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Sustainable Agriculture

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The food of the future is not a production problem. It is a systemic problem. Humanity already produces enough food for everyone — more than enough, in fact. The global food system produces the equivalent of approximately 4,000 calories per person per day, while actual consumption is about 2,100. Yet food insecurity persists, biodiversity is collapsing, and agriculture degrades soil, water and the climate.

The problem is not how much we produce. The problem is how we produce, what we produce and how much we waste.

~4000

calories/day/person

produced globally — but only 2,100 are consumed

50%

of fruit and vegetables wasted

globally, every year

90%

of subsidies

go to conventional agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture campaign — Agent Green

Objectives

1 Transition to sustainable and organic agriculture
2 Reduce dependence on intensive agriculture and livestock farming
3 Increase the share of plant-based and organic foods
4 Protect biodiversity and pollinators
5 Reduce agricultural emissions
6 Eliminate food waste

Pillar 1: Sustainable and organic agriculture

Today’s intensive agriculture depends on fossil fuels, synthetic fertilisers and toxic pesticides. This model degrades soil, pollutes water, destroys biodiversity and contributes heavily to climate change.

The alternative: organic agriculture

  • ✓It uses less energy
  • ✓It drastically reduces the use of pesticides and fertilisers
  • ✓It increases the soil’s capacity to store carbon
  • ✓It protects biodiversity
  • ✓It produces healthier food

“But are yields lower?”

Although organic farming yields can be, on average, 20% lower, this does not represent a real problem. Why?

  • ➤We already produce excess food
  • ➤We throw away a huge proportion of it
  • ➤We use most of the land to feed animals, rather than people

We can feed the entire global population through organic agriculture — if we reduce waste and transform our diets.

The strategic role of plants

Legumes (beans, peas, lentils, soy) naturally fix nitrogen in the soil, reduce the need for synthetic fertilisers and provide high-quality protein.

The key figure

87% of global soy is used for animal feed. Much of the grain is also used for livestock. In practice, we use enormous resources to produce meat, instead of feeding people directly.

Pillar 2: Pesticides — a major risk to biodiversity

Pesticides are one of the main drivers of biodiversity collapse.

Effects of pesticides

  • ✗They affect pollinators (bees, butterflies)
  • ✗They contaminate soil and water
  • ✗They destroy entire food chains

A vicious circle: Without pollinators, agricultural production falls and food security is threatened. Intensive agriculture destroys biodiversity, then becomes dependent on even more chemicals to compensate.

Pillar 3: Fertilisers — impacts on the climate and water

Synthetic fertilisers are extremely energy-intensive (production relies on gas) and a major source of emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) — a greenhouse gas far more powerful than CO₂.

Major problems

  • ✗Water pollution with nitrates
  • ✗Soil degradation
  • ✗Emissions of greenhouse gases
  • ✗Plants use only a fraction of the nitrogen applied — the rest is lost

Existing solutions

  • ✓Crop rotation
  • ✓Agroforestry
  • ✓Legumes — they naturally fix nitrogen
  • ✓Natural fertilisation

Organic agriculture uses nitrogen more efficiently, with smaller losses and a lower climate impact.

Pillar 4: Food waste — the key to the system

The most overlooked problem in the food system is waste.

~50%

fruit and vegetables

wasted globally

⅓

of grain

thrown away

⅓

of fish

thrown away

70%

edible

of food thrown away

The essential truth

If we reduce food waste and use land to feed people directly, rather than animals:

We can produce enough organic food for the entire population.

There is no production deficit. There is systemic inefficiency.

The subsidy problem

Alert

Approximately 90% of subsidies go to conventional agriculture. This system blocks the transition, favours pollution and discourages organic agriculture.

Current agricultural policies disproportionately support conventional agriculture, large farms and intensive livestock farming.

Strategic conclusion

Today’s agriculture produces too much, wastes too much and destroys too much. At the same time, the solutions are already known:

  • ✓ Transition to organic agriculture — fewer chemicals, healthy soils, reduced emissions
  • ✓ Reduce consumption of animal products — greater resource efficiency, less pressure on land
  • ✓ Eliminate food waste — the key to global balance
  • ✓ Reform subsidies — support sustainable agriculture, rather than pollution

We do not need to produce more.
We need to produce more intelligently.

We do not need industrial agriculture.
We need agriculture that works with nature, rather than against it.

The transition is inevitable. The only question is how quickly we make it.

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