Ethics of Sustainable Agricultural Intensification - FAO.org

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3Applying fertilizerto a maize cropAgriculturalintensificationAgricultural intensification can betechnically defined as an increase inagricultural production per unit ofinputs (which may be labour, land, time, fertilizer,seed, feed or cash). For practical purposes,intensification occurs when there is an increasein the total volume of agricultural production thatresults from a higher productivity of inputs, oragricultural production is maintained while certain inputs are decreased (such as bymore effective delivery of smaller amounts of fertilizer, better targeting of plant oranimal protection, and mixed or relay cropping on smaller fields). Intensification thattakes the form of increased production is most critical when there is a need to expandthe food supply, for example during periods of rapid population growth. Intensificationthat makes more efficient use of inputs may be more critical when environmentalproblems or social issues are involved. In either case, changes caused by intensificationare to be understood conceptually in contrast to extensive adjustments, which involveincreases or decreases in the amount of inputs used. Historically, the most commonand effective extensive adjustment in agricultural production has been to increase ordecrease the area of land planted.For the purposes of this discussion, the contrast between intensification andextensive adjustment is intended to indicate the contrast between two broad strategiesthat human beings have had for affecting their food supply, rather than conceptsapplicable to economic or technical analysis of specific cases. The technical specificationsand measurement of intensification or extensive adjustment in any given case are actuallyquite complex. Changes in the productivity of one input are likely to be accompanied byadjustments in the amount of other inputs. This complexity notwithstanding, there islittle doubt that agricultural intensification has been a prerequisite to human civilization.The Neolithic technological revolution wasbuilt on collecting, concentrating, selectingand harvesting plant and animal speciesin an organized fashion, with the aim ofhaving more products closer to hand andeasier to convert into nutrition. Thedomestication of farm animals and thedevelopment of crops, in the context ofever more productive farming systems,FAO/14519/ D. DEBERTenabled the human population to growand towns and villages to develop, havinggovernments, laws, trade and economieswith specialized employment.
4THE ETHICS OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATIONAs agricultural production became more efficient, so populations increased.Historians have argued whether higher populations drove technological development,or whether technological development made higher populations possible.Nevertheless, throughout this development, most societies were chronicallymalnourished, or prey to episodic famine. Relatively high transport costs meant thatmost societies relied on local production, except when water transport made importspossible. Classical Athens was largely fed from the Crimea, and Rome from Egyptand southern Spain. For more than 95 percent of the history of civilization, food hasbeen scarce for nearly all people. This has meant low life expectancy, susceptibility todisease and little capacity to face wars, droughts, floods and other human and naturalcatastrophes. Food scarcity and social disorder brought about major migrations ofpeople and caused wars and massive cultural disruption.Conversely, when scarcity was relieved, major cultural advances were made. About1 000 years ago, new varieties of rice were taken to southern China from the ChampaKingdom (now Viet Nam). These were not sensitive to photoperiod, and producedtwo crops a year instead of only one. When these varieties were grown, the intensivetechniques that had developed slowly in China to increase productivity per unit ofland, although requiring more labour, resulted in dramatic production gains. Thesubsequent rice surplus triggered changes across various sectors of China’s economy,stimulating the construction of roads, canals, dams, ironworks, grain storage facilitiesand the production of weapons. For five centuries southern China experiencedsustained economic growth and had favourable trade terms for silk, spices andtechnology with late Mediaeval and early Renaissance Europe.The agricultural revolution in the early modern United Kingdom greatly increasedagricultural productivity. It relied heavily on techniques based on horse power, soilsupportingcrop rotations, land drainage and grazing systems, which were developedon the European continent in the very densely populated and often scarcity-riddenLow Countries (the present-day Benelux). When these innovations were applied tolarger areas at lower human population densities, a significant surplus was produced,which made the Industrial Revolution possible. At the same time, the harnessing ofenergy sources became more efficient. The late eighteenth century saw improved watermills and windmills, the use of sea coals and the development of steam engines.Transport costs fell, making it economically viable, for example, to ship bones longdistances for use in fertilizer. Internal combustion and hydropower later greatlyincreased returns to labour and the availability of products such as nitrogen fertilizers.However, any technology exists within a social and political system. The way thatthis British agricultural surplus was generated, controlled and distributed under therestrictive Enclosure Acts forced most of the rural population off the land to serve asindustrial labour. The result was high food insecurity and a structural form of urbanpoverty, where families no longer had access to land or to traditional rights such as
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