It is becoming increasingly clear that a more sustainable agriculture can bring economic, environmental, and social benefits to farmers, communities, and nations. Regenerating Agriculture draws together for the first time new empirical evidence from a diverse range of agroecological and community settings to show the impacts of more sustainable practices. Twenty cases involving widespread success from Brazil, Burkina Faso, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, and Sri Lanka are presented, and are supported by field- and community-level data from more than 50 projects and programs in 28 countries. Despite this emerging evidence, many farmers still depend on high levels of external inputs. Regenerating Agriculture, identifies the common elements of successful programs and shows how those still using "modernist" approaches to agriculture can successfully turn to sustainable farming. The first chapter outlines the scale of the challenge and includes analysis of sustainable agriculture's characteristics and underlying philosophies and values. Pretty then presents analyses of the processes of agricultural modernization, focusing on both production- and conservation-oriented programs and policies and the common elements of success. Almost all of these successes have been achieved despite existing, biased policy environments that strongly favor "modern" approaches to agricultural development, and at the same time discriminate against sustainability. Regenerating Agriculture examines policy frameworks and institutional processes, then sets out 25 effective policies that are known to work to support the transition to greater sustainability and self-reliance in agriculture.

Regenerating Agriculture: Policies and Practice for Sustainability and Self-Reliance

Business & Money

A Joseph Henry Press book

Pretty, Jules N.

International Institute for Environment and Development, London

Economics

Joseph Henry Press

The Pesticide Detox: Towards a More Sustainable Agriculture

Since the 1960s, the world's population has more than doubled and agricultural production per person has increased by a third. Yet this growth in production has masked enormous hidden costs arising from widespread pesticide use - massive ecological damage and high incidences of farmer poisoning and chronic health effects. Whereas once the risks involved with pesticide use were judged to be outweighed by the potential benefits, increasingly the external costs of pesticides, to environments and human health, are being seen as unacceptable. In response to this trend, recent years have seen millions of farmers in communities around the world reduce their use of harmful pesticides and develop cheaper and safer alternatives. The Pesticide Detox explores the potential for the phasing-out of hazardous pesticides and the phasing-in of cost effective alternatives already available on the market. This book makes clear that it is time to start the pesticide detox and to move towards a more sustainable agriculture.

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Routledge

Since the 1960s, the world's population has more than doubled and agricultural production per person has increased by a third. Yet this growth in production has masked enormous hidden costs arising from widespread pesticide use - massive ecological damage and high incidences of farmer poisoning and chronic health effects. Whereas once the risks involved with pesticide use were judged to be outweighed by the potential benefits, increasingly the external costs of pesticides, to environments and human health, are being seen as unacceptable. In response to this trend, recent years have seen millions of farmers in communities around the world reduce their use of harmful pesticides and develop cheaper and safer alternatives. The Pesticide Detox explores the potential for the phasing-out of hazardous pesticides and the phasing-in of cost effective alternatives already available on the market. This book makes clear that it is time to start the pesticide detox and to move towards a more sustainable agriculture.

Unwelcome Harvest (Natural Resource Management Set)

Agriculture Pollutes: pesticides can destroy wildlife and some are toxic to humans; some fungicides and herbicides cause cancer. Nitrates result in the contamination of drinking water and produce the risk of the �blue-baby� syndrome in infants and of stomach cancer in adults. Agriculture produces methane, ammonia, nitrous oxide and the products of burning off, all of which add to the world's problems of acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer and global warming. This book, which focuses on the UK, the USA and Third World countries, is the first comprehensive review of agriculture and pollution: it examines the facts and assesses the relative dangers of each pollution problem. It also considers the effects of pollution on agriculture itself � crop yields are depressed and livestock damaged by various forms of pollution from all sources. The authors offer solutions to these apparently overwhelming problems, and describe existing technology which would allow us to deal with them. Originally published in 1991

Unwelcome Harvest: Agriculture and pollution (Natural Resource Management Set)

Conway, Gordon R.

Environmental & Natural Resources Law

For the past 50 years, the main goal of agriculture has been to increase production at any price, using high amounts of fertilizers and pesticides and intensive industrial methods. This has caused damage to the environment and widespread rural depopulation. This study shows that there is a viable alternative - a form of agriculture which conserves resources, maintains rural employment and minimizes the external costs, without loss of productivity. Using case studies from industrialized and developing countries, the author describes the new technical, institutional and policy options available.

Regenerating Agriculture: An Alternative Strategy for Growth

Reference

Earthscan

Participatory Learning and Action

IIED

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Books by Pretty, Jules N.