The environmental impact of agricultural intensification: A summary note

With human population on the rise, there is a growing need to address food availability and security. By 2050, the need for farmed products will be 60% higher than it was fourteen years ago (FAO 2009). Unfortunately, as farms work to address an exponential need for agricultural products, large natural landscapes have been rapidly converted to farmlands. Widespread deforestation and land-use change caused by agricultural expansion have resulted in devastating consequences on the environment and climate. Numerous conservation organizations and national governments have promoted agricultural intensification as a solution to reduce harmful “slash and burn” practices and slow agricultural expanse into natural areas while still maintaining farm profitability (Phelps et al. 2013). Intensification consists of increasing production per unit area. It is expected that this can be achieved through increased chemical inputs, increased labor, agricultural technical advancements, or other measures of enhanced field production. The concept surrounds maximizing land and resource use, rather than expanding sites with nonproduction optimized agriculture practices (Struik and Kuyper 2017).