Contributions of alternative agricultures to food security, profitability and sustainability

: a narrative review

Abstract

Numerous authors support conventional agriculture, arguing that it has helped feed an expanding population and reduce hunger. However, many criticize its reliance on external resources, stating that it is unsustainable and has detrimental effects on the environment and society. The main goals of this dissertation are to identify the current state of research on alternatives to conventional agriculture (from now on called “alternative agricultures”), specifically how these alternatives stack up against conventional agriculture in terms of achieving food security, farming profitability, and sustainability. Furthermore, an effort is also made to guide future research in order to be more helpful of reaching the socially shared objective of making agriculture sustainable. The results of this literature review, based on the gathered information, suggest that the performance of alternative agricultures in the three researched agricultural functions (food security, profitability and sustainability) is heavily context dependent. However, under some contexts, alternative agricultures can either provide better performance in one or more of these functions. Finally, several studies attempt to model worldwide transitions to alternative agricultures; however, these only discuss the global food supply, and fail to consider existing problems (such as logistic issues and/or income distribution) that are obstacles in achieving food security.

Date of Award	27 Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Arlindo Marques Cunha (Supervisor) & Miguel Sottomayor (Co-Supervisor)