NATURAL FARMING THROUGH A WIDE-ANGLE LENS - True Cost Accounting Study of Community Managed

This report is the largest agricultural study of this type, per number of farmers, and the most expansive, considering the analysis of all four capitals (natural, financial, social, and human) that are relevant to fully capture the positive and negative externalities of today’s food systems. [...] The holistic approach of TEEBAgriFood enables us to see the excellent results of APCNF in three unique ways: 1) in the improvement of the variety of food produced, 2) in the improvement of the farmers’ health, and 3) in the ways existing social capital is used to diffuse natural farming techniques and knowledge. [...] This study examines the economic, social, and health impacts of Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF; hereafter CNF) compared to three different farming systems prevalent in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India: low-input farming in the montane-forested tribal region, low-input rainfed farming in the semi-arid southwestern region, and high-input farming in the Krishna-Godavari del. [...] We applied the TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework to measure and quantify the economic, social, and health impacts of CNF compared to three different farming systems in three agroecological regions that are prevalent in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India: low-input farming in the montane- forested tribal region, low-input rainfed farming in the semi-arid southwestern region, and high- input farming. [...] About 70% of CNF farmers showed improved income in the low-input farming in the montane- forested tribal region, 62% in the low-input rainfed farming in the semi-arid southwestern region, and 72% in the high-input farming in the Krishna-Godavari delta region.