Rural Development: Decisions of the GA and CSD

World Summit on Sustainable Development
Johannesburg, 26 August - 4 September 2002

The Plan of Implementation adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development emphasizes that Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development are essential to the implementation of an integrated approach to increasing food production and enhancing food security and food safety in an environmentally sustainable way. Paragraph 40(a) of the JPOI, urges action at all levels to achieve the Millennium Declaration and World Food Summit targets to halve global hunger by 2015, in combination with measure which address poverty. Specific recommendations support, inter alia,: integrated land management and water-use plans; the sustainable and efficient use of land and of other natural resources, including through strengthening national research and extension services and farmer organizations; the enhanced participation of women in sustainable agriculture and food security; guaranteeing well-defined and enforceable land and water use rights and promotion of legal security of tenure; increasing public sector finance for sustainable agriculture; enhancing access to existing markets and development of new markets for value-added agricultural products; and support for traditional and indigenous agricultural systems.

Kindly see also website information under "Agriculture” “Land” “Desertification and Drought” and “Freshwater”.