Agriculture is the largest single source of environmental degradation, responsible for over 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 70% of freshwater use and 80% of land conversion. It is the single largest driver of biodiversity loss. Agriculture also underpins poor human health, contributing to 11 million premature deaths annually.

Agriculture currently occupies 40% of the global land surface. Today, 20% of agricultural lands have insufficient biodiversity to provide key ecosystem functions (pollination, biological pest control, climate regulation), and to prevent soil protection, nutrient loss and water contamination.

This requires a shift towards regenerative production systems that deliver more diversified diets coupled with strict conservation of intact habitats.

Healthy diets require dietary diversity, which requires greater crop diversity and agricultural biodiversity supporting production. Enhancing production of more diverse foods can be a win-win solution for both improved nutrition and biodiversity [High Agreement, Robust Evidence].

Diversification strategies within fields, between fields and across landscapes are often regenerative, synergistic and multipurpose, and can bolster ecosystem functions within resilient agricultural production systems. At scale, these practices offer the potential to sequester 4.3-6.9 Gt CO2e year-1 [Medium Agreement, Medium Evidence], retain >30% environmental flows in major water to basins [High Agreement, Limited Evidence], create 12-17 M km2 habitat for biodiversity [High Agreement, High Evidence] and increase connectivity for biodiversity [High Agreement, Limited Evidence].

There is no evidence that diversified production systems compromise food security –many agricultural diversification practices provide multiple complementary benefits [High Agreement, High Evidence].

Investment in food policy are also urgently needed. All too often, the onus of profitability is placed on farmers and farming systems driving important improvements in efficiency, but at environmental, social, and climate costs which are becoming increasingly evident. This demands thinking about ‘food system productivity’ rather than agricultural productivity.

In considering the relationship between agriculture and biodiversity several key areas for investment emerge:

• closing the gap between the current composition of crop production and consumption to supply healthy diets at local, regional and global scales in line with SDG2 and SDG3;
• transitioning to managing agricultural systems as ecological systems (agroecosystems);
• greater inclusion and recognition of farmers as key actors, with women, youth and indigenous farmers bringing unique knowledge systems and capabilities to bear in food production.

Current agricultural investments and practices often overlook the important potential for increasing ecosystem services that agroecosystems can provide with an estimated 7% of innovation spending explicitly targeting environmental outcomes. Farmers and farming communities can produce public goods (e.g. climate mitigation, soil water-holding capacity, water quality improvement), but promoting these public good functions has been consistently underexplored and under-resourced, even though they are also necessary for creating sustainable and resilient production systems. Recognizing that farmers and farmlands can produce these benefits in addition to quality food presents an opportunity for revitalizing rural communities by repurposing public funds for public goods and services.

During the next decade, priority approaches to diversify production systems should target:

• Urgent investments in undervalued crops and cropping systems, notably under produced crops that underpin dietary health, and indigenous cropping and knowledge systems;
• Greater investment in tools, technologies and enabling environments that amplify and/or complement biodiversity’s contribution to agriculture rather than seeking to replace it;
• Repurposing policies, and public and private agriculture funds to support farmers producing public goods, including the production of healthy foods, carbon capture, clean water and habitat for biodiversity.