Overview:
- How biocontrol supports poverty reduction
- How biocontrol strengthens food security
- How biocontrol promotes responsible production
- How biocontrol supports climate action
- How biocontrol enables biodiversity
- Using biocontrol to meet the Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a call to action to promote prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. They comprise 17 goals spanning environmental, social, and economic challenges, setting a blueprint for sustainable progress by 2030. Agriculture plays a pivotal role in achieving many of these goals. Biocontrol, a natural pest management solution, is a powerful tool supporting these objectives, offering a more sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides.
Multiple goals connect to agriculture and agricultural systems, which are listed below:
- No Poverty (Goal 1): Strengthening agricultural livelihoods
- Zero Hunger (Goal 2): Increasing sustainable food production
- Responsible Consumption and Production (Goal 12): Reducing the reliance on harmful chemical pesticides
- Climate Action (Goal 13): Reducing the environmental impact of agricultural practices
- Life on Land (Goal 15): Protecting biodiversity and ecosystems
Sustainable agriculture touches on all these goals. By including biocontrol in pest management practices, these goals are more likely to be achieved.
How biocontrol supports poverty reduction
Biocontrol contributes to Goal 1 by making farming more sustainable and resilient. It can support smallholder farmers in reducing crop losses from pests and sustainably increasing income, ensuring food security and resilience to climatic and non-climatic challenges. On top of this, it allows farmers to boost economic opportunities and market access. For instance:
- Higher and more reliable yields: Effective biocontrol ensures better harvests and greater food availability and income.
- Better health and working conditions: Minimising exposure to harmful chemicals reduces health risks and ensures farmer wellbeing.
- Market access: Crops produced without or with fewer chemicals have the potential to sell in premium markets.
- Increased job opportunities: Local demand for biocontrols can encourage the growth of local agri-input services and dealers, create rural enterprises and boost the local economy.
Biocontrol solutions can support pathways away from poverty for rural communities by improving productivity and creating new income opportunities.
How biocontrol strengthens food security
The introduction and scaling of biocontrol methods support Goal 2 to eradicate world hunger. Pests and diseases damage crops, impact produce quality, and can reduce crop yields. This poses a serious threat to food security, especially in vulnerable regions. Biocontrol offers a long-term, sustainable approach using natural products and beneficial organisms to suppress pest populations. These methods contribute by:
- Supporting sustainable production: Biocontrol fits within integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, helping farmers reduce their reliance on synthetic inputs over time. Maintaining crop health while reducing input costs increases the long-term viability of food production systems and helps ensure a stable food supply.
- Reducing resistance: Using biocontrol methods significantly reduces the risk of pests developing resistance, reducing the need for higher pesticide doses or new chemicals. This ensures continued effectiveness in managing pests, preventing significant yield losses that can arise from control failure, and thereby helps maintain consistent food output.
- Specific targeting: Some bioprotectants actively seek out pests. With chemicals, growers must rely on applying the chemical to exactly the right location and trust that the pest will encounter the chemical. This precision reduces crop damage more effectively, protecting yield and quality, directly contributing to food availability and reducing post-harvest losses.
By managing destructive pests in a way that protects ecosystems, biocontrol helps increase agro-biodiversity, ensure stable food production, and provide global food security.
How biocontrol promotes responsible production
The use of biocontrol methods supports Goal 12 of responsible production. Goal 12 emphasises using natural resources, which is the core principle of biocontrol. It also calls for environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste. Biocontrol helps support this goal through:
- Minimising chemical inputs: Opting for biological control over chemical pesticides helps reduce chemical pollution.
- Promoting biodiversity: Unlike many chemical pesticides, biocontrol does not contaminate the soil, water or air and thus supports a stronger environmental biodiversity
- Safer foods: Biocontrol methods leave little to no residues, reducing the risk to human health.
By integrating biocontrol and reducing reliance on chemical pesticides, crop production can become more responsible and better support long-term agricultural sustainability.
How biocontrol supports climate action
Reducing reliance on chemical pesticides supports Goal 13 of climate action. Conventional farming that uses chemical pesticides contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A few examples of how, include:
- The production of pesticides: They derive from fossil fuels, and their production involves energy-intensive processes that emit GHGs.
- Application machinery: Spraying and distributing chemicals requires tractors, sprayers, and irrigation systems commonly powered by fossil fuels.
- Soil degradation: Pesticide use can negatively impact soil health and reduce its ability to store and cycle nitrogen.
- Use of synthetic fertilisers: Nitrogen fertilisers, which release nitrous oxide GHG, are often used alongside pesticides.
By integrating more biocontrol methods and reducing the use of chemicals, the carbon footprint from agriculture can be minimised. This will also help create more diverse and resilient ecosystems that can better adapt to climate change.
- Read more in our blog on Climate-smart agriculture: Combatting pests naturally
How biocontrol enables biodiversity
Biocontrol enables greater biodiversity by ensuring multiple species coexist, directly supporting Goal 15. Chemicals from pesticides can run off or leach into water bodies, affecting aquatic life and drinking water availability. Minimising the use of chemical pesticides helps protect beneficial insects and soil microbes, which play a role in pollination, pest control and soil health. This allows for a healthier ecosystem, preventing imbalances and enabling better soil fertility and water quality, which help enable higher crop yields and improved food security.
Using biocontrol to meet the Sustainable Development Goals
Incorporating biocontrol into agricultural practices can help advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. While some challenges remain, the continued development of biocontrol methods is an essential path toward a more resilient and sustainable agricultural future. Farmers can contribute to a healthier planet and a more secure food system by adopting natural solutions while reaping long-term health and economic benefits.
