What is sustainable AG?

Hi Ruxandra. Could you please give some insight as to what is meant by sustainable agriculture? Thank you

2 Answers

1. Hi Andra, firstly what a great group and what a thread to start off with. Now for my two penneth worth: Putting my economics hat on, I'm going to fix on the word investment. Depending on who you ask, investment can mean many things: For the private sector, it tends to mean the deployment of capital expecting a return. For governments, this tends to require the input of time and spending on regulatory regimes with returns in terms of employment, skills gained and taxation and also possibly spending on infrastructure and / or education to facilitate investment from the private sector. When sustainability is introduced, this brings about complications when it comes to the consumption of natural resources as, some investments, tend to lend themselves to rapid expoitation at high rates which might in the case of natural systems be below replenishment rates. Sustainability probably revolve around the concept of the use of the environment without long term degradation. Right, that's my tuppence, how you do this is open for debate!

2. Hi Trudi this is an excellent question and I am glad that it's been asked, as I was going to make it the first discussion point for the group (once I worked out the technology). My reply would be another question: tell me what your involvement in agriculture investment is and what sustainability means to you? Is this the easy way out? After all some may expect a precise answer to this as a demonstration of my knowledge of the area. I think not. In my view there is no precise definition of sustainable agriculture investment. It is not an exact science and depends very much on who is considering it and in what circumstances. Without wishing to restate the obvious, the concept of sustainability generally involves achieving some form of regenerative system where all elements remain in "balance" so as not to compromise their future input and value to the system as a whole. Different factors impact on "sustainability" including economic, environmental, and human/ social. This may include variability of (a) input costs impacting on profit margins and in turn management fees and investor returns (as applicable), (b) supplies eg water, fertiliser, seeds, bees etc. (c) labour conditions (d) environmental regulations impacting on use of fertilisers and soil/ land management, (e) national water allocations. Obviously these are just some examples. As a lawyer my response would be - sustainable agriculture investment is stakeholder specific and a dynamic process recognising that circumstances change. Hence it requires continuous engagement and dialogue. I'd expect a farm manager may answer having regard to the changes in demand for the particular crop grown, a fund manager may focus on generating a particular return over a number of years, and the farm worker may answer in relation to their working conditions and continuity of employment (seasonal or permanent), whilst an environmental NGO may focus on the level of environmental degradation and renewal facilitated by the investment. By including "sustainable" in the title for this group, the intention was not to deliver a clear cut definition of this concept, (sorry for any disappointment). Instead it is an invitation for discussion recognising that every agenda needs to dialogue with the other factors. What does sustainable agriculture investment mean to you?