Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Director of IAASTD, claimed: 'that continuing to focus on production alone will undermine
our agricultural capital …'. A December 2010 United Nations Special Rapporteur on the
Right to Food stated that: 'Moving towards sustainability is vital for future food security
and an essential component of the right to food'. The report also recommended the
dissemination of knowledge about the best sustainable agricultural practices. However, the
concept of agricultural sustainability is a multi-faceted one involving agronomic, ecological,
economic, social and ethical considerations (Farshad & Zinck, 2003)
and means different
things to different people (Redclift, 1987; 1992 and O'Riordan, 1997).
Water management is one of the key determinants of agricultural sustainability and
therefore provision of adequate water supplies is an important requirement for the
sustainability of organic and conventional farming, the UK's two principal agricultural
systems. It is, however, debatable which of these two farming systems is more sustainable,
although it is assumed that conventional farming will contribute most to achieving future
food security. In the UK, a country which rarely experiences severe water shortages, the
driest April on record (2011) resulted in the River Derwent in Cumbria being virtually dry
and some reservoirs draining away. The Environment Agency stated in May that: '… if the
very dry weather continues we may look at preventing farmers taking water from rivers to
irrigate their crops' (Johnston, 2011). The long-term frequency and severity of such extreme
climate events in the UK could have serious consequences for food security, potentially
causing reduced crop yield, crop failure and farmers having to grow a different variety of
crops. Agriculture is the UK's sector most affected by climate change; it also contributes
greatly to climate change through the use of fertilisers, fuel and methane from ruminating
livestock. Agriculture, therefore, has the greatest need for adaptation. It is also imperative to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by the food system, reduce dependency on
fossil fuels and stop depleting natural resources such as soil and water upon which food
production depends (House of Commons, 2009, p. 13). These requirements may clash with
attempts to produce more food.
The five closely related food security themes discussed above (pesticides, fossil fuels,
agricultural sustainability, GM crops and global climate change) are difficult to discuss in
isolation as there are strong and quite complex connections between them. They can be
considered a network of interrelated concepts; for example, it is almost impossible to
examine the theme of food security without discussing agricultural sustainability. This
crucial relationship between sustainability and food security was emphasised by Lang (2009,
p. 30): 'food security can only mean sustainability'.
The rest of the chapter is divided into four sections. The next, conceptual, section outlines
the key dimensions of a modified behavioural approach. This is followed by a description of
the adopted two-part 'extensive' and 'intensive' research methodology used in the
investigation. Section four then provides detailed insights into farmers' environmental
behaviour and perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards key food security themes, as
well as appraising the consistency of farmers' environmental attitudes and behaviours. A
final section provides a conclusion to the chapter.
2. A modified behavioural approach
The 'behavioural environment' - where the internal or perceptual environment in which
facts of the phenomenal world are organized into conceptual patterns and given meaning or
values by individuals within particular cultural contexts - was introduced into geography
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