A recent article in the open-source journal Solutions describes an integrated approach to the provision of public ecosystem services. Authors Joshua Farley, Abdon Schmitt F., Juan Alvez, and Norton Ribeiro de Freitas Jr. present an example of Management-Intensive Grazing (MIG) as a case study for how an incentivescheme could support agroecology. In this system riparian zones are maintained and rotational grazing is practiced, supporting not only clean water and herd health, but also suppressing pests, sequestering carbon, and decreasing labor requirements for the smallholder farmer.
Instead of going the traditional route of paying for practices, the authors propose having the public beneficiaries at local, national, and international scales fund research, extension, and credit in order for the adoption and scaling up of agro-ecological methods. Advocating for adapting economic institutions to ecological needs, the paper cites the ecological value-added tax inBrazil, which funnels a percentage of sales tax back to the protection of watershed services and conservation areas. Scalability and spatial distribution are key elements to the authors’ proposal. The former is a prerequisite to realizing larger impacts of agro-ecological systems. The latter dictates who is responsible for financing certain services – local governments for regional benefits like pollination and flood regulation; a global effort for climate change mitigation.
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