Module 4 - Investments in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification

Although intensification of production systems is an important goal, these systems need to be sustainable to provide for current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable agriculture can be defined as the management and conservation of the natural resource base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors conserves land, water, plant, and animal genetic resources and is environmentally nondegrading, technically appropriate, economically viable, equitable, and socially acceptable (FAO 1995).

A recent study investigating alternative household strategies for farming systems in developing countries reinforced the need for greater development attention to diversification and intensification (box 4.1) (Dixon et al. 2001). Table 4.1 presents the characteristics and relative importance of alternative poverty reduction strategies for five categories of farming systems that cover approximately 98 percent of cultivated lands. Intensification and diversification are important in all cases. In the relatively constrained circumstances of rainfed highlands and rainfed dry/cold climates, however, off-farm employment and exit from agriculture are more important (though not always easily achievable).

Table 4.1 Comparison of farming systems and relative importance of different poverty reduction strategies