Systemic sustainability characteristics of organic farming: a review
¹MTT Agrifood Research Finland, FIN-31600 Jokioinen, Finland;e-mail: helmi.risku-norja@mtt.fi
²University of Helsinki, Ruralia Institute, Lönnrotinkatu 7, FIN-50100 Mikkeli, Finland
Abstract:
Agriculture for food production has come to crossroads: while conventional agriculture needs to improve environmental and social performance, organic agriculture needs to increase the production volumes and to re-establish the connectedness between producers and consumers. Through re-localising the food production there is an increasing convergence of the farming practices towards sustainable agriculture acknowledging the prospects, advantages and limitations of the different production systems. The aim is to find a combination of production methods that is optimal in given circumstances and to adapt the production system accordingly. Assessment of the environmental impacts should be integrated into the assessment of the overall sustainability. Formulation of the management strategies requires evaluation and integration of research results from many different disciplines, and the focus of the interdisciplinary research should be on food systems and bioregions rather than on the level of farms or farming systems.The present article is a review on today‘s discussion and research dealing withconventional, organic and local farming for food production. The future prospects of organic production to respond to the challenges of advancing global food security and to contribute to overall sustainable development are discussed. It seems that as a developing production mode organic agriculture has a role to play in the green global network of local food systems.
Key words:
organic agriculture, productivistic agriculture, sustainable agriculture, systemic sustainability