| Sumario: | The agricultural sector faces multiple sustainability challenges while meeting the rising food and nutrition demands of the global population. These challenges include biodiversity loss, land degradation, resource depletion, and disruptions of nutrient cycles caused by the very farming systems that feed us, thereby compromising food production for future generation. Agricultural activities contribute nearly 30 – 35% of GHG emissions, mainly due to livestock farming, deforestation, rice farming, and direct emissions from fertilized soils. Additionally, estimates show that irrigation and livestock farming contributes nearly 70% of freshwater withdrawals. With a rising global population, climate risks, rising cost of energy, and changes in people’s diet preferences, it is estimated that by 2050, approximately 70% more food must be produced sustainably to meet food security goals. Against this backdrop, a transition to sustainable agricultural farming systems is urgently needed to ensure global food security and environmental sustainability.
Conventional farming systems generate considerable environmental impacts, including biodiversity loss and pollution of the ecosystem. Sustainable farming systems, however, have been criticized for lower yields, higher risk of yield instability, and a relatively lower ability to respond promptly to pests and disease. Gonçalves et al., and Campbell et al., conclude that there is limited information available on the economic performance of sustainable farming systems in the literature. This literature synthesis draws on insights from primary studies based on a systematic literature review to assess the available evidence on the economic assessment of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) across different economic or financial indicators. We also explore differences in environmental outcomes under sustainable and conventional farming systems.
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