Opportunities for sustainable intensification in European agriculture

L. A. Scherer; P. H. Verburg; C. J.E. Schulp

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.11.009

Opportunities for sustainable intensification in European agriculture

L. A. Scherer^*, P. H. Verburg, C. J.E. Schulp

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Sustainable agricultural intensification is needed to tackle food insecurity and global environmental change. Local environmental conditions determine the needs and potentials for increasing sustainability of agricultural practices. However, the potential for implementation also depends on socio-economic factors, as farmers need to adopt innovative farming practices, and consumer demand affects the economic feasibility. This study aims to map opportunities for sustainable intensification in Europe taking into account farmer characteristics, consumer behaviour, environmental pressures, and unexploited agronomic potentials. In areas identified as having high opportunities, we estimate the impacts of specific sustainable intensification measures on both intensification (in terms of calorie gains) and sustainability (in terms of resource savings). The study finds high spatial variation in opportunities for sustainable intensification across Europe. High opportunities for sustainable intensification are found on 34% of the arable area in Europe. In addition, the analysis shows that a combination of different measures can simultaneously improve food security and sustainability.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	43-55
Number of pages	13
Journal	Global Environmental Change
Volume	48
Early online date	22 Dec 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.11.009
Publication status	Published - Jan 2018

Funding

We are grateful to Yoshihide Wada for providing data on water availability, and Prajal Pradhan for providing data on human energy requirements and food waste. We also thank the VITAL project partners for feedback on preliminary results presented at a project meeting. This research was conducted in the context of the ERA-Net FACCE SURPLUS project VITAL. It was financially supported by the European Commission under grant agreement 652615 and funded by the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO) .

Funders	Funder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	652615
European Commission
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

Keywords

Consumer behaviour
Environmental impacts
Farmer decisions
Food security
Spatial indicators

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Opportunities for sustainable intensification in European agricultureFinal published version, 940 KBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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N2 - Sustainable agricultural intensification is needed to tackle food insecurity and global environmental change. Local environmental conditions determine the needs and potentials for increasing sustainability of agricultural practices. However, the potential for implementation also depends on socio-economic factors, as farmers need to adopt innovative farming practices, and consumer demand affects the economic feasibility. This study aims to map opportunities for sustainable intensification in Europe taking into account farmer characteristics, consumer behaviour, environmental pressures, and unexploited agronomic potentials. In areas identified as having high opportunities, we estimate the impacts of specific sustainable intensification measures on both intensification (in terms of calorie gains) and sustainability (in terms of resource savings). The study finds high spatial variation in opportunities for sustainable intensification across Europe. High opportunities for sustainable intensification are found on 34% of the arable area in Europe. In addition, the analysis shows that a combination of different measures can simultaneously improve food security and sustainability.

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Opportunities for sustainable intensification in European agriculture

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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