Navigating the environmental, economic and social impacts of sustainable agriculture and food systems: a review

Highlights

	● Addresses global challenges like food insecurity, climate change and social inequality.
	● Provides environmental preservation, economic viability and social equity.
	● Strategies include agroforestry, ecosystem conservation, sustainable intensification and direct marketing.
	● Emphasizes government support and policy, community-based approaches and participatory decision-making.
	● Explores challenges and opportunities in transitioning to sustainable practices and rural-urban interactions.

Abstract

The escalating recognition of sustainable agriculture and food systems is a response to the multifaceted challenges of food insecurity, climate change, environmental deterioration and economic pressures. In this review, sustainable agriculture is characterized as an array of farming practices that effectively address immediate demands, while simultaneously safeguarding the potential of future generations to fulfill their needs. The primary objectives include sustained productivity, pollution reduction, and economic viability and sustainability. Sustainable food systems incorporate dimensions beyond production, including processing, distribution, consumption patterns, and waste management along the entire food supply chain. An abundance of research underscores the manifold benefits offered by sustainable agriculture and food systems to society at large. These advantages include fostering climate resilience, curbing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing water quality, promoting biodiversity, enriching soil fertility, fortifying rural livelihoods and nurturing community well-being. Nevertheless, the path toward sustainability is strewn with significant challenges. These include substantial costs involved in transitioning, conflicts in policy objectives, and the pervasive influence of traditional methods. Achieving sustainability requires the execution of holistic strategies that traverse various sectors and scales. Accelerating this progress can be facilitated through the adoption of diverse strategies, including agroforestry, agroecology, urban agriculture, farmer knowledge exchange, ecosystem service payments and supply chain shortening. However, the success of these strategies hinges on the provision of appropriate policies and incentives. Further research is vital to ascertain the ideal conditions for implementing specific interventions and to assess the comprehensive expenses and benefits linked to them. This review emphasizes the assertion that widespread adoption of sustainable practices in agriculture and interconnected food systems has positive impacts in terms of community nutrition, conservation of natural resources and long-term economic progress.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Food security / agrisilviculture / agroecology / agroforestry / halal / crop production

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2019/WAB01/MSU/02/1) and for publication funding provided by the MSU Publication and Conference Grant (MPCG-004-022023-SGS).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Rosli Muhammad Naim, Maisarah Abdul Mutalib, Aida Soraya Shamsuddin, Mohd Nizam Lani, Indang Ariati Ariffin, and Shirley Gee Hoon Tang declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2024. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)