A-21: ROLE OF FARMERS
Distr.
GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. III)
14 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 32
STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF FARMERS*
PROGRAMME AREA
Basis for action
32.1. Agriculture occupies one third of the land surface of the Earth, and
is the central activity for much of the world's population. Rural
activities take place in close contact with nature, adding value to it by
producing renewable resources, while at the same time becoming vulnerable
to overexploitation and improper management.
32.2. The rural household, indigenous people and their communities, and
the family farmer, a substantial number of whom are women, have been the
stewards of much of the Earth's resources. Farmers must conserve their
physical environment as they depend on it for their sustenance. Over the
past 20 years there has been impressive increase in aggregate agricultural
production. Yet, in some regions, this increase has been outstripped by
population growth or international debt or falling commodity prices.
Further, the natural resources that sustain farming activity need proper
care, and there is a growing concern about the sustainability of
agricultural production systems.
32.3. A farmer-centred approach is the key to the attainment of
sustainability in both developed and developing countries and many of the
programme areas in Agenda 21 address this objective. A significant number
of the rural population in developing countries depend primarily upon
small-scale, subsistence-oriented agriculture based on family labour.
However, they have limited access to resources, technology, alternative
livelihood and means of production. As a result, they are engaged in the
overexploitation of natural resources, including marginal lands.
32.4. The sustainable development of people in marginal and fragile
ecosystems is also addressed in Agenda 21. The key to the successful
implementation of these programmes lies in the motivation and attitudes of
individual farmers and government policies that would provide incentives to
farmers to manage their natural resources efficiently and in a sustainable
way. Farmers, particularly women, face a high degree of economic, legal
and institutional uncertainties when investing in their land and other
resources. The decentralization of decision-making towards local and
community organizations is the key in changing people's behaviour and
implementing sustainable farming strategies. This programme area deals
with activities which can contribute to this end.
Objectives
32.5. The following objectives are proposed:
(a) To encourage a decentralized decision-making process through the
creation and strengthening of local and village organizations that would
delegate power and responsibility to primary users of natural resources;
(b) To support and enhance the legal capacity of women and
vulnerable groups with regard to access, use and tenure of land;
(c) To promote and encourage sustainable farming practices and
technologies;
(d) To introduce or strengthen policies that would encourage
self-sufficiency in low-input and low-energy technologies, including
indigenous practices, and pricing mechanisms that internalize environmental
costs;
(e) To develop a policy framework that provides incentives and
motivation among farmers for sustainable and efficient farming practices;
(f) To enhance the participation of farmers, men and women, in the
design and implementation of policies directed towards these ends, through
their representative organizations.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
32.6. National Governments should:
(a) Ensure the implementation of the programmes on sustainable
livelihoods, agriculture and rural development, managing fragile
ecosystems, water use in agriculture, and integrated management of natural
resources;
(b) Promote pricing mechanisms, trade policies, fiscal incentives
and other policy instruments that positively affect individual farmer's
decisions about an efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, and
take full account of the impact of these decisions on household food
security, farm incomes, employment and the environment;
(c) Involve farmers and their representative organizations in the
formulation of policy;
(d) Protect, recognize and formalize women's access to tenure and
use of land, as well as rights to land, access to credit, technology,
inputs and training;
(e) Support the formation of farmers' organizations by providing
adequate legal and social conditions.
32.7. Support for farmers' organizations could be arranged as follows:
(a) National and international research centres should cooperate
with farmers' organizations in developing location-specific
environment-friendly farming techniques;
(b) National Governments, multilateral and bilateral development
agencies and non-governmental organizations should collaborate with
farmers' organizations in formulating agricultural development projects to
specific agro-ecological zones.
(b) Data and information
32.8. Governments and farmers' organizations should:
(a) Initiate mechanisms to document, synthesize and disseminate local
knowledge, practices and project experiences so that they will make use of
the lessons of the past when formulating and implementing policies
affecting farming, forest and fishing populations;
(b) Establish networks for the exchange of experiences with regard
to farming that help to conserve land, water and forest resources, minimize
the use of chemicals and reduce or reutilize farm wastes;
(c) Develop pilot projects and extension services that would seek to
build on the needs and knowledge base of women farmers.
(c) International and regional cooperation
32.9. FAO, IFAD, WFP, the World Bank, the regional development banks and
other international organizations involved in rural development should
involve farmers and their representatives in their deliberations, as
appropriate.
32.10. Representative organizations of farmers should establish programmes
for the development and support of farmers' organizations, particularly in
developing countries.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
32.11. The financing needed for this programme area is estimated in
chapter 14 (Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development),
particularly in the programme area entitled "Ensuring people's
participation and promoting human resource development for sustainable
agriculture". The costs shown under chapters 3 (Combating poverty), 12
(Managing fragile ecosystems: combating desertification and drought), and
13 (Managing fragile ecosystems: sustainable mountain development) are
also relevant to this programme area.
(b) Scientific and technological means
32.12. Governments and appropriate international organizations, in
collaboration with national research organizations and non-governmental
organizations should, as appropriate:
(a) Develop environmentally sound farming technologies that enhance
crop yields, maintain land quality, recycle nutrients, conserve water and
energy and control pests and weeds;
(b) Conduct studies of high-resource and low-resource agriculture to
compare their productivity and sustainability. The research should
preferably be conducted under various environmental and sociological
settings;
(c) Support research on mechanization that would optimize human
labour and animal power and hand-held and animal-drawn equipment that can
be easily operated and maintained. The development of farm technologies
should take into account farmers' available resources and the role of
animals in farming households and the ecology.
(c) Human resource development
32.13. Governments, with the support of multilateral and bilateral
development agencies and scientific organizations, should develop curricula
for agricultural colleges and training institutions that would integrate
ecology into agricultural science. Interdisciplinary programmes in
agricultural ecology are essential to the training of a new generation of
agricultural scientists and field-level extension agents.
(d) Capacity-building
32.14. Governments should, in the light of each country's specific
situation:
(a) Create the institutional and legal mechanisms to ensure
effective land tenure to farmers. The absence of legislation indicating
land rights has been an obstacle in taking action against land degradation
in many farming communities in developing countries;
(b) Strengthen rural institutions that would enhance sustainability
through locally managed credit systems and technical assistance, local
production and distribution facilities for inputs, appropriate equipment
and small-scale processing units, and marketing and distribution systems;
(c) Establish mechanisms to increase access of farmers, in
particular women and farmers from indigenous groups, to agricultural
training, credit and use of improved technology for ensuring food security.
* * * *
* In this chapter, all references to "farmers" include all rural
people who derive their livelihood from activities such as farming, fishing
and forest harvesting. The term "farming" also includes fishing and forest
harvesting.
END OF CHAPTER 32
.
=========================RRojas Research Unit/1996======================
