Why Agriculture and Sustainability Don't Need to Be in Conflict

Sustainable agriculture may have at one point been thought to be an oxymoron, but today there are many avenues sustainability experts have explored that could help drive the future of agriculture away from high greenhouse gas emissions and toward a more equal and efficient global food system.

Climatologists have long cited agriculture as a main cause of climate change, but with a plan towards sustainable agriculture set forth by the United Nations, farming and ranching could be transformed into a solution for mitigating its effects.

THE FAO ON SUSTAINABILITY AND AGRICULTURE

The Food and Agriculture Organization within the United Nations set forth a goal of driving sustainable agriculture practices to reach its goals of ending world hunger and malnutrition. For the FAO and the UN, sustainable agriculture is an opportunity, not a challenge, to ending global hunger. 

Since the early 2010s, the FAO and the UN have been working to identify areas in which food sustainability can be improved for the betterment of UN member states and the world. Setting specific Sustainable Development Goals (SD Gs) in many areas, such as food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, ecosystems and biodiversity, and marine resources, among others, the FAO has worked with several other UN departments to identify ways to improve the global food system.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE ANSWERS

One sustainable practice that farmers are using now is rotating their crops and embracing biodiversity on their growing plots. This helps the natural areas people are farming on and improves the soil, rather than leeching it of its nutrients for future crops.

Going along with this biodiversity approach is appropriating land fit for livestock and farming, conserving land resources further and promoting natural ecosystems on farmland.

With this effort being led by international organizations and UN member states, a sustainable agriculture revolution may be around the corner.

Source:https://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals/overview/fao-and-the-2030-agenda-for-sustainable-development/sustainable-agric https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-sustainable-agriculture