Figure 5 | Policy instruments for overcoming barriers to farmers adopting more sustainable farming systems. For any farm to be sustainable, it must
meet four goals, shown in the centre: (1) produce adequate amounts of high-quality food (production); (2) enhance the natural-resource base and
environment (environment); (3) be financially viable (economics); and (4) contribute to the wellbeing of farmers and their communities (wellbeing)10.
Despite the appeal of a sustainable agriculture philosophy, the task for farmers to achieve agricultural sustainability is challenging. Just because a farm
is organic does not mean that it is sustainable. However, research shows that organic farming systems better balance the four sustainability goals than
their conventional counterparts and are more likely to achieve agricultural sustainability (overlapping area). Yet, significant barriers to adopting organic
agriculture exist, including powerful vested interests and existing policies, lack of information and knowledge, weak infrastructure and other economic
challenges, and misperceptions and cultural biases. In fact, many of these same barriers exist for other innovative systems, such as agroforestry,
conservation agriculture, integrated farming and mixed crop–livestock systems. A diversity of policy instruments is needed to overcome these barriers, and
can be categorized as financial, legal and knowledge-based instruments. Examples of these instruments are shown in the figure.