The economic potential of agroecological farming practices

Climate change increasingly threatens agricultural production and global and local food security. At the same time, agriculture is responsible for large greenhouse gasses emissions causing climate change. Europe has experienced severe weather events in recent years that have disrupted agricultural production and caused large economic and environmental damage. In addition, recent economic disturbances following geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions have demonstrated how vulnerable farmers and globalised food systems are to disturbances, beyond those related to extreme weather. In this project, we address several fundamental questions to elicit how farmers in different production orientations and geophysical contexts are affected economically by climatic and economic disruptions and develop profitable strategies for increased resilience and sustainability. We use unique farm- and field-level registry data over 2001-2023 to analyse the short-, intermediate- and long-run effects of climatic extremes on farm performance, resource efficiency and resilience. Our aim is to identify the types of AgroEcological farming practices and production combinations that can support the built up of ecosystem services, resource efficiencies and production- and market risk reductions on Swedish farms. The project includes continuous interaction with representatives of key stakeholders with the overall aim to develop strategies to prepare farmers for economic risk and extreme weather.