Sustainable agricultural growth

The challenges, present and future, to food supply and to the environment faced by many countries, including Commonwealth members, make sustainable intensification of agricultural production a major priority. Sustainable intensification, or ‘Save and Grow’, involves producing more while saving the natural resource base and contributing more to natural capital and the flow of environmental services. Sustainable crop production intensification (SCPI) is FAO’s first strategic objective and is based on an ‘ecosystem approach’ to agricultural management. The ecosystem approach essentially uses inputs such as land, water, seed and fertiliser to complement the natural processes that support plant growth.