Is coffee threatened by climate change?
In this article, we explore how climate change threatens coffee production's future and what this means for the future of your favourite drink.
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When we think of sustainable ways to improve our quality of life in the midst of climate change or to benefit the planet itself, we tend to think about the impact we create with material items such as clothing or technology – making our food consumption and agroecology lower on the list.
Agroecology is an approach to farming that aims to include both environmental and social aspects into the process of food production – with a goal to build greater resilience, efficiency and overall sustainability.
In this article, we’ll explain what agroecology is, the 13 principles of agroecology, how it impacts economic viability, the downsides to agroecology, and if agroecology is beneficial in the fight against climate change.
Agroecology is a scientific method of farming which aims to incorporate ecological, social and economic factors into the production of food and how it is consumed.
Some of the main goals of agroecology are to build greater resilience, encourage diversity, and improve the sustainability practices being employed in current agroecosystems. This is ultimately beneficial for both the consumer as well as farmers, seeing as more sustainable food production and consumption is healthier for people and can also help to boost farmer’s productivity and sales.
💡Did you know? Agroecology was first introduced prior to World War II in 1928 when the term was first published by Basil Bensin, and was then used by zoologists in the 1930s. Since then, agroecology has continued to grow and evolve.
In order to be as effective as possible, agroecology makes use of science and various ecological theories to propose, develop, and test various methods that may be used in agricultural systems. This type of extensive research often requires studying biology, socioeconomic factors, as well as the available and most relevant technologies that can be used in the proposed plan.
Some of the main values of agroecology include:
👉 Ultimately, agroecology can serve as a way for farmers to develop a more productive and fair-minded food system – seeing as it will rely on a more holistic approach as opposed to using chemicals or unnatural substances to encourage food production.
There are 13 main principles of agroecology: including participation, land and resources governance, connectivity, social values, economic diversification, and biodiversity.
In addition to serving as an outline to improve agricultural practices, agroecology is also viewed as a social movement – with these thirteen principles serving as a guideline for others to follow or be inspired by.
Here are the 13 main principles of agroecology broken down:
In addition to the 13 principles of agroecology, this scientific approach to food development also operates on these main elements:
👉 Agroecology was developed as an effort to instill a more well-rounded approach to food production – one that doesn’t prioritise profit or productivity over the health and well-being over society or the environment, but does not forsake economic viability either.
Agroecology affects the economic viability of farms seeing as it seeks to reduce the dependency on external inputs, which in turn should make food producers more financially independent and more lucrative in the long-run.
Food production systems and farmers that make an effort to reduce their use of pesticides and fertilisers must undergo a transitional period, but over the long-term – more natural and diverse farming practices can help maintain productive farming practices and allow for more fruitful harvests.
Some practices that farmers could implement to ensure agroecology benefits them financially include implementing diversity, mitigating the use of chemical fertilisers which harm soil and contribute to air pollution, improving overall pest control, or implementing any of the other 13 main principles of agroecology.
👉 Overall, agroecology can help reduce operational expenses and allow farmers or food producers to reap the benefits of a more stable income – something becoming more important in the midst of climate change, as extreme temperatures and natural disasters continue to have an effect on agriculture.
Although agroecology could pave the way for future, more sustainable food production practices, many critique agroecology due to some of its downsides – which include how new the field of study is and an overall lack of consistency.
Agroecology, while it has a set of 13 main principles and other main elements which adhere to many other sustainable practices such as ESG – remains too novel for some people to get behind its ideologies and implementation, seeing as it has yet to be fully fleshed out.
In addition to this, one of the main problems many have with agroecology is that it doesn’t follow a set rulebook. In other words, some claim that a major flaw of the principles of agroecology is that the 13 main principles are more of a loose guideline as opposed to a meticulous, full-proof plan to rectify food production systems.
For example, agroecology isn’t standardised or scalable – meaning that it can be hard to replicate success in farms across the world using the 13 main principles, seeing as each food farm is subject to various weather conditions, resources, and are different sizes.
👉 In the end, while agroecology could prove successful for many food producers and farmers – it may not be conducive to be used as a baseline methodology seeing as the study and practice is still too new to take variables into consideration.
Agroecology, despite its criticism, could still prove effective in the midst of climate change – seeing as when its principles are put into practice, it could result in a more profitable and consistent food supply, reduce air pollution, and ultimately help to mitigate global food waste seeing as agroecology could help maximise food production.
Here are a few more reasons why agroecology could help fight climate change:
Overall, while agroecology still has a long way to go before it is considered a reputable approach to rectifying our current food production systems – it still holds the potential to inspire farmers and food producers around the world to modify their current practices in favor of more sustainable ones.
If reading this article about agroecology has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
Seeking to understand how agroecology could have an impact on your business can prove difficult to understand, but don’t worry – Greenly is here to help! Click here to book a demo and get personalised expertise on how you can start to reduce your own emissions and decrease your environmental impact.
Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
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