Socioeconomic constraints to farming with biodiversity

Technological development in agriculture has led to a diminished use of biodiversity in food production, and a reduced efficiency of energy use. This paper explores the reasons for these paradoxical effects of progress, by considering the farming system as an integral part of the larger socioeconomic system and natural environment in which it operates. Whenever changes in the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of society result in a higher opportunity cost of labor, land and capital, the agricultural sector has no other option but to augment the productivity of labor, land and the economic return of capital investments. At the farm level, this translates into the need to increase the density of agricultural throughputs, per hour of farm labor and per hectare of land, in the agroecosystem. Above a certain threshold, high densities of agricultural throughputs can no longer be achieved with natural patterns of matter cycling in the agroecosystem. Fossil energy inputs and monoculture then become a necessity. The relationship between socioeconomic and demographic characteristics on the one hand and actual productivity of labor and land in agriculture on the other hand is confirmed by a cross-sectional analysis of a large sample of countries. General trends in economic and population growth indicate that most countries are moving toward high-energy-input and labor-saving technologies. Moving away from this path of technological development in agriculture, as would be required to preserve and enhance biodiversity use in agriculture, is an immense challenge that needs to be faced. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.