2.5.2.4.2. Sustainable agriculture
The major objective of sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD),
as defined by Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1992), is to sustainably increase food production
and enhance food security. Key elements of SARD (FAO, 1997b) include increasing
agricultural production in ways that ensure access by all people to the food
they need; helping people satisfy their social and cultural aspirations; and
protecting and conserving the capacity of the natural resource base to continue
to provide production, environmental, and cultural services. Potential LULUCF
activities and projects to reduce carbon emissions or sequester carbon in agricultural
systems (Section 4.4) could be designed to be consistent
with these goals.
The FAO is helping countries evaluate the compatibility of policies with SARD
objectives, advising on incentives, and developing indicators and guidelines
for sustainable agricultural practices. Thus, the FAO may be a useful resource
for Parties seeking to ensure that LULUCF climate mitigation measures in the
agricultural sector are compatible with sustainable development objectives.
The FAO recognizes several more specific issues associated with sustainable
agriculture (FAO, 1997a; UNCSD, 1997), including the following:
- Adopting farmer-centered participatory approaches and carefully recording
and assessing indigenous knowledge and technology
- Promoting use of environmentally friendly technologies to intensify production
on high-potential land already converted to agriculture
- Promoting cycling and use of organic materials in low-input farming systems
- Rethinking priorities for conserving and using agro-biodiversity, including
the use of locally adapted crop varieties and crop diversification.
In addition, the Committee on Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment in
the Humid Tropics (NRC, 1993) proposed several specific land-use options to
achieve sustainable agriculture in tropical regions, including the following:
- Intensive cropping systems under proper management that do not lead to resource
degradation through, for example, nutrient loading from fertilizers or soil
and water contamination from agro-chemicals
- Shifting cultivation systems, coupled with the use of local cropping systems,
observation of sufficient fallow periods, diversification of cropping systems,
maintaining continuous ground cover, and nutrient restoration through mulching
- Agro-pastoral systems combining crop and animal production, allowing for
enhanced agro-ecosystem productivity and stability through integrated management
of soil and water resources and crop and animal diversification
- Intensive animal husbandry (ranching), combined with sustainable pasture
and rangeland management
- Agroforestry systems that involve various combinations of woody and herbaceous
vegetation with agricultural crops, often practiced for multiple agronomic,
environmental, and socioeconomic benefits.
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