyone. </p>
<p>The challenge ahead for the Canadian government, and society as a whole, is to actively support this groundswell of research, energy and innovation through funding and policy support, and to move faster towards more equitable and sustainable food futures. The transition to agroecology will make for a harvest that is both bountiful and sweet.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Faris Ahmed, Policy Director at USC Canada and member of the FLEdGE network, is the coauthor of this piece.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Z. Levkoe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recent summit in Ottawa on what’s known as agroecology has shown that more equitable and sustainable methods of producing food are not only possible, they’re beginning to spread around the world.Charles Z. Levkoe, Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Food Systems, Lakehead UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1000972018-08-30T14:01:29Z2018-08-30T14:01:29ZWhy developing countries should boost the ways of small-scale farming<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234304/original/file-20180830-195319-1boj2gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A diversity of seeds on sale in Nanyuki market, Kenya. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> K Dekeyser </span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Industrial_agriculture">Industrial agriculture</a> – farming that involves the intensive production of livestock, poultry, fish and crops – is one of the most environmentally destructive forms of land use. It depends on mechanisation and on inputs like synthetic fertiliser and harmful pesticides and herbicides and has led to widespread contamination of <a href="http://www.ipes-food.org/how-to-leave-industrial-agriculture-behind-food-systems-experts-urge-global-shift-towards-agroecology">soil and water</a>. It also relies on just a few major crops like wheat, maize, soybean and rice, the seeds of which are owned by a mere handful of companies.</p>
<p>A different approach to agriculture is sorely needed. This should, ideally, deliver household food security, ensure sustainable livelihoods and produce quality nutrition in a rapidly changing climate. </p>
<p>Developing countries that are industrialising at a pace are uniquely placed to avoid developing a dependency on one type of technological innovation at the expense of others. This is what is known as technological lock-in, with industrial agriculture being one form of lock-in. Such countries are also well placed to establish alternative ways to grow food that maximise livelihoods and sustainable food production. </p>
<p>For instance, Brazil, India, China and South Africa have agricultural sectors that have both industrialised farmers and resource-poor farmers who practice low-input agriculture. These countries offer important spaces for strengthening practices that are well suited to the challenges facing smallholder farmers. And ones that are more environmentally sound.</p>
<p>A change in these countries could pioneer alternative approaches for other developing countries. </p>
<p>The basis for <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2018.1472507">alternative agricultural systems</a> already exists. They’re <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/mj760e/mj760e.pdf">practised</a> by at least 75% of the world’s 1.5 billion smallholders, family farmers and indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>These alternatives fall broadly under the umbrella of agroecology. Their key characteristics include the use of technologies based on ecological knowledge, as well as a focus on family farming and local production. They also have low levels of external inputs, and are diversified.</p>
<p>Developing countries could leapfrog industrial agriculture systems and move toward an agricultural sector that’s run on agroecological principles. But this needs increased public investment and a policy environment that’s conducive to encouraging the approach. </p>
<h2>Millions are doing it already</h2>
<p>Agroecology is already practised by millions of small-scale farmers <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2018.1472507">across the world</a>. China and India, for example, account for 35% and 24% of the world’s 570 million family farms. In Brazil, 78% of farms are less than 50 hectares. In South Africa there are about four million small-scale and <a href="http://www.plaas.org.za/plaas-publication/RR53_ssca_okunlola%20et%20al">mostly subsistence farmers</a>. </p>
<p>These farms play a critical role in food security. This is especially true at a local level. But these farmers also face numerous challenges: access to land and capital, secure land rights, appropriate extension and advice, increased climate variability and market access. </p>
<p>The question is whether public money in emerging economies is being used to address these challenges and the needs of small farmers. Or is it being used to prop up large-scale industrial agriculture? </p>
<p>Many emerging economies have dual forms of agriculture – both industrialised and small-scale. Yet investment in agricultural innovations typically centre only on priorities for industrialised farming. </p>
<p>Genetic engineering is an example. It has become one of the main areas of focus in agricultural research over the past three decades. Highly specialised – it involves the modification of an organism by manipulating its genes – it needs high levels of investment. Those developing it also expect high returns and it’s very much a “top-down” approach, removed from the context and knowledge of most of the world’s farmers, and often bringing questionable benefits.</p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<p>Smallholder agriculture is increasingly important in emerging economies. There is a need for alternative agricultural solutions. Emerging economies can be leaders in this field. </p>
<p>Agroecology presents a tested and forward-looking approach. But it needs to be institutionalised in the allocation of research funding and in science and technology policy.</p>
<p>Agricultural research and development is already playing an important role. Over the past decade there have been increased investments by emerging economies in <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/agricultural-rd-is-on-the-move-1.20571">agricultural research</a>. For example Chinese government investment in agricultural research doubled from 2001 to 2008, exceeding any country <a href="http://www.ifpri.org/publication/china-recent-developments-public-agricultural-research">except the US</a>. Brazil similarly increased agricultural research and development spending by 46% between <a href="http://www.ifpri.org/publication/brazil-0">2006 and 2013</a>. South Africa’s investment level is more erratic. But it’s still high compared to most other sub-Saharan countries. </p>
<p>More needs to be done. Additional steps should include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Increased cooperation in agricultural research between countries with large public sector institutes like Brazil and China, and countries with less research capacity, such as Mozambique and Malawi;</p></li>
<li><p>Demonstrating the validity and economic potential of agro-ecology. This can be achieved by drawing on farmers’ knowledge, developed over centuries of experimentation; and</p></li>
<li><p>Redesigning formal training and extension programmes to incorporate local knowledge and have a stronger uptake of agroecology in places where resources are scarce.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Emerging economies provide an important opportunity to upscale agroecological innovations to help improve the livelihoods of small and resource-poor farmers and address environmental problems. But they need public investment and an enabling environment to flourish.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Wynberg works for the University of Cape Town, South Africa where she holds a research chair funded by the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation. The work in this article was funded by a FP7 project on Responsible Innovation (PROGRESS). Through the University of Cape Town, she forms part of the Seed and Knowledge Initiative (SKI) which represents an innovative collaboration between universities, practitioners and a range of NGOs across southern Africa to revive and enhance traditional seed and knowledge systems and to deepen understanding about their functioning. Rachel serves on the Boards of Biowatch South Africa, Environmental Monitoring Group and the Union for Ethical Biotrade. This article is written in her personal capacity and does not represent the views of any of these organisations. No benefit will accrue to any organisation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Pereira does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Developing countries could leapfrog industrial agriculture systems by moving to agroecology.Rachel Wynberg, Associate Professor and DST/NRF Bio-economy Research Chair, University of Cape TownLaura Pereira, Researcher/Lecturer at the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/929032018-03-26T11:09:47Z2018-03-26T11:09:47ZWe know how food production needs to change if crisis is to be avoided – so why isn’t this happening?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211717/original/file-20180323-54866-11cxvgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mariano Villafane/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the world races toward a projected <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/13/agriculture-farming-food-addiction-meat-harvest-hungry-world">9 billion</a> inhabitants, the failings of dominant food systems are impossible to deny. Current food production methods are severely polluting. They are the cause of malnutrition. They are also inequitable, and unjustifiably wasteful. And they are concentrated in the hands of few corporations. Entangled in the multiple crises humanity is facing, establishing global food security is considered a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-food-and-farming">key challenge of our time</a>.</p>
<p>Against the backdrop of climate change, resource shortages and <a href="http://www.urbantheorylab.net/publications/planetary-urbanization/">urbanisation</a>, the question of how to ensure adequate food supply for everyone looms rather large. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/system-initiatives/shaping-the-future-of-food-security-and-agriculture/">usual response</a> emphasises intensifying the output of agriculture through the common model of petrochemical, large-scale, one-crop, intensive farming.</p>
<p>But business as usual is no longer an option for food and agriculture. The global agriculture system will have to be radically transformed to avoid further environmental and social problems, as was <a href="http://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/7862">concluded</a> by a three-year study commissioned by the UN and the World Bank involving more than 400 scientists. This report, as well as subsequent international studies by the <a href="http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=666">UN Conference on Trade and Development</a> and the <a href="http://www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/officialreports/20110308_a-hrc-16-49_agroecology_en.pdf">UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food</a>, have convincingly demonstrated that <a href="https://theconversation.com/grafting-timeless-farming-skills-on-to-modern-techniques-14866">agroecology</a> – farming that imitates natural ecosystems – is the most promising pathway to sustainable food systems on all continents. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211718/original/file-20180323-54875-xrm2qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211718/original/file-20180323-54875-xrm2qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211718/original/file-20180323-54875-xrm2qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211718/original/file-20180323-54875-xrm2qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211718/original/file-20180323-54875-xrm2qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211718/original/file-20180323-54875-xrm2qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211718/original/file-20180323-54875-xrm2qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Industrial soybean farming in Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alf Ribeiro / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Agroecology</h2>
<p>Agroecology is based on the idea that farms should mimic the structure and functioning of natural ecosystems. In ecosystems, there is no “waste”: nutrients are recycled indefinitely. Agroecology aims to close nutrient loops – returning all nutrients that come out of the soil, back to the soil. In the case of vegetable farming, for example, this could be achieved through composting of vegetable scraps, human and farmyard manure. </p>
<p>Agroecology also harnesses natural processes to control pests and build soil fertility. Agroecological practices include integrating trees with livestock and crops (<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/2041-7136-1-26">agro-sylvo-pastoral</a> farming), producing food from forests (agroforestry), growing several crops together in one plot (polyculture) and using locally adapted and genetically diverse crops and livestock.</p>
<p>Throughout the world, small-scale farmers are uniting under <a href="http://www.agroecologynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Farming-Matters-Agroecology-EN.pdf">the banner of agroecology</a>. They do so not only to produce healthy and nutritious food, enhance biodiversity and adapt to climate change, but also to improve their income and working conditions by developing <a href="https://theconversation.com/break-agricultures-chemical-monopolies-to-free-our-food-16497">short food chains and local markets</a>. Local ecologies and economies are being regenerated from below through an insistence on <a href="http://www.foodsovereignty.org/forum-agroecology-nyeleni-2015-2/">food sovereignty</a> (community control over the way food is produced, traded and consumed) and <a href="https://pure.coventry.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/13259740">transformative agroecology</a> (as opposed to more watered down versions of agroecology, such as “climate-smart” or “conservation” agriculture).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211720/original/file-20180323-54878-1w2ccx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211720/original/file-20180323-54878-1w2ccx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211720/original/file-20180323-54878-1w2ccx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211720/original/file-20180323-54878-1w2ccx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211720/original/file-20180323-54878-1w2ccx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211720/original/file-20180323-54878-1w2ccx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211720/original/file-20180323-54878-1w2ccx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to branch away from the emphasis on monoculture farming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-weeds-lettuce-her-garden-370689662?src=9i8to9Gbo0cxURcRTRlHOw-1-16">Jurga Jot/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But changes also need to be made on a larger scale. Some bodies recognise this. Faced with the growing social and environmental costs of industrial farming, the European Union adopted a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/policies/european-development-policy/european-consensus-development_en">New European Consensus for Development</a> in June 2017. This <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/european-consensus-on-development-final-20170626_en.pdf">commits</a> the EU to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Support agro-ecological practices and actions to reduce post-harvest losses and food waste, as well as to protect soils, conserve water resources, halt, prevent and reverse deforestation, and maintain biodiversity and healthy ecosystems.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But opening up agroecological pathways to sustainable food systems in the EU is a major challenge. <a href="https://www.foodethicscouncil.org/uploads/For%20whom%20-%20questioning%20the%20food%20and%20farming%20research%20agenda_FINAL_1.pdf">Radical changes</a> in funding priorities and research agendas are necessary. Similarly, a total overhaul of overseas aid programmes is urgently needed to support crucial transitions to agroecology in Africa, Asia and Latin America. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211719/original/file-20180323-54898-b9efku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211719/original/file-20180323-54898-b9efku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211719/original/file-20180323-54898-b9efku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211719/original/file-20180323-54898-b9efku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211719/original/file-20180323-54898-b9efku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211719/original/file-20180323-54898-b9efku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211719/original/file-20180323-54898-b9efku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coffee bushes grown in the shade on the western slopes of the Andes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Morley Read/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Absent aid</h2>
<p>However, this is not currently happening. Our recently published <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/505">research</a> shows that very little overseas aid is directed at agroecological research and development. Since January 1 2010, no funds at all have been directed at or been committed to projects with the main focus on development or promotion of agroecological practices. </p>
<p>It is true that minor funds have been directed at projects which promote resource efficiency in farming. But this is a very basic agroecological principle. Based on the most generous interpretation of available figures, our study shows for the first time that aid for agroecological projects is less than 5% of aid given for agricultural purposes and less than 0.5% of the total UK aid budget. By largely supporting industrial agriculture, UK aid priorities contribute very little to the transition towards global socio-ecological sustainability. </p>
<p>Despite the obscure nature of available information, it is reasonable to assume that there is a similar lack of funding for agroecology in the overseas aid priorities of other so-called developed countries. There is, after all, a chronic lack of internal investment in agroecology <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/food-agriculture/advance-sustainable-agriculture/counting-on-agroecology#.WqPd1GacY6g">within these nations</a>.</p>
<p>Business as usual may rhetorically no longer be an option in food and agriculture. But it will be, as usual, practically the only option as long as these stark funding asymmetries remain.</p>
<p>In April 2018, government representatives from around the world will travel to Rome to discuss how to scale up agroecology. This UN Food and Agriculture Organisation <a href="http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/second-international-agroecology-symposium/en/">International Symposium on Agroecology</a> is a unique opportunity to rethink priorities for agricultural development worldwide. Among the many actions needed, we urgently need to see a substantial increase in public funding for agroecology – both within and between nations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92903/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nina Moeller receives funding from The European Union's Horizon 2020. She was an ISRF Independent Scholar Fellow between September 2016 and August 2017.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michel Pimbert receives funding from The European Union's Horizon 2020 and the Agroecology Fund. </span></em></p>Multiple reports have convincingly demonstrated that agroecology is the most promising pathway to sustainable food systems on all continents. But governments aren’t doing enough to support it.Nina Moeller, Marie Curie Research Fellow, University of ManchesterMichel Pimbert, Professor and Director, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/636922016-08-16T03:08:58Z2016-08-16T03:08:58ZParasitic flies, zombified ants, predator beetles – insect drama on Mexican coffee plantations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134030/original/image-20160814-25467-iyspqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C543%2C1648%2C1112&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Azteca ants, unsung heroes of coffee pest control.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kate Mathis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ants are voracious predators and often very good at defending plants from herbivores. People have taken advantage of this quirk for centuries. In fact, using ants in orange groves is one of the <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1310713">first recorded pest control practices</a>, dating back to A.D. 304 in China.</p>
<p>In southern Mexico, Azteca ants are frequently found on coffee plantations. They live in giant nests built into the sides of the hardwood trees farmers plant to shade the delicate coffee plants below. The ants feast on sugary nectar, either directly from extrafloral nectary structures on the shade trees or indirectly from nectar excreted by aphids living on the coffee plants. In return the ants remove other insects to protect the plants. The Azteca ants are highly territorial and very aggressive, which makes them great at controlling coffee pests. They’re particularly skilled in eliminating one of the coffee’s most damaging pests, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czg1FjGBJqc">the coffee berry borer</a>.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I are <a href="http://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.7.8">studying how these ants are at the center</a> of a complex web of organisms that are important to coffee management. In the process, we serendipitously discovered a brand new species that may be integral to the ants’ success.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134193/original/image-20160815-13020-zdojdb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coffee plantation Finca Irlanda in Chiapas, Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kate Mathis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ants must deal with parasitizing flies</h2>
<p>For the last six years, I’ve been examining the dynamics between these beneficial ants and one of their most deadly natural enemies, phorid fly parasitoids.</p>
<p>On the surface, it’s hard to imagine that phorid flies could have a big impact on a mighty Azteca colony made up of millions of workers. For one, these flies are small, approximately the size of a pinhead. Also, it takes only a fraction of a second for an adult phorid fly to parasitize an ant by laying its egg in the ant’s body. </p>
<p>But these parasitoids are definitely bad news for the ants. Once a phorid fly injects its egg into the ant, the fly larva slowly makes its way into the ant’s head, ultimately consuming the contents and killing the ant in the process. Then it decapitates the ant and uses the head as a pupal case. Once fully mature, the adult fly will emerge from the ant’s mouth parts to begin the cycle again.</p>
<p>This gruesome process isn’t even the worst of it for the ants. Phorid flies aren’t just a death sentence for a parasitized individual ant, they also negatively affect the function of the ant colony as a whole. When ant workers discover phorid flies nearby, they freeze in place or hide, preventing them from collecting food or properly maintaining their nest.</p>
<h2>Enter: A mysterious beetle</h2>
<p>It was during an experiment in the field, watching phorid flies parasitize ants, that I first noticed the beetles.</p>
<p>I had hypothesized that phorid flies usurp the ants’ own complex chemical communication system to locate their victims; I was testing extracts from different ant glands to determine what chemicals the flies might use as a beacon to find their ant hosts.</p>
<p>I had dissected and extracted the Pygidial gland sac of the ants, which houses their alarm pheromone. The ants secrete this chemical blend whenever they’re injured or discover an intruder to the nest. (It’s quite pungent, and smells vaguely of blue cheese.) I was finding that the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-010-9247-3">phorid flies are attracted to these alarm compounds</a>. Shortly after the chemicals are released into the air, the flies arrive to inspect the immediate area where the scent is strongest. Annoyingly, I was also finding that tiny beetles were apt to crash the party, landing in my observation area with the ants.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134191/original/image-20160815-12998-1ctnn1w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beetles discovered in phorid rearing chambers after eating ants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kate Mathis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A year or so later, I was working on another phorid fly-rearing experiment in my tiny lab space at the Finca Irlanda research station in Chiapas, Mexico. My lab consisted of a few shelves and a small work table in a poorly screened-in porch area. The experiments involved taking parasitized ants and keeping them alive in tiny chambers with small air holes until the phorid flies could fully develop and hatch.</p>
<p>But everything was going extremely poorly. Over and over again, I would check on my parasitized ants only to find them missing, and in their place, once again, the tiny beetles. It seemed these intruders were entering my lab, accessing the rearing chambers via the air holes and eating the ants.</p>
<p>This is when I realized something interesting was happening and started formulating questions. What were these beetles? Are they finding the ants the same way the phorid flies do? Are they only eating parasitized ants? If so, why?</p>
<h2>Predation that could help the colony</h2>
<p>Since Azteca ants are so aggressive, it seemed unlikely that a beetle would be able to effectively prey on healthy worker ants twice its size. Myrmecophillic (“ant associated” or literally “ant-loving”) beetles use a wide range of strategies to live closely with such dangerous creatures as ants. Some mimic the smell or look of ants, others use particularly swift movements to outmaneuver them and others use ant-repellent secretions to create a protective force field around themselves. In each of these cases, the beetles take some kind of resource from the ant, whether it’s food from the colony’s stores, or safe nesting space, or simply eating the ants themselves.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mZc9j94roOg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Beetles attacking parasitized ants (painted white) while ignoring healthy ants (painted green).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It occurred to me that the myrmecophillic beetles associated with Azteca might be exploiting the state of the parasitized ants in order to prey on them. Even more intriguingly, this might be a case where predation is ultimately not a bad thing for the ants as a group. Parasitized ants are already almost certainly going to die. And their deaths result in more phorid flies, which is bad for the ant colony. </p>
<p>But if a beetle eats a parasitized ant, the developing phorid fly is also consumed. By eating only parasitized ants, these beetles may be reducing the number of phorid flies that successfully develop – which could actually benefit the ant colony.</p>
<p>So I got to work conducting experiments that would untangle what’s going on. I used synthetic versions of the Azteca alarm pheromone chemicals to confirm the beetles were indeed using the alarm pheromone to find the ants, regardless of whether they were in my screened-in lab space or the center of a field of coffee. I set out various traps of parasitized, healthy or injured ants to see if the beetles would prey on only the parasitized ants (they did). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134192/original/image-20160815-13011-a507lm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Painted ants and beetles in the behavioral observation arena. Large beetle visitor on the notebook was not included in the experiments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kate Mathis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I also took parasitized ants and healthy ants, painted them different colors and placed them in an arena with the beetles to observe what they would do. Healthy ants were highly aggressive toward the beetles, whereas the parasitized ants were extremely docile. When the beetles tried to attack healthy ants, they were swiftly rebuffed. But when they attacked parasitized ants, the ant essentially stood still <a href="http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1281">as the beetle ate it alive</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, specimens of the beetles were being transported to a beetle expert for identification. As it turned out, they were <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24871169">a completely new species</a>, the first from their genus to ever be recorded from Mexico. With my collaborators, I chose to name the species <em>Myrmedonota xipe</em> for the Aztec god Xipe Totec. This deity was worshiped via human sacrifices in an act meant to symbolize the casting-off of the old to bring new growth and prosperity to all – an apt metaphor for the beetles’ role in Azteca ant colonies.</p>
<p>When many people think of agriculture, they imagine only the farmer’s crop. But, my colleagues’ and my work shows that a complex web of interactions between many species of insects can provide important ecosystem services, like pest control, in agroecosystems. This particular story shows just a piece of the puzzle, where the Azteca ants are benefiting the coffee, and the beetles are helping keep the phorid flies from stopping that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Mathis receives funding from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. </span></em></p>Azteca ants are self-appointed protectors of coffee plants on Mexican plantations. But they have a lot to contend with from other insects.Kate Mathis, Research Associate in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/539372016-02-09T04:10:49Z2016-02-09T04:10:49ZIf the world’s soils keep drying out that’s bad news for microbes (and people)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110079/original/image-20160203-6944-rtzmca.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The world's driest areas are tipped to get even drier, with potentially worrying implications for soil productivity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Deep beneath our feet, out of sight and out of mind, millions of tiny communities of microbes are working together to perform key functions for the ecosystem. </p>
<p>They provide services that are essential for human development and wellbeing, such as food and fibre production, nutrient cycling and climate regulation.</p>
<p>The scale of these communities is staggering. The microflora in soils are the most abundant group of organisms on Earth. A teaspoon of soil contains up to a billion bacteria, several metres of fungal filaments, and thousands of protozoa and nematodes. </p>
<p>Yet, like many plant and animal communities, microflora are facing new threats due to climate change.</p>
<h2>Dry spell</h2>
<p>One of the biggest concerns is the <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n2/full/nclimate2837.html">drying trend</a> forecast for many regions across the world. Little is known about whether this increasing soil aridity will cause a loss of microbial diversity, or what the effects might be. Unlike plant and animal communities, the consequences of this loss of microbial diversity remain debatable. </p>
<p>Dryland ecosystems are crucially important, both to the environment and humans. They cover <a href="http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.355.aspx.pdf">41% of the Earth’s surface</a> and are home to around 38% of the world’s people. They also harbour a rich and unique diversity of species, and play a critical role in the global carbon cycle. </p>
<p>Drylands are expanding, too. The <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n2/full/nclimate2837.html">most recent climate forecasts</a> indicate that the global extent of drylands may increase by up to 23% by the end of this century. Despite this, there has so far been no global, systematic assessment of the bacteria, fungi and other microbes that live in these soils.</p>
<h2>Studying soil microbes worldwide</h2>
<p>In two related studies, we and our colleagues looked at the impact of the drying trend on soil microbial diversity, and at whether these soils are likely to become less fertile and productive as a consequence. </p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/51/15684.abstract">first study</a>, we looked at 80 dryland sites, on all continents except Antarctica, to see how the composition, abundance and diversity of soil bacteria and fungi change in response to drying soils. </p>
<p>We found that soil bacterial and fungal diversity and abundance reduced as these drylands get drier. This is largely because when soils dry out, plant cover and soil organic carbon content both decline, which in turn affects the bacteria and fungi living in the soil. </p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160128/ncomms10541/abs/ncomms10541.html">second study</a> we investigated the relationship between microbial diversity and a range of functions such as soil fertility and plant productivity. We looked at drylands all over the world, and compared them with a wide variety of temperate ecosystems in Scotland including grasslands, forests, croplands and bogs. </p>
<p>Our results showed that a high level of microbial diversity is linked to higher plant productivity and soil fertility in drylands. Microbial diversity was equally important for ecosystem functioning in temperate Scottish ecosystems. </p>
<p>However, the risk of aridity-linked decline in microbial diversity is significantly greater in dryland soils. Therefore, these already dry areas are particularly vulnerable to further drying.</p>
<p>Our findings indicate that a loss in microbial diversity caused by human activities and climate change will negatively impact key ecosystem functions in soils that are vitally important for global food production. </p>
<h2>Many microbes make good soil</h2>
<p>Together, the key message from our two studies is that soil microbial communities, which are crucial for fertile soils and plant growth, are vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation. Thus, these microbial communities need to be explicitly considered in management and conservation policies. </p>
<p>The loss of microbes in drying soils across the world could have severe consequences for the global population. Some 90% of human settlements in dryland environments are in developing countries. This poses serious challenges for future food security, carbon sequestration and environmental sustainability. </p>
<p>It is <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/316/5826/847">estimated</a> that severe degradation of 10-20% of global drylands could affect up to 250 million people, mostly in the developing world. That would have a detrimental impact on the United Nations’ <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs">Sustainable Development Goals</a>, particularly the eradication of poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability.</p>
<p>We need to develop new approaches to protect soil microbes, to protect the world’s soils for future generations. This will require a coordinated approach to slow the rate of climate change, combined with changes to land use patterns such as avoiding overgrazing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>For this work, Brajesh and Manuel are funded by Australian Research Council Project (DP1310484) and Fernando is funded by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/ERC grant agreement 242658 (BICOM)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fernando T Maestre has received funding for this study from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/ERC grant agreement 242658 (BICOM)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>For this work, Brajesh and Manuel are funded by Australian Research Council Project (DP1310484)</span></em></p>The world’s ‘drylands’ – already home to 38% of the world’s people – are set to dry out even more. And that could harm the soil microbes that keep soils healthy and help crops to grow.Brajesh Singh, Professor of Microbial Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityFernando T Maestre, Associate professor, Head of the Dryland Ecology and Global Change Lab, Universidad Rey Juan CarlosManuel Delgado Baquerizo, Soil Ecologist, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/540822016-02-04T13:30:12Z2016-02-04T13:30:12ZDisease may wipe out world’s bananas – but here’s how we might just save them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110193/original/image-20160203-5853-121eshf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vanatchanan / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Catastrophe is looming for the banana industry. A new strain has emerged of a soil-borne fungus known as “Panama disease” which can wipe out entire plantations – and it is rapidly spreading around the world. Farmers in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/02/family-say-they-will-keep-operating-banana-plantation-despite-disease">Australia</a>, <a href="http://latincorrespondent.com/2015/12/strain-of-panama-disease-could-soon-spread-to-latin-america/">Latin America</a> and across <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/1001731/banana-killing-fungus-found-in-pakistan-among-others/">Asia</a> and <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/global-banana-blight-hits-mozambique/3026677.html">Africa</a> all fear the worst.</p>
<p>The fungus is almost impossible to stop or eradicate. It moves through soil, so contamination can be as simple as infected dirt travelling from one farm to another on the sole of a shoe, or as complex as soil particles blowing on the wind across long distances – even across oceans, in theory. </p>
<p>Faced with huge losses to a global industry, many have <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35131751">called for</a> a new strain of disease-resistant “superbanana”. However, this would be just another temporary fix. After all, the world’s most popular banana, the Cavendish, was itself the wonder fruit of its day, being introduced in the 1950s after an earlier strain of Panama disease destroyed its predecessor. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110307/original/image-20160204-3024-1p5tn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Panama disease causes banana plants to wilt and die.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/scotnelson/5680833415/">Scot Nelson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The fungi simply adapted and fought back, though, until the Cavendish also became susceptible. Panama and other diseases will continue to do so until we seriously reform how we grow and market bananas. </p>
<p>The banana industry is its own worst enemy. The huge farms where most exported bananas are grown are ideal for pests. These plantations are monocultures, which means they grow only bananas and nothing else. With very few shifts between crops over the years, and lots of tropical sunshine, there is an abundant and year-round supply of food for pests without any breaks, in time or space, to disrupt the supply and lower the disease pressure.</p>
<p>Banana producers spend a third of their income on controlling these pests, according to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3606705/">a study I published in 2013</a>. Chemicals to control microscopic but deadly worms are applied several times a year. Herbicides that control weeds are applied up to eight times a year, while bananas may be sprayed with fungicides from a plane more than 50 times per year in order to control Black Sigatoka, an airborne fungus. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110317/original/image-20160204-3020-1pbqvvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110317/original/image-20160204-3020-1pbqvvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110317/original/image-20160204-3020-1pbqvvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110317/original/image-20160204-3020-1pbqvvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110317/original/image-20160204-3020-1pbqvvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110317/original/image-20160204-3020-1pbqvvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110317/original/image-20160204-3020-1pbqvvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keep out, pests!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BananasBlueBagStLucia.jpg">Fairsing</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And those bags that are wrapped around each individual banana bunch? They’re <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3606705/">lined with insecticides</a> to serve as both a physical and chemical barrier to insects feeding on and damaging the skins.</p>
<p>All of this amounts to approximately one litre of active ingredients for every 18.6 kg box of bananas that is exported to consumers in the global north. It’s a huge, long-running problem for the industry and the new strain of Panama disease may just be the nail in its coffin.</p>
<p>Or maybe this is the wake-up call the export banana industry so desperately needs.</p>
<h2>Searching for the superbanana</h2>
<p>Given the way the fungus spreads, containment and quarantine are hardly long-term solutions. Some experts, especially those entrenched in the business of growing export bananas, argue that we need to <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197#sec005">breed or genetically modify</a> a new type of banana that is resistant to the latest strain of Panama disease.</p>
<p>But this is harder than it sounds. Modern bananas – the tasty yellow ones – don’t exist in nature; they were bred into existence around 10,000 years ago. They reproduce asexually, which means they don’t have seeds and every banana is a genetic clone of the previous generation. </p>
<p>This lack of genetic variation makes breeding a new banana particularly challenging. If one Cavendish is susceptible to a disease, all others will be too. When all bananas are clones, how do you create the genetic variation from which traits for better disease resistance can be identified and nurtured?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110322/original/image-20160204-2993-1lnm1ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Identical bananas – and only bananas – for miles on end.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">underworld / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A new banana would also have to be tasty, durable enough to withstand long voyages without bruising, and bright yellow. Looks really do trump pest-resistance. A new type of banana introduced during a previous Panama disease panic back in the 1920s was <a href="http://environmentalhistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/7-3_Soluri.pdf">rejected by consumers</a> for going black on the outside, even when it was ripe and sweet inside.</p>
<h2>Saving the banana</h2>
<p>Today, banana growers are in a fight for survival, continuously applying newly-formulated fungicides in an effort to keep ahead of the diseases. But they are acutely aware that they are losing ground. While breeding a new banana staves off the current problem, history has already shown that this doesn’t get to the root of the problem, which is the design of the production system.</p>
<p>We need to ditch the massive farms. Around the world, millions of small-scale farmers already grow bananas in a more organic and sustainable way. Alongside bananas are cacao, avocado, mango, corn, orange, lemon and more. A mix of crops creates <a href="http://www.sidalc.net/repdoc/A7640i/A7640i.pdf">more stable production systems</a> which rely on fewer, if any, pesticides and generates diverse income sources, handing local people greater food sovereignty. Farms where bananas are mixed in with other crops are also <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343513001449">more resilient to climate change</a> which is likely to hit banana-producing regions – developing countries – harder than most.</p>
<p>Yes, this would mean fewer bananas are grown. Sustainable agriculture simply can’t keep up with the megafarms. But if we learned to ignore the odd blemished or undersized banana, then the actual amount sent to market need not drop at all. </p>
<p>The farmers themselves should be okay as they’ll make up their income by producing different crops. Breaking the dominance of the banana multinationals should also distribute wealth among more farmers and empower the regions where they’re grown. As a consumer, ask yourself this: isn’t that a far better way to spend your money?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angelina Sanderson Bellamy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We need to break up the industry, not focus on creating a disease-resistant ‘superbanana’.Angelina Sanderson Bellamy, Research Associate, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/522402015-12-16T10:55:26Z2015-12-16T10:55:26ZA win for air quality in Paris summit, but climate-smart agriculture still lags<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105848/original/image-20151214-9523-2p333.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aided by expanded farming in Asia, there's been a global increase in greenhouse gases from farming. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/asiandevelopmentbank/8593859857/in/photolist-d4cvxf-rqDY2e-fKrUfu-r5QuYY-e6pMdX-e6pM8x-e6vqrY-e6vq5U-zot48h-egDi2U-brY3u8-d4cvRb-4LuxAy-7nvPEi-nz8Z3-7nzJBU-A3V6dq-aDGEh-AeMdgr-szwuiM">asiandevelopmentbank/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Environmental problems are usually multifaceted and complex. This is especially true for climate change. As a result, over time researchers and policymakers have learned the importance of a comprehensive and multi-pollutant approach meant to solve different problems at once. </p>
<p>At the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/paris-2015-climate-summit">COP21 Paris climate summit</a>, negotiators were successful to a certain extent in bringing air pollution and climate change more holistically in the same framework. This is important as emerging developing countries, such as China and India, have a higher priority in mitigating air pollution. And rightly so, with their constant exposure to high air pollutant concentrations. </p>
<p>But a similarly integrated approach appears to have failed for agriculture despite tremendous opportunities. It is a shame that we have not been successful at crystallizing a concrete agreement to reduce greenhouse gases that produced a win-win for agriculture and climate.</p>
<h2>Climate pollutants</h2>
<p>At COP21, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) – a partnership of governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other organizations – was successful in <a href="http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=26856&ArticleID=35628&l=en">committing to accelerate ambitious action</a> to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). </p>
<p>These SLCPs, including the greenhouse gas methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) and particles from combustion called <a href="http://www3.epa.gov/blackcarbon/basic.html">black carbon</a> (BC), are important for reducing air pollution and climate change. They both warm the atmosphere and degrade air quality.</p>
<p>Particles including black carbon are often called fine particles or PM<sub>2.5</sub> (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers). They are the culprits of the smog <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-issues-red-alert-for-the-first-time-as-smog-envelops-beijing-1449574341">we have been seeing recently in China</a>.</p>
<p>CH<sub>4</sub> is a precursor of ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) in the lower atmosphere, an oxidant, and unlike the stratospheric O<sub>3</sub> that protects us from the ultraviolet radiation, it is harmful to health, contributes to smog, and also damages crop yields.</p>
<p>The agreement in Paris is an important step toward achieving benefits in the near future. Most greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) are long-lived in the atmosphere. These SLCPs, in contrast, have a lifetime of a couple of weeks (BC) to a decade (CH<sub>4</sub>). So, by reducing these short-lived air pollutant emissions, we will be able to enhance air quality and improve human health and agricultural yields much more quickly. </p>
<p>Research by <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6065/183.abstract">Duke University’s Drew Shindell and others</a> estimates that the mitigation measures targeting these two pollutant emissions – CH<sub>4</sub> and BC – will not only reduce global mean warming by 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 but also avoid 0.7-4.7 million annual premature deaths. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the study projects a significant increase of 30-135 million metric tons of annual crop yields. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35067900">Asian Development Bank’s US$300 million loan to China</a> to combat pollution is also along the same lines. It is targeted to reducing air pollution, but because it is mainly for cutting coal use, it will obviously also reduce its carbon emissions. One caveat, though, is that pollutants that scatter sunlight and thus cool the atmosphere, such as sulfate aerosols, will also be reduced. It is almost never possible to have a perfectly rosy solution. </p>
<h2>Soil emissions</h2>
<p>Although the COP included initiatives targeting air pollution, climate and health all at once, there was a lack of comprehensive strategy for the interlinked effects of climate and agriculture at the summit. </p>
<p>Agriculture contributes <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg3/ipcc_wg3_ar5_chapter11.pdf">10%-12% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions</a>, and it has altered all of the three important greenhouse gases linked to terrestrial sources: CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub> and nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O). The flip side is that there is a significant potential in agriculture for reducing these biogenic sources of greenhouse gases.</p>
<p>The agricultural sector is also important because we need to pay more attention to nitrous oxide – possibly the least-known important GHG. N<sub>2</sub>O is not just a GHG; it also depletes the ozone layer in the stratosphere.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://ozone.unep.org/en/treaties-and-decisions/montreal-protocol-substances-deplete-ozone-layer">Montreal Protocol</a>, which was ratified in 1989, has been effective at reducing greenhouse gases that are also ozone-depleting substances (<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/104/12/4814.full">Velders et al, 2006</a>). However, N<sub>2</sub>O is not included in the Montreal Protocol, and its emissions are sharply rising. </p>
<p>The concentrations of N<sub>2</sub>O in the atmosphere are increasing rapidly and we find that there is a <a href="http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/14/4617/2014/acp-14-4617-2014.pdf">statistically significant increase in emissions</a> from the agricultural sector in Asia, including China and India. This makes sense, as the nitrogen fertilizer usage in these countries is the largest and the third-largest in the world and is <a href="http://www.fertilizer.org">only increasing</a>. </p>
<p>There is a need for a better understanding of how the net greenhouse gas balance from terrestrial sources changes as a result of agricultural practices. We need to commit ourselves to finding <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-low-tech-farming-innovations-can-make-african-farmers-climate-resilient-47684">good agricultural practices</a> in different areas of the world that could minimize soil GHG emissions. </p>
<p>Much as we’ve found the co-benefits of reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases, we need to commit ourselves to finding good agricultural practices in different areas of the world that could minimize soil GHG emissions, provide sufficient food and improve soil quality.</p>
<p>The term <a href="https://ccafs.cgiar.org/climate-smart-agriculture-0#.VmyuyRorJp8">climate-smart agriculture</a> was coined in 2010 to describe a system that increases productivity, builds resilience, and reduces GHG emissions. Now is the time to really take it seriously before it is too late. The action has to start in developed countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52240/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eri Saikawa receives funding from National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. </span></em></p>The Paris climate summit yielded a pact to reduce air pollutants that contribute to global warming but missed a chance to address the interlinked effects of agriculture and climate.Eri Saikawa, Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences, Emory UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/476842015-09-21T09:33:36Z2015-09-21T09:33:36ZHow low-tech farming innovations can make African farmers climate-resilient<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95382/original/image-20150918-17701-mfm9vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Community education is a vital part of the Malawi Farmer to Farmer Agroecology project.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carmen Bezner Kerr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scientists, politicians and the Pope are not the only ones calling for action on climate change these days. Farmers are observing changes in rainfall, temperature and other patterns in weather that have spurred them into shifting their farming methods. In fact, while climate change is not a source of scientific contention, how to farm in the future is a hot topic in the scientific realm.</p>
<p>As a social scientist with a background in soil science, usually working in collaboration with other scientists as part of a transdisciplinary approach, I’ve studied different agricultural methods with small-scale farmers in Africa. Perhaps surprisingly, I’ve found that certain low-cost and low-technology techniques, combined with community-led education, offer the most promise.</p>
<h2>Agroecology</h2>
<p>Farming, it turns out, produces high levels of greenhouse gas emissions - fertilizers, tilling soil, pesticides and livestock production are responsible for about <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/one-third-of-our-greenhouse-gas-emissions-come-from-agriculture-1.11708">one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions</a>. At the same time, increased global temperatures are expected to have dramatic impacts on our current abilities to produce food. In Africa, some scientists predict crop yields could be reduced <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6145/508.full.html">by 20% or more</a> unless changes are made. </p>
<p>Some call for “<a href="http://www.fao.org/climate-smart-agriculture/en/">climate smart</a>” agriculture, which sounds a little bit like more and improved. There could be a number of improvements: fertilizers and pesticides, but applied with greater efficiency; cell phones for farmers in poor countries to get up to date weather advice; genetically-modified seeds that are more drought-resistant.</p>
<p>To be sure, the conventional cocktail of fertilizer and herbicides will help some farmers increase food production in the short term – if farmers can afford these inputs. </p>
<p>For many poor farmers, though, such methods would only increase their costs and debt, making it harder for them to compete and leaving them in a more vulnerable situation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95384/original/image-20150918-17701-cllyjq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Farmers who use agroecological methods have been more resistant to fluctuations in weather. Jessie Kaunda, a participating farmer, standing in her pigeonpea and maize field in March 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carmen Bezner Kerr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such was the story of the <a href="http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/search/52936C64A2136CFCC1257C2B00590C32">last Green Revolution</a> from the 1930s to 1960s. The environmental costs of these technical improvements are well known – increased water pollution, reduced biodiversity, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. So not really a “smart” solution at all.</p>
<p>Others call for “<a href="http://www.fao.org/docs/eims/upload/207703/fiche%20WP3.pdf">agroecological</a>” methods – farming practices that mimic nature by adding organic material to soil, planting trees on cropped fields and using natural enemies to attack insect pests. Largely underfunded, this is nonetheless a growing scientific field. </p>
<p>Studies have also shown that agroecological methods can build resilience in the face of climate change. Hurricane Mitch, one of the five most powerful hurricanes of the century in the Caribbean, caused over 10,000 deaths and over $6.7 billion in <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/mitch/mitch.html">damage in 1998</a>. But it came attached with a small blessing: a chance to see whether farm techniques mattered for recovery. Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8809(02)">found</a> that farmers using agroecological methods before the hurricane had more vegetation, lower soil erosion and less economic loss.</p>
<p>Other studies examined the impacts of different farming practices on the response to hurricanes and droughts in <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2014.900842">Mexico</a>, Tanzania, Sweden and Cuba, all of which found that agroecological methods helped farms <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0909-y">withstand damage and recover faster</a>.</p>
<h2>Anita in Malawi</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.soilandfood.org">Soils, Food and Healthy Communities project</a>– in which I’ve been a collaborating partner – has been teaching agroecological methods in hundreds of Malawian villages over the last fifteen years and the results have been impressive. </p>
<p>Farmers started planting crops that enhance soil fertility such as peanuts, beans and pigeonpea, which provide a food source as well as other benefits such as a source of cash, livestock feed and even fuelwood. Families had improved child nutrition and food security was enhanced as well as land quality. These methods are now expanding to thousands of farmers through the <a href="http://soilandfood.org/malawi-farmer-to-farmer-agroecology-project/">Malawi Farmer to Farmer Agroecology project</a>. </p>
<p>Anita Chitaya is one such farmer. Two years ago, Anita Chitaya faced a tough decision: help her neighbors survive that summer or ensure her family survived for the next two years. Severe drought had decimated her northern Malawi village’s food supply and many of her neighbors’ crops had failed. Unlike everyone else though, she and her husband had enough harvest to last several years, with a bounty of corn, millet, groundnuts, beans, soya, sweet potatoes and cassava. Why? Because Anita had supplied her soils with a rich source of organic material from crop residue. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95383/original/image-20150918-17709-2qrtv8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mixing it up: a field of pigeonpea, a shrub that produces peas and improves soil as well as fuelwood, along with peanuts in March 2014 in Malawi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carmen Bezner Kerr</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She used innovative farming techniques such as growing different soil-enriching legumes and rotating her crops. Her hard work led to improved soil quality, which allowed her to grow a wider diversity of crops, and as a result, minimize risks. It turns out that diversifying crops can play a crucial role in helping rural communities adapt to climate change. </p>
<p>At the same time, there have been many challenges. A wider range of crops means a farmer needs greater access to seeds and knowledge about how to grow and cook these foods. The farming practices can also be more labor-intensive. Burying the leaves and branches after harvest, for example, often requires a shift in post-harvest activities. </p>
<p>In order to ensure that new activities are not just increasing women’s workload, and in turn reducing their time for other important activities such as breastfeeding or child care, we’ve established community-organized educational activities, such as village “crop residue promotion” days. These events have been important for sharing knowledge and encouraging all household members to get involved.</p>
<p>Anita joined at a time when her family had poor soils, low food supply and her children were malnourished. She took up the call for experimentation, trying all sorts of different combinations in her fields, and also became a farmer research leader, teaching other villagers about what she was learning. Thanks to her and other farmer researchers, we now have a far better understanding of what methods for farming can be successful in climate change-ravaged areas.</p>
<p>Indeed, farmer-led experimentation – having them learn on the ground what works in their fields – has been an important part of our success. Farmer-to-farmer teaching is another key ingredient, along with community strategies to address social inequalities such as gender discrimination, that prevent these farming benefits from reaching the most vulnerable groups.</p>
<h2>Dependence on local food</h2>
<p>However, Anita and her colleagues face an uphill battle. This year the Malawi government has indicated that overall crop yields will be even lower, by almost one-third, due to drought in the north and floods in the south. <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/malawi/malawi-food-security-outlook-update-august-2015">Recent reports</a> anticipate severe impacts, particularly on the poor in the next few months. In a country in which the majority of people grow at least half of their own food supply, this news suggests that the coming year will be grim for Anita’s village and many more families across the country.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/">most recent climate change studies</a> leave no room for doubt that human activities primarily in the Global North release carbon and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, leading to unprecedented shifts in climate: rising temperatures and consequently increased droughts, floods, unpredictability of precipitation and rising sea levels. A <a href="http://cdiac.ornl.gov/GCP/carbonbudget/2014/">recent study</a> found that Africa contributes about two percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, and that is only based on current emissions, not even taking historical emissions into account.</p>
<p>It is not too late – and certainly not too soon – to take heed of Anita’s example, and to support this innovative, farmer-led approach to adapting to climate change, while working to reduce our own climate impacts on our shared planet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47684/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Bezner Kerr works for the Department of Development Sociology, Cornell University and collaborates with the Malawi Farmer-to-Farmer Agroecology project. She receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Development, Government of Canada, through the University of Western Ontario who is the lead institution for this research project, as well as the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University. She is affiliated with the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities organization as a Board member. </span></em></p>Agroecological techniques that mimic nature – the antithesis of GMOs and high-cost fertilizers – have made farmers in developing countries more resilient to extreme weather.Rachel Bezner Kerr, Associate Professor of Development Sociology, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/445072015-07-24T03:59:35Z2015-07-24T03:59:35ZBuen Vivir: South America’s rethinking of the future we want<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88474/original/image-20150715-17812-1oy2sq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Drawing inspiration from Buen Vivir, this mural is by the famous Brigada Ramona Parra, a political street art collective in Chile.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.alternautas.net/blog/2014/12/1/nature-buen-vivir-in-ecuador-the-battle-between-conservation-and-extraction">Alternautus</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two years ago heads of state and government and high-level representatives from across the world met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations <a href="http://www.un.org/en/sustainablefuture/">Rio+20 Summit</a>. One important output was the document, <a href="http://futurewewant.org">The Future We Want</a>. This outlined a vision for an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for the planet and for present and future generations. </p>
<p>But the initiative was met with hesitation and resisted by civil society groups. The alternative People’s Summit Rio+20 launched the document <a href="http://rio20.net/en/iniciativas/another-future-is-possible/">Another Future is Possible</a>. This came out of the 2012 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum">World Social Forum</a> and aimed to articulate a different vision for sustainable development. This vision was shaped in part by a transformative program sweeping South America since the mid-2000s: <em>Buen Vivir</em>, which is Spanish for “good living” or “living well”. </p>
<p>This idea had already been incorporated into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_People%27s_Conference_on_Climate_Change">Peoples’ Climate Summit</a> in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 2010. Buen Vivir draws from ancestral conceptions of <em>sumak kawsay</em> in Quechua and <em>suma qaman</em> in Aymara, the two most widely spoken indigenous languages in the Andes region of Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia. </p>
<h2>What is Buen Vivir?</h2>
<p>There is no single definition of Buen Vivir. Collective well-being comes close. It is germinating through a range of perspectives and social actors across South America. </p>
<p>Buen Vivir is still a concept and a lived practice under construction. To give a clue to what it is not, it’s the opposite of the Fairfax-Lateral <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/longterm-unemployment-sharp-rise-taking-a-toll-on-australias-wellbeing-20150606-ghhp6i">Economics Wellbeing Index</a>, which puts a dollar figure on national wellbeing using a range of indicators. </p>
<p>Unlike any index based on logarithmic economic indicators, in Buen Vivir the subject of wellbeing is not the individual, but the individual within a community in relation to a specific cultural-natural environment. </p>
<p>Buen Vivir is foremost a decolonial stance. According to leading proponent Eduardo Gudynas, executive secretary of the <a href="http://ambiental.net/claes/">Latin American Centre for Social Ecology</a>, it <a href="http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/journal/v54/n4/full/dev201186a.html">calls for</a> a new ethics that balances quality of life, democratisation of the state and concern with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocentrism_(ethics)">biocentric</a> ideals. </p>
<p>This is much more than an emergent discourse of engaged intellectuals and Indigenous cultural activists contributing to the sustainability debate. It’s a strong criticism of the discourse of sustainable development itself. Drawing on the wealth of the region’s indigenous cultures, it has emerged as a lived practice against commodification, a way of doing things differently.</p>
<p>Gudynas <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/buen-vivir-philosophy-south-america-eduardo-gudynas">sees</a> Buen Vivir as a new paradigm of social and ecological commons – one that is community-centric, ecologically balanced and culturally sensitive. It’s a vision and a platform for thinking and practising alternative futures based on a “bio-civilisation”. </p>
<p>For activist-intellectual <a href="http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/journal/v53/n1/full/dev200993a.html">Catherine Walsh</a>, a professor at Ecuador’s Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar, Buen Vivir:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… denotes, organises and constructs a system of knowledge and living based on the communion of humans and nature and on the spatial-temporal-harmonious totality of existence. That is, on the necessary interrelation of beings, knowledges, logics and rationalities of thought, action, existence and living. This notion is part and parcel of the cosmovision, cosmology, or philosophy of the indigenous peoples of Abya Yala but also, and in a somewhat different way, of the descendents of the African diaspora. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The concept has been adopted in many academic circles across Latin America, mostly by intellectuals-activists and primordially by indigenous organisations and cooperatives. Many attempts are being made to translate it into normative principles that can permeate both public and political spheres. This is especially the case in Ecuador and Bolivia where Buen Vivir and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_Nature">Rights of Nature</a> have been inscribed in the constitutions.</p>
<p>The Preamble of the Ecuadorian Constitution <a href="http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/english08.html">states</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We decided to construct a new form of citizen co-existence, in diversity and harmony with nature, to reach ‘el buen vivir, el sumak kawsay’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Following its constitutional adoption in 2008, sumak kawsay or “collective good living” was taken up in a <a href="http://theredddesk.org/countries/policies/national-plan-good-living">National Plan for Good Living</a> 2009-2013.</p>
<h2>View from the South is of deeper change</h2>
<p>A common feature of the diverse anti-austerity movements in Europe, Occupy and Buen Vivir is the reaction against the political legitimacy of institutions and increased mistrust of the financial sector and the political class as a whole. </p>
<p>But in Latin America, unlike Europe, this is less linked to financial crisis and austerity policies. And while the European movements include right-wing, xenophobic, ultra-nationalist groups, Buen Vivir is far more unified and proactive in developing a program for alternative solidarity economies and practices.</p>
<p>This is an important divergence. Europe’s anti-austerity movements seem to be, at least on the surface, an essentially Eurocentric (or Europeanist at best) project to push for a more humane capitalism. Looking at the Podemos movement in Spain, its <a href="http://podemos.info/propuestas/">proposals</a> are basically a template for organising economic relations in a fairer way.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_movement">Occupy</a> movement is certainly internationalist in intent. Yet, again, the dissent is against social and economic inequality and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precarity">labour precarity</a>. A primary goal is to reclaim economic and political relations for citizens and civil society. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=777&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=777&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=777&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88292/original/image-20150714-11798-4spa0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Buen Vivir was a central plank of Chilean presidential candidate Roxana Miranda’s 2013 election platform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Afiche_Roxana_Presidenta_Que_el_Pueblo_Mande.jpg#/media/File:Afiche_Roxana_Presidenta_Que_el_Pueblo_Mande.jpg">Wikimedia Commons/</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, implicit in Buen Vivir is a much deeper reframing of the ways in which global justice movements challenge market globalism. This includes disagreement with free market environmentalism and the <a href="http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/">“Green Economy”</a> promoted by the United Nations. </p>
<p>Buen Vivir tackles the ecological divide between the global North and South head-on. It sets up a radical <a href="http://www.southsouthforum.org/pdf/Climate%20Strategy.pdf">discursive contrast</a> between high-energy intensive economies of the industrial North and low-carbon eco-sufficient alternative models in the South. </p>
<p>Differentiating it from anti-austerity movements, Buen Vivir incorporates an environmental dimension founded on biocentrism. It demands an ethically different relationship with nature. </p>
<p>Certainly, within a Buen Vivir framework those other futures we want must be more austere. Buen Vivir incorporates ideas of de-growth and a stern critique of extractivism. This is another buzz word in Latin America to critique current modes of mining and hydrocarbon exploitation, industrial-scale agriculture, forestry and fishing. </p>
<p>Buen Vivir is of interest in any debate in an Australian context about transforming production processes towards lower use of raw materials and energy. We can criticise all we want the Abbott government’s deplorable push to cut investment in wind and solar energy. But we must also bear the burden of (and act on) our own individual unsustainable energy (and food) consumption, which is among the highest in the world. </p>
<p>Buen Vivir may be taken up in Australia as an interesting perspective in other ways too. First, as a way to engage more deeply and respectfully with Aboriginal communal ways of being. Second, as a way to take part in emergent local movements, urban and rural, pushing to build sustainable non-capitalist alternatives.</p>
<h2>Towards another future as lived practice</h2>
<p>Buen Vivir and related “transition discourses” such as <a href="http://www.greattransition.org/publication/radical-ecological-democracy-a-path-forward-for-india-and-beyond">“Ecological Swaraj”</a> in India or <a href="http://www.enviropaedia.com/topic/default.php?topic_id=336">“Eco-Ubuntu”</a> in South Africa are calling for a significant paradigmatic or civilisational transformation. </p>
<p>Buen Vivir does incorporate long-standing Western critiques of capitalism coming out of politics, economics, geography and feminist thought. As a lived practice, it is aware of – and connected to – global movements of local solidarities that promote collaborative consumption and economies of sharing and care. Yet, as a social–ecological transformation, it entails more than a move to take back the economy. Buen Vivir is a move to repoliticise sustainability. </p>
<p>As an Andean cultural-political project, it doesn’t seek a return to an ancestral indigenous past. The call is to construct common ancestral futures, where different knowledges come together, not only under the directive of Western rationality. </p>
<p>In Latin America, proponents of Buen Vivir are ready to influence global debates on sustainable development by fuelling ideals that other worlds/futures are indeed possible. They are hopeful and waiting to see when, for once, the North might listen respectfully to peoples of the South.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juan Francisco Salazar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Buen Vivir is a concept and practice influencing politics and communities across South America. It involves a radically different way of thinking about collective wellbeing and sustainable living.Juan Francisco Salazar, Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Communication Arts , Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/334882014-10-28T16:38:47Z2014-10-28T16:38:47ZDeforestation and the rise of industrial-scale farming in Africa could lie behind Ebola outbreak<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63023/original/pp894d34-1414507881.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Peril from the forests.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EU Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The growing Ebola virus outbreak not only highlights the tragedy enveloping the areas most affected but also offers a commentary on they way in which the political ecology in West Africa has allowed this disease to become established.</p>
<p>The narrative goes that the virus <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1404505">appeared spontaneously</a> in the forest villages of Guinea in December 2013. But this is debatable given that there is evidence of antibodies the Ebola virus in human blood from Sierra Leone <a href="http://www.healio.com/infectious-disease/emerging-diseases/news/online/%7B64b1c5d3-b132-40ad-8335-612494e1d976%7D/ebola-virus-present-in-west-africa-ahead-of-current-outbreak">up to five years previously</a>. Previously only one case of Ebola had been reported in the region, and it was the Ivory Coast strain of the virus. The strain detected in the blood samples is of the more virulent Zaire strain of Ebola, the same strain responsible for the current epidemic.</p>
<p>After months of very little concerted action it’s clear that the disease is now seriously in danger of spreading out of control. The global health community has <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/ebola-20140808/en/">declared it a crisis</a> of international importance, which has led the host nations to implement draconian preventions strategies, tantamount in some places to martial law in terms of surveillance, quarantine, border controls and other logistical aspects of control. But this is too little, too late.</p>
<p>There are several mechanisms through which the <a href="http://www.envplan.com/openaccess/a4712com.pdf">virus may have emerged</a>, and it is unlikely that this latest outbreak was spontaneous. It is poverty that drives villagers to encroach further into the forest, where they become infected with the virus <a href="https://theconversation.com/ebola-bats-get-a-bad-rap-when-it-comes-to-spreading-diseases-32785">when hunting and butchering</a> wildlife, or through contact with body fluids <a href="https://theconversation.com/fruit-bats-could-help-predict-ebola-outbreaks-29792">from bats</a> – this has been seen with <a href="http://www.who.int/csr/disease/nipah/en/">Nipah</a>, another dangerous virus associated with bats.</p>
<p>The likelihood of infection in this manner is compounded by inadequate rural health facilities and poor village infrastructure, compounded by the disorganised urban sprawl at the fringes of cities. The virus then spreads in a wave of fear and panic, ill-conceived intervention and logistical failures – including even <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2014-09-02/ebola-patient-escapes-liberia-clinic-to-search-for-food/">insufficient food</a> or beds for the severely ill. </p>
<p>Take for example the global palm oil industry, where a similar trend of deep-cutting into forests for agricultural development has <a href="http://www.ghjournal.org/impacts-of-deforestation-on-vector-borne-disease-incidence/">breached natural barriers</a> to the evolution and spread of specific pathogens. The effects of land grabs and the focus on certain fruit crop species leads to an <a href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/allee-effects-19699394">Allee effect</a>, where sudden changes in one ecological element causes the mechanisms for keeping populations – bats in this case – and viruses in equilibrium to shift, increasing the probability of spill over to alternative hosts.</p>
<p>This is not unheard of; the introduction of fruit tree crops in cleared forests and agricultural expansion in Malaysia was <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/2013/04/30/climatic-ori-nipah-virus/">associated with the emergence of Nipah virus</a>. Bats feeding on fruit trees infected pigs in pens, which provided a vector for the virus to humans. Another example is with vector-borne diseases such as the <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/japanese-encephalitis/Pages/Introduction.aspx">Japanese Encephalitis</a>, a virus carried by wild birds which expanded its range due to growing rice and pig farming.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs327/en/">Chikungunya</a> and <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/dengue/Pages/Introduction.aspx">Dengue Fever</a> viruses exploited deforestation for secondary epidemiological cycles, which increased at the forest edge until the virus was able to adapt to secondary hosts and expand globally.</p>
<p>Certainly the complexity of the agro-ecological changes in West Africa warrant scrutiny. Guinea’s new agriculture is in an early stage of development, identified by the World Bank as the <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/africa-agribusiness-report-2013.pdf">highest investment potential for industrial agriculture</a>. As global markets shift – and tariffs and taxes on multinational companies are removed, farmers with small land holdings are faced with a choice: either sell off or scale up to meet the competition. Forests are one of the first casualties. </p>
<p>Alongside this subtle effect is the dismantling of traditional governance, violence under colonial, neo-colonial and more recent <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/07/08/buried-secrets">kleptocratic governments</a> and the economic movements of people towards urbanisation. Such turbulence, poverty, the influx of refugees from neighbouring wars and crumbling health systems have all created an ecosystem in which the natural friction that prevents Ebola from gathering pathogenic momentum has been all but eroded.</p>
<p>Any international response can do little to remedy these contributing factors. In fact the response has been little more than a recognition of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ebola-wasnt-stopped-by-huge-investment-in-african-healthcare-33114">complete failure of neo-liberal development strategies</a> to contain the virus. </p>
<p>The “success” of the Ebola virus is fundamentally based on the sociological factors and population biology of those it infects. But the data required to test the hypothesis – detailed records about what people eat, where they go and how they interact – is presently unavailable. Instead research has focused on virus hunting, and with little success: more than 40,000 samples have <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/">not yet conclusively determined</a> where the natural reservoir of Ebola lies. All the while, the socio-ecological factors that are critical to the spread of any disease are ignored.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Kock received funding from DFID to explore gaps and opportunities in the treatment or prevention of zoonoses in emerging livestock systems. This was short term and concluded in 2013. Funding is current from EU through BBSRC on an emerging livestock viral disease in Africa - specifically PPR virus in wildlife populations.</span></em></p>The growing Ebola virus outbreak not only highlights the tragedy enveloping the areas most affected but also offers a commentary on they way in which the political ecology in West Africa has allowed this…Richard Kock, Professor of Wildlife Health and Emerging Diseases, Royal Veterinary CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198762014-01-07T15:13:12Z2014-01-07T15:13:12ZHow to feed nine billion people, and feed them well<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38593/original/zwkm42kf-1389106886.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We need more, but more of what? Perhaps not this.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Giles/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Resource-intensive agriculture, despite its productivity, nevertheless has failed to feed the world’s current population, never mind the nine billion people expected by 2050. This system that currently fails both people and planet is ripe for revision.</p>
<p>We need to be more ambitious, to go beyond simply producing more. We need to produce more of what’s good – not just cereal staples, but nutrition-dense foods – in ways that can prevent or even reverse land degradation, encourage biodiversity, conserve water, and allow the world’s poor more equal access to land, food, and markets than has historically been the case.</p>
<p>There is a significant “triple burden” of malnutrition. Some 850m people don’t have enough to eat. Perversely some <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/">1.4 billion people are overweight</a>, 600m of them obese. Both groups suffer from micronutrient malnutrition, a lack of key vitamins and minerals. These imbalances mean we ought to examine what exactly is being produced, and how it is distributed. The co-existence of highly productive agricultural systems and hunger, of obesity and starvation, powerfully highlight how global agriculture has failed to substantially narrow economic inequalities, and has perpetuated nutritional imbalances on billions.</p>
<p>And despite its failures, agriculture’s costs are high. Crop and livestock production is responsible for <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3107e/i3107e.PDF">half the methane and two-thirds of the nitrous oxide</a> released by humans. The use of nitrous fertiliser has disrupted global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. And agriculture is a leading driver of global biodiversity loss, something that greatly affects communities around the world that <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/365/1554/2913.short">rely on wild species</a> for food and income.</p>
<h2>More, but more of what?</h2>
<p>We can’t simply hope to produce more of the same and feed the world. There are alternative models, but they need recognition and support. However the emphasis on <a href="http://user37685.vs.easily.co.uk/publications/Garnett2013FoodSustainability.pdf">production efficiency</a>“ is dominant, even in discussions of sustainable agricultural intensification. Here, thought is only given to how to increase supply of cereals and animal products in ever more efficient ways.</p>
<p>The Green Revolution in Latin America and South Asia, for example, resulted in tremendous increases in crop yield. But this was only because new technologies were supported by government subsidies, cheap credit, supportive markets and plentiful irrigation. This increased productivity did not, by itself, result in a better-fed population. It provided an abundance of calorie-rich staple crops such as rice and wheat, but saw the supply of nutrient-rich crops such as pulses and vegetables fall and their cost rise. And this model of intensive irrigation and fertiliser use wasn’t an option everywhere. India’s Green Revolution was concentrated in the favourable lands of the Punjab, ignoring the rain-fed drylands that support most of the country’s farmers. </p>
<p>Even when grown in larger amounts, crops must be accessible and affordable if they are to alleviate hunger. This cannot be left to global markets, whose volatility in recent years has made it substantially harder to alleviate poverty and hunger – a fact recognised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, which <a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/esag/docs/Interim_report_AT2050web.pdf">has stated</a> "unless local agriculture is developed and/or other income-earning opportunities open up, the food insecurity determined by limited local production will persist, even in the middle of potential plenty at the world level”.</p>
<p>So production is necessary, but insufficient: ensuring produce is properly distributed to fair markets is vital. In India for example, it has long been the case due to a lack of proper storage facilities, corruption and inequity in the means of distribution, grain surpluses are simply left to rot without ever reaching the hungry. </p>
<h2>Seeing past the status quo</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://www.nuffieldinternational.org/rep_pdf/1382473233Robert-Craig-report-2012.pdf">recent report</a> on food by Robert Craig, highlights just how dominant this “productivist” approach is. The report examines the status of agriculture in Brazil, Chile, Peru, the US, India, China and New Zealand. Craig shows how – while each country presents very different social-ecological conditions – the dominant rhetoric is the same in each: production, profits, demand, supply and prices of major commodities, traded on world markets. Seen through this lens, there is no room for a nuanced ecological approach, let alone awareness of the political, social and economic factors that influence hunger.</p>
<p>Estimates of land and water are pitted against demand projections. “Sustainability” only means using resources efficiently. Complex environments are reduced to either source or sink. The author is told in Peru “if river water reaches the sea it’s seen as a waste”. He is shown how resources could be developed to meet projected demand: the schemes range from trying to control how much farmers can irrigate in India, to spending <a href="http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/03/05/china%E2%80%99s-south-north-water-transfer-project-a-means-to-a-political-end/">£62 billion</a> to bring alive Mao’s vision of a canal to transport water from China’s southern region to its arid north. This is a scheme that has displaced over 300,000 people, disrupted the southern river basins, and may fail anyway, if climate change leaves them with less water in the southern rivers to draw from.</p>
<p>So are there alternatives? Very much so. There is an emerging global movement that emphasises increased consumer participation in (ostensibly) ecologically sound and socially just food systems. And for increasing production using ecologically sound methods, – so-called sustainable intensification, – there is a great deal of agroecological practice worldwide that is <a href="http://www.unep.org/dewa/agassessment/reports/IAASTD/EN/Agriculture%20at%20a%20Crossroads_Synthesis%20Report%20(English).pdf">recognised by researchers</a>.</p>
<p>In India, farmers are revitalising rice production by applying principles of the <a href="http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/">System of Rice Intensification</a>. In some states, the technique has been <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-09/goa/41902643_1_paddy-cultivation-rice-cultivation-sri-technique">officially endorsed and supported</a>.</p>
<p>Across Africa, sustainable production practices, designed with farmer participation, have raised yields, and enhanced the agricultural landscape. Such practices have also contributed to a range of human development goals, such as food security, alleviating poverty, and improving skills and knowledge. These systems and practices are designed to do more than just conserve resources and boost yields. More ambitious, they aim to feed people balanced, nutrient-rich diets, while reversing the substantially damaging effects on land, plant and wildlife biodiversity that industrial agriculture has wrought.</p>
<p>They can also boost human potential, by increasing the income, skills and political capital of small farmers and landless agricultural labourers who currently steward most of the world’s agricultural land, yet who are completely marginalised. These are the principles and perspectives at the frontlines of genuine change in the global food system. They are already here, and they are the seeds that have been sown for food’s sustainable future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/19876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zareen Pervez Bharucha does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Resource-intensive agriculture, despite its productivity, nevertheless has failed to feed the world’s current population, never mind the nine billion people expected by 2050. This system that currently…Zareen Pervez Bharucha, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/164972014-01-06T14:58:25Z2014-01-06T14:58:25ZBreak agriculture’s chemical monopolies to free our food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38531/original/8rsq5rtb-1389018298.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Keep looking - there's a new way of farming in there somewhere.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Geoff Caddick/PA </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Current farming methods rely too much on expensive chemicals such as fertiliser and pesticides; agroecology combines the best of ecological science and farmers’ knowledge to develop more sustainable food and farming.</p>
<p>This is not some fringe theory – agroecology has been <a href="http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/2013/10/17/mainstreaming-agroecology-is-this-the-future-of-farming/">discussed in the UK parliament</a>, and an Agroecology Strategy Bill to be presented to MPs will be launched at the <a href="http://www.oxfordrealfarmingconference.org/">Oxford Real Farming Conference</a> that starts today.</p>
<p>The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food has argued that <a href="http://www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/officialreports/20110308_a-hrc-16-49_agroecology_en.pdf">agroecology</a> can double food production in entire regions within ten years, while mitigating climate change and alleviating rural poverty. And a recent <a href="http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=666">UNCTAD</a> report also made the benefits more visible for mainstream policy makers. </p>
<p>However, the term agroecology is now frequently used to mean very different things.</p>
<p>The French Minister of Agriculture declared his intention to have France become Europe’s “champion of agroecology”. But his government’s vision is radically different from that of French civil society and farmers’ organisations. Instead of merely promoting <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/09/no-till-farming-is-on-the-rise-thats-actually-a-big-deal/">no-till farming methods</a> with herbicide sprays, these organisations call for an agroecological approach that brings producers and consumers closer, boosts employment, the development of a solidarity-based economy, and diverse nutritious foods.</p>
<p>This emphasis on locally controlled food systems is at the heart of a radical agenda for food sovereignty in Europe that <a href="http://www.ensser.org/fileadmin/files/AgroEcologyTransformationSummary.pdf">transforms the system</a>, rather than conforms to the current model. But this transformation will not happen spontaneously. Change in Europe ultimately depends on the power of citizens to redirect public investments and policies that limit the spread of agroecology for sustainable food and farming.</p>
<h2>Re-localising food</h2>
<p>A growing number of initiatives in Europe aim to re-connect producers with consumers, using short food chains that supply local food. According to a recent <a href="http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/pub.cfm?id=6279">EU commissioned study</a>, short food chains generate great social and economic benefits. They create a sense of community by building trust and social bonds. They also create jobs and strengthen local economies because producers keep a higher share of their food’s value.</p>
<p>The environmental impact of short food chains can be mixed. Greenhouse gas emissions can be high if electricity and fuel have to be sourced from far away, for example. So a major challenge is to find new ways of re-integrating food, energy, water and waste systems in <a href="http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/14619IIED.pdf">circular models</a>.</p>
<p>The overall focus is on doing more with less: widespread recycling and reuse; bringing production and consumption back from a global food supply chain to a more local, decentralised food web. From house clusters, municipalities, and whole cities, to semi-urban areas beyond city hinterlands linked to nearby farms and countryside.</p>
<h2>Free the seeds, reclaim the land</h2>
<p>Ensuring biodiversity-rich and change-resistant farming depends on unrestricted access to a wide range of seeds that are not proprietary products of big corporations. But European seed regulations and <a href="http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantVarieties/plantbreedersRights/">Plant Breeders Rights</a> encourage uniformity across farm landscapes by <a href="http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/14611IIED.pdf">restricting the free exchange of seeds</a>. While this benefits seed companies, it hampers our ability to develop the more genetically diverse farming systems we need to adapt to climate change. Changes to the law are urgently needed to liberate seeds from corporate control, and strengthen farmers’ rights.</p>
<p>Land ownership in Europe is also highly unequal. There are some 12m farms in the EU, but large farms of 100 hectares or more, representing only 3% of the total number, nevertheless <a href="http://www.eurovia.org/IMG/pdf/Land_in_Europe.pdf">control 50% of all farmed land</a>. For young people trying to enter farming, high land prices and an increasingly speculative market have made it even more difficult. We need a pan-European political process to reverse the concentration of land ownership.</p>
<p>But a number of citizens’ initiatives are taking land off the market in order to allow farmers to enter or stay in farming. For example <a href="http://www.terredeliens.org/-un-mouvement-trois-piliers-">Terre de Liens</a> (“ties to the land”) in France has bought more 2,000 hectares of farmland since 2007, held in perpetuity for the sake of current and future generations. Land is then let to farmers who largely farm organically and sell through short food webs that create jobs and wealth in the local economy.</p>
<h2>Citizen action</h2>
<p>Citizens need to change the way public money is spent. For example, funds are required to build the infrastructure of decentralised food systems: local abattoirs, mills, food processing facilities, renewable energy generation, and water treatment.</p>
<p>Working with allies in local government, public money can be redirected into procurement schemes that favour farmers using agroecological methods and short food chains to deliver healthy, local food to schools, hospitals, and office canteens. For example, in both <a href="http://blogs.worldwatch.org/transformingcultures/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Rethinking-School-Food-Morgan-and-Sonnino.pdf">Italy and Scotland</a>, local authorities have promoted local producers by finding ways to bypass the “non-discrimination” EU regulatory constraints. Only local products are used to prepare school meals in several Italian towns.</p>
<p>Another challenge is to change research priorities towards developing sustainable food systems. The challenge is to increase public funding for long-neglected agroecological research <em>and</em> democratise how such research is governed. Citizens – farmers – should be more involved in defining strategic research priorities and policies. More emphasis needs to be placed on forms of social organisation and education that encourage direct democracy and partnerships, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvdZ0kkl7yk">including farmers’ movements and their innovation networks.</a>.</p>
<p>In a globalised world, new trade rules will be needed to protect local food systems and local businesses, and new supply management policies to reduce wasteful production and consumption and connect farms to fair markets. But this must not simply tweak the system. This is where a greater convergence between agroecology, <a href="http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/food-sovereignty-and-trade-mainmenu-38">food sovereignty</a>, the <a href="http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/events.nsf/(httpEvents)/513E84D6BA2D56EEC1257AFA00469157?OpenDocument">solidarity economy</a>, and <a href="http://www.degrowth.org">degrowth</a> movements can help.</p>
<p>Localised, circular systems based on agroecology can strengthen food sovereignty, democracy, and cultural diversity in Europe. Given the threats of climate change, peak oil, water scarcity, food supply, and steeply rising unemployment in the EU, piecemeal solutions that perpetuate “business as usual” will not do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/16497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michel Pimbert receives funding from the Swiss Development Cooperation, The Salvia Foundation, Swedish Sida, and the EU.</span></em></p>Current farming methods rely too much on expensive chemicals such as fertiliser and pesticides; agroecology combines the best of ecological science and farmers’ knowledge to develop more sustainable food…Michel Pimbert, Director, Centre for Agroecology and Food Security, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.