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Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) is the
subject of
chapter 14 of Agenda 21. The major objective of SARD is to increase
food production in a sustainable way and enhance food security. This
will involve education initiatives, utilization of economic incentives
and the development of appropriate and new technologies, thus ensuring
stable supplies of nutritionally adequate food, access to those supplies
by vulnerable groups, and production for markets; employment and income
generation to alleviate poverty; and natural resource management and
environmental protection.
The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) first reviewed Rural
Development at its
third session in 1995, when it noted with concern that, even though
some progress had been reported, disappointment is widely expressed at
the slow progress in moving towards sustainable agriculture and rural
development in many countries・ Sustainable agriculture was also
considered at the five-year review of implementation of Agenda 21 in
1997, at which time Governments were urged to attach high priority to
implementing the commitments agreed at the 1996 World Food Summit,
especially the call for at least halving the number of undernourished
people in the world by the year 2015. This goal was reinforced by the
Millennium Declaration adopted by Heads of State and Government in
September 2000, which resolved to halve by 2015 the proportion of the
world's people who suffer from hunger.
In accordance with its multi-year programme of work, agriculture with
a rural development perspective was a major focus of CSD-8 in 2000,
along with integrated planning and management of land resources as the
sectoral theme. The supporting documentation and the discussions
highlighted the linkages between the economic, social and environmental
objectives of sustainable agriculture. The Commission adopted decision
8/4 which identified 12 priorities for action. It reaffirmed that the
major objectives of SARD are to increase food production and enhance
food security in an environmentally sound way so as to contribute to
sustainable natural resource management. It noted that food
security-although a policy priority for all countries-remains an
unfulfilled goal. It also noted that agriculture has a special and
important place in society and helps to sustain rural life and land.
Rural Development is included as one of the thematic areas along with
Agriculture,
Land,
Drought,
Desertification and
Africa in the third implementation cycle
CSD16/17.
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