Let us have a look at the definition of livelihood and its sustainability. Livelihood is defined as "A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living." (Source: Chambers, Conway, December 1992) Capabilities of the household to address the needs to be fulfilled to live the dignified life can be enhanced by ensuring sustainable livelihood. Sustainable livelihood can be defined as follows – “A livelihood is sustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance capabilities or assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for next generation”. (Source: Chambers, Conway, December 1992) …show more content…
The Panel elaborated this as “sustainable livelihood security” in the opening pages of its report Food 2000 (WCED 1987a). The Commission itself, in its report, Our Common Future (WCED 1987b), began with older thinking and language with “jobs” (e.g. pages 43, 49), but shifted substantially to the use of “livelihood”. It speaks of “securing the livelihoods of the rural poor” (p.130), maintaining and even enhancing agricultural productivity and “the livelihoods of all rural dwellers” (p.133), and “securing the livelihoods of the rural poor” (p.130). It uses the expressions “adequate livelihood”, “livelihood opportunities”, and “livelihood security” (ibid p.40 and p.129; p.54 and p.142; and p.118 and p.129 respectively). Agriculture “lacks policies to ensure that food is produced where it is needed and in a manner that sustains the livelihoods of the rural poor” (p.118). Sustainable livelihoods are mentioned twice: “Shifting production to food-deficit countries and to the resource-poor farmers within those countries is a way of securing sustainable livelihoods" (p.129) and “Providing sustainable livelihoods for resource-poor farmers presents a special challenge for agricultural research” (p.138
The following case study critiques Upton’s vision to establish a sustainable community through implementing comprehensive sustainable strategy. The urban periphery development is thought to demonstrate superior execution of sustainable principles in development (Jackson 2007). As a parallel, the report focuses on the development of Upton’s design code and demonstrates how large -scale mix-use developments can incorporate sustainable practice and principles of urban growth.
One of the largest issues facing the Global South today is food security. In many cases food security is closely associated with agriculture in a specific area. Due to several issues faced by post war agriculture in Sierra Leone a food security issue has arisen leading to income/consumption poverty. One of the issues facing in Sierra Leone is the number of citizens choosing to work in the mining industry as opposed to working in agriculture. Another issue faced by the agriculture industry in Sierra Leone is the displacement of many farm families due to the civil war and the affect it has on food production. The agriculture industry in Sierra Leone also faces this issue of rice importation into the country which lowers the income of farmers. These issues faced by the agriculture sector in Sierra Leone have lead to problems with food security and poverty.
Sustainability is one of the most controversial topics throughout the history, and as our society develop, we realize that being able to be sustainable is essential to survival of our race. The book Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Sustainability is a collection of articles on different side of various issues related to sustainability. In the book, Issue 8 discusses the ability of technology to deliver sustainability, and issue 16 and 17 discusses the sustainability of food and energy. While issue 16 and 17 are well-presented, the arguments in issue 8 are not very strong.
From the late 1700’s, documented evidence has existed about the concerning subject of food security; an issue still discussed worldwide today. Food security refers to a country’s ability to access the amount of nutritious food necessary to feed their population. An area with high food security means the population has access to nutritious food at all times, whereas a county with low food security faces the opposite effect. In 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus defined the current issue of food security by referencing the variance between the world’s rapid population growth and the agricultural output needed to maintain the growing population. Malthus believed to solve this issue the rate of population growth would need to be maintained by controlling
Cone, Cynthia A., and Andrea Myhre. "Community Supported Agriculture: A Sustainable Alternative t Industrial Agriculture?" Human Organization 59.2 (2000): 187-196.
Agriculture: “What role does agriculture and farming play in the lack of food available to those in need”?
...struggling to earn any income at all and sometimes do not even get the opportunity to eat. Another issue that Raj Patel did not touch on is the lack of care consumers have for the farmers. It seems that consumers care about farmers about as much as the corporations do, which, in my opinion, is not a lot. When consumers only care about low prices and large corporations only care about making a profit, the farmers are left out to dry. Many consumers believe “food should be available at a bargain price, a belief that relies on labor exploitation and environmental exhaustion at multiple points along the commodity chain.” (Wright, 95) Corporations as well as consumers generally tend to be selfish and I think Raj Patel is afraid to mention this. If only these people cared a little bit more about each other I believe the hourglass of the food system will begin to even out.
Sustainability is an issue that everyone should be concerned about. If the planet Earth is going to exist, as we know it, everyone should wake up and do their part to help achieve a greater level of sustainability. In my English 101 class we learned about the issue of sustainability. Many different topics were discussed and researched throughout the course of the semester. Overall, I think that the sustainability project has been a learning and enlightening experience for everyone in this class. Many more things can be done next semester, since the groundwork has been laid to continue this project for time to come.
Sustainability is a concept with a diverse array of meanings and definitions – a widely used glamorous, ambiguous, ambivalent and vague concept that is used by different stakeholder groups in various ways. Presumably to avoid noodling over a terminology or to avoid the confrontation with a definition, most widely the concept is broken down a planning process (c.f. e.g. Döring & Muraca, 2010). That is why most common sustainability is understood as sustainable development.1
The developed world’s love affair with local/organic farming (peasant farming as Collier describes it) has decreased food production worldwide because it does not use the land efficiently enough as with commercial agriculture companies. It also requires government subsidies that large commercial farming companies do not necessarily need. By increasing commercial farming, the world food supply will inevitably increase over a short period.
In class we discussed what sustainable development meant to us; each group had its own definition. Our group’s definition was that sustainable development is for the long term for future generations, for the basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and job. The basic will increase over time and our resources will diminish, which why sustainable development is important. Sustainable development is important for future generations so that they end up with a world better than ours. Sustainable development is achievable if society works together to meet everyone’s basic needs and create a better world.
Environmental sustainability is making decisions and taking actions in the interest of protecting the natural world, preserving the capability of the environment to support human life and ensuring that humans use the environment in a way that does not harm the environment. It also questions how economic development affects our environment vice versa.
Sustainable development means that the present generations should be able to make use of resources to live better lives in such a manner that it doesn’t compromise the ability of future generations to survive and make better lives for themselves as well. For sustainable development to occur, there needs to be sustainable economic, ecological and community development. Society needs to be educated about ways in which they can use resources, especially natural, in such a manner that it doesn’t cause harm to the environment and put future generations lives at risk.
(The Sustainability of Irish Agriculture, n.d.) Sustainability is very important on my home farm. Practices have been put in place that won’t cause harm to the environment. My home farm is a small, family enterprise and I feel that new approaches are needed in order to maintain the farms sustainability status. Non-renewable inputs that are harmful to the environment or to the health of farmers should be minimised. As well as this, farmers have knowledge and skills that could be put into use, therefore substituting human capital for costly external outputs. Sustainable agriculture outcomes can be positive for food productivity, reduced pesticide use and carbon balances. (Agricultural Sustainability: concepts, principles and evidence, 2007) In this essay, I will discuss the principles and practices of sustainable agriculture, identifying how they may relate to my home farm. I will then discuss whether or not present activities can change to more sustainable methods in the
Today agriculture is the livelihood of most poor underdeveloped nations. This communal life blood provides a majority of the population with a source of employment, nourishment and income. It is considered to be an invaluable skill, that is taught down from generation to generation along with a sense of respect for the environment. However as a nation begins to undergo development, so do their food production systems. The country's newfound development causes significant restructuring of their agricultural production practices. This restructuring leads to poor environmental practices, and adverse agriculture methods. Increased economic development/production negatively affects a country's environmental and agricultural health.