Sustainable Agriculture

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• Sustainable Agriculture A Lok Sanjh
  Foundations Approach in Pakistan.
• (Prof. Qamar Mohy-Ud-Din)
• Why Sustainable Agriculture.
• The current food crisis the world over has
  emerged due to experiencing sustainable
  agriculture by only a few thousand communities.

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• The farmers and communities adopting regenerative
  technologies have substantially improved
  agricultural yields, after only using few or no
  external inputs
• 2. The History of Modernized Agriculture.
• Agricultural modernization has helped to
  transform many rural communities. These include
  the loss of jobs, the further
• disadvantaging of women economically,

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• the increasing specialization of
  livelihoods, and the growing gap between the
  well-off and the poor etc.
• All countries including Pakistan, where the
  Green Revolution has had a significant impact
  have seen average annual growth rates in the
  agricultural sector fall during the 1980s,
  compared with the post revolution period of
  1965-1980.

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• 3. What is Sustainable Agriculture.
• Many terms are used to describe sustainable
  agriculture. These include regenerative, low
  external input, resource-conserving, natural,
  eco-agriculture, and organic agriculture etc. All
  these terms characterize the greater use of local
  resources and knowledge.
• The sustainable agriculture makes better use of
  internal natural control processes and resources.
  

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• These include biological, cultural and
  mechanical methods instead using pesticides for
  controlling pests, weeds and diseases use of
  livestock manures, composts and nitrogen-fixing
  crops instead of inorganic fertilizers
  information of management decisions should come
  from local resources instead of input suppliers
  and locally generated energy resources should
  substitute the fossil fuels.

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• 4 Successful Application of Sustainability
• Sustainability requires that we look closely at
  the very nature of the way we conceptualize
  sustainability and how it might be achieved.
• Sustainable agriculture needs agricultural
  professionals willing and able to learn from
  farmers it needs supportive external
  institutions it needs local groups and
  institutions capable of managing resources
  effectively and above all it needs agricultural
  policies that support these features.

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• 5. The Transition to Sustainable Agriculture
• The basic challenge for sustainable agriculture
  in the Green Revolution areas, is to maintain
  yields at current levels, while reducing
  environmental damage.
• In the low input systems, diverse and complex
  lands, the challenge is to increase yields per
  hectare while not damaging natural resources.

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• The evidence from farms and communities from all
  over the world shows that agriculture can only be
  persistent and sustainable when resource
  conserving technologies are developed and used by
  local institutions and groups, who are supported
  by external research, extension and development
  institutions acting in an enabling way.
• For sustainable agriculture to spread, the wider
  policy environment must too be enabling.

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• 6. Obstacles, Threats and Uncertainties.
• The greatest challenge will be to ensure that the
  biases of the current development paradigm are
  not repeated, with the poorest and disadvantaged
  once again marginalized by improvements. The
  threats occur form international to local levels.

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• At international level, markets and trade
  policies (e.g. WTO agreements) have been tending
  to depress commodity prices, so reducing returns
  to farmers and economies. Agrochemical companies,
  too, will be seeking to protect their markets
  against alternatives that imply reduced use of
  their products.

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• At national level, macro and micro economic
  policies that hinder the development of a
  sustainable agriculture have to be targeted and
  changed. In some cases, this will be politically
  very difficult, particularly when it comes to
  implementing land reforms (as in Pakistan), which
  would give farmers the security to invest in
  sustainable practices.

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• The bureaucratic nature of large institutions is
  a further threat. They face difficulties in try
  to work in a way that empowers local communities,
  as this implies giving up some power.
• The conservative nature of universities and
  teaching institutions is an obstacle to train
  agricultural professionals capable of working
  with and for farmers.

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• Farmers themselves face transition costs in the
  process of adopting sustainable agricultural
  practices and technologies, and acquiring new
  management and learning skills.
• 7 A Lok Sanjh Foundations Approach to
  Sustainable Agriculture.
• In this section we will explain how the Lok Sanjh
  Foundation is heading towards

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• sustainable agriculture by reducing the cost of
  production and increasing yields in complex and
  diverse agriculture, and maintaining yields in
  Green Revolution areas.
• 7.1 Mission Statement of Lok Sanjh
• People centered development to reduce poverty,
  enhance food security through
• strengthening local democracy, empowering women
  and sustainable use of natural resources

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• Lok Sanjh started working with farming
  communities in 1996. The idea was to find
  solutions to the problems inherited from the
  Green Revolution (GR) technologies. It was
  generally believed by the farming community that
  GR has negatively affected resource base and
  biodiversity. The globalization, WTO and other
  developments have further exacerbated the
  situation.

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• The food production systems that farmers
  developed over generations got directly under
  threat. Farmers were facing falling farm prices
  and rising costs of production. Thus rural
  poverty had increased. Small and landless farmers
  were more food insecure than before.
• Lok Sanjh developed a strategy to build farmers
  capacity using local knowledge and the success
  stories from elsewhere in South

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• Asia in pest management soil rebuilding, and
  companion crop technology, many local
  plants-based formulations were prepared and
  tested in farmers fields.
• Access to local seeds was considered important
  and seed banks were developed with the active
  participation of farmers, particularly with women
  farmers.
• Women farmers were got engaged in vegetable
  production, goats farming and poultry production.
  

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• At present Lok Sanjh is working in more than 130
  villages in nine districts of Punjab, Kashmir and
  with partners in NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan
  provinces of Pakistan. At national level, Lok
  Sanjh is member of Sustainable Agriculture Action
  Group (SAAG), a network of more than thirty like
  minded organizations working on sustainable
  agriculture.

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• 7.2 Lok Sanjh means working together with the
  people
• Lok Sanjh is working with rural communities for
  the last twelve years and has the experience to
  build capacity of the poor to use their skills to
  create their own wealth of opportunities to be
  out of poverty.
• Strategies Followed by Lok Sanjh.

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• i) Village Food Security Programme
• i) Motivated farmers to change from conventional
  to ecological farming. Lowers cost of production,
  increases income and reduces poverty.
• ii) Motivated farmers to adopt biodiversity
  system instead of mono-cropping to ensure food
  security.
• iii) Increased organic food production for
  domestic use and marketing.

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• ii) Farmers Field School
• To build capacity of farmers Training in
• i) Making Compost
• ii) Making bio-pesticides
• Adopting IPM technology.
• iii) Green House Technology
• Involved farmers to produce off-season
  vegetables for domestic use and marketing .
  increased income.

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• iv) Seed Bank
• With introduction of hybrid seeds local and
  farmer seeds were vanishing. Farmers were at the
  mercy of multinationals. Lok Sanjh
• i) Mobilized farmers to build and save own seed
  by developing seed banks.
• Involved women in seed saving.
• Farmers exchanged seed and saved money to buy
  seed from market

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• v) Raising Nurseries
• Farmers trained in raising nurseries of
  vegetables, crops, forest trees, fruit trees and
  medicinal plants.
• Income of farmers increased and used the leaves
  of Neem to make biopesticides.
• vi) Farmers Research Farms
• Promoted ecological agriculture for demonstration
  to other farmers

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• Promoted biodiversity instead of mono-cropping.
• It required less water, less pest attack.
• Farmers selected best varieties of Rice, Wheat
  and Vegetables.
• vii) Strengthening Local Democracy
• Lok Sanjh engaged local government and public
  representatives in development planning of
  villages.
• Involved communities in environment friendly
  activities.

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• viii) Marketing Support
• As organic production is increasing Lok Sanjh is
  helping farmers to market their produce at
  premium price in the market.
• ix) Village Eco Club School Eco Clubs
• Mobilized people to take care of environment of
  village and keeping it clean. Farmers, teachers
  and elected councilors were involved.
• Establishment of eco clubs in the schools.

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• x) Youth Empowerment Support.
• Lok Sanjh mobilized young generation.
• By involving students in eco-friendly activities.
  
• Arranged school debates and games developed
  competition and positive thinking in youth.
• xi) Farmers Rights Programme.
• Establishment of Dehqan (Small farmer) assembly.

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• Arranged farmers Rally on food sovereignty,
  GMOs, Plant Breeders Rights ordinance etc.
• xii) Women in Agriculture and Development
  Alternatives (WADA)
• Goats and poultry distributed to widows and poor
  women.
• Encouraged women to develop kitchen gardening.

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• xiii) Grain Bank
• Established to make the small farmers food secure
  decrease their dependency on market.
• xiv) Water Harvesting
• In rain fed areas ponds were constructed to
  conserve rain water and use for growing
  vegetables.
• xv) Health Camp
• Health Camps were conducted for women and
  children.