lorax

OK, Richard, how is that going to function in countries that largely don't use chemical-derived fertilizers? I'm going from the example here in Ecuador, which is food-sovereign (we eat almost exclusively what we grow here, with a few minor exceptions). Farmers here are of the mind that what the cows or chickens poop out is what is needed in the fields, and once a year they all go to Volcan Tungurahua and take a truckload of ash home to turn into the fields.

What happens in an economy like Ecuador's under your scenario? We don't sell ash or manure, we just use what the country produces, and since the soils are quite rich and good soil husbandry (fallowing etc) has been practiced here since pre-Incan times, it's likely to stay that way.