Issues - SCP in Agriculture and Rural Development

Resource efficient agriculture

Less input intensive and more resource efficient agriculture offers a means to strengthen the competitiveness of the agricultural sector.

It can also improve living conditions and economic opportunities in rural areas, including for the poor, by reducing production costs and developing new markets for sustainable products.

Achieving more sustainable consumption and production in the agricultural sector requires a coherent response to the intimate linkages between:

  1. agricultural production,
  2. agro-ecosystems and the people who rely on them,
  3. and also the concerns and preferences of a growing number of consumers.

* * *

This paper outlines

  1. the sustainability challenges,
  2. the changes in agricultural policies and practices required to meet these challenges,
  3. and the incentives and support that farmers need to make the shift to more sustainable agricultural practices.

These can take the form of government policies, voluntary actions and new investments by business, and expression of consumer preferences for food produced from more sustainable agricultural production systems.