From uniformity to diversity: A paradigm shift from industrial agriculture to diversified agroecological systems
Today’s food and farming systems have
succeeded in supplying large volumes of foods to global markets, but are
generating negative outcomes on multiple fronts: widespread degradation
of land, water and ecosystems; high GHG emissions; biodiversity losses;
persistent hunger and micro-nutrient deficiencies alongside the rapid
rise of obesity and diet-related diseases; and livelihood stresses for
farmers around the world. Many of these problems are linked specifically
to ‘industrial agriculture’. What is
required is a fundamentally different model of agriculture based on
diversifying farms and farming landscapes, replacing chemical inputs,
optimizing biodiversity and stimulating interactions between different
species, as part of holistic strategies to build long-term fertility,
healthy agro-ecosystems and secure livelihoods, i.e. ‘diversified
agroecological systems’.
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