Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture

Adrian Muller (), Christian Schader, Nadia El-Hage Scialabba, Judith Brüggemann, Anne Isensee, Karl-Heinz Erb, Pete Smith, Peter Klocke, Florian Leiber, Matthias Stolze and Urs Niggli
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Adrian Muller: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Christian Schader: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Nadia El-Hage Scialabba: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Judith Brüggemann: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Anne Isensee: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Karl-Heinz Erb: Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC), Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt-Vienna-Graz
Pete Smith: University of Aberdeen
Peter Klocke: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Florian Leiber: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Matthias Stolze: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Urs Niggli: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Organic agriculture is proposed as a promising approach to achieving sustainable food systems, but its feasibility is also contested. We use a food systems model that addresses agronomic characteristics of organic agriculture to analyze the role that organic agriculture could play in sustainable food systems. Here we show that a 100% conversion to organic agriculture needs more land than conventional agriculture but reduces N-surplus and pesticide use. However, in combination with reductions of food wastage and food-competing feed from arable land, with correspondingly reduced production and consumption of animal products, land use under organic agriculture remains below the reference scenario. Other indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions also improve, but adequate nitrogen supply is challenging. Besides focusing on production, sustainable food systems need to address waste, crop–grass–livestock interdependencies and human consumption. None of the corresponding strategies needs full implementation and their combined partial implementation delivers a more sustainable food future.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01410-w

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