Evolution of farming systems for sustainable agriculture and rural development-
Building on policies, strategies and tools
Ten years after the Rio Conference (1992), the level of achievements towards sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) has been much lower than the expectations. Today, developing countries face urgent demands to increase food security, to reduce poverty and to preserve the natural resources and the environment.
SARD requires identifying adapted and efficient strategies, broadly accepted. To address this situation, the purpose of the "Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development - Evolution of Farming Systems (SARD-FSE) Project" is to gather governmental and non-governmental actors to make a diagnosis of different farming systems and to work together to identify innovative policies and strategies.
Since April 2003, country case studies are already being implemented in
Honduras ( on the
maize/bean-based farming system),
Mali (on the
cereal/root crop-based farming system) and
Philippines (on the lowland
rice-based farming system). They will culminate in the formulation of country proposals by April 2004.
To ensure a broad participation and consultation, stakeholders from the government, civil society, farmers'associations and external cooperation agencies, are involved in the case studies from local and territorial to national levels, and in national and regional workshops.
South-South partnership among national teams of studied countries is promoted through meetings of the team leaders carried out in alternating countries and through continuous networking among teams.
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