Shades of Green

Overview

This compendium of short case studies highlights interesting experiences and lessons learned from an array of initiatives aimed at reducing commercial agriculture’s environmental footprint.

While contributing to economic and income growth, commercial agriculture has sometimes contributed to the degradation of ecosystem services, including deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and wetlands destruction, and surface water pollution and depletion of aquifers. These impacts are not inevitable and there are a wide range of instruments which can and are being used to reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint (and benefit from the perception of eco-friendliness in consumer markets). These include various regulatory, financial, and advocacy mechanisms employed by governments and/or non-state actors to induce or facilitate more eco-friendly agricultural practices. Development agencies and nongovernmental organizations have gotten involved in many ‘green agriculture’ initiatives, with some focusing on specific commodity production systems.

This compendium of short case studies highlights interesting experiences and lessons learned from an array of initiatives aimed at reducing commercial agriculture’s environmental footprint. Some of these are drawn from developing countries, with many of the focal initiatives also seeking to strengthen community development and rural livelihoods. Other cases are drawn from several OECD countries and tend to have a combined emphasis on conservation and agricultural competitiveness. Particular attention is given to the lessons learned from—or for—government actions to prevent, reverse, or otherwise address adverse environmental impacts from commercial agriculture. Many of the cases have featured both public and private roles, yet the authors have sought to highlight important lessons for public policy. Our primary interest lies in highlighting innovative institutional arrangements rather than documenting technological solutions.