Report of the Task Force on Sustainable Agriculture

Report of the Task Force on Sustainable Agriculture established at ICW94 to clarify concepts and priority themes and recommend the role for CGIAR centers in addressing issues relative to sustainable agriculture. The report was presented by Task Force Chair Rudy Rabbinge at the CGIAR Mid Term Meeting in Nairobi, May 1995. This task force was twinned with the Task Force on Ecoregional Approaches to Research which also reported at MTM95.Four key conclusions of the report were that there is no single remedy to problems of sustainability; that CGIAR centers must adjust the way they conduct research toward more collaboration with others; that centers must recognize the individual characteristics of different ecoregions; and that sufficient financial resources should be available to ensure the success of sustainability oriented research. Possible gaps in the CGIAR research agenda were listed. The approach needed to integrate production, environment, and sustainability concerns.Annexes deal with the evolution of CGIAR research, the CGIAR response to Agenda 21, the concept of production ecology, and priority themes for sustainability research. A list of task force members is attached. Agenda document at the CGIAR meeting in May 1995

Entomophagy: a key to space agriculture

Abstract The intentional inclusion of insects in space-based agricultural schemes and their use as human food (entomophagy) were examined. Insects could be useful both from an ecosystem design point of view, as well as serving as a protein-rich food for human occupants. Some candidate species are the silkworm, the hawkmoth, the drugstore beetle, and the termite. Plants in the ecosystem would include rice, soybean, sweet potato, and green-yellow vegetable but in combination they still lead to a diet that is deficient (for humans) in several nutrients. Normally these are supplied with animal-derived foods such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, etc. However, they can also be derived from insects which may be much easier to produce than any of the foregoing, and can also fulfill other useful ecological roles. Spinoff from this research could include some solutions to terrestrial problems such as supplying critical amino acids to people who suffer from a shortage of more conventional animal-derived proteins

Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Growth and Bridging the Gap for Small-Family Farms: Interagency Report to the Mexican G20 Presidency

In 2011, G20 leaders committed to sustainably increase agricultural (production and) productivity (paragraph 43 of the Cannes Declaration). They "agree(d) to further invest in agriculture, in particular in the poorest countries, and bearing in mind the importance of smallholders, through responsible public and private investment," they "decide(d) to invest in research and development of agricultural productivity. Early in 2012 Mexico, as G20 President, invited international organisations to examine practical actions that could be undertaken to sustainably improve agricultural productivity growth, in particular on small family farms. The preparation of this report, co-ordinated by the FAO and the OECD, responds to this request. It is a collaborative undertaking by Bioversity, CGIAR Consortium, FAO, IFAD, IFPRI, IICA, OECD, UNCTAD, Coordination team of UN High Level Task Force on the Food Security Crisis, WFP, World Bank, and WTO. We, the international organisations, are pleased to provide you with this joint report and look forward to continuing collaboration within the G20 framework to further elaborate and, as appropriate, implement the recommendations that it contains

South Carolina home-based food production law guidance

The South Carolina Home-based Food Production Law guidance document was developed to provide clear and consistent information about the law for home-based food producers to assist them in following the law and providing quality and safe food to South Carolina consumers. This guidance document outlines the requirements of the law, which foods are allowed and not allowed, labeling, using the SC DHEC ID number system and more

Challenges for Implementing an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management

The ecosystem approach is being promoted as the foundation of solutions to the unsustainability of fisheries. However, because the ecosystem approach is broadly inclusive, the science for its implementation is often considered to be overly complex and difficult. When the science needed for an ecosystem approach to fisheries is perceived this way, science products cannot keep pace with fisheries critics, thus encouraging partisan political interference in fisheries management and proliferation of “faith-based solutions. In this paper we argue that one way to effectively counter politicization of fisheries decision-making is to ensure that new ecosystem-based approaches in fisheries are viewed only as an emergent property of innovation in science and policy. We organize our essay using three major themes to focus the discussion: empirical, jurisdictional, and societal challenges. We undertake at least partial answers to the following questions: (1) has conventional fisheries management really failed?; (2) can short-comings in conventional fisheries management be augmented with new tools, such as allocation of rights?; (3) is the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) equivalent to Ecosystem-Based Management?; and (4) is restoration of degraded ecosystems a necessary component of an EAF

Urban, agricultural, and environmental protection practices for sustainable water quality

Sustainable water management often emphasizes water resource quantity, with focus on availability and use practices. However, only a subset of the available water may be usable when also considering water quality. Water quality management is examined within three broad sectors—urban, agriculture, and environmental systems—to investigate how water quality sustainability (WQS) is defined by each and across the three sectors. The definitions determined for both urban and agricultural WQS mention downstream human and ecosystem use; however, regulatory policy does not always support these definitions. This challenge of managing water quality locally and downstream, coupled with interactions across multiple sectors, has led to a fragmented approach to water quality management. Legislation typically divides water quality management into compartments without considering the entire system. Within the United States, there is an uneven distribution of responsibility regarding water quality protection, and notable policies which counteract efforts to improve water quality. The review suggests that despite a growing intention to use a single system approach where water is considered as a limited resource that must supply all competing interests, one does not yet exist and is even hindered by current policies and regulations. Recent policy is signaling a shift toward increasing interagency coordination; however, the basic definitions of WQS remain disconnected across sectors. It is the conclusion of this review that sustainable water quality is not currently practiced in the United States

Wastewater irrigation: the state of play

As demand for fresh water intensifies, wastewater is frequently being seen as a valuable resource. Furthermore, wise reuse of wastewater alleviates concerns attendant with its discharge to the environment. Globally, around 20 million ha of land are irrigated with wastewater, and this is likely to increase markedly during the next few decades as water stress intensifies. In 1995, around 2.3 billion people lived in water-stressed river basins and this could increase to 3.5 billion by 2025. We review the current status of wastewater irrigation by providing an overview of the extent of the practice throughout the world and through synthesizing the current understanding of factors influencing sustainable wastewater irrigation. A theme that emerges is that wastewater irrigation is not only more common in water-stressed regions such as the Near East, but the rationale for the practice also tends to differ between the developing and developed worlds. In developing nations, the prime drivers are livelihood dependence and food security, whereas environmental agendas appear to hold greater sway in the developed world. The following were identified as areas requiring greater understanding for the long-term sustainability of wastewater irrigation: (i) accumulation of bioavailable forms of heavy metals in soils, (ii) environmental fate of organics in wastewater-irrigated soils, (iii) influence of reuse schemes on catchment hydrology, including transport of salt loads, (iv) risk models for helminth infections (pertinent to developing nations), (v) microbiological contamination risks for aquifers and surface waters, (vi) transfer efficiencies of chemical contaminants from soil to plants, (vii) health effects of chronic exposure to chemical contaminants, and (viii) strategies for engaging the public.<br /

Evolving the narrative for protecting a rapidly changing ocean, post‐COVID‐19

The ocean is the linchpin supporting life on Earth, but it is in declining health due to an increasing footprint of human use and climate change. Despite notable successes in helping to protect the ocean, the scale of actions is simply not now meeting the overriding scale and nature of the ocean's problems that confront us. Moving into a post-COVID-19 world, new policy decisions will need to be made. Some, especially those developed prior to the pandemic, will require changes to their trajectories; others will emerge as a response to this global event. Reconnecting with nature, and specifically with the ocean, will take more than good intent and wishful thinking. Words, and how we express our connection to the ocean, clearly matter now more than ever before. The evolution of the ocean narrative, aimed at preserving and expanding options and opportunities for future generations and a healthier planet, is articulated around six themes: (1) all life is dependent on the ocean; (2) by harming the ocean, we harm ourselves; (3) by protecting the ocean, we protect ourselves; (4) humans, the ocean, biodiversity, and climate are inextricably linked; (5) ocean and climate action must be undertaken together; and (6) reversing ocean change needs action now. This narrative adopts a ‘One Health’ approach to protecting the ocean, addressing the whole Earth ocean system for better and more equitable social, cultural, economic, and environmental outcomes at its core. Speaking with one voice through a narrative that captures the latest science, concerns, and linkages to humanity is a precondition to action, by elevating humankind's understanding of our relationship with ‘planet Ocean’ and why it needs to become a central theme to everyone's lives. We have only one ocean, we must protect it, now. There is no ‘Ocean B’

Neoliberalism and the revival of agricultural cooperatives: The case of the coffee sector in Uganda

Agricultural cooperatives have seen a comeback in sub‐Saharan Africa. After the collapse of many weakly performing monopolist organizations during the 1980s and 1990s, strengthened cooperatives have emerged since the 2000s. Scholarly knowledge about the state–cooperative relations in which this “revival” takes place remains poor. Based on new evidence from Uganda's coffee sector, this paper discusses the political economy of Africa's cooperative revival. The authors argue that donors' and African governments' renewed support is framed in largely apolitical terms, which obscures the contested political and economic nature of the revival. In the context of neoliberal restructuring processes, state and non‐state institutional support to democratic economic organizations with substantial redistributional agendas remains insufficient. The political–economic context in Uganda—and potentially elsewhere in Africa—contributes to poor terms of trade for agricultural cooperatives while maintaining significant state control over some cooperative activities to protect the status quo interests of big capital and state elites. These conditions are unlikely to produce a conflict‐free, substantial, and sustained revival of cooperatives, which the new promoters of cooperatives suggest is under way