Legislative Approaches To Sustainable Agriculture And Natural Resources Governance

This book encompasses a broad range of natural resource sectors, with discrete chapters on water, land, forestry, fisheries, mining, petroleum and agriculture. Given this broad range of areas, the focus of the publication is narrowed to provide an overarching holistic perspective that is supportive of a systems-thinking approach. Recognizing that there are many useful publications elsewhere that detail extensively the specific regulatory elements of sound laws in the respective areas, this book offers the specific prism of highlighting approaches that embrace the pillars of sustainable development, i.e. approaches that recognize and are informed by economic, social and environmental considerations and impacts.

Toward Sustainability recommends a design for a new Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID). Currently, eight CRSPs operate under legislation that supports long-term agricultural research of benefit to developing countries and the United States. This book defines a process by which knowledge from all relevant AID-supported programs could be integrated and applied to advance profitable farming systems that improve local conditions and contribute to environmental goals. It makes recommendations on the types of competitive grants that should be made available under a new program, institutional participation, content of research proposals, and administrative procedures.

Intended for aspiring and new practitioners of Participatory Research and Development (PR&D) as well as field-based researchers in developing countries. Highlights that agricultural research and development has become a joint approach to deal with diverse biophysical environments, multiple livelihood goals, rapid changes in local and global economies, and an expanded range for stakeholders over agriculture and natural resources.

Intended for aspiring and new practitioners of Participatory Research and Development (PR&D) as well as field-based researchers in developing countries. Highlights that agricultural research and development has become a joint approach to deal with diverse biophysical environments, multiple livelihood goals, rapid changes in local and global economies, and an expanded range for stakeholders over agriculture and natural resources.

Annotation * Shows how management of local resources can be done best by the local community for the local community * Covers common property, protected areas, landscape, forests, watersheds, soil and water management * Presents successful new approaches to collective decision-making and the principles of good practice Drawing on extensive and important case studies, this book presents innovative approaches for participation and collective decision-making in natural resource management, good practice for research, and challenges for future developments. It employs the practical lessons to show how to organize participatory research, the forms of participation and quality of the science involved, and how to scale up participatory approaches and successful initiatives in resource management. Those professionally involved, whether in the field, programme managers or policy-makers will find its analysis and conclusions invaluable. It will also be a very suitable text for students of both the biophysical and social science aspects of natural resource management.

This book focuses on the social and environmental issues being addressed by agricultural law within the current globalised system. What is agricultural law? Agricultural regulations concern and affect essential human needs and values that must be dealt with by pursuing a comprehensive and coordinated global approach. By tracking the developments in this context, this book explores the new challenges that agricultural law needs to address in order to frame emerging dilemmas. International governance of natural resources and their role in addressing food insecurity is the object of the first Part of the volume, which deals with sustainable agriculture and agro-ecosystem services in connection with the food security issue. The second Part focuses on the regulation of food as the main product of agricultural activity, and explores the answers that the law can provide in order to accommodate consumers’ interests and concerns (inter alia, novel foods, animal welfare, direct sales and e-commerce). The third Part examines the social, environmental and legal consequences of a renewed interest in agricultural investments. Further, it analyses the evolution and the interplay between different legal systems with regard to land tenure, environmental concerns and investments in agriculture.

This study explores the limits to rights – and the interplay of rights and obligations – in land and natural resource governance. Drawing on legal developments from diverse thematic and geographic contexts, it aims to provide conceptual foundations for legal interventions to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT). Three clarifications are in order. First, an obligation can have both moral and legal dimensions; this study is primarily concerned with legal obligations. Second, the study takes a holistic approach to natural resource governance but focuses on land and surface resources. Third, while the study engages with the text of the VGGT, it also examines selected developments in national law – including constitutional, property, and natural resource law – and international law, particularly on human rights, the environment, and foreign investment. The study does not aim to provide a comprehensive discussion of these issues. Instead, it aims to outline the issues and encourage readers’ further reflection and debate.