With the global population expected to surpass 10 billion by 2050, sustainable agriculture is increasingly seen as a vital solution to some of the challenges surrounding food production. Its potential to reduce global malnutrition and hunger offers a promising path towards a more secure and equitable future.
Sustainable agriculture is a combined method of farming that is concerned with the continuous production of foods without posing any harm to the environment. It is an agricultural approach which helps to protect the environment, natural resources, and health of farmers and communities. It is often associated with the combination of goals that foster quality life for agricultural practitioners and their immediate society, promote respect for natural resources, advocate economic viability for agricultural activities, and promote satisfaction of human and animal needs for food and by-products. It is a farming technique that satisfies the needs of the future and existing generations while considering profitability, environmental health, and social and economic equity. It is an approach that favours the realisation of global objectives like zero hunger and sustainable development goals. Sustainable agriculture is also an agricultural system that encourages methods such as organic farming, afforestation, agroecology, permaculture, and regenerative agriculture. Its fundamental strategy for continuous adoption includes diversification, integration, and synthesis.
Sustainable agriculture improves economic growth without impacting the environment negatively. It retains and preserves land, water, plants and animals’ generic resources. Through the Adoption of sustainable agriculture, soil health is maintained, which in return produces a distinctive system that aids water quality, plant productivity, and nutrient recycling, and reduces greenhouse emissions.
Climate change impacts plants and agricultural produce as it can delay growing seasons, create unsuitable land areas for plants and cause an imbalance in nutrient absorption in plants. Sustainable agriculture can prevent plant photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration which in turn affects agricultural yield. With sustainable agricultural methods, the utilised amount of energy in agricultural activities is reduced, thus reducing its impact on the climate. Sustainable agriculture which utilises 56% less energy per crop produced when compared with the conventional system, creates lesser greenhouse emissions per hectare of land cultivated.
The drive to improve food security is a major concern around the globe, as it is popularly believed that further agricultural productivity could lead to more global environmental concerns and shrink biodiversity and the ecosystem. With sustainable farming and a thorough understanding of the ecosystem, food insecurity could be a thing of the past, as it serves as a direct option in realising a world free of hunger. Through its strong biological pest control ability, retention of soil structure and fertility and nutrient cycling, a dependable food supply system can be achieved with no further harm to the environment.
Agricultural activities generate more ripple and spillover effects than the final farm produce commonly visible to humans. Its day-to-day activities contribute positively to the upstream and downstream of every sector of an economy, thus it promotes social economic development of rural areas. With sustainable agriculture, agricultural activities and farmers could attain a certain level of economic viability that could help impact rural development positvely. Through the technique, farming activities are considered more profitable, due to reduced reliance and investment on expensive cultivating chemicals, thus enabling farmers and other actors in the agricultural sector to invest in rural activities like manufacturing, infrastructure, and tourism.
Sustainable agriculture represents a holistic approach to farming, viewing fields, plants, and animals not as mere production units, but as interconnected organisms, each with their own physical, biological, and social boundaries. It recognises that the quality of life is intrinsically linked to the relationship between people and the environment, promoting ecosystem services that foster an equitable and resilient food system, capable of meeting future demands. By embracing sustainable practices, we ensure the protection and preservation of vital natural resources, safeguarding both human well-being and the environment for generations to come.
Article written by: Frank Aisagbon
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