Putting meaning back into “sustainable intensification”

Abstract

In light of human population growth, global food insecurity is an escalating concern. To meet increasing demand for food, leading scientists have called for “sustainable intensification”, defined as the process of enhancing agricultural yields with minimal environmental impact and without expanding the existing agricultural land base. We argue that this definition is inadequate to merit the term “sustainable”, because it lacks engagement with established principles that are central to sustainability. Sustainable intensification is likely to fail in improving food security if it continues to focus narrowly on food production ahead of other equally or more important variables that influence food security. Sustainable solutions for food security must be holistic and must address issues such as food accessibility. Wider consideration of issues related to equitable distribution of food and individual empowerment in the intensification decision process (distributive and procedural justice) is needed to put meaning back into the term “sustainable intensification”.

Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere

“…As the wealth, lifestyles, and other opportunities afforded by urban living attract populations from the countryside, opportunities are arising for woodland recoveries in lands less suitable for industrial agriculture (Foster et al 1998, Rudel et al 2009, Ellis et al 2013b, Queiroz et al 2014. While the challenges are certainly as great as the opportunities, there is good evidence that even more land can be spared for nonhuman nature as urbanization and societal upscaling continue, depending on the productivity gains attainable in agriculture and forestry through sustained land use intensification combined with more equitable distribution to meet growing societal demands for food, feed, housing, and energy (Neumann et al 2010, Tilman et al 2011, Tomich et al 2011, Loos et al 2014. To succeed in these efforts, it is essential to avoid the mere displacement of societal demands from one region to another by monitoring and improved governance of agricultural supply chains and environmental programs (Fairhead et al 2012, D'Odorico et al 2014, Nepstad et al 2014, Scales 2014.…”

How scalable is sustainable intensification?

“…Some activists have long considered SI an oxymoron 4 , but scientists have also begun to question its adequacy as a helpful concept for addressing food security 5 . It has been suggested that the way SI has been defined and developed "lacks engagement with established principles that are central to sustainability" 6 . SI has acquired such a range of meanings in its 20-year history that use of the term itself may be unsustainable.…”

Bats in the Anthropogenic Matrix: Challenges and Opportunities for the Conservation of Chiroptera and Their Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Landscapes

“…In the face of increasing pressure on natural resources, the conservation of remaining natural areas is critical for the survival of multitudes of species. However, the ubiquity of agriculture means that farmland cannot be ignored in the context of landscape-level approaches to biodiversity conservation (Vandermeer and Perfecto 2007;Loos et al 2014).…”

“…As a consequence, croplands are still expanding dramatically, and agricultural practices are likely to further intensify in the near future (more chemical and mechanical inputs, reliance on genetically modified plants with novel manufactured traits). Short-term increases in yield will come at the cost of reduced structural and taxonomic diversity within agricultural systems (Loos et al 2014) and concomitant loss of crucial ecosystem services.…”