Fully Cleared 12/9 Increased Sustainable Agricultural Productivity

Government's Global Food Security Strategy. This approach drives agriculture-led economic growth, creating new on- and off-farm employment opportunities, including for women and young people. Accelerating productivity growth and making these gains more efficient is essential to addressing food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty. Productivity growth is multifaceted, including increased yields, resource-use conservation, reduced postharvest loss, market efficiency, and value addition. Sustainable agricultural productivity encompasses a broad set of components and principles. It involves increasing crop or animal yields while balancing the yield gain with the cost and risks to achieve it. This approach also considers the impacts and tradeoffs among productivity, human, social, economic, and environmental outcomes. Sustainable agricultural productivity requires long-term stewardship of natural resources, human capital, and social networks. It is essential to address the opportunities and constraints along input and output value chains, taking into account different opportunities for low-income individuals, women, youth, and marginalized groups. The U.S. Government's Global Food Security Strategy emphasizes the connection between sustainable agricultural productivity and other key objectives, including strengthened food and agriculture systems, increased resilience among people and systems, and a well-nourished population. Sustainable agricultural productivity is critical to achieving these objectives, as it enhances demand for locally produced goods and services, increases availability and affordability of safe, nutritious foods, and improves profitability throughout the entire agriculture and food system. Designing activities to increase sustainable agricultural productivity requires a system-wide analysis of the economic, social, and environmental conditions in the agriculture and food system. This involves assessing the state of soil and water conditions, climate change impacts, resource availability, accessibility, and competition, as well as existing use and availability of improved technologies, practices, services, and inputs. Design teams must consider the multiple components of sustainable productivity and ensure that technical analyses identify the best approaches. Long-term sustainability and continuing impact depend on stakeholders having continued access to innovations, produced and delivered through capable public and private sector partners. Incorporating the concept of sustainability means considering impacts and tradeoffs among productivity, human, social, economic, and environmental outcomes. Sustainable agricultural productivity requires long-term stewardship of natural resources, human capital, and social networks. It is essential to address the opportunities and constraints along input and output value chains, taking into account different opportunities for low-income individuals, women, youth, and marginalized groups. By adopting a sustainable approach to agricultural productivity, the U.S. Government's Global Food Security Strategy can help to reduce food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty, while promoting economic growth and improving the well-being of people around the world.