Towards Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

<p><strong>Background:</strong> A large part of the society as well as the scientists and actors in the field of agricultural and food systems consider that a profound transformation is necessary to reach more sustainable systems of production. This position is new and requires deep changes for this transformation. <strong>Objective:</strong> Our objective here is to share with the readers the possible potential new approaches to transform our agri-food systems towards more sustainability. <strong>Methodology:</strong> Traditionally, sustainability is assessed via three main dimensions: economic, environmental and social. This is what we consider here. <strong>Results:</strong> In agri-food systems, it is possible to identify each one of these dimensions, from the producer to the final consumer, and to identify elements to improve their sustainability. A simultaneous approach to all three dimensions is essential. A few examples from unsustainable crop and livestock production systems make it possible to approach the attitude to adopt, then to identify the paths of progress and concretize these approaches <strong>Implications:</strong> The above transformations will not occur spontaneously but will be a long and difficult process which will require profound modifications in the ways of thinking, especially in young actors. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> It is urgent to develop sustainable agri-food systems and essential to develop holistic approaches using simultaneously all the levers at our disposal, rather than using them separately. In intertropical areas, if there is water available, it is probably possible to develop truly new systems through ecological intensification. Industrialized countries should also develop a capacity for innovation that challenges their current monospecific systems, by reassociating crop and animal production</p>