The Ethics of Sustainable Agricultural Intensification: FAO Ethics Series

Abstract

Agricultural intensification can be technically defined as an increase in agricultural production per unit of inputs (which may be labour, land, time, fertilizer, seed, feed or cash). For practical purposes, intensification occurs when there is an increase in the total volume of agricultural production that results from a higher productivity of inputs, or agricultural production is maintained while certain inputs are decreased (such as by more effective delivery of smaller amounts of fertilizer, better targeting of plant or animal protection, and mixed or relay cropping on smaller fields). Intensification that takes the form of increased production is most critical when there is a need to expand the food supply, for example during periods of rapid population growth. Intensification that makes more efficient use of inputs may be more critical when environmental problems or social issues are involved. In either case, changes caused by intensification are to be understood conceptually in contrast to extensive adjustments, which involve increases or decreases in the amount of inputs used. Historically, the most common and effective extensive adjustment in agricultural production has been to increase or decrease the area of land planted. For the purposes of this discussion, the contrast between intensification and extensive adjustment is intended to indicate the contrast between two broad strategies that human beings have had for affecting their food supply, rather than concepts applicable to economic or technical analysis of specific cases. The technical specifications and measurement of intensification or extensive adjustment in any given case are actually quite complex. Changes in the productivity of one input are likely to be accompanied by adjustments in the amount of other inputs. This complexity notwithstanding, there is little doubt that agricultural intensification has been a prerequisite to human civilization. The Neolithic technological revolution was built on collecting, concentrating, selecting and harvesting plant and animal species in an organized fashion, with the aim of having more products closer to hand and easier to convert into nutrition. The domestication of farm animals and the development of crops, in the context of ever more productive farming systems, enabled the human population to grow and towns and villages to develop, having governments, laws, trade and economies with specialized employment.