Small-scale farms that practice agroecology – sustainable, indigenous techniques including animal husbandry – can double worldwide food production in ten years, experts say. A new report by the United Nations says world hunger and weather-related crop losses are issues which can only be addressed by scaling back industrial farms worldwide.
Agroecology projects in 57 countries showed crop yields increasing 80 percent when soil enhancements and pest protections are achieved through natural methods alone. Researchers point to successful projects in 20 African countries that proved yields could be doubled in three to 10 years.