October 2016

SAVING OUR FOOD: INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE MUST GO!

Input-intensive crop monocultures and industrial-scale feedlots must be consigned to the past while agriculture must be diversified and reoriented around ecological practices in order to put global food systems onto a sustainable footing, say experts.

By Clare Westwood

A Food System in Jeopardy

            Today’s food and farming systems have succeeded in supplying large volumes of foods to global markets, but are generating widespread degradation of land, water and ecosystems; high greenhouse gas emissions; biodiversity losses; persistent hunger and micro-nutrient deficiencies alongside a rapid rise of obesity and diet-related diseases; and livelihood stresses for farmers around the world. Ironically, small-scale farming communities make up about 50%[1] of the world's 795 million hungry[2].

            “Today’s food and farming systems led systematically to negative outcomes and vulnerabilities. Modern agriculture is clearly failing to sustain the people and resources on which it re­lies and has come to represent an exis­tential threat to itself," conclude a group of 22 leading agronomists, health, nutrition and social scientists in a major report released by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food)  [3]entitled, 'From Uniformity to Diversity: A paradigm shift from industrial agriculture to diversified agroecological systems'.[4]The group states that a new approach to farming is clearly needed to safeguard human health and the environment.

            "Many of the key problems in food systems are linked specifically to industrial agriculture: uniform crop monocultures relying on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The solution is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices, whether the starting point is highly-industrialized agriculture or subsistence farming in the world's poorest countries," says Olivier De Schutter, Co-Chair of IPES-Food.[5]

            Specialized industrial agriculture and diversified agroecological farming stand at two ends of a wide spectrum. The report asks: What would the impacts on food systems be if diversity, rather than uniformity, was the key imperative?"The way we define food security and the way we measure success in food systems tends to reflect what industrial agriculture is designed to deliver - not what really matters in terms of building sustainable food systems," says Emile Frison, lead author of the IPES-Food report.[6]

            Making the case for changing course is crucial, but so too is mapping out a pathway of tran­sition. Although the foundations of this transition are already being laid by farmers, consumers, civil society groups and many others, the current industrial agriculture model is locked in place by a series of pow­erful feedback loops extending well beyond the world of farming.

            De Schutter expresses this clearly, "It is not a lack of evidence holding back the agroecological alternative. It is the mismatch between its huge potential to improve outcomes across food systems, and its much smaller potential to generate profits for agribusiness firms."[7]

The Vicious Cycles of Industrial Agriculture

            The report identifies the disastrous consequences of industrial farming. These include the degradation of 20% of global land; the generation of 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and rampant biodiversity losses now threatening the 35% of global crops dependent on pollination.

            In addition, the excessive application of fertilisers and pesti­cides, and the waste generated by industrial animal feedlots have led to severe water contamination. The use of pesticides in conventional farms is linked to health impacts like birth defects, cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, and developmental disorders. Furthermore, the preventive use of antibiotics in industrial animal production systems has exacerbated the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

            Overall, the industrial food system has paradoxically also contributed to hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition due to its focus on energy-rich, nutrient-poor staple crop varieties.

            The report surmises that industrial agricul­ture’s weaknesses are (ironically) its core characteristics, i.e., the principles of specialization and uniformi­ty around which it is organized, and the reli­ance on chemical inputs as a means of man­aging agro-ecosystems.

            Industrial food systems have in fact taken shape around industrial agriculture, creating a set of feedback loops (‘lock-ins’) that serve to reinforce this mode of farming, locking in farmers, subsidies, supermarkets, governments and consumers to the point where food systems are in the hands of a few companies and people. The current structure of food systems actually reinforces the economic and political dominance of a limited number of powerful actors and their ability to in­fluence the governance of these systems. Identifying the power imbalances and how they lock industrial agriculture in place is crucial.

            For instance, industrial agriculture requires significant up-front investments and for farmers to scale up. Once these investments and structural shifts have been made, it is increasingly difficult for farmers to change course, locking them in a ‘path dependency’.

            Another example is ‘Feed The World’ Narratives which lead us to approach the ques­tion in terms of global production volumes of mainly energy-rich, nutrition-poor crop com­modities. This reinforces industrial agricul­ture as the solution while key issues like social equity are side-lined.

New Virtuous Circles ThroughAgroecology

            "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", cites the IPES-Food report.

            The data collected shows that diversified agroecological systems can compete with industrial agriculture in terms of total outputs, conferring resilience in the face of environmental stresses and delivering production increases. Such systems can also pave the way for diverse diets and improved health. For instance, organic meat and milk provide around 50% more beneficial omega-3 fatty acids than their conventional equivalents.[8]

            Around 15% more biodiversity has been found in diversified agriculture and 30% more wild species on organic farms. In particular, the capacity of diversi­fied agroecological systems to restore degrad­ed land and to keep carbon in the ground is unparalleled by any other option on the table.

            Based on the evidence gathered, the report concludes that there may be no greater risk than sticking with industrial agri­culture and the systematic problems it gener­ates.

            "Tweaking practices can improve some of the specific outcomes of industrial agriculture, but will not provide long-term solutions to the multiple problems it generates".[9]

            The key, it says, is "to establish political priorities, name­ly, to support the emergence of alternative sys­tems which are based around fundamentally different logics, and which, over time, generate different and more equitable power relations".[10]

            Although a shift to diversified agroecological systems is not without challenges, it is likely to be the only way to set food systems on a sustainable footing.

            Change is already happening. Industrial food systems are being challenged on multiple fronts, from new forms of cooperation and knowledge-creation to the development of new market relationships that bypass conventional retail circuits.

            The report cites several recommendations to turn the lock-ins of the industrial agriculture system into entry points for change to agroecological systems. These include shifting public support towards diversified agroecologicalproduction systems; and mainstreaming agroecology and holistic food systems approaches into education and research agendas.

            "The steps towards diversified agroecological farming are steps to democratize decision-making and to rebalance power in food systems[11]....the vicious cy­cles of industrial agriculture must be replaced with new virtuous circles[12]." – Third World Network Features.

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About the author: Clare Westwood is a researcher with the Third World Network.

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