WEEK 1:

INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL

FOOD ECONOMY

BY
OLUPADEMI KOLADE

AGR 700 (SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL FOOD ECONOMY)

DEPT: ACCOUNTING & MANAGEMENT

LEAD CITY UNIVERSITY, IBADAN.

JUNE, 2023

Table of Content
ii
Table of Content … ………………………………………………………………….. ii
List of Figures … ……………………………………………………………………… iii

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….
Meaning of a Food System … ……………………………………………………….. 2
The Food System as a Dynamic System … ………………………………………….. 4
A Brief History of Food Systems ……………………………………………………. 4
Types of Food Systems ………………………………………………………………. 5
Challenges of Conventional Food Systems……………………………………………. 7
Sustainable (Alternative) Food Systems …………………………………………….. 9
Creating Sustainable Food Systems ………………………………………………….. 11
Concluding Thoughts …………………………………………………………………. 14
References …………………………………………………………………………….. 16

ii
 i. List of Figures
Figure 1. The Food System …………………………………………………………….
Figure 2. GHG Emissions from the Food System ……………………………………..

iii
Introduction
The world is witnessing its highest level of food production and consumption, yet it is a most
troubling time in the history of food. This is primarily because the gains in productivity have
come at a huge cost to the natural environment. Every year, over 10 million hectares of farmland
are lost to degradation, as a result of industrial farming. Agro-chemicals, like chemical fertilizers
and pesticides pollute rivers and waterways. Farming activities and land-use change are
responsible for about a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. Within the last century alone, 75%
of the world’s agricultural biodiversity have been lost and a third of all food produced globally,
has been wasted (CIAT, 2019). This position has been alluded to by FAO which stated that
“Food production too often degrades or destroys natural habitats and contributes to species
extinction. Such inefficiency is costing us trillions of dollars, but, most importantly, today’s agri-
food systems are exposing profound inequalities and injustices in our global society. Three
billion people cannot afford healthy diets, while overweight and obesity continue to increase
worldwide”. According to the agency, nearly half of the world’s population cannot afford to eat
healthy. Besides, the way we produce, consume and, sadly, waste food exacts a heavy toll on our
planet, putting unnecessary pressure on natural resources, the environment and climate,” the
FAO notes. At the same time, food consumption patterns are changing with the rising middle
class demanding more meat and processed foods. Many parts of the world are experiencing
a “triple-burden”: the co-existence of chronic hunger, malnutrition and over-nutrition. In the
world’s rapidly growing urban areas, these conditions often exist side by side (CIAT, 2019).
This scary scenario poses a profound threat , not only to the food and nutrition security of the
ever growing world population but more importantly, it portends a great danger for the food
security and nutrition of future generations. There is therefore, an urgent need for paradigm
shift in the way we think, conceptualize, approach and practise food systems, at all levels. This
has made sustainability become a guiding principle and a main goal for human development. The
environmental degradation, social distress and dwindling economic fortunes described above,
raise global concerns, challenging our conventional views on development and forcing a
reconsideration of our everyday behaviour. Rapid climate change which has occurred for some
decades now is predicted to continue and probably accelerate (IPCC 2012). Global biodiversity

1
has continued to decline with substantial ongoing losses of populations, species, and habitats

2
(UNEP 2012). Increasing acreage of land clearance for crop cultivation has led to loss of habitat
and resulted loss of plant varieties. Policy must strengthen the public perception of humanity
and nature as being interdependent and interacting. This requires revisiting our policies and
behaviours, and developing adaptive management approaches that acknowledge the systemic
and dynamic nature of current global changes. Agriculture and food systems are at the center of
debates over sustainability. The processes which underly environmental, economic, and social
unsustainability derive in part from the global food system. Significant trade-offs have
accompanied the increase in food supply. Processes along the food chain from agricultural
production to food consumption produce outputs other than consumable food that are returned to
the natural environment such as pollution or waste. Food waste alone represents around 3–5 % of
global warming impacts, more than 20 % of biodiversity pressure, and 30 % of all of the world’s
agricultural land (EU 2014).

Meaning of a Food System

The term "food systems" is used to describe something that is large, which happens all around
us, yet quite easy to take for granted. Simply put, a food system describes the connection
between growing, transporting, selling, and consuming food. It integrates different fields of
discipline, including agriculture, economics, marketing, retail, and nutrition (Rick, 2019). A food
system is the totality of actors and interactions along the food value chain - from input supply to
production of crops, livestock production, fisheries, forest harvesting, and production of other
agricultural commodities to transportation, processing, wholesaling, retailing to actual food
preparation to consumption and disposal of wastes generated. It also includes the policy
environments and cultural norms surrounding food. An ideal food system would be driven by
nutrition, health, and safety. It will also be productive and efficient, capable of delivering
affordable food. It will be sustainable environmentally, climate-smart, and inclusive (IFPRI,
2022).

It encompasses the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in
the value chain. It also includes parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments
in which the food system is embedded. It comprises of sub-systems such as farming system,
waste management system, input supply system and so on. It interacts with other key systems
3
such as the energy system, trade system, health system, financial system, the social system et
cetera (FAO, 2014). According to FAO, 2014, a change in the structure of the food system may
be a result of a change in another system; (e.g. a policy promoting more biofuel in the energy
system will have a significant impact on the food system). It is a complex web of all those value
chain activities, comprising of various subsystems and surrounded by other big systems ( Calen,
2022). See figure 1 below for a typical food system :

Figure 1:

Source: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), 2019

4
The Food System as a Dynamic System

Research in both the natural and social sciences uses the idea of a system to explain complex
dynamics. A system is a network of multiple variables that are interconnected through causal
relationships. Modern societies depend on complex systems to provide food (Fraser et al. 2005).
Food systems encompass an array of activities from sowing through to waste disposal
management, including production, processing, packaging and distributing, and retail and
consumption (Ericksen et al. 2009).

The term ‘‘dynamic system’’ refers to a set of interacting elements that change over time. The
first assumption of the dynamic approach is that evolving systems are complex, i.e., composed of
many individual elements embedded within, and open to, a complex environment. These
elements function together as a collective unit, producing outputs in relation to inputs through
processes endogenous to the system. Changes in one variable will impact all other variables of
the system, with possible lagged and multi-scale effects. Outcomes emerge from the complex
interactions among system elements, potentially including natural as well as human components,
and are not just the product of external causes (Thomas et al, 2016).

Brief History of Food Systems

Man started his engagements with food by gathering food and hunting animals in the wild. About
11,000 years ago, he went from being hunter-gatherer to learning how to grow and harvest food
as well as domesticate animals. This was the first agricultural revolution. In obedience to the
divine command to ‘be fruitful and multiply’, his ability to grow and eventually store food
developed into surpluses. When certain groups had too much food, they could trade it for food
from other places or in exchange for some other items. Such early commercial activities
eventually led to the spice trade, which connected various countries and eventually developed
into the global trade system of today. Modern food systems involve various crops being grown
and animals reared in different parts of the world, then warehoused or shipped thousands of
miles away from its place of origin to consumers in distant markets. This approach has been

5
termed the "standard food system", "basic food system" or ‘conventional food system’. This type
of food system has been pretty much prevalent in the second half of the 20th century and to some
extent in the 21st century.

Types of Food Systems

Food systems have been categorized into Modern, Local and Intermediate.

Local Food System

The traditional food system is characterized by the dominance of traditional, unorganized supply
chains and limited market infrastructure. The traditional food system can also be called the Local
food system. There are a couple of variants of the local food system ; the farm-to-retail model
and farm-to-consumer model. In the farm-to-retail food system, farmers and livestock raisers
have markets (often within about a hundred miles) for their products in the form of grocery
stores, institutions like schools or government agencies, and restaurants. Since the food can
travel outside a town or an immediate environ, this model can sometimes be referred to as
"regional." The term local is left to the discretion of the user as there is no strict definition of the
term. If you live in a small village and you buy various vegetables from a few different farmers,
plus meat from someone who raises goats or chickens, you are living in a farm-to-consumer
model. In industrialized nations, this can take the form of farmers' markets or co-ops in which
people receive bundles of produce from farms in exchange for doing tasks on the farm or paying
subscriptions( Rick, 2019).

Intermediate Food System

The Intermediate is a more structured food system, still characterized by traditional market
actors, but with a more complex set of rules and regulations applied to marketplaces. It also has a
higher degree of market infrastructure. Organized supply chains operated by national and / or
international supermarkets capture a growing share of the market. The traditional chains are still
prevalent while urban domestic markets remain the drivers.

6
Modern (Conventional) Food System

The third type is an industrialized food system, otherwise referred to as the Modern Food
System. This is found throughout the developed world. They have a strong perception of food
safety, a high degree of coordination and a large and consolidated processing sector and
organized retailers. The export market is driven by this food system. Modern Food Systems “use
a wide range of external inputs to maximize production, as well as High-Tech systems for
storing, transporting, processing and selling food. Farms, firms and traders are typically
specialized and operate at large scales” (Calen, 2021).

Organic food System Food, either meat or vegetables, can be designated organic if it is
grown or raised without chemical pesticides or other chemicals such as fertilizers or without
growth hormones. The concern of people choosing organic foods is to avoid these things and feel
satisfied that their food remains closer to its natural origins.

In terms of sustainability, an organic food system contributes to the environment positively by

maintaining the sustainability of the soil because the non-chemical methods do not contribute to
soil erosion or degradation. This has some positive impacts on climate change - soil erosion and
decomposition ultimately produce CO2. Organic food production has generally been on a small
scale and as such plays a small role in global food consumption. This is partly because food
made organically is more expensive than non-organic foods.

Another categorization of food systems simply puts them into two broad types ; the Modern or
Conventional Food System and the Alternative Food System. As a country, the United States
follows a Conventional Food System but there are pockets of communities that do things
differently and adopt the Alternative Food System. This system often includes local, organic,
cooperative, and fair trade systems, and some other features.

7
Challenges of (Modern) Conventional Food System

Most countries of the world have gravitated towards the Modern Food System which is also
referred to as the Conventional Food System. This food system which produces on a large scale
and adopts modern technologies in many of its operations, in order to meet the ever growing
demand of an ever increasing world population, has its numerous challenges.\

Many of the food systems are rooted in inequality. The British and European colonialism which
was fueled by trade in food commodities like tea and sugar enslaved and exploited the labour of
people from Africa, South America, and Asia to produce goods for consumption in Europe. This
legacy of exploitation and dehumanization that dates back to the colonial era still continue today
in most industrial food systems (Stray Dog Institute, 2021).

Although the current global food system has the potential to feed everyone on earth, nearly seven hundred
million people faced chronic hunger in 2019, a number that increases by tens of millions every year.
Furthermore, an estimated 35% of adults worldwide experience overnutrition, leading to numerous health
problems, and the disparity within global food accessibility is stark.
The modern-day conventional food system of wealthier nations is a fairly recent phenomenon, where
industrial agriculture, defined by monocroping, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and
corporate consolidation has become the predominant form of agriculture worldwide. This food system
began in the United States during the Industrial Revolution (Stray Dog Institute, 2021).

Industrial agriculture has disrupted the food system by pushing out small and medium sized
farms that were once an integral part of to the nation’s food supply and which were far more
environmentally and socioeconomically stable than the Modern Food System. Multinational food
companies came to control much of the market for seed breeding, food production, and food
trade, exerting massive influence from domestic economies to international markets. This
consolidation of capital and market power by multinational agrifood corporations has contributed
to the disruption of traditional food systems worldwide.

Conventional farming is also responsible for injecting abundant supplies of meat into the food
system. While CAFO meat is relatively cheap to purchase in wealthy nations, it comes with high
environmental and social costs, which are not obvious often . As the country’s food system
8
increasingly caters for diets that are rich in meat and other animal products, plant crops such as

9
 e
corn and soy are increasingly produced not for human consumption but for livestock feeding. It
is estimated that more than three-quarter of global farmland is dedicated to raising and feeding
farm animals. This vast land ar a could be used to produce food for people who are habitually
malnourished. This massive diversion of resources to the animal production drives land and
resource scarcity, which raises food prices, further exacerbating accessibility issues (Stray Dog
Institute, 2021).

Forty per cent of greenhouse gases that destabilize the climate come from corporate, industrial
u
agriculture. Seventy percent of fresh water is used in wasteful ways for Ind strial agriculture
while seventy-five per cent of crop biodiversity is lost to Industrial agriculture (Dawn, 2022).

Figure 2 : GHG Emissions From Food Systems

GH

Note that Pre-production includes fertilizer production, energy use in animal-feed production and
pesticide production. Post production includes primary and secondary processing,

1
0
storage, packaging, tra nsport, refrigeration retail activities, catering, domestic food

1
1
 management and waste disposal. He mid-point of the range was used whenever a range
of emissions was used in (Vermeulen, Campbell and Ingram, 2012).
Authors based on (Smith et al, 2014) and (Vermeulen, Campbell and Ingram, 2012)

Conventional Industrial Farming has resulted in:

Massive topsoil loss into rivers and oceans
Reduction in fresh water reserves
Anti-biotic resistant supergerms
Pesticide-resistant superbugs and superweeds
Toxic run off of agrochemicals into waterways including drinking water
Greenhouse gas pollution from deforestation
Large scale livestock farming with explosive manure pits
Glyphosate, a probable carcinogen in everything from wine to breast

milk Fossil-fuel guzzling farm inputs and Industrial practices

A globally spread epidemic of obesity and other food-related illnesses from eating subsidized
diets, far too high in sugar content and processed foods.

Sustainable (Alternative) Food Systems

The multidimensional nature of sustainable development has to satisfy several economic

development, social equity, and environmental protection goals. Proponents of sustainable
agriculture have therefore proposed alternative farming practices, which are less
environmentally impacting but also embedded in new sets of values and carrying other visions of
organization in society. These renewed approaches to agriculture include organic farming, low-
input agriculture, biodynamic agriculture, regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and
agroecology. Yet, sustainability in agriculture cannot be defined per se by the simple adherence
to one of these approaches; these are propositions of solutions towards sustainability. The
most frequently

1
2
quoted definition of sustainability comes from Our Common Future, also known as the
Brundtland Report (UN 1987). Human development must meet ‘‘the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’’

The American Public Health Association defines a “sustainable” food system as one that
“provides healthy food to meet current food needs while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can
also provide food for generations to come with minimal negative impact to the environment. A
sustainable food system also encourages local production and distribution infrastructures and
makes nutritious food available, accessible, and affordable to all. Further, it is humane and just,
protecting farmers and other workers, consumers, and communities.” Corroborating this concept
of sustainability in food systems, Story et al (2009) stated that a sustainable food system can be
defined as one that ‘‘provides healthy food to meet current food needs while maintaining healthy
ecosystems that can also provide food for generations to come, with minimal negative impact to
the environment; encourages local production and distribution infrastructures; makes nutritious
food available, accessible, and affordable to all; is humane and just, protecting farmers and other
workers, consumers, and communities’’. The food system therefore has a high level of
complexity that is driven by many economic, socio-cultural, and environmental factors, which
are both internal and external to the system. The systemic nature of these interactions calls for
systems approaches and integrated assessment tools to help navigate change according to Story’s
team.
Sustainable Food Systems are the ones that seek to achieve food and nutrition security as well as
healthy diets while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and promoting socio-
economic welfare (CIAT, 2019). A food system is sustainable, when it protects and respects
biodiversity and ecosystems. It must have a regard for human well-being and social equity. In
summary, it must provide culturally acceptable, economically fair, nutritionally adequate, safe
and affordable healthy food in a way that strikes a balance between agro ecosystem integrity and
social welfare.
FAO states that “A sustainable agri-food system is one in which a variety of sufficient, nutritious
and safe foods is available at an affordable price to everyone, and nobody is hungry or suffers
from any form of malnutrition” . However, CIAT has further posited that delivering

1
0
nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy food which is affordable is a necessary but not sufficient
condition for a food system to be tagged sustainable. The food system must also minimize food
wastes and losses, while also minimizing the present and future impacts on the environment and
the society. Sustainability implies targeting a balance and trade-offs between eco system
integrity and social well-being.

Sustainability of a food system is locally and timely determined. This means that there is nothing
like a global sustainable food system. There is a growing demand for food systems that are
sustainable by major stakeholders across the globe. Attempting to meet this demand will
necessarily impose some fundamental changes not only on the way we produce food but also on
our consumption pattern as well as how we handle and treat wastes generated from agriculture
and related activities.

Creating Sustainable Food Systems

The task of creating sustainable food systems is that of meeting the food and nutrition needs of
the world’s population without compromising the need to secure the same for future generations.
This task will be multi faceted and multi-dimensional. It takes specific action plans as well as
systemic changes. Dawn (2022), in a recent paper titled ’13 Ways to Create a Sustainable Food
System’ offered action plans that can engender sustainable food systems to include ;
1. Ending subsidies for certain commodities like sugar, corn and soy. When these
commodities are allowed to operate in a free market, farmers get better prices for their
activities. This will attract more young people to farming, who are needed to replace old
and aging farmers.
2. Roll back the ‘Get big or get out’ agricultural policies which favour large agribusinesses
and commodity export above community food security, farmers and human health.
Instead, put in place ‘Get small and diverse’ policies that will support smaller operations

11
 which rely less on monocultures, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, GMO seeds and fossil
fuel.
3. End all incentives and subsidies for ethanol production from commodity crops. The
production of this alternative fuel is extremely inefficient and environmentally
unfriendly.
4. Adjust trade policies to make production for local and domestic markets center of gravity
of the economy, rather than production for export market. In other words, eat local. This
means supporting growers’ or producers’ food in as close a radius as possible, possibly,
at most, within a distance that permits a return journey within a day.
5. Create financial incentives for converting to sustainable farm practices. Such incentives
can be in the form of lower lower interest loans, subsidies, debt forgiveness, or lower tax
rates on profits.
6. Create disincentives for continuing unsustainable farm practices that pollute the
environment and endanger human life. Disincentives can include regulating against
manure lagoons as a form of illegal toxic dumping or possibly banning the use of
antibiotics that contribute to the emergence of anti-biotic resistant superbug.
7. Make sustainable farming and farm-to-table businesses part of the new ‘Green jobs’
economy. A new generation of young farmers, who are interested in organic and beyond
organic farming can be lured through provision of training, resources and smallholdings.
This can create as many new jobs in agriculture, as we can in alternative energy and other
green sectors of the economy.
8. Provide small loans, grants and zoning support for new eco-preneural small businesses in
urban area to help a new generation of food producers get their start, provide more green-
collar jobs, reclaim blighted urban lots and generally help to build a sustainable local
food system.
9. Provide grants and other forms of funding for community-based non-profits to offer
training in gardening, cooking and nutrition in schools ,churches, mosques and
community centers as well as support community gardening and backyard animal
husbandry. People who know the source of their food, how it is grown and how to select
and prepare it will naturally make healthier choices for their families and therefore the

12
 environment. By anchoring food education around local farmers and local farm markets,
we can help build a local food economy that is secure and sustainable.
10. Encourage and support ‘smart growth’ urban planning strategies, which prevent suburban
sprawls that waste farmlands and natural habitat. Examples can be found in pockets of
communities which have green urban zones that are surrounded by vibrant rural farm
belt. An example can be found in Oregon in the States and in a few communities around.
We can learn from and locally adapt the model of such communities.
11. Protect farmland from redevelopment. When farmers (or more commonly, their
inheriting children) decide to sell their farmland, we have to ensure that it stays zoned for
agricultural use. Since only few would-be farmers and homesteaders can afford large
industrial-sized parcels, we have to encourage subdividing such lands into smaller
manageable sizes that can support a variety of agricultural and farm-related businesses.
This will help to reinvigorate rural communities and local food systems.
12. Connect farmers who are financially and environmentally successful to farmers who
would like to be for mentorship and leadership. With the ever growing consumer demand
for organic foods which are humanely produced, integrated polycultural farms are poised
to do much better in the future.
13. Create an international best practice database which brings together the very best
sustainable agriculture and land management practices in the world. There are numerous
real-life examples of self sustaining, carbon-sequestering, resource-protecting, top-soil
building local food systems around the world.
14. Some other action plans that are supportive of sustainability have been offered by some
other experts. For instance, Jill (2022) has offered that consumers should ‘choose
seasonal’. The idea is for consumers to always eat what is in the season. This will remove
the pressure to depend on imported foods that are out of season locally.
15. He also suggested consuming less dairy. Just as meat is resource-intensive, so too is
dairy. Milk production requires more than 50 gallons of water and 100 pounds of feed
per cow per day. Plant milk, on the other hand, is considerably less resource-intensive.
Given that most of the world is lactose-intolerant, there are health benefits in swapping
dairy milk for plant milk. (Jill, 2022).

13
 16. Grow your own. A little goes (grows) a long way. Besides eliminating transport and
packaging – and the associated costs – growing your food supports a healthier
environmental footprint. There is also a satisfaction that comes with being able to grow
your own food. It is safer, cheaper, more environmentally friendly, more psychologically
rewarding and hence healthier. It is a win-win situation.
17. Go plant-based. If we are cutting down on meat and dairy, the alternative is to go fully
into plant-based or vegan diet. Sir David Attenborough, in his 2020 Netflix documentary,
A Life on Earth pointed to the link between animal agriculture and climate change. The
climate emergency is expected to reduce food availability for millions of people across
the globe.
18. Eat the rainbow. Diversifying your food choices does not only keep a multitude of crops
in the soil, it also keeps a multitude of growers in the food system.
19. Consider the true cost of food. True cost here refers to the often unseen environmental
and social footprints of mass food production. While industrial production of food may
present cheaper food in consumer markets, the true cost of such unsustainable foods is
much higher in terms of the negative impact on people and planet.
20. Be willing to forgo convenience. Committing to buying locally produced food and fair
trade food as well as keeping to the other tenants of sustainable living may cost you time
and money. Supporting a sustainable food system may not be convenient but when you
think of the greater cause of passing a healthy planet to future generations, it is worth the
sacrifice.
21. Be more receptive of food produced in laboratories such as milk produced in laboratories.
This milk is composed of all the essential nutrients found in the natural milk. In addition,
it is more sustainably produced since the laboratory methods leave no footprint on the
natural environment (Brisibe, 2022).
22. Goat milk which is known to be more nutritious than cow milk can be used more often. It
is also less prone to cholesterol issues (Brisibe, 2022).
Other Sustainable Agricultural Practices include Regenertive Agriculture and
Permaculture :
Regenerative agriculture and permaculture are two closely related approaches that focus on
sustainable and holistic farming practices. While they share similarities, they have distinct
principles and methodologies. Here's an overview of each:
14
 Regenerative Agriculture: Regenerative agriculture is an approach that aims to restore and enhance
the health of ecosystems through agricultural practices. It emphasizes soil health, biodiversity,
water management, and carbon sequestration. The principles of regenerative agriculture include:
1. Conservation and building of soil health: Practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation, minimal
tillage, and the use of compost and organic matter are employed to improve soil structure, fertility,
and microbial activity.
2. Biodiversity promotion: Encouraging diverse plant and animal species within the farming system
helps create ecological balance and resilience. It may involve integrating crops, livestock, and
wildlife, establishing hedgerows, and preserving natural habitats.
3. Water management: Techniques like water harvesting, drip irrigation, and contour farming are used
to conserve water resources, prevent erosion, and enhance water infiltration.
4. Integration of livestock: The incorporation of grazing animals in the farming system can help
improve soil health, nutrient cycling, and pasture management. It involves implementing rotational
grazing and ensuring animal welfare.
5. Renewable energy and efficiency: Adopting renewable energy sources and minimizing energy use
contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of agricultural operations.
Permaculture: Permaculture, short for "permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture," is a design
system that aims to create sustainable and self-sufficient human habitats while minimizing
environmental impact. It involves observing and imitating patterns and relationships found in
natural ecosystems. Key principles of permaculture include:
1. Designing with nature: Mimicking natural ecosystems, permaculture designs integrate elements
such as polycultures, companion planting, and vertical stacking of plants to maximize productivity
and resource use efficiency.
2. Care for the earth: Emphasizing soil health, water conservation, and ecological balance to create
regenerative systems that support long-term sustainability.
3. Care for people: Prioritizing the well-being, livelihoods, and social aspects of individuals and
communities involved in the system.
4. Using renewable resources: Harnessing renewable energy sources and utilizing natural materials
and cycles in a closed-loop system.
5. Integration and diversity: Promoting the interconnection of different elements within the system to
create mutually beneficial relationships and maximize efficiency.

15
 Both regenerative agriculture and permaculture aim to create resilient, sustainable, and productive
agricultural systems. They share a focus on soil health, biodiversity, and ecological balance.
However, while regenerative agriculture is primarily concerned with restoring ecosystems and
agricultural practices, permaculture extends its principles beyond agriculture to encompass
sustainable living and community development.
Regenerate resp

Case Studies of Sustainable Agriculture

1. The Green Belt Movement (Kenya): The Green Belt Movement, founded by Wangari Maathai,
aimed to address deforestation, soil erosion, and rural poverty in Kenya through sustainable
agriculture practices. The movement promoted tree planting and the cultivation of indigenous plant
species to restore degraded land. It also focused on empowering women by involving them in tree
nurseries and providing training on sustainable farming techniques. The initiative not only
contributed to environmental conservation but also enhanced food security, improved soil fertility,
and generated income for local communities.
2. SRI (System of Rice Intensification) in India: The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a
sustainable agricultural methodology that originated in Madagascar and has been successfully
implemented in various countries, including India. SRI promotes the use of fewer seedlings, wider
spacing, and alternative wetting and drying techniques to increase rice productivity while reducing
water consumption, seed requirements, and chemical fertilizer use. The SRI approach has led to
significant improvements in yields, decreased water usage by 30-50%, and reduced the need for
chemical inputs, benefiting small-scale farmers in India.
3. Organic Farming in Denmark: Denmark has made significant strides in promoting organic farming
practices. The country has implemented policies and programs to support organic agriculture, such
as subsidies for organic farmers, research and innovation initiatives, and strict regulations on
pesticide and fertilizer use. As a result, Denmark has witnessed a substantial increase in organic
farming, with around 12% of the agricultural land being certified organic. This shift towards
organic practices has not only reduced the environmental impact of agriculture but has also
improved soil quality, biodiversity, and the health of consumers.
These case studies highlight various approaches and strategies employed to promote sustainable
agriculture, addressing environmental concerns, improving livelihoods, and ensuring long-term
food security
16
1. Songhai Farms: Songhai Farms, located in Porto Novo, Benin (close to the Nigerian border), is a
renowned model for sustainable agriculture and rural development. The farm employs an integrated
approach that combines crop production, livestock rearing, aquaculture, and agro-processing. It
emphasizes the use of organic methods, renewable energy sources, and waste recycling. Songhai
Farms also provides training and capacity building for farmers, promoting knowledge sharing and
entrepreneurship. The initiative has not only improved agricultural productivity but has also created
employment opportunities and enhanced the livelihoods of many Nigerians.
2. Ogun State Anchor Borrowers' Programme: The Ogun State Anchor Borrowers' Programme is an
agricultural intervention scheme in Nigeria aimed at supporting smallholder farmers and promoting
sustainable farming practices. The program provides farmers with access to credit, improved seeds,
fertilizers, and technical assistance. It focuses on crops such as rice, maize, cassava, and poultry
production. Through this initiative, farmers have been able to increase their productivity, adopt
climate-smart agricultural practices, and improve their incomes. The program has contributed to
food security, reduced import dependence, and empowered local farmers in Ogun State.
3. Gidan Makama Museum Farm, Kano: Gidan Makama Museum Farm is a sustainable agriculture
project in Kano, Nigeria. The farm implements traditional and modern farming techniques to
showcase sustainable practices and preserve local agricultural heritage. The project integrates
organic farming, agroforestry, livestock rearing, and beekeeping. It also focuses on crop
diversification, seed conservation, and soil and water management. The farm serves as an
educational platform, promoting awareness and knowledge of sustainable agriculture among local
farmers, students, and visitors.
These case studies illustrate the diverse approaches and initiatives in Nigeria that promote
sustainable agriculture, improve food production, enhance rural livelihoods, and contribute to
environmental conservation.
Concluding Thoughts

Pursuing the achievement of sustainability in food, agriculture and forestry requires a paradigm
shift by all stakeholders – input suppliers, growers, aggregators, processors, transporters
distributors, consumers as well as agencies responsible for disposing wastes generated from
agriculture and agriculture-related activities. It imposes a compelling change on us; in the way
we think, produce, process, transport, distribute consume and dispose of wastes generated from
17
agriculture and related activities. The need for food is one of the most basic requirements for
livelihood and food related activities are ubiquitous. This, perhaps underscores, the profound
nature of the depth and dimensions of changes sustainability demands of the world. A social
change of this nature and importance is not easily accomplishable. Understandably, it will be
resisted by various categories of stakeholders for various reasons; some, out of ignorance and
others, for selfish reasons. While the former may be tackled through massive enlightenment
campaigns, education and trainings that are sustained over a prolonged time frame, the latter may
demand a more concerted effort. The reason being that the stakeholders involved are usually big
and influential business entities, capable of exerting their influence in appropriate quarters,
especially, government circles. They typically will comprise of conglomerates involved in the
manufacturing of synthetic (chemical) fertilizers, pesticides and other agro-chemicals as well as
producers of anti-biotics and growth hormones.
It probably will take Africa, especially Nigeria, a more gradual process to achieve sustainability
than it will take the rest of the world. A country that has been branded the world’s capital of
poverty, in recent past, may need to contend with this first before attempting sustainability. This
is because a hungry man will eat just about anything thrown at him. You have to be alive first to
be able to express concern about food safety. In the popular Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,
Physiological Needs, like those of food, come before Safety Needs.
In summary, transforming our food systems would necessitate fundamental changes and
improvement in the infrastructure, institutions, regulations and markets which shape them and
the resources invested into them, in a way that makes them equitable and sustainable ( from the
view point of the workers who derive their livelihoods from the systems as well as the
consumers who purchase the food). This will allow food producers and all workers within the
food systems to sustainably provide nutritious food for all and to be rewarded adequately for
their work, so that they themselves do not become vulnerable to hunger (IFAD, 2022).

18
References
Allen Thomas and Prosperi Paulo (2016). Modelling Sustainable food System.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296636077_Modeling_Sustainable_Food_Syste
ms

Apeel Team (2020) ‘4 Ways to build a more Sustainable Food System’

https://apeel.com/blog/4-ways-to-build-a-more-sustainable-food-system

Dawn G. (2022) ‘13 Ways to Create a Sustainable Food System’

https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/13-ways-to-create-a-sustainable-food-system

Farming First, Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research (CGIAR)

Food Policy Research Institute ( IFPRI), 2022 ‘Food Systems’
Changing World- A Case for Climate-Smart and Nutrient-dense Crops’

Megan, R.N (2018) ’10 Ways We Can Make the Food System More Sustainable’

https://ecowarriorprincess.net/2018/02/10-ways-make-food-system-sustainable/

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) iLibrary (2022) ‘Creating a
Sustainable Food System’

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/accelerating-climate-action_c6fd4d2f-en

Rick, L. (2019) Types of Food Systems and Tracking their Sustainability.

https://www.liveabout.com/tracking-food-system-sustainability-4174635

Stray Dog Institute (2021) ‘How Does the Food System Work?’

https://straydoginstitute.org/food- system/#:~:text=A%20food%20system%20is
%20a,examine%20how%20the%20system
%20works.

19
World Economic Forum (2021) ‘5 Ways to Transform our Food System to Benefit People and
Planet’

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/5-ways-transform-food-system-sustainable/

11
0