User:Erobertson222/Sustainable agriculture

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(2) Factors affecting sustainability - Elyza

Planning to add more here

(4.6) Traditional agriculture - Makenzie

Other forms of traditional agriculture include agro forestry, crop rotations, and water harvesting. Water harvesting is one of the largest and most common practices, particularly used in dry areas and seasons. In Ethiopia, over half of their GDP and over 80 percent of their exports are attributed to agriculture; yet, it is known for its intense droughts and dry periods. Rainwater harvesting has been a large practice to help the country survive by focusing on runoff irrigation, roof water harvesting, and flood spreading.

Rain water harvesting is considered to be a low-cost alternative. This type of harvesting collects and stores water from roof tops during high-rain periods for use during droughts.

(4.7) Indigenous Agriculture - Elyza

Indigenous tribes have combined sustainable agriculture within all aspects of their lives for hundreds of years. (second sentence in beginning of Indigenous Agriculture section)

(bottom of intercropping paragraph) Many tribes utilized intercropping in ways such as the Three Sisters Garden. This gardening technique consists of corn, beans, and squash. These crops grow in unity as the corn stalk supports the beans, the beans produce nitrogen, and the squash retain moisture.

(5.4) Labor - Both

Planning to update further

(6) Standards - Makenzie (add photos)

Certification systems are important to the agriculture community and to consumers as these standards determine the sustainability of produce. There are various types of information that certification systems and standards provide for alternative farming solutions.

The USDA produces an organic label that is supported by nationalized standards of farmers and facilities. The steps for certification consist of creating an organic system plan, which determines how produce will be tilled, grazed, harvested, stored, and transported. This plan also manages and monitors the substances used around the produce, the maintenance needed to protect the produce, and any nonorganic products that may come in contact with the produce. The organic system plan is then reviewed and inspected by the USDA certifying agent. Once the certification is granted, the produce receives an approval sticker from the USDA and the produce is distributed across the U.S. In order to hold farmers accountable and ensure that Americans are receiving organic produce, these inspections are done at least once a year. This is just one example of sustainable certification systems through produce maintenance.

While the USDA is not the only organization that provides and maintains farming standards, these organizations and government programs receive lash-back for their poor attention to farmers. Certification plays a large role in governments and social issues, and the interests of governments and social issues can impact agriculture and labor.

Opposers show that certification processes create furthered barriers for farm workers and labor justice. These programs polarize unions and create change from market-based models and not the interests of farmers and workers. Additionally, research has show that farm workers are silenced in these certification processes and receive inadequate responses to farm worker issues such as low wages, exploitive conditions, and lack or resources. The standards, in the case of the USDA, are set by the government and not the agriculture workers who know produce best.

(7) Policy - Makenzie (add photos)

During 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, 45 countries pledged to give more than 4 billion dollars for transition to sustainable agriculture. The organization "Slow Food" expressed concern about the effectivity of the spendings, as they concentrate on technological solutions and reforestation en place of "a holistic agroecology that transforms food from a mass-produced commodity into part of a sustainable system that works within natural boundaries."

Additionally, the Summit consisted of negotiations that led to heavily reducing CO2 emissions, becoming carbon neutral, ending deforestation and reliance on coal, and limiting methane emissions.

In November, the Climate Action Tracker reported that global efforts are on track to for a 2.7 °C temperature increase with current policies, finding that the current targets will not meet global needs as coal and natural gas consumption are primarily responsible for the gap in progress. Since, Like-Minded Developing Countries asked for an addendum to the agreement that removed the obligation for developing countries to meet the same requirements of wealthy nations.

Israel

In 2012, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture found itself at the height of the Israeli commitment to sustainable agriculture policy. A large factor of this policy was funding programs that made sustainable agriculture accessible to smaller Palestinian-Arab communities. The program was meant to create biodiversity, train farmers in sustainable agriculture methods, and hold regular meetings for agriculture stakeholders. This plan was not well-accepted by all as opposers argue that the plan creates a new social construct and a tool for the government to hold more power.

References

Tolossa, Tasisa Temesge; Abebe, Firew Bekele; Girma, Anteneh Abebe (2020-01-01). Yildiz, Fatih (ed.). "Review: Rainwater harvesting technology practices and implication of climate change characteristics in Eastern Ethiopia". Cogent Food & Agriculture. 6 (1): 1724354. doi:10.1080/23311932.2020.1724354. ISSN 2331-1932.

WARREN, D. MICHAEL, and KRISTIN CASHMAN. Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development. International Institute for Environment and Development, 1988, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep01822.

"Water-Efficient Technology Opportunity: Rainwater Harvesting Systems". Energy.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-24.