This publication by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) titled “Save and Grow” is a guide for policymakers on the sustainable intensification of smallholder crop production. Save and grow says that while the Green Revolution led to a quantum leap in food production and bolstered world food security, intensive crop production has, in many countries, depleted agriculture’s natural resource base, jeopardizing future productivity.
In order to meet projected demand over the next 40 years, farmers in the developing world must double food production, a challenge made even more daunting by the combined effects of climate change and growing competition for land, water and energy. In order to grow, agriculture must learn to save.
The book presents a new paradigm: sustainable crop production intensification (SCPI), which produces more from the same area of land while conserving resources, reducing negative impacts on the environment and enhancing natural capital and the flow of ecosystem services. It presents a rich toolkit of relevant, adoptable and adaptable ecosystem-based practices that enhance crop productivity and can serve as the cornerstone of national and regional programmes.
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