Sustainable agriculture means sustainable development. An agriculture sector that is productive and supports farmer livelihoods also brings desired investment to a region. They form a self-reinforcing, virtuous cycle of advancement and development that support policy goals.
Aside from feeding populations smarter, agriculture is both impacted by and holds one key in the battle against climate change issues. First, carbon emissions from agriculture are much higher than realized, which provides opportunities to mitigate and utilize their by-products for other sustainable ventures. Second, agricultural production is more sensitive to changes brought on by weather variability, drought and floods, thought to be increasing because of climate change.
Food production and the water required for it are critical to sustainability efforts in meeting the water challenges ahead. About 70% of the world’s water use is in agriculture, thus better farming solutions address both food and water challenges. Agricultural production in many developing and less developed countries will be much more constrained by pressures on the natural resource base, including land and water, notably in China and India. Generally, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries will encounter the greatest challenges because of water resource constraints, if temperatures rise 3-5 degrees C. over the coming decades. Developed countries will have to improve their management of water resources as well while they continue to export to these markets.
The demand for reliable, efficient production methods and systems at local and regional levels is growing, alongside the trend of more precision in agriculture with more secure supply chains.
New technologies and best practices can smooth the path toward more sustainable farming methods. According to a recent OECD/FAO report, agricultural water withdrawals are dominated by developments in irrigation, accounting for 99% of agricultural water withdrawals.
China and India in particular have great opportunities for efficiency gains as the volumes involved in these countries are so large. Importantly, future gains in irrigated agriculture can come from improving the performance of existing irrigation in all regions of the world to meet growing global agriculture demand.
To promote sustainability, technologies are available that allow existing land, water and human capital resources to be locally-sourced and used more efficiently. Agriculture is expected to be pushed toward more sustainable models given climate, policy and resource risks on the horizon.
