In the "Our Food"-series of my Dutch blog, I have shown that our industrial agricultural system is just not working, because it is destroying our planet (see "Our Food (13)" for the summary). The image below is a good visual summery of all the negative aspects of our industrial agricultural system. The system leads to destruction of fertile soils, increases inequality, results in unequal food distribution (shortage and wasting food), is very fragile in case of pandemics, is susceptible to exploitation of farm workers, contributes to climate change, etc. In short: the industrial agricultural system is having a hug amount of negative consequences. That is why it needs to be done in a different way.
A different system start with understanding the system
Changing the system, can only happen if you make a very good, well thought through design of the new regenerative system with a strong focus on the local market (see for a good introduction to this the PhD thesis of Daniel Wahl). It starts with: Growing with nature:
Understand how the natural and biophysical systems at the specific place works. And secondly, understanding how these systems can be transformed into food producing ecosystems: so not grow food and work against nature and the landscape (hence needing all kind of inputs), but growing trees, plants and crops with the landscape and with nature (which will mean that nature will work for you). But this means: every place is different and will have a different design!
A well designed food producing ecosystem will maximise the relationships and interdependencies between different plants, but also between plants and life in and on top of the soil, in order to create the biggest possible diversity and eventually stability, so that on the longe term, you will get an as large as possible yield (this means multilayered poly-culture instead of monoculture of annuals).
But switching from a (uniform) monoculture to (multispecies, everywhere different) poly-culture requires a paradigm shift from efficient (how do you achieve a harvested yield that is as high as possible in tons/ha in an area that is as large as possible) to effective (how can you produces as many different crops with as few as possible inputs, so that you have a healthy ecosystem and make a healthy living) - this blog in Dutch explains more about this paradigm shift.
By moving towards a poly-culture, your yield of a crop/ha will be lower compared to a monoculture of that same crop, but because you grow a variety of different types of crops and trees on that same hectare, the total yield of the different types of crops and trees together will be higher (Check for more information this website on the land equivalent ratio).
In case you have to transport all the different crops to different locations for processing (for example because you produce for the export market), it is quite likely that you will have an increase of logistical movements (this can have a negative impact on your business case). That is why with a focus on the local market, making a profit seems to be easier.
Conclusion
If you want to work on the transformation to a regenerative system, you have to start with how the requirements of the land owners, fits with the landscape. The better the designed regenerative systems fits in the local landscape and the local biophysical system, the better the vegetation is growing, the better the yield will be, and also the less you have to work on it, and the less diseases will occur.
Understanding the needs of the soil-food-web (the soil and the soil-food-web is the basis for the growing ecosystem above the ground), understanding how the natural and biophysical system is working at the location you design for, makes that you can design the system in such a way that nature is working for you, resulting in reduced needs of inputs. This will lead to systems that have a positive impact on the ecosystem, a positive impact on the person who is working on the land, and a positive impact on our beautiful planet.
References:
- https://www.academia.edu/25460177/Designing_Regenerative_Cultures
- https://www.agroforestry.org/the-overstory/247-overstory-18-designing-resource-systems
- https://www.facebook.com/geofflawtononline/posts/1057531641100033
- https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10221112309462382&set=a.2308852965794
- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3029703097261967&set=p.3029703097261967&type=3
- https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/sustainability-is-not-enough-we-need-regenerative-cultures-4abb3c78e68b
- https://www.nourishscotland.org/climate-change-bill-blog-3-agroforestry-scotland/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_equivalent_ratio
|
| Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10221112309462382&set=a.2308852965794 |
A different system start with understanding the system
Changing the system, can only happen if you make a very good, well thought through design of the new regenerative system with a strong focus on the local market (see for a good introduction to this the PhD thesis of Daniel Wahl). It starts with: Growing with nature:
Understand how the natural and biophysical systems at the specific place works. And secondly, understanding how these systems can be transformed into food producing ecosystems: so not grow food and work against nature and the landscape (hence needing all kind of inputs), but growing trees, plants and crops with the landscape and with nature (which will mean that nature will work for you). But this means: every place is different and will have a different design!
|
| Source: https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/sustainability-is-not-enough-we-need-regenerative-cultures-4abb3c78e68b |
A well designed food producing ecosystem will maximise the relationships and interdependencies between different plants, but also between plants and life in and on top of the soil, in order to create the biggest possible diversity and eventually stability, so that on the longe term, you will get an as large as possible yield (this means multilayered poly-culture instead of monoculture of annuals).
|
| Source: https://www.facebook.com/geofflawtononline/posts/1057531641100033 |
But switching from a (uniform) monoculture to (multispecies, everywhere different) poly-culture requires a paradigm shift from efficient (how do you achieve a harvested yield that is as high as possible in tons/ha in an area that is as large as possible) to effective (how can you produces as many different crops with as few as possible inputs, so that you have a healthy ecosystem and make a healthy living) - this blog in Dutch explains more about this paradigm shift.
By moving towards a poly-culture, your yield of a crop/ha will be lower compared to a monoculture of that same crop, but because you grow a variety of different types of crops and trees on that same hectare, the total yield of the different types of crops and trees together will be higher (Check for more information this website on the land equivalent ratio).
|
| Source: https://www.nourishscotland.org/climate-change-bill-blog-3-agroforestry-scotland/ |
In case you have to transport all the different crops to different locations for processing (for example because you produce for the export market), it is quite likely that you will have an increase of logistical movements (this can have a negative impact on your business case). That is why with a focus on the local market, making a profit seems to be easier.
Conclusion
If you want to work on the transformation to a regenerative system, you have to start with how the requirements of the land owners, fits with the landscape. The better the designed regenerative systems fits in the local landscape and the local biophysical system, the better the vegetation is growing, the better the yield will be, and also the less you have to work on it, and the less diseases will occur.Understanding the needs of the soil-food-web (the soil and the soil-food-web is the basis for the growing ecosystem above the ground), understanding how the natural and biophysical system is working at the location you design for, makes that you can design the system in such a way that nature is working for you, resulting in reduced needs of inputs. This will lead to systems that have a positive impact on the ecosystem, a positive impact on the person who is working on the land, and a positive impact on our beautiful planet.
|
| Source:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3029703097261967&set=p.3029703097261967&type=3 |
References:
- https://www.academia.edu/25460177/Designing_Regenerative_Cultures- https://www.agroforestry.org/the-overstory/247-overstory-18-designing-resource-systems
- https://www.facebook.com/geofflawtononline/posts/1057531641100033
- https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10221112309462382&set=a.2308852965794
- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3029703097261967&set=p.3029703097261967&type=3
- https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/sustainability-is-not-enough-we-need-regenerative-cultures-4abb3c78e68b
- https://www.nourishscotland.org/climate-change-bill-blog-3-agroforestry-scotland/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_equivalent_ratio
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