Post 45. Sustainable intensification

What is sustainable intensification?

Sustainable intensification is defined as "a process or system where agricultural yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the conversion of additional non-agricultural land."[1] The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) describe sustainable crop production intensification as seeking to "produce more from the same area of land while reducing negative environmental impacts, conserving natural resources and enhancing healthy ecosystem services." [2]

The FAO state that sustainable crop production intensification is built on three principles: institutional, environmental and social principles.  Mouratiadou and others have looked to develop a framework for sustainable intensification with a paper published last year. [3] They describe seven domains with themes (37), sub-themes (142) and metrics (1128) that need to be considered:

1. Operating conditions - technology, biophysical, socio-economic and regulatory environment, demand and supply.
2. Inputs - e.g. land, nutrients, water, capital
3. Outputs - agricultural output, and non food products and services, losses, waste
4. Input-output relationships - productivity, efficiency, intensity of agricultural production.
5. Environmental sustainability - effects on atmosphere, water, biodiversity
6. Economic sustainability - income and economic returns, security, resilience, competitiveness.
7. Social sustainability - equity, human capital, nutrition, quality of life, food quality,

The paper is a really interesting read.

[1] Pretty, J., & Bharucha, Z. P. (2014). Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems. Annals of botany, 114(8), 1571-1596. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcu205

[2] https://www.fao.org/3/i6168e/i6168e.pdf

[3] Mouratiadou, I., Latka, C., van der Hilst, F., Müller, C., Berges, R., Bodirsky, B.L., Ewert, F., Faye, B., Heckelei, T., Hoffmann, M. & Lehtonen, H., (2021). Quantifying sustainable intensification of agriculture: The contribution of metrics and modelling. Ecological Indicators, 129, p.107870 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107870