Environmental challenges of food production: The key lies in the territory

Authors: (Left to right) Luis Collado, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Pablo Galaso, Universidad de la República, María de las Mercedes Menéndez, United Nations University, and Adrián Rodríguez Miranda, Universidad de la República.

Food production systems face unprecedented environmental challenges. These systems generate significant negative impacts on air, soil, water, and biodiversity, establishing themselves as one of the human activities with the most significant environmental impact. 

Therefore, there is broad consensus among academics, policymakers, and international organisations on transforming these systems towards more sustainable forms of production and consumption.

In our article “Environmental challenges and innovative responses of local agri-food systems: a theoretical approach”, we explore how agri-food systems interact with the environment from a territorial perspective. We propose a theoretical model that categorises, on the one hand, the environmental challenges of these systems and, on the other, the type of innovative responses they can develop to these challenges.

Environmental challenges of agri-food systems

To address the problem from a territorial perspective, we propose first considering the degree of agglomeration that agri-food systems may present. As shown in Table 1, the types of environmental challenges can be analysed by considering the location of farmers and/or ranchers (on the vertical axis), and agri-food industries (on the horizontal axis).

Table 1. Environmental pressures and impacts of agri-food systems by degree of agglomeration. 

For example, when agriculture and industries are territorially agglomerated (quadrant A), they tend to compete for the same resources (e.g., water and land). They are generators of the same types of pollution and waste, thus increasing the concentration of environmental pressures and local impacts. 

The configuration is different when the agri-food industry is dispersed and agricultural agglomeration is the central source of environmental pressures (quadrant B). The concentration of agricultural activity requires the same type of soil, with characteristics appropriate for specific primary production, would have similar water needs (i.e., with the same irrigation periods) and/or would use identical chemical inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, etc.), increasing local concentrations. 

In other cases, agricultural or livestock activity is so dispersed that it cannot be identified with a delimited territory. At the same time, the agri-food industry is clearly concentrated (quadrant C), so the latter would be the main source of environmental pressures, for example, with an intense local demand for water and a high generation of waste and pollution. Finally, in a configuration in which both agricultural and agro-industrial production are widely dispersed (quadrant D), pressures on local resources decrease and impacts on the environment are mainly at a global scale (i.e., linked to climate change, genetic resources, or global biodiversity).

Why are territories important for generating environmental innovations?

Faced with these challenges, the agri-food sector must innovate to achieve greater efficiency, sustainability, inclusion, and resilience. However, experts agree that successful transformation requires an inclusive and holistic approach to innovation. An approach that prioritises interoperability and sufficient digital infrastructure to enable collaboration, keep agricultural production informed, and encourage consumer participation. In this sense, two major technological paths related to the environmental pressures of agri-food systems could be identified.

The first path is represented by large agri-food corporations. These types of companies have achieved leadership positions in the development of digital platforms for agriculture. As a negative aspect, some authors have suggested that these corporations may be more oriented towards protecting their assets and investments by generating lock-in processes in unsustainable trajectories, as in meat production. Also, the concentration of digital database technologies in large corporations could generate problems in food systems due to restrictions on farmers' options and limitations for new companies to access data.

A second path recognises the importance of small farmers and producers in rural areas and small and medium local agro-industries in making the green transition compatible with social sustainability and local production systems. The diversity of actors and consideration of the specificities of local environments are essential to achieving a just transition, without social exclusion and maintaining the genetic diversity of crops and animal species. A technological strategy that considers innovations tailored to the specific environmental challenges of territories appears to be the best response from a local development perspective.

A relevant contribution of our work is to emphasise that we should not assume that green technology is inherently beneficial but rather ensure its implementation is inclusive and generates social value for communities. The green and digital transition should not only address the challenge of maintaining production levels without depleting the planet's resources. From a territorial perspective, the challenge is to achieve a green transformation in production methods supported by resilient, inclusive, and efficient local economies. This perspective, which puts people and territories at the centre, is the one that can genuinely advance solutions that ensure truly sustainable global production.