The U.S. Department of Agriculture is committed to working with partners and stakeholders toward the sustainability of diverse agricultural and food systems, where the sustainability of a system is judged by its success in advancing objectives related to the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. These objectives include providing safe and nutritious food for all; providing decent incomes and wages for farmers and those working across the system; and conserving natural resources for the benefit of current and future populations.
At USDA, the advancement of more sustainable agricultural and food systems is supported by science-based, data-driven decision-making and innovative solutions. Critical elements of this approach include:
- Science [English (PDF, 667 KB) | Spanish (PDF, 668 KB) | French (PDF, 667 KB) | Portuguese (PDF, 671 KB) | Italian (PDF, 680 KB) | Arabic (PDF, 830 KB)]
- Innovation [English (PDF, 550 KB) | Spanish (PDF, 591 KB) | French (PDF, 575 KB) | Portuguese (PDF, 554 KB) | Italian (PDF, 509 KB) | Arabic (PDF, 575 KB)]
- Place-based solutions [English (PDF, 781 KB) | Spanish (PDF, 726 KB) | French (PDF, 780 KB) | Portuguese (PDF, 716 KB) | Italian (PDF, 666 KB) | Arabic (PDF, 854 KB)]
- Systems approaches [English (PDF, 448 KB) | Spanish (PDF, 463 KB) | French (PDF, 464 KB) | Portuguese (PDF, 447 KB) | Italian (PDF, 469 KB) | Arabic (PDF, 732 KB)]
Productivity Growth
Productivity growth is also critical for building more sustainable agricultural and food systems. Producing more (or the same) with less—less land, less water, fewer inputs and resources—is necessary for meeting the world’s food needs, alleviating poverty, shrinking agriculture’s environmental impact, and combating climate change. To mobilize greater efforts to advance sustainable productivity growth in the transition to more sustainable food systems, the United States launched the Coalition for Sustainable Productivity Growth for Food Security and Resource Conservation (the SPG Coalition) at the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.
For more information about the Sustainability, contact Elise Golan elise.golan@usda.gov.