Why We Should Invest More in the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture

The document assesses the level of federal investment in sustainable agriculture, specifically agroecology, using a five-level classification system. It finds that the vast majority of USDA funding supports incremental efficiency gains rather than transformative agroecological practices. The authors call for increased funding and a shift toward systems-based research that integrates ecological and socioeconomic sustainability.

• A 2015 analysis of National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) projects initiated in 2014 revealed that only 15 percent of the analyzed $294 million in funding supported projects incorporating Level 3 agroecological practices. This amount, $44 million, represents just 1.5 percent of the total Research, Education, and Economics (REE) budget.
• The majority of analyzed USDA funds are directed toward incremental sustainability rather than transformative change. Approximately 35 percent ($105 million) went to Level 1 projects focused on increasing efficiency, such as increasing yields or decreasing pesticide use, and 23 percent ($69 million) went to Level 2 projects replacing harmful inputs with better alternatives.
• Funding for 'transformative agroecology'—which pairs Level 3 agroecological field practices with Level 4 socioeconomic supports—is exceptionally low, accounting for only 4 percent ($12 million) of the analyzed funding.
• Industrial farming practices in the U.S., including monocropping, intensive mechanical soil disruption, and heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides, contribute to soil degradation, climate change, toxic algal blooms, and the evolution of herbicide-resistant 'superweeds'.
• Public investment in agroecology is critical because the private sector lacks the profit incentive to invest in research that reduces the need for the goods and services they sell to farmers.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2015). Why We Should Invest More in the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/ucs-counting-on-agroecology-2015.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Why We Should Invest More in the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture. 2015. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/ucs-counting-on-agroecology-2015.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Why We Should Invest More in the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture |date=November 2015 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/ucs-counting-on-agroecology-2015.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2015why, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Why We Should Invest More in the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/ucs-counting-on-agroecology-2015.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }