Approaches aiming at sustainable production
This publication (PDF) from Wageningen University and Research (WUR) presents various agricultural approaches aimed at improving agricultural practices and contributing to a more sustainable world. The report starts with a short introduction of seven key approaches: agroecology, sustainable intensification, climate smart agriculture, landscape approaches, conservation agriculture, organic farming and inclusive green growth. Most of the approaches focus on increasing agricultural production without depleting or over-exploiting the natural resource base on which it depends, some also include farmers’ incomes or look at regional or global benefits. The approaches are mapped to assess the differences between the approaches along several goals, e.g.: production, work & income, environment, nature & landscape, health & wellbeing and climate. From the mapping it is clear that almost all approaches focus on traditional agricultural goals of production, work & income, and environment. A twitter analysis shows that most influential parties, like farmer groups and networks, address concepts like agroecology, climate-smart agriculture, and organic farming. Organic farming is mostly addressed by individuals, international organizations, media, networks, NGOs and the private sector. In the final remarks, the authors state that while there are differences in the approaches, all lack a clear monitoring and evaluating systems. They argue that a more systematic monitoring and evaluation system could help in assisting farmers and policy makers to shape sustainable agriculture.