Investing in the transition to sustainable agriculture
Authors:
Albie Miles, Liz Carlisle, Marcia DeLonge
Tags:
agricultural research, agriculture policy, agroecology, and economic (REE), diversified farming systems, ecosystem services, extension, Research, research grants, sustainable agriculture, sustainable agriculture funding, USDA
Journal:
Environmental Science & Policy
Year Published:
2016
Policy Summary
The authors conducted an analysis of the USDA’s Research, Extension, and Economic (REE) branch to determine what topics were awarded research funding in 2014. Specially, the authors were investigating to what extent sustainable agriculture (and agroecological) methods were researched. Four main categories were established and coded as research containing sustainable agriculture components. Of the $294 million dollars analyzed, only 8-9% of projects provided community or business support, 0.6-1.5% had a systems based agroecological emphasis, and less than 1% had a policy component. The article highlights the need more analysis and documentation of what research areas are funded through government programs.
