Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Sustainability in global agriculture driven by organic farming

Frank Eyhorn, Adrian Müller, John P. Reganold, Emile Frison, H. R. Herren, Louise Luttikholt, Alexander Mueller, Jürn Sanders, Nadia El-Hage Scialabba, Verena Seufert, Pete Smith

Nature Sustainability · 2019

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Summary

This 2019 perspective in Nature Sustainability, authored by a consortium of leading agroecologists and agricultural scientists, argues for organic farming as a central driver of global agricultural sustainability. The paper likely synthesises evidence on organic systems' contributions to soil health, ecosystem services, and resilience whilst addressing the challenge of scaling organic practice to meet global food demand. The work reflects emerging consensus among leading researchers that organic principles, though not a complete solution alone, warrant greater integration into mainstream agricultural policy and practice.

UK applicability

The findings are relevant to UK policy discussions around post-Brexit agricultural support and environmental land management schemes, which have increasingly emphasised organic and agroecological approaches. However, UK-specific adaptation would be needed to address temperate climate conditions, land availability constraints, and the requirement to maintain productive yields on smaller average farm sizes.

Key measures

Inferred to include environmental metrics (soil health, biodiversity, GHG emissions), economic viability, and food security indicators across organic farming systems

Outcomes reported

The study examined how organic farming contributes to sustainability across global agriculture, likely assessing environmental, economic, and social dimensions. As suggested by the authorship and journal context, the paper probably synthesised evidence on organic farming's impacts on soil health, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and food security.

Theme
Farming systems, soils & land use
Subject
Regenerative & agroecological farming
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Organic systems
DOI
10.1038/s41893-019-0266-6
Catalogue ID
BFmou2mc8b-jmn3rw

Topic tags

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