Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture

Agricultural simplification continues to expand at the expense of more
diverse forms of agriculture. This simplification in the form of, for
example, intensively-managed monocultures, poses a risk to keeping the
world within safe and just Earth system boundaries. Here, we estimate how
agricultural diversification simultaneously affects social and
environmental outcomes. Drawing from 24 studies in 11 countries across
2,655 farms, we show how five diversification strategies focusing on
livestock, crops, soils, non-crop plantings, and water conservation
benefit social (human well-being, yields, food security) and environmental
(biodiversity, ecosystem services, reduced environmental externalities)
outcomes. We find that applying multiple diversification strategies
creates more positive outcomes than individual management strategies
alone. To realize these benefits, well-designed policies are needed to
incentivize the adoption of multiple diversification strategies in unison.