Jules Pretty
Over the past half century, agricultural production gains across the world have helped millions of people escape poverty, removed threats of starvation, and provided platforms for rural and urban economic growth. Between 1961 and 2007, as population more than doubled from 3 billion to 6.8 billion, agricultural production almost tripled.
But despite increasing productivity, hundreds of millions of people remain hungry and malnourished. The health of the environment suffers too, as most of our agricultural systems degrade both soil and water. With population still rising, food production will again have to be intensified in the coming decades. This time, though, it will have to be sustainable, producing more output from existing agricultural land while reducing or eliminating the negative environmental impacts. We need the greenest of revolutions.
Many millions of farmers worldwide are innovating with sustainable intensification. Where there is political and economic recognition that “agriculture matters”, food outputs can be increased without harm to the environment while increasing the flow of beneficial environmental services. Such improvements contribute to national food budgets, foster new social infrastructure and cultural relations, help the emergence of new businesses and so drive local economic growth, and ultimately improve the wellbeing of both rural and urban populations.
Jules Pretty is Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Science & Engineering and Sustainability & Resources at the University of Essex. His books include This Luminous Coast, An Earthscan Reader on Sustainable Agriculture and The Earth Only Endures.
www.julespretty.com
