WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE?
PROGRESS TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY
Much of the progress towards food security that was made between the 1970s and the 1990s has been reversed in recent years. At the start of the 1970s, 920 million people were chronically undernourished, with insufficient food for even low levels of activity. During the 1990s, despite continuing population growth, the figure had been reduced to just over 800 million – about 20% of the total population of the South. However, this has since risen to 963 million (2008), the vast majority of whom live in developing countries. Of these, 65% live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
Unfortunately, as Module 14 explains, food supplies in some countries and regions are poor and in decline. For example, agricultural production has not kept pace with population growth in sub-Saharan Africa where many countries are in a worse position nutritionally than they were 40 years ago. Also the dramatic rises in the price of food over the last couple of years (most significantly during 2007) has impacted the ability of people in many countries to buy even their basic food needs.
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since World War II. The production of food and fibre crops and animal products has increased markedly due to new farming technologies, including new high-yield varieties of crops, mechanisation, and the increased application of pesticides and fertilisers. Government policies have also encouraged farmers to maximise production. These changes have allowed fewer farmers to produce the majority of the world’s agricultural crops.
Although these changes have had many positive effects and reduced many risks in farming, there have unfortunately also been some significant costs. These include: the clearing of native vegetation, soil erosion, the decline in soil fertility, groundwater contamination, increasing costs of production and declining returns on family farms, and the closing of services in rural communities. In many cases, these changes have forced small farmers to leave the land and move to urban areas.
The sustainable agriculture movement has grown in the past three decades as a solution to the environmental and social problems caused by conventional agricultural systems and practices. Sustainable agriculture is getting increasing support within mainstream agriculture also. This is because sustainable agriculture also offers innovative and economically viable opportunities for farmers, consumers, policymakers and many others in the food system.
THAILAND
Talad is a village of 80 families in Khonken Province, Thailand. Thongdee Nantha has been cultivating one hectare of land using integrated farming methods since 1984. He works the farm with his wife and children and produces more than enough for their needs. They have rice fields, a fishpond and a garden.
In the centre of the farm, they raise a native breed of pigs and rabbits – they are not given artificial feed or supplements, but eat grass, weeds and vegetables from the farm.
Ducks and chickens provide eggs and meat for the family and some eggs for sale – they eat the weeds from the rice fields, vegetable waste and leftover food.
There are seven different varieties of fish. Rice bran, duck and pig manure, and aquatic weeds from the rice fields are fed to the fish; insect- and fish-eating fish are kept in a separate pond in the corner.
The main crop is rice, which occupies about two-thirds of the land. Another third has the rice-fish combination. The trees on the farm, mostly mango, custard apple, banana and papaya, are grown in the centre around the animals and poultry. Thongdee grows many kinds of local vegetables, mostly along the dykes around the pond, as well as medicinal herbs. A reed used for roofing material, the lalang, is also grown around the pond. Then there are some cotton plants from which thread is spun and cloth woven for use by the family.
On the southern edge of the farm there is a road where neem and nitrogen fixing trees are planted. On the western edge bamboo and mulberries serve as a windbreak.
Thongdee is a traditional leader whose farming methods are followed by almost half the families of Talad. A monk, Maha Yu Sunthornchai, who has given an example to farmers all over Thailand, inspired him. Since 1973, Maha Yu has been practicing integrated farming with a combined production cycle of rice, fish, ducks and pigs. This system has remained productive and stable by using the natural cycle of nutrients.
Maha Yu’s success in producing his basic needs and marketable surplus from an average-sized farm is based on observation of nature, emphasis on self-reliance and analysis of markets. This technique is not suitable for an absentee landlord or an industrial farmer. For effective integration, every farm procedure (e.g., selection of species and breeds, timing of sowing, mixing of crops and pond design) needs regular and keen observation and analysis. Marketing produce at the right times also optimises the returns.
COLOMBIA
When it comes to growing crops and protecting the environment, Pedro Herrera is on top of things – in more ways than one. The small-scale farmer lives in the upper reaches of southern Colombia’s Andean hills, some 1,500m above sea level, in the province of Cauca. This is one of the country’s poorest regions. But he and his family are active participants in a bold, four year-old experiment to conserve natural resources in the local watershed and to help community members improve their standard of living.
The district where Herrera lives is aptly named ‘Buenavista’ (Good View). His earthen-floor home overlooks a vast gray-green landscape, which, though spectacular, bears many scars of deforestation and erosion. His fields lie at the head of a 7,000 hectare area drained by the Cabuyal River, which in turn feeds into the larger watershed of the Ovejas River. Water running down from Herrera’s land eventually makes its way to the populous city of Cali, 100kms to the north.
With help from the Inter-Institutional Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture on Hillsides (CIPASLA),* Herrera and other farmers have agreed to act as the first line of defense for the Cabuyal watershed. They fence off mountain springs, plant trees, and protect hillside soils from erosion. In return, CIPASLA provides research services, technical advice, training, and information about agricultural production, processing, marketing, land management, and community organization. They also arrange loans for small enterprises such as milk processing and marmalade making. In CIPASLA’s approach to sustainable development, the emphasis is on building local community capacity to plan and execute projects.
Pedro Herrera’s farm is a showcase for the wide array of crops that can be grown on a small farm without causing a decline in its natural resources. He has set aside more than one-third of his land to protect five natural springs that feed the watershed. Yet his farm income has increased. The 10 hectares remaining in production provide enough both for his extended family of 15 and for the local market. Herrera’s crops include beans, maize, coffee, sugarcane, cassava, sweet peas, and, his pride and joy, blackberries. His cows provide milk for his own table and for sale. He raises carp in a hillside pond. In addition, his wife raises chickens, thanks to credit arranged through CIPASLA.
* CIPASLA was launched in 1994 following discussions involving the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombian government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and community groups.
WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE?
PROGRESS TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY
Much of the progress towards food security that was made between the 1970s and the 1990s has been reversed in recent years. At the start of the 1970s, 920 million people were chronically undernourished, with insufficient food for even low levels of activity. During the 1990s, despite continuing population growth, the figure had been reduced to just over 800 million – about 20% of the total population of the South. However, this has since risen to 963 million (2008), the vast majority of whom live in developing countries. Of these, 65% live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
Unfortunately, as Module 14 explains, food supplies in some countries and regions are poor and in decline. For example, agricultural production has not kept pace with population growth in sub-Saharan Africa where many countries are in a worse position nutritionally than they were 40 years ago. Also the dramatic rises in the price of food over the last couple of years (most significantly during 2007) has impacted the ability of people in many countries to buy even their basic food needs.
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since World War II. The production of food and fibre crops and animal products has increased markedly due to new farming technologies, including new high-yield varieties of crops, mechanisation, and the increased application of pesticides and fertilisers. Government policies have also encouraged farmers to maximise production. These changes have allowed fewer farmers to produce the majority of the world’s agricultural crops.
Although these changes have had many positive effects and reduced many risks in farming, there have unfortunately also been some significant costs. These include: the clearing of native vegetation, soil erosion, the decline in soil fertility, groundwater contamination, increasing costs of production and declining returns on family farms, and the closing of services in rural communities. In many cases, these changes have forced small farmers to leave the land and move to urban areas.
The sustainable agriculture movement has grown in the past three decades as a solution to the environmental and social problems caused by conventional agricultural systems and practices. Sustainable agriculture is getting increasing support within mainstream agriculture also. This is because sustainable agriculture also offers innovative and economically viable opportunities for farmers, consumers, policymakers and many others in the food system.
THAILAND
Talad is a village of 80 families in Khonken Province, Thailand. Thongdee Nantha has been cultivating one hectare of land using integrated farming methods since 1984. He works the farm with his wife and children and produces more than enough for their needs. They have rice fields, a fishpond and a garden.
In the centre of the farm, they raise a native breed of pigs and rabbits – they are not given artificial feed or supplements, but eat grass, weeds and vegetables from the farm.
Ducks and chickens provide eggs and meat for the family and some eggs for sale – they eat the weeds from the rice fields, vegetable waste and leftover food.
There are seven different varieties of fish. Rice bran, duck and pig manure, and aquatic weeds from the rice fields are fed to the fish; insect- and fish-eating fish are kept in a separate pond in the corner.
The main crop is rice, which occupies about two-thirds of the land. Another third has the rice-fish combination. The trees on the farm, mostly mango, custard apple, banana and papaya, are grown in the centre around the animals and poultry. Thongdee grows many kinds of local vegetables, mostly along the dykes around the pond, as well as medicinal herbs. A reed used for roofing material, the lalang, is also grown around the pond. Then there are some cotton plants from which thread is spun and cloth woven for use by the family.
On the southern edge of the farm there is a road where neem and nitrogen fixing trees are planted. On the western edge bamboo and mulberries serve as a windbreak.
Thongdee is a traditional leader whose farming methods are followed by almost half the families of Talad. A monk, Maha Yu Sunthornchai, who has given an example to farmers all over Thailand, inspired him. Since 1973, Maha Yu has been practicing integrated farming with a combined production cycle of rice, fish, ducks and pigs. This system has remained productive and stable by using the natural cycle of nutrients.
Maha Yu’s success in producing his basic needs and marketable surplus from an average-sized farm is based on observation of nature, emphasis on self-reliance and analysis of markets. This technique is not suitable for an absentee landlord or an industrial farmer. For effective integration, every farm procedure (e.g., selection of species and breeds, timing of sowing, mixing of crops and pond design) needs regular and keen observation and analysis. Marketing produce at the right times also optimises the returns.
COLOMBIA
When it comes to growing crops and protecting the environment, Pedro Herrera is on top of things – in more ways than one. The small-scale farmer lives in the upper reaches of southern Colombia’s Andean hills, some 1,500m above sea level, in the province of Cauca. This is one of the country’s poorest regions. But he and his family are active participants in a bold, four year-old experiment to conserve natural resources in the local watershed and to help community members improve their standard of living.
The district where Herrera lives is aptly named ‘Buenavista’ (Good View). His earthen-floor home overlooks a vast gray-green landscape, which, though spectacular, bears many scars of deforestation and erosion. His fields lie at the head of a 7,000 hectare area drained by the Cabuyal River, which in turn feeds into the larger watershed of the Ovejas River. Water running down from Herrera’s land eventually makes its way to the populous city of Cali, 100kms to the north.
With help from the Inter-Institutional Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture on Hillsides (CIPASLA),* Herrera and other farmers have agreed to act as the first line of defense for the Cabuyal watershed. They fence off mountain springs, plant trees, and protect hillside soils from erosion. In return, CIPASLA provides research services, technical advice, training, and information about agricultural production, processing, marketing, land management, and community organization. They also arrange loans for small enterprises such as milk processing and marmalade making. In CIPASLA’s approach to sustainable development, the emphasis is on building local community capacity to plan and execute projects.
Pedro Herrera’s farm is a showcase for the wide array of crops that can be grown on a small farm without causing a decline in its natural resources. He has set aside more than one-third of his land to protect five natural springs that feed the watershed. Yet his farm income has increased. The 10 hectares remaining in production provide enough both for his extended family of 15 and for the local market. Herrera’s crops include beans, maize, coffee, sugarcane, cassava, sweet peas, and, his pride and joy, blackberries. His cows provide milk for his own table and for sale. He raises carp in a hillside pond. In addition, his wife raises chickens, thanks to credit arranged through CIPASLA.
* CIPASLA was launched in 1994 following discussions involving the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombian government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and community groups.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..