Explores how both governments and the private sector can expand the role of markets to allocate water used by all sectors and to get agricultural producers to account for the pollution that their sector generates.
This publication reveals that organic agriculture is disadvantaged by current agricultural support policies, and the proliferation of standards and labels has sometimes confused consumers and impeded trade.
The 21st century could see the switch from the fossil fuel to the biological based economy. Papers presented in this conference proceedings explore the questions involved.
Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.
China has the world's largest population but very limited supplies of water. This conference proceedings examines how China can best used its limited water resources in agriculture.
This report calls on policy makers to recognise the issues at stake in water resource management in agriculture and gives them the tools to do so, offering a wealth of information on recent trends and the outlook for water resource use in agriculture.
The expansion of agricultural production in China has been remarkable, but at the expense of the sustainable use of its natural resources. To counter this, as well as to face problems due to rising labour costs and a rapidly ageing rural population, agricultural production must concentrate on a ...
Part of OECD Water Resources and Sanitation Set - Buy all four reports and save over 30% on buying separately! Water is a key prerequisite for human and economic development, and for maintaining ecosystems. However, billions of people lack access to water and sanitation services, mainly due to poor governance and inadequate investment and maintenance. The situation is becoming more urgent due to increasing pressure, competition and even conflict over the use of water resources. The OECD has been working over the last two years to address these challenges. The results are summarised in this report, which emphasises the economic and financial aspects of water resources management and water service provision, the need for an integrated approach (including governance considerations) to address these complex policy challenges, and the importance of establishing a firm evidence base to support policy development and implementation. This report examines: strategic financial planning for water supply and sanitation that balances the key sources of revenues for the water sector – the “3Ts” of taxes, tariffs and transfers; the design and implementation of water pricing strategies that balance financial sustainability with other policy objectives; recent developments in private sector participation in the water sector; and trends and the future outlook of water use in agriculture. It considers both developing and OECD countries and offers concrete recommendations and checklists for action. The report is an invaluable resource for policy makers, academics, NGOs and all others interested in the challenges facing the water sector today.