Benefits Of Moving Into Sustainable Farming
According to a global assessment by 17 scientists in 5 countries, currently, nearly 1/3 of the world’s farms have adopted more environmentally friendly practices while continuing to be productive.
These farms use ‘sustainable intensification’ which means various practices including organic farming that use the land, water, labour, biodiversity, technology and knowledge to grow crops and reduce environmental impacts like pesticide pollution, soil erosion, and greenhouse gas emission.
Researchers have seen huge positive results from farmers who took on the initiative to introduce new sustainable practices for their farms. These sustainable practices can improve productivity, biodiversity and ecosystem services while significantly lower farm costs. For example, researchers have documented how West African farmers have increased their yields of maize and cassava. Some 100,000 farmers in Cuba have also increased their productivity by 150% while cutting their pesticide use by 85%.