How Sustainable Agriculture Helps the World's Poorest Farmers

Here's an interesting article. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anita-casalina/sustainable-agriculture_b_4172113.html?utm_hp_ref=food-for-thought

What sticks out for me is that the plan for agricultural self-reliance involves a move away from trying to produce commodity crops on a small land base. A mixture of crops (polyculture) not only produces a greater yield per hectare than monocropping; the system also promotes nutritional stability, better resource usage, and builds a more resilient agricultural system due to an increase in biodiversity (Altieri, 1987).

Think in terms of coffee (one commodity crop that hits home for many of us).  A farmer trying to produce coffee at world commodity prices off 2.5 hectares against bigger operations (producing for the commodity market) will never get ahead. In this case (coffee), it does indeed make sense, and traditional agroecosystems allow for a greater mixture of crops to help the farmer develop a more sustainable system. Growing some food crops in the family garden, or intercropped with the coffee will certainly allow folks to get on the path towards self-sufficiency.

I feel that it is also important to point out that this "biodiversity" was a concept that was a component of the ethnobotanical knowledge of many cultures around the globe. Biodiversity is key to healthy ecosystems.

This point is illustrated by Gary Nabhan in another recent article "Seeds on seeds on seeds: Why more biodiversity means more food security". http://grist.org/food/seeds-on-seeds-on-seeds-why-more-biodiversity-means-more-food-security/  "Why? Because such food biodiversity may be the most prudent “bet-hedging” strategy for dealing with food insecurity and climate uncertainty".

To bring everything full circle........ Nabhan has also written a new book called "Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land: Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty". In the book Nabhan points out the strategies and lessons from traditional farmers the world over that might be the basis of how we adapt to an ever changing world. The techniques and vision put forth in the book can be the foundation of improving food security.

Coincidentally, Nabhan will be presenting at the Boulder Bioneers Conference. It would not be a waste of time for people to show up!!! Schedule for the event is here http://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/bioneers.