How can agriculture aid the development of rural areas?
This article explores the German Agricultural Society’s pamphlet on development of rural areas and the ways that agriculture can aid in driving change for the local populations. By understanding soil science and the benefits of soil health, agricultural practices can help improve rural living.
The challenges of rural living
The German population is spread over urban and rural areas, yet rural economies need to be developed and strengthened to contribute to better living conditions. The German Agricultural Society released the pamphlet “Actively shaping change in rural areas” to discuss how to strengthen these regions through commitment and community-led initiatives. With agriculture being the biggest industry in these areas, farmers on the local level can work with the public to create more sustainability, better economic conditionsand to achieve prosperity for those living in the countryside. At betterSoil, we champion soil health and improved agricultural practices and believe that with more attention being given to regenerative practices, we can increase food security and bring in more economic gains.
How change can start at a local level
With the industrialisation of agricultural practice, the German Agricultural Society highlight the shifts in perspective toward farming. Industrial farming has led to environmental issues and the downturn of essential services like medical practices and supermarkets as the economy in rural areas is driven by agriculture. But farming supplies the population with healthy food and can change from practices which affect the environment and local people towards higher sustainability and supporting local infrastructure. The responsibility to drive change is not just a national or governmental task, this can start locally with farmers and agricultural sectors understanding the importance of protecting people and the planet.
Development of rural areas can also drive profits and yield
To develop better conditions for local people in rural areas, farmers can develop their practices. This is not only a benefit for the public good but can be beneficial to productivity and yield. The use of biochar and agricultural waste to drive soil health has a planetary and economic benefit. Biochar can aid in holding moisture in soils and can increase yield productivity, meaning financial return alongside improvement of sustainability practice. Rural areas being affected by climate change can lead to a decrease in quality of life for those living there, our current agricultural practices encouraging the highest yield in the short term can lead to environmental challenges and higher waste production which have negative impacts to rural environments and living. By encouraging improved and more sustainable farming practices, soil becomes healthier, land degradation slows down and carbon can be stored within the soil to help the environment.
Soil health partnership with betterSoil
At betterSoil we encourage learning and development in the agricultural industry and understand the ways that we can benefit food security and environmental challenges by putting work in to increase soil health. Soil is an important resource that underpins our future, and the benefits of healthy soil practices will drive change globally for the health of the population and of the planet. On a local level, we all have the ability todrive change to ensure agricultural practices can flourish economically and sustainably, and through understanding soil science there can be benefits to our food and society. Rural areas especially can benefitfrom agricultural shifts to more environmentally friendly practices which will drive change in quality of life and quality of production.
Conclusion
The German Agricultural Society’s pamphlet on change and development in rural areas spotlights an important issue for our planet and for quality of life in the countryside. Being able to learn and understand more about the science of healthy soil can be a part of the change needed to make rural areas flourish. Change can start at a local level, and can begin by an increased awareness of the issues faced by industrial agriculture and the ways in which our practices can have negative effects long term. Moreover, grasping the benefits of soil health can lead to the increase in quality of life for rural populations, and the quality of yield produced for farmers.