Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture

Abstract

Agricultural simplification continues to expand at the expense of more diverse forms of agriculture. This simplification, for example, in the form of intensively managed monocultures, poses a risk to keeping the world within safe and just Earth system boundaries. Here, we estimated how agricultural diversification simultaneously affects social and environmental outcomes. Drawing from 24 studies in 11 countries across 2655 farms, we show how five diversification strategies focusing on livestock, crops, soils, noncrop plantings, and water conservation benefit social (e.g., human well-being, yields, and food security) and environmental (e.g., biodiversity, ecosystem services, and reduced environmental externalities) outcomes. We found that applying multiple diversification strategies creates more positive outcomes than individual management strategies alone. To realize these benefits, well-designed policies are needed to incentivize the adoption of multiple diversification strategies in unison.

Publication Type
Journal Article
Authors
Laura Vang Rasmussen
Ingo Grass, University of Hohenheim
Zia Mehrabi, University of British Columbia
Olivia M. Smith
Rachel Bezner-Kerr
Jennifer Blesh, Cornell University
Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi
Marney E. Isaac
Christina M. Kennedy
Hannah Wittman, University of British Columbia
Péter Batáry
Damayanti Buchori
Rolando Cerda
Julián Chará
David W. Crowder
Kevin Darras
Kathryn DeMaster
Karina Garcia
Manuel Gómez
David Gonthier
Purnama Hidayat
Juliana Hipólito
Mark Hirons
Lesli Hoey
Dana James
Innocensia John
Andrew D. Jones
Daniel S. Karp
Yodit Kebede
Carmen Bezner Kerr
Susanna Klassen
Martyna Kotowska
Holger Kreft
Ramiro Llanque
Christian Levers, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ / University of British Columbia
Diego J. Lizcano
Adrian Lu
Sidney Madsen
Rosebelly Nunes Marques
Pedro Buss Martins
America Melo
Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong
Elissa M. Olimpi
Jeb P. Owen
Heiber Pantevez
Matin Qaim
Sarah Redlich
Christoph Scherber
Amber R. Sciligo
Sieglinde Snapp
William E. Snyder
Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
Anne Elise Stratton
Joseph M. Taylor
Teja Tscharntke, University of Göttingen
Vivian Valencia
Cassandra Vogel
Claire Kremen, University of British Columbia
Date
Journal
Science
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