Multifunctional Agriculture: Agriculture Renewal as a Modern Paradigm for Agriculture and Rural Development

Abstract

Multifunctional agriculture (MFA) has emerged as a key concept in science and politics with respect to the future of agriculture and rural development in the recent decade. Overall, MFA implies that in addition to their main function in production and support of rural livelihood, the agricultural activities have some other advantages for the environment including the conservation of water and soil resources and the enhancement of food security. This paper takes a look at the benefits of MFA as a concept and path toward agricultural development from an integrated perspective within the framework of sustainable development. Also, it tries to clarify the distinction between MFA and conventional agriculture in sustainable development approaches.