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  • Published: 09 April 2019

Sustainability in global agriculture driven by organic farming

  • Frank Eyhorn 1 , 2 ,
  • Adrian Muller 3 , 4 ,
  • John P. Reganold 5 ,
  • Emile Frison 6 ,
  • Hans R. Herren 7 ,
  • Louise Luttikholt 2 ,
  • Alexander Mueller 8 ,
  • Jürn Sanders 9 ,
  • Nadia El-Hage Scialabba 8 ,
  • Verena Seufert 10 &
  • Pete Smith 11  

Nature Sustainability volume  2 ,  pages 253–255 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

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Agricultural practices need to change to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. How to achieve the SDGs is heavily contested. Here we propose a policy framework that triggers the required transition. Organic agriculture, although not a silver bullet, is a useful component in such strategy.

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Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, Zurich, Switzerland

Frank Eyhorn

IFOAM — Organics International, Bonn, Germany

Frank Eyhorn & Louise Luttikholt

Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland

Adrian Muller

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Zurich ETHZ, Zurich, Switzerland

Washington State University, Pullman, USA

John P. Reganold

International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (iPES Food) https://www.ipes-food.org/

Emile Frison

Millennium Institute, Washington, DC, USA

Hans R. Herren

TMG Think Tank for Sustainability, Berlin, Germany

Alexander Mueller & Nadia El-Hage Scialabba

Thünen Institute, Braunschweig, Germany

Jürn Sanders

Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Verena Seufert

University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

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Correspondence to Frank Eyhorn , Adrian Muller or John P. Reganold .

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Frank Eyhorn serves as Vice-President of IFOAM — Organics International. The authors do not have any competing interests regarding the content of this article.

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Eyhorn, F., Muller, A., Reganold, J.P. et al. Sustainability in global agriculture driven by organic farming. Nat Sustain 2 , 253–255 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0266-6

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Published : 09 April 2019

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0266-6

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Empowering rural development: the socioeconomic impact of energy transition and sustainable agriculture

  • Published: 26 March 2024
  • Volume 57 , article number  83 , ( 2024 )

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  • Yue Wang 1 &
  • Jianmin Cao 1  

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The convergence of agricultural sustainability and energy transition is a powerful force that can completely reshape socioeconomic environments, and rural development is at the center of this transformation. With the goal of clarifying their combined influence on rural areas, this brief study investigates the linked dynamics between adopting sustainable farming methods and switching to clean energy sources. This study takes an innovative and dynamic approach to investigate the fundamental effects of farmers’ creative entrepreneurship on agricultural and rural economic performance in China. Panel data covering thirty provinces between 2015 and 2020 are used in the research, and various geographical matrices of weight are systematically taken into account. According to the empirical results, low urbanization is visible in the geographical distribution of innovative rural businesses, and there are also apparent positive regional spillover and radiation-driving effects. These effects are particularly noticeable in areas with comparable degrees of urbanization. Furthermore, various locations with varying patterns of grain production and family income levels are shown to have varied impacts. In the end, the study highlights the importance of closely tying farmers’ creativity and business skills together and offers empirical proof for the requirement of implementing unique and targeted incentive programs for rural entrepreneurship in the context of the shifting economic landscape.

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College of Economics and Management, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130000, Jilin, China

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Wang, Y., Cao, J. Empowering rural development: the socioeconomic impact of energy transition and sustainable agriculture. Econ Change Restruct 57 , 83 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-024-09668-z

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Received : 29 November 2023

Accepted : 26 February 2024

Published : 26 March 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-024-09668-z

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