Food: The Driver of Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is just one of the important facets of sustainable food systems which also includes other very important practices such as food distribution, consumption as well as reduction of food wastage. All of these are intricately interlinked. A recent study in 2020 conducted in the European Union attributed 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions to food systems including livestock and crop harvest, their transportation, changing landscapes, and food wastage (McFall-Johnsen & Woodward, 2019). Conventional agriculture depends on the use of large amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, fossil fuels, exploitation of water resources, processing, and packaging. Though this increases productivity, they wreak havoc on both nature as well as human health. It has also resulted in a gradual loss of indigenous food systems and cultures grounded in a harmonious relationship between man and nature. Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) of crops, such as various millets in India, which were once primary cereals cultivated because of their adaptability to a particular region and climate, slowly lost to cash crops such as rice and wheat that increasingly formed the mainstay agricultural practices.