SCP in Agriculture and Rural Development
SCP in Agriculture and Rural Development
SCP in Agriculture and Rural Development
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for SARD, <strong>and</strong> foster fairer conditions of employment <strong>in</strong> agriculture. It also serves to raise public<br />
awareness of the importance of SARD for achievement of the Millennium <strong>Development</strong> Goals.<br />
There are a wide range of negative impacts result<strong>in</strong>g from conventional agriculture which require<br />
an <strong>in</strong>tegrated, systems-based approach to susta<strong>in</strong>able agriculture <strong>and</strong> rural development, both with<br />
respect to farm management <strong>and</strong> the design <strong>and</strong> application of policies <strong>and</strong> market-based<br />
<strong>in</strong>struments.<br />
L<strong>and</strong> degradation <strong>in</strong> all its forms (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g depletion of soil nutrients, sal<strong>in</strong>ization, agrochemical<br />
pollution, soil erosion, vegetative degradation due to overgraz<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> deforestation) is a threat to<br />
food production <strong>and</strong> rural livelihoods, especially <strong>in</strong> the poorest areas of the develop<strong>in</strong>g world. The<br />
poor are more dependent on agriculture, <strong>and</strong> with<strong>in</strong> agriculture, more dependent on annual crops<br />
<strong>and</strong> on common property which <strong>in</strong>crease pressure on l<strong>and</strong> relative to perennial crops <strong>and</strong> private<br />
property, respectively. The poor are proportionately more affected by l<strong>and</strong> degradation, <strong>and</strong> also<br />
often lack the capacity to undertake l<strong>and</strong>-improv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>vestments. This <strong>in</strong>creases poverty as all<br />
forms of l<strong>and</strong> degradation reduce productive capacity <strong>and</strong> thus yields. In turn, this may force<br />
producers to resort to <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g fertilizer use to ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> yields, ab<strong>and</strong>on some plots of l<strong>and</strong><br />
(temporarily or on a permanent basis), or convert l<strong>and</strong> to lower value crops which can grow on poor<br />
soils or to graz<strong>in</strong>g. 2<br />
In the early n<strong>in</strong>eties, 38% of cropl<strong>and</strong> worldwide was estimated to be degraded to some extent.<br />
The cumulative impact of soil degradation on loss of cropl<strong>and</strong> productivity over the second half of<br />
the twentieth century is estimated to be about 13% (4% for pasture l<strong>and</strong>s). The reduction <strong>in</strong> crop<br />
yields between 1970 <strong>and</strong> 1990 due to water-<strong>in</strong>duced soil erosion alone is estimated to be 8% <strong>in</strong><br />
Africa. While effects on global food supplies are modest, due to the potential for compensation<br />
from non-degraded areas, l<strong>and</strong> degradation could have serious effects <strong>in</strong> certa<strong>in</strong> countries <strong>and</strong><br />
sub-regions <strong>in</strong> the develop<strong>in</strong>g world. 3 In South <strong>and</strong> Southeast Asia, estimates for total annual<br />
economic loss from degradation vary between 1 to 7% of agricultural GDP, while estimates based<br />
on a sample of eight African countries range from 1% of GDP <strong>in</strong> Madagascar to 9% <strong>in</strong> Zimbabwe.<br />
Country models for Ghana <strong>and</strong> Nicaragua estimate that annual GDP growth is reduced by almost<br />
one percentage po<strong>in</strong>t by l<strong>and</strong> degradation. 4<br />
2 Scherr, S.J. <strong>and</strong> S. Yadav (2001), “L<strong>and</strong> degradation <strong>in</strong> the develop<strong>in</strong>g world – Issues <strong>and</strong> policy options for<br />
2020”, Ch.21 <strong>in</strong> The unf<strong>in</strong>ished agenda – Perspectives on overcom<strong>in</strong>g hunger, poverty, <strong>and</strong> environmental<br />
degradation, eds. P<strong>in</strong>strup-Andersen, P. <strong>and</strong> R. P<strong>and</strong>ya-Lorch, IFPRI, 302 pp.<br />
3 For <strong>in</strong>stance, sal<strong>in</strong>ization is a major problem <strong>in</strong> the irrigation systems of the Indus, Tigris <strong>and</strong> Euphrates river<br />
bas<strong>in</strong>s, <strong>in</strong> northeastern Thail<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a, <strong>in</strong> the Nile Delta, <strong>in</strong> Northern Mexico <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> the Andean highl<strong>and</strong>s,<br />
whereas soil erosion affects with special severity the Himalayan foothills, southern Ch<strong>in</strong>a, Southeast Asia <strong>and</strong><br />
Central America.<br />
4 Scherr, S.J. <strong>and</strong> S. Yadav (2001), “L<strong>and</strong> degradation <strong>in</strong> the develop<strong>in</strong>g world – Issues <strong>and</strong> policy options for<br />
2020”, Ch.21 <strong>in</strong> The unf<strong>in</strong>ished agenda – Perspectives on overcom<strong>in</strong>g hunger, poverty, <strong>and</strong> environmental<br />
degradation, eds. P<strong>in</strong>strup-Andersen, P. <strong>and</strong> R. P<strong>and</strong>ya-Lorch, IFPRI, 302 pp.<br />
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