38 | IAASTD Global Report forage for livestock, wildlife habitat, and a host of other        In 2004, aquaculture accounted for 43% of the world’s resources (White et al., 2000).                               food fish production and is perceived as having the great- Grasslands provide feed for livestock farming across the est potential to meet the growing demand for aquatic food globe as well as a wide range of ecosystem services. For in-  (FAO, 2006c). World aquaculture has grown at an average stance, grasslands provide part of the cover to some of the   annual rate of 8.8% from 1950 to 2004. In recent years, world’s major watersheds. Most of the world’s meat comes      Asia and Africa have shown the highest growth with Latin from animals that forage on grasslands. World meat pro-       America displaying only moderate growth. Production in duction has doubled since 1975, from 116 million to 233       North America, Europe and the former Soviet states has million tonnes in 2000 (UNEP, 2002). Grasslands are also a    however declined. The average growth rate for the Asia and major component of important areas of bird endemism and       the Pacific region was 9.8%, while production in China, wildlife sanctuaries, and store approximately 34% of the      considered separately, has grown at a rate of 12.4% per global stock of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems.             year (FAO, 2006c). Nearly 49% of grasslands are lightly to moderately de-        In 2004, freshwater aquaculture was the predominant graded and at least 5% are considered strongly to extremely   form of aquaculture, accounting for 56% of the total pro- degraded (White et al., 2000). The degree of degradation      duction while mariculture contributed 36% and brackish- is dependent on geographical location and management          water aquaculture 7.4% (FAO, 2006c). During the last practices as well as on characteristics of the soil, vegeta-  decade, inland capture production has remained relatively tion, and grazing patterns. Cultivation and urbanization      stagnant. For instance, during the period 2000-2005, pro- of grasslands, and other modifications can be a significant   duction ranged between 8.8-9.6 million tonnes. During the source of carbon to the atmosphere. For instance, biomass     same period, aquaculture grew from 21.2 to 28.9 million burning, especially on tropical savannas, contributes over    tonnes. Similar trends have been observed in marine envi- 40% of gross global carbon dioxide emissions (Baumert et      ronments. Thus overall, the total aquaculture production al., 2005).                                                   grew from 35.5 to 47.8 million tonnes. Despite this increase in landings, maintained in many regions by fishery enhance- Fisheries                                                     ments such as stocking and fish introductions, the greatest Fish play a key role as an economic commodity of signifi-     overall threat for the long-term sustainability of inland fish- cance to a great number of farming households and rural       ery resources is the loss of fishery habitat and the degrada- poor people. Inland fisheries and aquaculture—for example     tion of the terrestrial and aquatic environment. in irrigated rice agroecosystems—are not only important as a       About 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 direct food source: fish are also a high value commodity that km of a coast. Because of the current pressures on coastal can be traded for cash, for other needs and cheaper foods,    ecosystems, and the immense value of the goods and services by small-scale farmers and the poor, and provide a source of  derived from them, there is an increasing need to evaluate direct employment for 38 million and indirect employment      trade-offs between different activities that may be proposed for about 160 million people (FAO, 2004b; ICTSD, 2006).       for a particular coastal area. This important habitat is in- The highest share of fish workers (fishers and aquaculture    creasingly becoming disturbed due to human activity. Many workers) is in Asia (87%), followed by Africa (7%), Europe,   coastal habitats such as mangroves, wetlands, sea-grasses, North and Central America and South America (about 2%         and coral reefs, which are important as nurseries, are dis- each) and Oceania (0.2%) (FAO, 2004b).                        appearing at a fast pace. About 75% of all fish stocks for In 2002, about 76% (100.7 million tonnes) of estimated   which information is available are in urgent need of better world fisheries production was used for direct human con-     management (Burke et al., 2001; FAO, 2004b). sumption. The remaining 24% (32.2 million tonnes) was              A recent assessment of fish stocks by the FAO indicates destined for non-food products, mainly the manufacture of     that only 20% of fish species is moderately exploited and fishmeal and oil, slightly (0.4%) above levels in 1999 but    only 3% is underexploited. Of the remaining 76%, 52% of 5.8% below levels in 2000 (FAO, 2004b). In 2002, total cap-   stocks is fully exploited, 17% is overexploited and 7% is ture fisheries production amounted to 93.2 million tonnes.    depleted (FAO, 2004b). Marine capture fisheries production contributed 84.5 mil-          Depletion of marine resources is so severe that some lion tonnes. Between 2000 and 2003, the reported landings     commercial fish species, such as the Atlantic Cod, five spe- of marine capture fisheries have fluctuated between 80 and    cies of tuna, and haddock are now threatened globally, as 86 million tonnes: a slight increase over the preceding de-   are several species of whales, seals, and sea turtles. The scale cade (mean = 77 million tonnes). Production from different    of the global fishing enterprise has grown rapidly and ex- capture and culture systems varies greatly (CA, 2007).        ploitation of fish stocks has followed a predictable pattern, At the global level, inland capture fisheries have been  progressing from region to region across the world’s oceans. increasing since 1984. In 1997, inland fisheries accounted    As each area in turn reaches its maximum production level, for 7.7 million tonnes, or almost 12% of total capture avail- it then begins to decline (Grainger and Garcia, 1996). able for human consumption, a level estimated to be at or          Apart from being an important food source, fish can above maximum sustainable yields (Revenga et al., 2000).      also be a source of contamination. In heavily polluted areas, In 2000-2002, inland capture fisheries were estimated at      in waters that have insufficient exchange with the world’s around 8.7 million tonnes. However, there is still a lack of  oceans, e.g., the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, in reliable data on global inland fisheries production, which    estuaries, rivers and especially in locations that are close to are therefore estimated to be underreported by two or three   industrial sites, concentrations of contaminants that exceed times (FAO, 2004b).                                           natural load can be found. These increasing amounts may chapter 01.indd 38                                                                                                                         11/3/08 10:41:34 AM

Context, Conceptual Framework and Sustainability Indicators | 39 also be found in predatory species as a result of biomag-      diseases, such as malaria. Yet these freshwater wetlands pro- nifications, which is the concentration of contaminants in     vide a range of services including flood control, storage and higher levels of the food chain, posing a risk for human       purification of water as well as being an important habitat health (FAO, 2004b).                                           for biodiversity. Worldwide water quality conditions appear to have been degraded in almost all regions with intensive Water resources                                                agriculture and other developments (Molden and de Frai- In the hydrological cycle water resources can be divided into  ture, 2004). Pollution is a growing problem in most inland “blue” and “green” water. The main source of water is rain     water systems around the world while waterborne diseases falling on the earth’s land surfaces (110,000km3) (CA, 2007).  from fecal contamination of surface waters continue to be Blue water refers to the water flowing or stored in rivers,    a serious problem in developing countries (Revenga et al., lakes, reservoirs, ponds and aquifers (Rockström, 1999).       2000). Globally, about 39% of rain (43,500 km3) contributes to             There is no agriculture without water. Agriculture’s blue water sources, important for supporting biodiversity,     sustainability agenda as regards water is twofold: access to fisheries and aquatic ecosystems. Blue water withdrawals       clean water for the poor on the one hand, improvements are about 9% of total blue water sources (3,800 km3), with     in water productivity and institutional arrangements on the 70% of withdrawals going to irrigation (2,700 km3). The        other (CA, 2007). concept of green water (Falkenmark, 1995) is now used to            Half of the world’s 854 million malnourished people refer to water that is stored in unsaturated soil and is used  are small-scale farmers who depend on access to secure wa- as evapotranspiration (Savenije and van der Zaag, 2000).       ter supplies for food production, health, income and em- Green water is the water source of rainfed agriculture. Total  ployment. Improving their access to clean water potentially evapotranspiration by irrigated agriculture is about 2,200     has an enormous impact on their livelihoods and produc- cubic kilometers (2% of rain), of which 650 cubic kilome-      tive strategies by reducing poverty and vulnerability (HDR, ters are directly from rain (green water) and the remainder    2006). With scarcity and competing demands for water in- from irrigation water (blue water). To date, sub-Saharan       creasingly becoming evident, growing more food with less Africa has the smallest ration of irrigated to rainfed water   water is a high priority. There is much scope for better water and more than half of irrigated land is in Asia (HDR, 2006;    productivity both in low-production rainfed areas and in see Figure 1-18).                                              irrigated systems (CA, 2007). Blue water used in irrigation Technological advancements, especially in the construc-   has a particularly important role, as 40% of global crop tion of dams, have markedly increased the volume and           production is produced on irrigated soils (WWAP, 2003). availability of blue water for consumption and irrigation      In addition, irrigation often depends on dams that impact purposes. Similarly, improvements in pumping have mo-          the environment in various ways, leading to disturbance or tivated farmers to extract more and more groundwater.          destruction of habitats and fisheries (WCD, 2000). To miti- Moreover, the demand for water has increased at more than      gate these impacts, water use efficiency is also paramount. double the rate of population increase, leading to serious     Responses by AKST aiming at improving water use effec- depletion of surface water resources (Penning De Vries et al., tiveness include developing micro-irrigation systems (Postel, 2003; Smakhtin et al., 2004). Seventy percent of blue water    1999) and more precise management techniques generally, abstraction is for irrigation; given increasing competition    but also breeding of drought-tolerant crop varieties such as from other users water productivity is a priority concern.     in maize (Edmeades et al., 1999). Furthermore, much of water used in irrigation is lost to less- than-optimal evaporation, not profiting plant growth.          Soils On the other hand, half of the world’s wetlands are esti- Soil is the source of nutrients required for plant growth and mated to have been lost during the last century, as land was   itself the result of organic processes of living organisms. It is converted to agriculture and urban use, or filled to combat    therefore the primary environmental stock that supports ag- riculture. Soil condition varies widely but global estimates suggest that 23% of all used land is degraded to some de- gree, which is a cause of serious concern (Oldeman, 1994; Wood et al., 2000). The key soil degradation processes in- clude: erosion, salinization and water logging, compaction and hard setting, acidification, loss of soil organic matter, soil nutrient depletion, biological degradation, and soil pol- lution. Agricultural activities influence all these processes (Scherr, 1999). In crop cultivation, the resilience of arable soils is an is- sue of great concern. Different soil types have very different erodibility characteristics, i.e., their ability to resist soil ero- sion caused by water, wind, or plowing varies a great deal. Some soils will hardly recover once eroded, while others may regenerate within a relatively short time. There are two dimensions to the degradation of soils: first their sensitivity Figure 1-18. Rainfed and irrigated arable land in developing   to factors causing degradation, and second their resilience to countries, 1998–2002. Source: HDR, 2006.                       degradation, which is their ability to recover their original chapter 01.indd 39                                                                                                                               11/3/08 10:41:35 AM

40 | IAASTD Global Report properties after degradation has occurred. Sensitivity and      industry, chemicals for medicine as well as other services resilience depend on climate and the biophysical structures     that are vital for the success of agriculture, such as pollina- of the soil, and whether degradation has exceeded a thresh-     tion. The last century has seen the greatest loss of biodiver- old of resilience (such as loss of all organic matter or severe sity through habitat destruction, for instance through con- compaction) beyond which recovery is not possible without       version of diverse ecosystems to agriculture. Other factors active intervention (Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987).             such as the growing threat from introduction of invasive Soil, just like water, is a key resource for agricultural  alien species, fostered by globalization of trade and trans- production. Sometimes erroneously subsumed under “land”         port, have further exacerbated the situation. On small is- issues, the availability of soils for growing crops often seem  lands, introduction of invasive alien species, many through to be taken for granted. Yet in both the developing and the     agriculture-related activities, is the main threat to biodiver- industrialized world, the loss of productive agricultural soils sity. In freshwater systems, an estimated 20% of fish spe- to urban development is enormous. In addition, according        cies have become extinct (Wood et al., 2000). Globally, the to an estimate by the Global Assessment of Human-induced        cost of damage caused by invasive species is estimated to Soil Degradation (GLASOD), degradation had affected 38%         run to hundreds of billions of dollars per year (Pimentel of the world’s cropland, to some extent as a result of human    et al., 2001). In developing countries, where agriculture, activity (Oldeman et al., 1991). However, GLASOD did not        forestry and fishing account for a high proportion of GDP, estimate productivity losses associated with land degrada-      the negative impact of invasive species is particularly acute. tion. In the absence of data on the productivity impacts of     Globalization and economic development through increas- land degradation, estimates based on different methods vary     ing trade, tourism, travel and transport also increase the widely (Wiebe, 2003).                                           numbers of intentionally or accidentally introduced species The direct influence of agricultural practices cannot be   (McNeely et al., 2001). It is widely predicted that climate neglected: they account for about a quarter of total soil deg-  change will further increase these threats, favoring species radation (GACGC, 1994). AKST is, and always has been,           migration and causing ecosystems to become more vulner- crucial to address these problems both through more classi-     able to invasion. cal approaches (e.g., proposing mechanical protection such            While agriculture is based on the domestication and as bunds and terraces to control surface runoff) and through    use of crop and livestock species, the continuum between more comprehensive frameworks aiming at greater integra-        (wild) biodiversity and agrobiodiversity has been recognized tion of water conservation and soil protection and the use      both in research on plant genetic resources and in conser- of biological methods (Shaxson et al., 1989; Sanders et al.,    vation efforts for many decades—starting with the hypoth- 1999; WOCAT, 2006).                                             esis of “centers of diversity” of crop species proposed by The impact of nitrates from fertilizers and livestock pro- Vavilov in the 1920s. More recently an emphasis on the duction on soil and water resources is a related issue. This    provisioning services of biodiversity has been added: “Bio- impact can be described in general terms as the nitrifica-      diversity, including the number, abundance, and composi- tion of the global ecosystem from inorganic fertilizers and     tion of genotypes, populations, species, functional types, alteration of the global nitrogen cycle. Eutrophication as a    communities, and landscape units, strongly influences the consequence of nutrient runoff from agriculture poses prob-     provision of ecosystem services and therefore human well- lems both for human health and the environment. Impacts         being. Processes frequently affected by changes in biodiver- of eutrophication have been easily discernible in some areas    sity include pollination, seed dispersal, climate regulation, such as the Mediterranean Sea and northwestern Gulf of          carbon sequestration, agricultural pest and disease control, Mexico (Wood et al., 2000).                                     and human health regulation. Also, by affecting ecosystem Some agricultural activities have led to a reduction       processes such as primary production, nutrient and water of system productivity. For instance, irrigated agriculture     cycling, and soil formation and retention, biodiversity indi- has contributed to water logging and salinization, as well      rectly supports the production of food, fiber, potable water, as depletion and chemical contamination of surface and          shelter, and medicines” (MA, 2005c). groundwater supplies (Revenga et al., 2000; Wood et al.,              Agrobiodiversity is the very stuff of food production 2000; CA, 2007). Manure from intensive livestock produc-        and an essential resource for plant and animal breeding. Yet tion has exacerbated the problem of water contamination.        it is a resource that is being lost in situ: in farms and agro- Misuse of pesticides has led to contamination of land and       ecosystems (FAO, 1996b; Thrupp, 1998; CBD, 2006). Its water, to negative impacts on non-target species, and to        conservation is somewhat framed by a paradox: new breeds the emergence of pesticide-resistant pests. These problems      have boosted agricultural productivity, but simultaneously compound to reduce system productivity (Thrupp, 1998;           they displaced traditional cultivars. In response, gene or Conway, 1999). The capacity of coastal and marine ecosys-       seed banks have been created to fulfill a double function: tems to produce fish for human harvest is highly degraded       to resource plant breeders with the agrobiodiversity needed by overfishing, destructive trawling techniques, and loss of    for further crop development, and to conserve crop diversity coastal nursery areas. This is exacerbated by the decline of    that may have disappeared from agricultural systems. Ex mangroves, coastal wetlands, and seagrasses with resultant      situ conservation in seed repositories and gene banks has loss of pollutant filtering capacity of coastal habitats.       long been considered to be the central pillar of agrobiodi- versity conservation. Biodiversity                                                          To be effective, agrobiodiversity management needs to Biodiversity underpins agriculture by providing the genetic     operate at several levels: local, national, and international. material for crop and livestock breeding, raw materials for     Against the overall trend of declining diversity in agricultural chapter 01.indd 40                                                                                                                           11/3/08 10:41:35 AM

Context, Conceptual Framework and Sustainability Indicators | 41 systems, crop diversity is still being created and preserved lo- modifying crop rotations, reducing tillage, returning crop cally, and the importance of local in situ conservation efforts  residues into the soil and increasing the production of re- has more recently been acknowledged under Article 8 of the       newable energy are just a few options for reducing emissions CBD. In situ conservation of crops and seeds on the farm         (Wassmann and Vlek, 2004). or community level operates under a number of constraints,            Climate change poses the question of risks for food se- partly organizational, partly economic. These constraints        curity both globally and for marginal or vulnerable agro- can more easily be overcome if biodiversity management is        ecological zones. People’s livelihoods are threatened, as we part of an integrated approach—such as sustainable land          know, if they lack resilience and the purchasing power to management.                                                      bridge production losses on their farms. The magnitude of It is notable that plant varieties and animal breeds       the threat to the agricultural sector, and to small-scale farm- —very much like farming systems—are intricately linked to        ers in particular, is thus also dependent on the performance languages, environmental knowledge, farming systems, and         of the non-agricultural sectors of developing economies, and the evolution of human societies. They embody history, both      on the opportunities they provide. Adaptation to climate in their form which is a result of selection and adaptation      change is therefore an important topic for AKST. The need to human needs, and through the knowledge that is associ-        and the capacity to adapt vary considerably from region to ated with them. In participatory research and selection, such    region, and from farmer to farmer (Smit, 1993; McCarthy knowledge has increasingly been validated and valued.            et al., 2001). In the contemporary context of rapid land use change,           Change in water runoff by 2050 is expected to be con- the complex coevolution of agrobiodiversity, ecosystems          siderable (Figure 1-19). Some regions will have up to 20% and human societies needs to be documented, analyzed and         less runoff, while others will experience increases of the same validated. An appropriate level for this task is the landscape.  order, and only few countries will have similar conditions Cultural landscapes are complex but spatially bounded ex-        as at present (HDR, 2006). Improving water use efficiency, pressions of ecosystems that have evolved under the influ-       adapting to the risks related to topography, and changing ence of biophysical factors as well as of human societies.       the timing of farming operations are some examples of ad- They provide the context to understand how management            aptation that will be required. practices have shaped the productive and characteristic               Adaptation has a cost and often requires investments in landscapes of cultivated systems, and how crop knowledge         infrastructure. Therefore, where resource endowments are fits into these patterns (Brookfield et al., 2003).              already thin, adverse impacts may be multiplied by the lack of resources to respond. Farmers are masters in adapting to Agriculture and climate change                                   changing environmental conditions because this has been Agriculture contributes to climate change through the re-        their business for thousands of years. This is a knowledge lease of greenhouse gases in its production processes. It is     base farmers will need to maintain and improve, even if cli- a significant emitter of CH4 (50% of global emissions) and       mate change may pose challenges that go beyond problems N2O (70%) (Bathia et al., 2004). The levels of its emissions     tackled in the past. are determined by various aspects of agricultural produc- tion: frequency of cultivation, presence of irrigation, the size Sustainability implications of AKST of livestock production, the burning of crop residues and        A key objective of agricultural policies since the 1950s, cleared areas. In many cases, emissions are difficult to miti-   both in industrialized and in developing countries, has been gate because they are linked to the very nature of produc-       to increase crop production. In its production focus, these tion; in a number of cases, however, technical measures can      policies have often failed to recognize the links between be adopted to mitigate emissions from specific sources.          agricultural production and the ecosystems in which it is Agricultural activities account for 15% of global green-   embedded. By maximizing provisioning services, crop pro- house gas (methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide)            duction has often affected the functioning of the supporting emissions (Baumert et al., 2005). Two-fifths of these emis-      ecosystem services. sions are a result of land use or soil management practices.          In the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, irrigated agriculture Methane emissions from cattle and other livestock account        was intensified in Asia and elsewhere to boost production of for just over a quarter of the emissions. Wetland rice produc-   one major food crop: rice. The effort was underpinned with tion and manure management also contribute a substantial         massive public investments in crop research, infrastructure amount of methane. Land clearing and burning of biomass          and extension systems. While successful in terms of produc- also contributes to carbon dioxide production.                   tion and low commodity prices, this Green Revolution led Changes in land use, especially those associated with      in some cases to environmentally harmful practices such agriculture, have negatively affected the net ability of eco-    as excessive use of fertilizers or pesticides. As evidence of systems to sequester carbon. For instance the carbon rich        negative impacts on the environment—particularly on soil grasslands and forests in temperate zones have been replaced     and water—emerged, a number of corrective measures were by crops with much lower capacity to sequester carbon. By        envisaged. storing up to 40% of terrestrial carbon, forests play a key           In Indonesia, for example, a major effort was under- role, and despite a slow increase in forests in the northern     taken in the 1980s to introduce integrated pest management hemisphere, the benefits are lost due to increased deforesta-    (IPM) in intensive rice production (Röling and van de Vliert, tion in the tropics (Matthews et al., 2000).                     1994). This required that farmers have better knowledge of There is considerable potential in agriculture for miti-   pests and their predators—knowledge that could be used gating climate change impacts. Changing crop regimes and         to reestablish pest-predator balances in rice agroecosystems, chapter 01.indd 41                                                                                                                                 11/3/08 10:41:35 AM

42 | IAASTD Global Report Figure 1-19. Climate change and water run-off. Source: HDR, 2006. and to avoid the harmful use of pesticides. The successful,       deals with common property and common pool resources practical application of IPM is an example of the ecologi-        (Ostrom, 1990). A balanced research agenda focusing both cal services provided by agroecosystems, and the monetary,        on institutional aspects of resource management and on health and environmental benefits they provide.                   biophysical parameters of the systems is key for managing In the 1990s, management has become a key term in            the multifunctional base and effects of agricultural produc- most debates on natural resources, agriculture included.          tion. AKST has also benefited from research on traditional The multifunctional character of agriculture implies a seri-      agricultural systems and their knowledge base. While local ous consideration of the links with the ecosystems in which       knowledge forms are rarely equipped to respond to all the agricultural systems are embedded, beyond measures and            changes in contemporary agricultural systems, participatory policies addressing specific resources such as water and soil.    research in AKST has demonstrated its value for grounded This is a very complex challenge concerning a multitude of        and adapted solutions. actors.                                                                While national policies are evidently key in these areas, some approaches have become agreed notions in multilateral AKST and natural resource management (NRM)                        processes, like Agenda 21. Sustainable Land Management There is now a strategic understanding that “the manage-          (SLM), for example, is defined as “the use of land resources, ment of natural resources clearly has social and behavioral       including soils, water, animals and plants, for the produc- components, the understanding of which is indispensable           tion of goods to meet changing human needs, while ensuring for orienting biophysical research to these resources. Behav-     the long-term productive potential of these resources and ioral and sociocultural variables of resource management          the maintenance of their environmental functions” (UN, are no less important for resource sustainability than physi-     1993a). This is a pertinent and comprehensive definition. cal parameters” (CGIAR, 2000).                                    However, its impact on the promotion of innovative man- Practitioners of NRM research in agricultural develop-       agement strategies and on national and international poli- ment have adjusted their research agendas to address this         cies is scarcely visible to date. We may also note that efforts problem, often under the headings “policies”, “institutions”,     are devoted on the one hand to soil and water conserva- and “processes”. This allows them to frame the debate on          tion, and on the other to conservation of biotic resources how access to resources should be regulated, and what types       (agrobiodiversity), with little interlinkages between the of institutional regimes are needed to ensure environmental       two. sustainability of resource use in agriculture. Management              In sum, a shift towards the integrated analysis of natural of natural resources is articulated on at least two levels: the   resource management has begun to transform the agricul- household and its livelihood, and the larger resource regimes     tural research agenda and AKST. However further progress on the community, the national and the international lev-         in integrating biophysical with sociocultural and behavioral els. For this aspect, AKST has benefited from research that       variables, and the recognition—in practice—of the multi- chapter 01.indd 42                                                                                                                            11/3/08 10:41:36 AM

Context, Conceptual Framework and Sustainability Indicators | 43 functional nature of agriculture may be needed. In addition      in decision-making (ILO, 1962). All of these are critical to to techniques aiming at specific resources, the overall man-     reducing poverty and building a just society based on rights agement of natural resources has become a concern in agri-       for all. cultural development. Rights-based approach. Since the adoption of the Univer- 1.3.4 Social equity                                              sal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there has been a The sense of justice and injustice is a universal feature of     growing worldwide consensus that abject poverty, hunger, human society; yet complexity, stratification and inequal-       and deprivation are an affront to human dignity and that ity are enduring hallmarks of social organization. Nowhere       conditions must be created whereby all persons may enjoy is this more evident than in agriculture, where patterns of      basic human rights (UNICCPR, 1966; UNICESCR, 1966). land ownership, land tenure, social status, employment and       Whether these rights are of a civil, political, economic, so- division of labor have evolved in highly diverse ecological,     cial or cultural nature, they are considered to be “univer- social and cultural contexts.                                    sal, indivisible and interdependent and inter-related” (UN, Social equity is intimately linked to a sense of justice    1993b). both in terms of processes and outcomes. In its ideal form,           Civil and political rights—such as political voice and it incorporates notions of equality, as in equal rights under    representation, freedom of association, and equal protec- the law, and of equivalence as in differentiated treatment       tion under the law—are important in themselves, but also that produces outcomes of comparable value or significance       in their function as enabling rights. Such rights enable in- for beneficiaries in disparate circumstances. In legal terms,    dividuals and groups to participate in public debate, influ- equity originated as a system of jurisprudence developed to      ence the decisions that affect the life of their communities, correct injustices caused by inflexibility in the law. It was    defend their common interests, build more responsive eco- based on the principle of natural justice. In this sense, equity nomic and social institutions, and manage conflicts through serves to bridge the gap between legality and legitimacy of      peaceful, democratic means. Economic, social and cultural outcomes, for example, when equal treatment would result         rights—such as the right to education, health care, food and in the perpetuation of injustice.                                an adequate standard of living—help to create the condi- Political, economic and cultural factors contribute to      tions under which civil and political rights can be freely ex- greater or lesser degrees of equity in society, sometimes miti-  ercised. gating, sometimes reinforcing inequality. Many sources of inequality are determined by the circumstances of birth. Sex,    Social equity concerns and agriculture. Social equity con- ethnicity, the wealth or poverty of parents, their educational   cerns are gaining in importance in countries where large status, birth in a rural or urban setting are among these.       numbers of people are engaged in agricultural production Other sources of inequality are cultural constructs. These       and where productivity improvements are needed to keep include gender roles in the world of work; the rights and        pace with or exceed population growth, in other words, in duties of family members as defined by age, sex or birth or-     most developing countries. Globalization has placed the ag- der; parental expectations of sons and daughters; the loci of    ricultural sector in many countries under tremendous pres- decision-making power within households and in the wider         sure as generally declining commodity prices, rising input community; and the formal and informal rules that deter-         costs, low levels of investment and lack of credit take their mine access to land, water and other resources. Whether          toll, particularly on small-scale farmers, their families and determined by birth or culture, these sources of inequality      agricultural workers. Loss of status, uncertainty of income, tend to widen or narrow the opportunities that individu-         indebtedness, unfulfilled needs and the deterioration in their als have to develop their inherent talents and their produc-     economic and social condition are among the factors that tive potential. Combating corruption can help improve            have spurred able-bodied men and youth to leave rural ar- equity, as corruption is undermining justice in many parts       eas in search of opportunities elsewhere. Many swell the of the world. Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power         ranks of the urban unemployed, lacking the skill sets needed for private gain; this may include material and non-mate-        to prosper in the new environment, subsisting through in- rial gain from political interference to bribery (TI, 2007).     formal activities. Those remaining in agriculture—partic- This will occur unless society develops institutions of gov-     ularly, ethnic minorities, women, the elderly, children and ernance, legal systems and social policy tools that tend to      youth—find themselves increasingly on the margins of eco- lessen disparities and equalize opportunities. With improved     nomic, social, and political life. They form the majority of women’s economic and social rights corruption is generally       the world’s poor. reduced.                                                              Potential beneficiaries of AKST are a heterogeneous While economic forces tend to favor some to the detri-      group living in highly diverse social, economic and environ- ment of others, it is common for social policy instruments to    mental contexts. Research, development and dissemination attempt to redress the balance in some measure by promot-        efforts need to take their capacities and constraints into ac- ing equality of opportunity, ensuring that basic services are    count in order to ensure that innovations are practical, af- available to all and assisting vulnerable groups in meeting      fordable and offer real benefits to the poor among them. their needs. Equity concerns underpin efforts to eliminate       Social equity concerns challenge policy-makers, research- discrimination, widen opportunities for social and economic      ers, practitioners and donors to work together across their advancement, increase access to public goods and services,       respective disciplines to provide not only the technological such as education and health care, provide fairer access to      means, but also the social support needed to encourage and resources and promote empowerment through participation          enable uptake of new techniques by those who may not pre- chapter 01.indd 43                                                                                                                                 11/3/08 10:41:36 AM

44 | IAASTD Global Report viously have had access to skills training, extension services  trade rules in ways that small-scale farmers cannot. Another or credit facilities.                                           major difference lies in their capacity to provide employ- A major social equity issue in agriculture is the perpetu- ment. Large-scale production systems are often in a position ation of poverty from one generation to the next due to         to offer better terms of employment, but they tend to shed the high incidence of child labor. Approximately 70% of         labor as productivity gains are realized through technology all child labor is found in agriculture. Unpaid work on the     and more efficient work organization. Although the number family farm may or may not have an incidence on the child’s     of persons working in small-scale agriculture has decreased school attendance and performance, depending on the hours       as a percentage of the global population in recent decades, it and conditions of work. However, time lost to education,        has steadily increased in absolute numbers and is estimated particularly if low achievement levels lead to early drop-out,  to include approximately 2.6 billion people or 40% of the has lifelong consequences on earnings. Much child labor in      world’s population (Dixon et al., 2001). commercial agriculture is invisible and unacknowledged, al-          While the notion of dichotomy may be useful in draw- though it may account for a considerable portion of family      ing out such contrasts, it tends to mask the wide range of earnings (WDR, 2007).                                           ownership patterns, relationships to the land, forms of labor Social equity issues, such as child labor, must be ad-     force participation and employment relationships that gen- dressed if broad-based agricultural development is to con-      erate profound social equity issues. It is instructive to con- tribute positively to both economic growth and poverty          sider how just one set of rights—property rights—affects the reduction. The principal challenges are twofold: raising the    livelihoods of various stake-holders in the agriculture sector: living standards of those working in agriculture, particularly  plantation owners, medium to small-scale owner-cultivators, the poorest among them, and lessening the demographic           tenant farmers, share-croppers, squatters, landless laborers, burden on agriculture by providing opportunities for more       bonded laborers, migrant workers, or members of an indig- diversified and rewarding economic activity outside the         enous community sharing common lands. These categories sector. Educating rural children and preparing them for a       are not discrete; indeed, there is frequent overlap among productive future addresses both those concerns and AKST        them, and cutting across all these categories are issues of can be instrumental in achieving this in a number of ways.      gender, which further define or delimit rights of ownership, For example, well targeted AKST can enable poor farmers         access, use and inheritance of the land. to increase their earnings sufficiently to keep their children in school, rather than at work. The adoption by parents of      Choices to be made: agricultural productivity and innovative farming practices can teach children the experi-     poverty reduction ence of lifelong learning, openness to technological change     Most discussions of broad-based agricultural development and the benefits of applying knowledge to production. In-       focus on the interaction of five main factors—innovation, corporating AKST into rural school programs could provide       inputs, infrastructure, institutions and incentives (Hazell, young people with practical skill sets to help them make        1999). Equity issues are inherent, though they may not be the transition to more productive work in agriculture or in     explicitly evoked, in the policy decisions that guide the in- rural support services, or could inspire them to pursue other   vestment of resources in these areas. For example, agricul- science based studies.                                          tural research and development is needed to generate pro- The labor requirements of various crops or cultivation     ductivity-enhancing technologies, but choices must be made methods are an important variable that needs to be consid-      as to the orientation of research efforts. The improvement ered. AKST is not employment-neutral, nor can it be if it is    of local food crops to better satisfy nutritional needs, the to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor. In some poor      development of drought-resistant breeds to provide a more communities and households, the greatest challenge is to        reliable harvest to those living on marginal lands, or the generate productive employment for able-bodied workers.         development of horticultural produce suitable for export In such circumstances, the development of high-value, highly    may all be worthy goals in themselves, but have very differ- nutritious, labor-intensive crops may offer opportunities for   ent potential beneficiaries. Whether or not these activities improving livelihoods and well-being. In other cases, labor-    lead to improved livelihoods for the poor depends on many saving crops and techniques may offer better outcomes, for      factors, not least among them being the social characteris- example, for labor-poor female headed households, or rural      tics of particular rural communities and the convergence of communities suffering from a high incidence of HIV/AIDS         innovation with other productivity factors. Ownership or or other debilitating illnesses.                                control of land and other assets, knowledge and skill levels, Many observers note a dichotomy between small-scale        roles and responsibilities with regard to production, access agriculture and industrialized agriculture. Indeed, the uneven  to affordable credit, and rights with regard to distribution of competition that has emerged between small- and large-scale     services vary considerably across and within social groups. production systems raises serious social equity issues within   Ethnicity, class, sex and age all affect the capacity of those the agricultural sector as a whole. The two systems differ      who work the land to access and use new technologies ef- greatly in terms of resource consumption, capital intensity,    fectively and profitably, but take-up can be modified with access to markets and employment opportunities. The eco-        well-targeted interventions. Productivity enhancement is nomic and political power of agribusiness enterprises and       not so much a technical issue, as one of political, economic their relative importance in national economies enable them     and social choices and constraints, hence an issue of equity to influence decisions regarding domestic support pack-         (HDR, 2006). ages, infrastructure investment, the direction of agricultural       This is well illustrated by a number of “equity modifi- research and development and the setting of international       ers” that have been suggested as a means to reduce poverty chapter 01.indd 44                                                                                                                          11/3/08 10:41:36 AM

Context, Conceptual Framework and Sustainability Indicators | 45 and contribute to growth through broad-based agricultural       tering electoral politics. When they do so, however, many development. These include targeting small and medium-          see themselves as role models whose political actions should sized family farms as priority beneficiaries for publicly       have a positive impact on people’s lives. A survey of women funded agricultural research and extension, marketing,          in local government in 13 Asian and Pacific countries found credit and input supplies; undertaking land reform, where       that women also brought a more transformational political needed; investing in human capital to raise labor produc-       agenda to the fore, one more attuned to social concerns, tivity and increase opportunities for employment; ensuring      such as employment, care of the elderly, poverty alleviation, that agricultural extension, education, credit and small busi-  education, health care and sanitation—all subjects of criti- ness assistance programs reach rural women; setting public      cal importance to rural people. Women in politics under- investment priorities through participatory processes; and      stood the positive impact that female decision makers had actively encouraging the rural non-farm economy (Hazell,        on women’s participation generally (UNESCAP, 2001). 1999). It is noteworthy that all six modifiers imply some form of human capital enhancement.                              Gender Adoption and implementation of such transformational       Gender is a key category for understanding agrarian societ- policies would require political will and political power, but  ies, as anthropological and historical research has consis- the potential beneficiaries, indeed, the major actors, are      tently shown (Boserup, 1965; Linares, 1985; McC Netting, largely absent from the decision-making process. The geo-       1993). The category refers not, as is often assumed, to the graphical locus of decision-making tends to be in the coun-     role of women as such, but to the specific social ascription try’s capital or major commercial centers and competition       of roles and functions according to gender. In agrarian soci- for government resources tends to be heavily weighted in        eties, these roles and responsibilities have been, in most cas- favor of urban areas, where populations are concentrated,       es, clearly and specifically assigned to either men or women vocal and potentially active. Rural poor people in general      in productive households. In addition, not only work, but and rural women in particular tend to be “invisible” to pol-    also assets are as a rule accessed and controlled according icy makers and service providers, and are without voice or      to gender-based patterns. These patterns vary with time and representation in political decision-making.                    place; a persistent feature is that women have a key role in Perhaps as a result of this, the rural sector has suffered agricultural work, yet they have often limited access to, or years of neglect, notably during the course of structural       control over, the resource base such as land. adjustment. Lack of investment in roads, water systems,              Hence, the management of resources in agriculture is education and health services, and the dismantling of public    related to gender. What does this imply for sustainability? It extension systems have all left their mark on rural areas and   certainly means that research needs to closely look at exist- on the people who live there. Rural poverty rates consis-       ing gender-related patterns of resource access and control, tently exceed those in urban areas. In all 62 countries for     to arrive at meaningful conclusions (Linares, 1985). While which data sets were available, a greater percentage of rural   sustainability has to be a target of farm operations, there people were living below the national poverty line compared     may be differential factors at work here. to their urban counterparts. In several cases, the rural-urban       Agricultural development has sometimes strengthened poverty gap was more than 30% (World Bank, 2006b). If           patterns that do not favor women. Two factors are consid- it were measurable, the urban-rural disparity in political      ered in this context. First, the double male bias of agricul- power would most likely be greater. The male-female power       tural extension systems: it is mainly men who represent the disparity certainly is.                                         state and its agencies, so men control information and com- Government ministries dealing with agriculture and         munications; and it is men who are considered to represent rural development have a minority of women among their          the community or farming household, so they are the ones professional and technical staff, and only a small percent-     addressed. Second, as agricultural industrialization often im- age at decision-making levels. For example, a 1993 study        plies a need for investments, market integration—handling of women in decision-making positions found that overall,       larger sums of money—has favored men in many contexts, women held 6% of decision-making positions in ministries        as women are usually not considered eligible for credit. and government bodies in Egypt. Cooperative agricultural             With growing awareness of this imbalance, the inter- societies had an almost exclusively male membership, agrar-     national agricultural research community has developed ian reform societies were entirely within male hands, and       research to address the issues of women and discriminating land reclamation societies had no women members. In Be-         gender roles in agriculture. This has often implied estab- nin, women held only 2.5% of high-level decision-making         lishing a participatory research agenda (Lilja et al., 2000), positions in government, and comprised only 7.3% of the         such as in the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Participatory decision-making and technical staff at the Ministry of Rural    Research and Gender Analysis (CGIAR, 2005). While this is Development (FAO-CDP, 2007).                                    a welcome trend towards research products that have been Local government might appear to provide opportuni-        developed with a greater involvement of women, it is not a ties for greater involvement of women in political life, yet    sufficient condition to change a social fabric that discrimi- proportional representation is nowhere the rule. In many        nates against women. countries, patriarchal social systems, cultural prejudices, financial dependence and lack of exposure to political pro-     Gender and other identity issues in natural resource cesses have made it difficult for women to participate in       management public life. The maleness of political institutions and the     The status and development potential of an individual de- high cost of campaigning prevent many women from en-            pend on many social factors. In particular, they depend on chapter 01.indd 45                                                                                                                                11/3/08 10:41:37 AM

46 | IAASTD Global Report a person’s assigned gender, defined as the economic, social,   are not a homogeneous group. Gender roles and the gen- political and cultural attributes and opportunities associated der division of labor are highly specific to location, farm- with being male and female (OECD, 1998). Other aspects         ing systems and peoples, but they are not fixed. Men and of social identity such as caste, ethnicity, age and religion  women constantly renegotiate their roles and relationships are just as influential with regard to an individual’s status  as circumstances change, both within the household and in and development potential, and therefore need to be taken      the wider community. Their relative bargaining power can into account in much the same way as outlined below in the     be influenced by many factors, their economic importance case of gender.                                                within the household, kinship relations, cultural norms of As a result of the gender division of labor, women and    behavior, not to mention their individual character. Women men relate to different economic spheres. In addition, they    as well as men have the capacity to exercise agency, that is, do not have the same stake in natural resources, social insti- to make choices and decisions that can alter outcomes in tutions and decision-making processes in the household and     their lives. In many countries, however, institutions of gov- society. Nor do women and men have the same power to act       ernance, legal systems and social policies have not equalized and make decisions. Women and men are therefore affected       opportunities between men and women or created greater differently by development. The dichotomy between men’s        social equity between urban and rural dwellers, but have and women’s spheres is, on the one hand, a social challenge,   reinforced disparities instead. but on the other hand it is an opportunity to make resource         A growing body of evidence suggests that economic ef- management truly stakeholder-oriented. Hence, for the as-      ficiency gains can be realized through more widespread en- sessment it is necessary to differentiate between male and     joyment of rights and more just distribution of opportunity. female spheres by integrating disaggregated data.              Conversely, persistent inequality is increasingly seen to limit In many instances and for a number of reasons wom-        the rate and quality of economic growth, threaten national en’s access to natural resources is limited and their power    unity and fuel social conflict (WDR, 2007). The challenge to make decisions regarding natural resource management        facing policymakers and practitioners is to mediate the is socially restricted (Worldwatch Institute, 2003). Yet the   modernization of agriculture in such a way that it leads to majority of women in developing countries live and work        improved social and economic outcomes for those working in close association with natural resources (UNDP, 2005)       in the sector, while supporting the transition to more value- and are particularly affected by ecosystem changes (MA,        adding activities for others. Investing in people will be the 2005a). Therefore, demands for a gender focus in natural       key to achieving these goals. resource management range from “experimentation with institutional forms that are more hospitable to women and      1.4 Sustainability Indicators marginalized groups” (Colfer, 2005), to demands calling for increased emphasis on the needs of women when addressing       1.4.1 Indicators for the IAASTD aspects of natural resource sustainability (Müller, 2006) and  Indicators are part of what we observe in the world around calls for a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s con-  us as we attempt to detect patterns and extract information cerns and experiences an integral dimension of the policies    meaningful for directing action. Indicators are quantitative and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres   and qualitative variables that provide a simple and reliable so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not   means to track achievement, reflect changes connected to an perpetuated (UN, 1997).                                        intervention or trend, or help assess the performance of an Much has been written in recent years regarding the       organization, an economic sector, or a policy measure with feminization of agriculture. As men have migrated to urban     respect to set targets and goals. areas to seek better livelihoods, small-scale farming has been      In science, state variables of high precision and general- gradually feminized, with a larger percentage of women act-    ity tend to be favored as indicators. In everyday life, there is ing as head of household in rural areas, although their per-   a strong preference for trend indicators. An indicator, how- centage in relation to all economically active women has       ever, does not exist independently of the observer. Once an been dropping since 1980 worldwide, in developing coun-        indicator is established, there still remain multiple issues of tries as well as in low-income food-deficit countries (FAO,    interpretation and meaning. Experts use indicators to in- 2001b; Figure 1-20). Feminization does not represent an        form policy and to increase their own scientific understand- equalization of opportunities, but rather a further margin-    ing (Table 1-4). alization of small-scale farms, since many female heads of          On a methodological level, an assessment is not simply household are younger and less educated than male heads        a review of relevant literature; it can be based, in part, on of household, have less land, less capital and less access to  a literature review, but also needs to provide an assessment credit. Fewer than 10% of women farmers in India, Nepal        of the veracity and applicability of the information and the and Thailand own land and credit schemes in five African       uncertainty of outcomes within the context of the identi- countries award women less than 10% of the credit awarded      fied questions or issues within a specified environment. To to male small-scale farmers (FAO-Gender, 2007) In most         be effective and legitimate, an assessment process should be countries, the proportion of female-headed households is far   open, transparent, reviewed, and include a broad represen- less than 50% of the total.                                    tation of stakeholders and relevant experts. A lack of sex-disaggregated data means that women’s            Additional methodological elements include the selec- roles in agriculture and their specific needs are still poorly tion of units of analysis, integrating biophysical and human understood. It is noteworthy that about one-fifth of farms     systems as the context of agricultural practice, temporal and are headed by women. It is clear, however, that rural women    spatial scales of assessments from regional to global, issues chapter 01.indd 46                                                                                                                          11/3/08 10:41:37 AM

Context, Conceptual Framework and Sustainability Indicators | 47 Figure 1-20. Percentage of women in labor force (total and agricultural). Source: World Bank, 2004b; ILO, 2007. of values and valuation, dealing with uncertainty, dealing             there is a strong preference for accurate trend indicators. Es- with different knowledge systems, as well as modeling issues           pecially at policy level, information is required on whether and developing scenarios.                                              situations are improving or worsening, and whether policy objectives are getting closer to their goals or farther away. 1.4.2 Working with indicators                                          Trend indicators tend to focus more on identifying thresh- What are indicators for? Indicators are used both for spe-             olds that might indicate an imminent change of state, and cialist purposes and in everyday life. In specialist applica-          less on constant values—the more favored emphasis of many tions the purposes are defined within the domain of exper-             sciences. In many usages trend indicators are also used as tise. In everyday life, they form part of the repertoire of            learning devices, leading to reestimation of achievement and heuristics—simple rules for making decisions when time is              redefinition of goals as trend data move through time. pressing, information limited or partial, and deep reflection a luxury (Gigerenzer et al., 1999). Indicators become part             Precision, accuracy, and generality. There is agreement in of what we observe in the world around us as we attempt                the philosophy of logic and statistics that precision, accura- to detect patterns and extract information relevant to ef-             cy, and generality cannot be simultaneously optimized. Any fective action. In this everyday sense, they can be accurate           pair of the three may be. The construction and choice of and powerful (Gigerenzer et al., 1999) but also, if wrong-             indicator thus has to take into consideration which combi- ly observed or interpreted, contribute to systemic failures            nation is the most pertinent to the problem or situation for (Dörner, 1996).                                                        which the indicator might be used. There is a need to iden- tify appropriate indicators and the relationships of these Referents and contexts. All indicators require a referent              when used at various spatial and temporal hierarchical lev- measurement situation. To allow meaningful interpretation              els. This is partly a matter of scale and structure of systems of indicators and utilization that will appropriately inform           hierarchies, and partly a matter of whether it is the state policy processes, there is also a need for awareness of the            variables or dynamics that the user considers important to context of use. Strictly speaking, indicators require applica-         observe and monitor. tion in a controlled environment (with/without, before/af- ter). Rarely, however, is such a design possible in reality, for       The dilemmas of interpretation and meaning obvious practical and ethical reasons. Thus the present as-            An indicator does not exist independently of the observer: sessment has to accept that information is not perfect. One            as mentioned above, a range of pre-analytic choices are approach to handle uncertainty is through scenarios that               made before an indicator is constructed or brought into use. are built on available indicators and assumptions.                     These choices are inevitably value-laden, and enriched with meaning that the indicator itself does not possess. Take, State variables and trend indicators. The IAASTD uses two              for example, poverty indicators: one can construct income- kinds of indicators, describing either state or trends. State          based, nutrition-based, gender-based (etc.) indicators. Each variables, of high precision and generality, tend to be fa-            type of indicator both reveals what is important for the vored in science, as they represent the current state of an            user’s purpose but also conceals what is not considered pre- object or process and are thus measurable. In everyday life,           analytically to be of importance. chapter 01.indd 47                                                                                                                                       11/3/08 10:41:38 AM