Environment, Biodiversity and Agricultural Change in West Africa (UNU, 1997, 141 pages): The context: 4: Criteria for designing sustainable farming systems in tropical Africa: Sectorial interface requirements

Environment, Biodiversity and Agricultural Change in West Africa (UNU, 1997, 141 pages)

The context

4: Criteria for designing sustainable farming systems in tropical Africa

		(introduction...)
		Sustainable agriculture
		Farming systems of tropical Africa and their sustainability under changing conditions
		Ingredients of sustainable farming systems and issues to be considered in the design of these systems
		Sectorial interface requirements
		Conclusions and recommendations
		References

Sectorial interface requirements

However appropriate and realistic the design of a sustainable farming system may be, it is necessary to ensure that threats to it from other sectors are eliminated or significantly minimized. For example, poor road construction could result in flooding, eutrophication and erosion, all of which can seriously damage farm land and even fish-ponds or stream fisheries. A related example is a policy issue such as structural adjustment aimed at increasing export earnings or at reducing debt burdens. This may result in a lot of forest areas being cleared for the commercial row-growing crops, which will expose the soil to erosion. Similarly, removal of subsidies may result in farmers not using fertilizers which, in turn, will result in environmental degradation. Therefore, designing sustainable agricultural or farming systems and adhering to the design alone will not ensure sustainability unless policies, strategies, technologies, systems and components of resource management, and input/technology use in other sectors such as forestry, fisheries, animal production, manufacturing industries, tourism and management of nature reserves and trade are designed to ensure sustainability in development devoid of adverse impacts on the other sectors. A few examples of sectoral activities in one sector which affect other sectors are presented below:

Uncontrolled expansion of agricultural land reduces land available for reserves, forestry and other multiple land use requirements.

Unplanned land use and expansion of agricultural land may result in reduc ing land available for pastures, culminating in overgrazing.
Deforestation and inappropriate logging practices could cause erosion, landslides, siltation of streams, etc.
Poorly managed industrial expansion could result in chemical pollution of the air and streams.
Unregulated hunting and collection of trophies for sale to tourists or for export could result in loss of biodiversity and in ecosystem deterioration.
Lack of family planning and uncontrolled population growth causes increased pressures on land resources, shortening the duration of periods of fallow and resulting in poor vegetation cover and erosion.

All these call for not only integrated land use planning but also adoption of a holistic approach in development planning, in policy formulation and in selecting strategies and the execution of development programmes. The earlier we pay attention to these, the better.