“The expansion of agriculture has been one of humanity’s largest impacts on the environment. It has transformed habitats and is one of the greatest pressures for biodiversity: of the 28,000 species evaluated to be threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List, agriculture is listed as a threat for 24,000 of them.” - Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, (2019) Our World in Data
The challenge is to shrink the landprint of agriculture in such a way that that we don’t kill off more of the biosphere in the process. The only way to do this is through the sustainable intensification of agriculture, which is about getting more output on less land with less harm to the environment overall. Sustainable farming without the intensive part uses more land and more land for agriculture means less land for grasslands, wetlands, and forests. And even though sustainable farms allow greater biodiversity on farmland than conventional farms, they still disrupt wildlife. While a sustainably farmed piece of land may have lots of bugs and birds, there would be even more critters if it were unfarmed and had reverted to wild habitat. Sparing the land is almost always better than sharing it, at least for non-human species. So if we humans want to stop the Great Extinction, we need to give back a lot more land.
Sustainable intensification of agriculture doesn't mean slathering the landscape with pesticides and fertilizer. It means getting really good at precision application of pesticides and fertilizer (organic or not) to minimize externalities. The idea is that farmers protect the climate, soil, air, and fellow lifeforms, all the while getting more output per input, thanks to advances in selective breeding, irrigation, land management, etc. GMOs will play a role as well, but only a role. There’s no one way to go about the sustainable intensification of agriculture.
But it’s not going to happen without the cooperation of farmers. And that’s not an easy task, given that farming is a low margin, high-risk affair. Now consider that sustainable and intensive farming practices often require high initial investment with uncertain or delayed payoff. Most farmers don’t have the luxury of waiting years for a return on investment - they can hardly think past this year’s harvest. So how can governments make it easier for farmers to adopt practices and technologies that protect the biosphere?
Here are some ideas:
Increase funding for international and national agricultural research, e.g. improved crop varieties, biological control of pests.
Invest in public education. Countries with higher rates of schooling witness more rapid adoption of new agricultural technologies, regardless of farm size.
Invest in farmer training. Farmers are typically unwilling to adopt unfamiliar practices or technologies. They need to understand how they work, how to use them, and what their benefits are.
Support farmer associations, clusters, cooperatives, and events. These make it easier for farmers to share knowledge and resources.
Make sure government farm agents are well trained and competent so that the advice and resources they provide are suitable to each farmer’s individual needs and constraints.
Implement economic and policy reforms that increase incentives for farmers to adopt new technology and raise productivity. For example, reduce price volatility and improve terms of trade for farm products.
Improve roads and storage systems to reduce waste and increase farmer incomes.
Promote knowledge transfer and international cooperation to foster the global transformation of farming, as well as to create resilient agrifood systems worldwide.
Increase funding for extension services and expand access to agricultural input markets to improve small farm productivity.
Subsidize some practices and technologies, especially for low-income farmers and smallholders. For example, provide funds and technical support to help farmers adopt irrigation systems.
It’s a start.
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References:
Adamopoulos, Tasso, and Diego Restuccia. 2020. "Land Reform and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis with Micro Data." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 12 (3): 1-39.
Aimin, H. (2010). "Uncertainty, Risk Aversion and Risk Management in Agriculture." Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia 1: 152-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aaspro.2010.09.018
D.A. Babalola, J.K. Olayemi Determinants of farmers’ preference for sustainable land management practices for maize and cassava production in Ogun State, Nigeria
Fuglie, Keith and Rada, Nicholas, Resources, Policies, and Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (February 2013). USDA-ERS Economic Research Report No. 145, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2266459 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2266459
Julien, J. C., B. E. Bravo-Ureta, et al. (2019). "Assessing farm performance by size in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda." Food Policy 84: 153-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.03.016
Key, N. (2019). "Farm size and productivity growth in the United States Corn Belt." Food Policy 84: 186-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.03.017
Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, Hammamet, Tunisia 160578, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE) (2013) https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/160578/
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Why family farmers need greater access to technology. 13 April 2023. https://unctad.org/news/why-family-farmers-need-greater-access-technology