IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v2y2019i1d10.1038_s41893-018-0200-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leveraging total factor productivity growth for sustainable and resilient farming

Author

Listed:
  • Oliver T. Coomes

    (McGill University)

  • Bradford L. Barham

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Graham K. MacDonald

    (McGill University)

  • Navin Ramankutty

    (The University of British Columbia
    The University of British Columbia)

  • Jean-Paul Chavas

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract

Increased global agricultural output since the 1990s has been largely driven by innovations that raised the efficiency of use of labour, land, capital and other inputs—referred to as total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Yet debates over the future of farming still weigh heavily on models of agricultural land use and socioecological trade-offs along traditional (partial factor productivity) growth paths of ‘intensification’ or ‘extensification’. Overlooking the role of TFP in the evolution of global agriculture not only obscures the changing drivers of productivity growth but also misses vital linkages with agricultural sustainability and farming system resilience. We describe two pathways for growth—technology-based and ecosystem-based—and link these in a heuristic framework that emphasizes sustainability and resilience outcomes in farming systems. Interdisciplinary research is urgently needed to empirically examine the dynamic interplay of TFP growth, farming system sustainability and resilience. Such insights will help to transform TFP growth as metric into actionable efforts on farms and beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver T. Coomes & Bradford L. Barham & Graham K. MacDonald & Navin Ramankutty & Jean-Paul Chavas, 2019. "Leveraging total factor productivity growth for sustainable and resilient farming," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 22-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:2:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41893-018-0200-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-018-0200-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0200-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-018-0200-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Iordanis Parikoglou & Grigorios Emvalomatis & Fiona Thorne, 2022. "Precision livestock agriculture and productive efficiency: The case of milk recording in Ireland," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(S1), pages 109-120, November.
    2. Wang, Xingya & Tan, Weiming & Zhou, Shunli & Xu, Yang & Cui, Tao & Gao, Hong & Chen, Mingli & Dong, Xuehui & Sun, Hongyong & Yang, Jinzhong & Wu, Yongcheng & Kong, Fanlei & Zhan, Ming & Pan, Jinbao & , 2021. "Converting maize production with low emergy cost and high economic return for sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    3. Shah, Wasi Ul Hassan & Hao, Gang & Yasmeen, Rizwana & Yan, Hong & Shen, Jintao & Lu, Yuting, 2023. "Role of China's agricultural water policy reforms and production technology heterogeneity on agriculture water usage efficiency and total factor productivity change," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    4. Beadle, Brian, 2023. "The design and application of an agricultural sustainability index using item response theory," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 278112, July.
    5. Thomas Slijper & Yann de Mey & P Marijn Poortvliet & Miranda P M Meuwissen, 2022. "Quantifying the resilience of European farms using FADN," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 49(1), pages 121-150.
    6. K Hervé Dakpo & Laure Latruffe & Yann Desjeux & Philippe Jeanneaux, 2021. "Latent Class Modelling for a Robust Assessment of Productivity: Application to French Grazing Livestock Farms," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 760-781, September.
    7. Keefe O. Keeley & Kevin J. Wolz & Kaitie I. Adams & Jeannine H. Richards & Erin Hannum & Severine von Tscharner Fleming & Stephen J. Ventura, 2019. "Multi-Party Agroforestry: Emergent Approaches to Trees and Tenure on Farms in the Midwest USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-22, April.
    8. Škare, Marinko & Porada-Rochoń, Małgorzata, 2023. "Are we making progress on decarbonization? A panel heterogeneous study of the long-run relationship in selected economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    9. Koiry, Subrata & Huang, Wei, 2023. "Do ecological protection approaches affect total factor productivity change of cropland production in Sweden?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    10. Coronese, Matteo & Occelli, Martina & Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea, 2023. "AgriLOVE: Agriculture, land-use and technical change in an evolutionary, agent-based model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    11. Jianxu Liu & Mengjiao Wang & Li Yang & Sanzidur Rahman & Songsak Sriboonchitta, 2020. "Agricultural Productivity Growth and Its Determinants in South and Southeast Asian Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.
    12. Muhammad Umer Arshad & Yuanfeng Zhao & Omer Hanif & Faiza Fatima, 2022. "Evolution of Overall Cotton Production and Its Determinants: Implications for Developing Countries Using Pakistan Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, January.
    13. Volkov, Artiom & Morkunas, Mangirdas & Balezentis, Tomas & Streimikiene, Dalia, 2022. "Are agricultural sustainability and resilience complementary notions? Evidence from the North European agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    14. Zhao, Zhe & Wang, Pei & Chen, Jiancheng & Zhang, Fan, 2021. "Economic spillover effect of grass-based livestock husbandry on agricultural production—A case study in Hulun Buir, China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    15. Dardonville, Manon & Legrand, Baptiste & Clivot, Hugues & Bernardin, Claire & Bockstaller, Christian & Therond, Olivier, 2022. "Assessment of ecosystem services and natural capital dynamics in agroecosystems," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. Ashfield, Austen & Mullan, Conall & Jack, Claire, 2020. "Encouraging farmer participation in agricultural education and training: A Northern Ireland perspective," International Journal of Agricultural Management, Institute of Agricultural Management, vol. 9, November.
    17. Matteo Coronese & Martina Occelli & Francesco Lamperti & Andrea Roventini, 2024. "Towards sustainable agriculture: behaviors, spatial dynamics and policy in an evolutionary agent-based model," LEM Papers Series 2024/05, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    18. Gackstetter, David & von Bloh, Malte & Hannus, Veronika & Meyer, Sebastian T. & Weisser, Wolfgang & Luksch, Claudia & Asseng, Senthold, 2023. "Autonomous field management – An enabler of sustainable future in agriculture," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    19. Sanzidur Rahman & Asif Reza Anik & Jaba Rani Sarker, 2022. "Climate, Environment and Socio-Economic Drivers of Global Agricultural Productivity Growth," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:2:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41893-018-0200-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.