Industrial agriculture is characterized by monoculture, where one crop is grown over large areas, season after season. While this farming system is said to be efficient and profitable, this oversimplified farming system also has significant flaws that put human health and the environment at risk.
On the other hand, diversification may be the ancient “secret” that not only increases crop yields and improves food security, but also protects the planet. “If you look at how ecosystems work, it’s not just plants growing individually,” Zia Mehrabi, an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a report. It’s not just the animals or the soil either, it’s all of these factors working together.1
A study conducted by Melaby and colleagues showed that diversified farming has “win-win outcomes” for society and the environment.2 In short, “abandon monoculture and industrial thinking and diversify your farming practices—it pays off,” said the study’s lead author Laura Vang Rasmussen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. )explain.3
Landmark study reveals key benefits of diversified farming
Using data from 24 studies on 2,655 farms in 11 countries, scientists found that five diversification strategies lead to positive outcomes for people and the planet. This includes:
- Livestock inclusion and diversity
- Crop diversification, including rotations and cover crops
- Soil conservation and fertility management, such as compost application
- Non-crop planting, including hedgerows
- Water conservation, such as contour farming
For example, contour farming is an agricultural technique in which crops are grown to follow the natural contours of the landscape rather than in straight lines. This method is particularly useful on sloping land because it slows runoff and allows it to soak into the ground instead of washing away the soil, helping to reduce soil erosion.
By planting along contours, farmers can create natural barriers that trap water and reduce the speed at which it moves across the surface. Hedges, meanwhile, are densely planted shrubs or trees that often serve as boundaries between different sections of land. They have been used in agriculture for centuries, especially in Europe, to mark property lines, corral livestock and provide windbreaks to protect crops.
In addition to improving the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes by providing a variety of plant species and supporting different types of wildlife, hedgerows can help reduce agricultural runoff, filter pollutants and improve the water quality of nearby streams and rivers.
Use multiple diversification strategies to maximize benefits
On farms that adopt diversification strategies, social benefits including human well-being, crop yields and food security are noted, as well as environmental benefits including improved biodiversity.4 Benefits are greatest when a variety of strategies are used together and applied to all different types of farms.
“The team found that farmers and ranchers can gain more if they adopt multiple agricultural solutions simultaneously, rather than just one at a time,” the University of Colorado reports. “For Mehrabi , this study reveals a new vision for global food—one where farms and ranches operate less like factories producing calories and more like healthy natural ecosystems.”5
What’s more, the study covers agricultural operations across the globe, from small farms in rural Africa to plantation crops in Southeast Asia and large farms in North America and Europe. “What’s crazy is that the positive effects of adding multiple diversification practices are real in very different contexts,” Mehrabi said. “It works on industrial farms in the United States and on small-scale corn farms in Malawi. “6
For example, half of the farms in the study used some form of livestock integration, in which animals and crops are raised together in the same farming operation. Benefits include nutrient recycling, as animal manure provides a rich source of organic fertilizer for crops, improving soil fertility without the need for chemical fertilizers.
Livestock integration also provides a natural form of weed and pest control. For example, sheep and goats can eat weeds, and grazing has the added benefit of improving soil structure and aeration. Research shows that livestock integration increases the amount of food produced on farms, reduces soil damage, and reduces environmental pollution. As the University of Colorado points out:7
“In many cases, more diverse farms can bring additional benefits, as they are better able to withstand natural disasters such as drought or heat waves,” Mehrabi said. “In other cases, the positives are more subtle.
The green revolution ushered in agricultural industrialization but brought negative impacts
The Green Revolution, which occurred from the 1940s to the 1960s, was heralded by an increase in global agricultural production. But it helped implement the industrialization of agriculture, including genetic engineering, monocultures, and the increased use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Soil degradation, reduced soil fertility, pollution from chemical inputs, increased water consumption are all part of the legacy of the Green Revolution. According to thematic research:8
“Historically, the creators of the Green Revolution focused primarily on crop breeding and developing agricultural inputs to increase staple crop yields and meet food security needs.
However, their policy focus on simplifying agricultural systems has resulted in large and unintended negative environmental impacts, such as pollution, as well as social side effects, such as farmer indebtedness, reduced diversity in people’s diets, and reduced resilience.
This has led to widespread calls for changes in agricultural development policies to directly address negative impacts through action on biodiverse agricultural systems.
The Corbett Report further explains why the so-called “green” revolution is making oligarchs richer while threatening farmers and the environment:9
“While serving on the board of directors of the Ford Foundation, John D. Rockefeller III persuaded his fellow oligarchs to join the ‘Green Revolution’, creating a program of intensive agricultural zones in India that exacerbated the disparity between the feudal wealthy classes, landowners and Poor peasants.
And, of course, there’s Rockefeller’s work in Africa, today in the form of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. AGRA’s stated goal is to “elevate Africa’s single voice” on the world stage.
This all sounds nice and fuzzy, until you learn that 200 organizations have joined together to denounce the alliance and its activities. They claimed that the organization had not only “unequivocally failed in its mission” but had actually “undermined wider efforts to support African farmers”.
AGRA is an organization funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.10 Launched in 2006 with funding from the Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. It is essentially a subsidiary of the Gates Foundation, and much of its goals focus on promoting biotechnology and fertilizers.
For more than a decade, AGRA’s influence has seriously worsened the situation in the 18 African countries targeted by this “charity” campaign. Under AGRA, hunger increased by 30% and rural poverty increased dramatically.11 In our interview, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted:12
“he [Gates] Getting African countries to switch from traditional agriculture to genetically modified monocultures and thinking this is part of globalization will bring in big corporations who will buy your products, give you cash and raise everyone’s standard of living. This is commitment. But the opposite is true…
This is an absolute disaster for the people of Africa. I believe that Gates’ green revolution directly contributed to the food insecurity of another 30 million people, yet Gates and his companies made a lot of money… In every philanthropic endeavor he does, there is always in the end , some of the money-making schemes of Gates and his foundation.
Living in harmony with nature allows biodiversity to thrive
Diversified agriculture relies on living in harmony with nature and creating thriving, self-sustaining ecosystems. Some farmers have also learned how to capitalize on the natural environmental benefits of surrounding wildlife—even beavers, which are often mistakenly viewed as pests.
Roberta Staley, author of “Modern Farmers,” says that centuries ago, some 200 million beavers maintained a “lush, lush ecosystem of intertwining streams, creeks, ponds, lakes and rivers.” The Garden of Eden”.13 But as their pelts became prized in trade, their numbers dwindled – and with them their priceless gift to the environment.
Staley tells the story of Jon Griggs, manager of the Elkomagee Creek Ranch in Nevada. The beavers were driven out of the ranch due to felling of trees and clogging of irrigation ditches, causing streams to dry up on the 200,000-acre ranch. Griggs then worked with the Bureau of Land Management to reintroduce beavers, restoring ecosystem balance not only to the ranch but also to surrounding public lands. Staley reports:14
“First, during the spring and summer growing season, cattle access to the creek bed is restricted, allowing brush and grass to regrow. As a result, the creek begins to widen, cool, and deepen. Willows take root, creating an ecosystem that can support beavers, Eat such woody species.
… Griggs watched as a new generation of Canadian castor began to redesign the landscape by building dams and forming pools to preserve melting snow and the dozen inches of rainfall each year. Moisture radiates from the creek, creating an oasis half a mile wide. Grazing range expanded. Cattle have more and better quality drinking water. Trout are thriving. The creek flows all year round.
Staley also interviewed the owner of a 10,000-acre ranch in Idaho that includes a national forest. The area’s main water source – Birch Creek – had dried up, but was restored after the beavers were released. Not only do beavers restore an important water source for ranch cattle, they also lead to increased populations of other wildlife, including reptiles, waterfowl, insects and mammals.15
It’s another powerful lesson in how embracing nature can solve many of the environmental challenges posed by modern agriculture.
Overcoming barriers to agricultural diversification
The Science study acknowledges that there are financial and other barriers for many farmers interested in switching to more diverse farming practices. Government subsidies exist, but they are overwhelmingly designed to support industrial projects at the expense of biodiversity and smallholder farmers. The University of Colorado explains:16
“Governments have spent huge sums of money to cushion the agricultural industry. For example, some countries provide subsidies to farmers so that they can grow water-intensive crops in areas with little rainfall. Mehrabi said this money may be spent even more good.
