Rôle du marché dans les réussites et les échecs des la gestion durables des ressources natutelles : sol, eau, biodiversité

Atelier E ; 16^ème CMSS

Montpellier-France , 26-26/08/1998

Improving land use through agriculture

DUDAL Rudi
Institute for Land and Water Management, Vital Decosterstraat 102-B3000 Leuven, Belgium

Agriculture is most essential to human survival and well being. It performs a vital public function, it feeds people. It is major form of land use and hence it relies on a transformation of vast areas of natural resources.

As a result of rapid population growth accelerated demand for agriculture products has exerted ever-increasing pressures on the natural resource base, resulting in excessive deforestation, land degradation and hazards of pollution. Hence, questions are raised about the sustainability of market induced intensified agriculture and about the impact of advanced technologies on the environment.

As long as land and water were abundant, limitations of natural resources were not considered to be an important constraint. However, with the current competition by different sectors of the economy for finite land resources it is being recognized that the natural resource base needs to be used more effectively and preserved for future generations. Also the market realizes that rational land use is essential to ensure returns to investments and to secure the essential economic motivation to land users. Attempts are made to narrow divergences between social and private interests, between sustainable development and the inevitability of agriculture intensification, between food security and natural resource management. It is now realized that soil is a natural capital which, once lost, cannot be replaced.

Environmental accounting is progressively being introduced in the assessment of agricultural development projects. Financing and development agencies have introduced environmental guidelines in the evaluation of their operations. Markets, public opinion and government policies are increasingly influencing land use decisions toward more environmentally acceptable production.

A number of market induced development schemes are reviewed in this respect: the Gezira scheme in Sudan; soybean production in central Brazil; small holder tea growing in Kenya; dairy development in Uruguay; oil palm production in Malaysia. I appears from this review that sustainability is not only a matter of protecting the natural resource base, but also of ensuring economic viability and social equity.

Key words : intensified agriculture, sustainable development