-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email This article was originally published on The Conversation . More than 75% of the food consumed in the world today comes from just 12 plant and five animal species. The over-dependence on this small selection, which includes rice, maize and wheat, damages the environment and human health, and it makes our globalized food system vulnerable to shocks.
But on top of all this, it also has negative economic impacts. Our recent paper shows why crop diversity is the key to the transformation of the food system. We suggest that a diversity-based system can provide multiple benefits for the health of people and planet and distribute the financial profits more equitably.
As opposed to industrial monocultures, farms that grow a variety of crops and trees are better for the environment because they increase the richness of non-farmed species, improve nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration, and support the livelihoods of farmers. For example, a 2023 study of agroforestry in east Africa suggested that unlike monocultures that produce only cereal grains, multi-crop systems support livelihoods by producing firewood, construction material, timber, medicinal plants and other non-wood forest products in addition to food. These farms also often support alternatives to conventional agriculture, adopting farming practices that include regenerative farming and permaculture (that is, sustainable land-use).
A 2021 report looking at regenerative farming in Afr.