Scalable Concentric Diversification Approach to Food Production for Sustainability in Rural Communities

Abstract

Over the years, there have been many attempts by renowned bureaucrats, researchers and practitioners to define the term “agricultural diversification” and to enact farm policies that enforce that definition as tradition. These advocates claim that
diversification, as it were, would provide greater income stability allowing specialized farms to benefit from economies of size.
Foreign governments and international food aid organizations would not finance farming activities outside the scope of this
definition. However, many critics contend that these definitions are misleading and do not necessarily lead to food security and
agro-business sustainability. They argue that if it were so, poverty levels in the world would have reduced by now. Be that as it
may, many foreign countries have a different understanding of the term “diversification”. For instance, The British Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) defines diversification as the entrepreneurial use of farm resources for a nonagricultural purpose for commercial gain. Many critics believe this to be a more appropriate and articulate definition of the
concept as it reduces risk, accommodates responses to changing consumer demands, acknowledges changing government
policies, malleable to external shocks and, more recently, as a consequence of climate change. It is as a result of this backdrop of
what makes agricultural diversification a success or failure that the concept of scaleable concentric diversification approach to
food production for sustainability is introduced. The research explores ways in which this intrinsic nuance can be implemented in
rural communities for food production, security and sustainability.