Make more for less for a brighter future

Sustainable intensification across the globe is the solution supported by many in the agrifood sector. But not everyone is convinced. While the food industry and environmental pressure groups are now talking, there remains a disconnect as to what truly is the best way to save our threatened planet.

Some suggest the 'big is beautiful' approach is not right for all circumstances because, in many parts of the world, you have to take local circumstances into account. Which isn't about arguing for the retention of subsistence farming, rather that local economies and ecosystems have to be respected: what might work in a country such as the UK might not be right for a more fragile economy where poverty and threats to biodiversity need to be addressed.

Some pessimists believe we have left it too late to save the planet, thanks to our voracious consumption. But most argue that there is no excuse for doing nothing. While not perfect, efforts to introduce change are to be applauded whether they are attempts to reduce waste, atmospheric and effluent emissions or the embedded water in foodstuffs, they are a start at least.

Without people of good intent coming together to find workable solutions to these seemingly intractable challenges, our children and their children face a truly dystopian future.

However, to achieve any measure of success, compromise will be required by all between those arguing for sustainable intensification and those who equally passionately believe that small, local sources of food supply are the way forward. Whatever camp, you sit in, science and technology will be an essential part of the armoury of tools required.