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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] The business of landscapes, eco agriculture, sustainable agriculture, sustainable development (links to websites)
  • Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 01:57:58 -0400

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Karl S North <knorth@binghamton.edu>
Date: Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 6:37 PM
Subject: Re: [SANET-MG] The business of landscapes, eco agriculture,
sustainable agriculture, sustainable development (links to websites)
To: sanet-mg@googlegroups.com


They say a landscape approach is a holistic approach to natural resource
management that sustains the health of landscapes and their ecosystem
processes. On the face of it, that is a good thing. I have several
concerns, however. One is that their main focus is management of multiple
stakeholders in an alliance that includes many business members that have
never had any interest in holistic natural resource management, like Basf,
Cocacola and Cargill. Another is with the inclusion of big "beltway"
environmental organizations like the Nature Conservancy and the
Environmental Defense Fund. Their traditional definition of conservation is
a rather rigid one that does not acknowledge constant change in ecosystems,
and takes a piecemeal "let's save the lions" approach that often ignores
other ecosystem species including indigenous humans like Masai herders.
Finally, they still use the term "sustainable development" which, in a time
when the end of growth is in view, should really be denounced as an
oxymoron.

It sounds like what they are trying to do is like herding cats, all of
which have independent goals, and some of which are such big cats (like the
outfits mentioned above) that they have always run roughshod over the
landscapes that they invade.

A bunch of nefarious exploiters of peoples and landscapes have apparently
latched on to these organizations as a way to greenwash themselves. Nestle
and Unilever funding the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, for
instance.

So it seems to me that some of the leadership of these outfits are
well-intentioned, but extremely naive.

Karl

On Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 4:19 PM, Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> I am curious what others think about these organizations and their work.
> This use of the word landscapes is new to me.
>
> EcoAgriculture Partners http://ecoagriculture.org/
>
> The Sustainable Food Lab is a global network of organizations accelerating
> progress toward a more sustainable food system. Food Lab staff advise on
> sustainability strategy and procurement programs, design and
> manage pre-competitive collaboration, and provide leadership development.
> http://www.sustainablefoodlab.org/
>
> Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform
> The global food value chain initiative for sustainable agriculture
> http://www.saiplatform.org/
>
> SUSTAIN Africa
> Wed, 22 Jul 2015
>
> In order to generate jobs, increase public revenue, expand social services
> and ultimately reduce poverty, African countries are focusing on and
> promoting investments in ‘growth corridors’ - areas where development of
> natural-resource based industries such as agriculture and mining are being
> prioritised because of their potential to catalyse rapid economic growth.
>
> At the same time, countries are looking to prevent degradation from
> quick-paced expansion and to achieve the ambitions of a climate-resilient,
> green economy. There is an urgent need for close partnerships and joint
> action among the public and private sectors and rural communities to ensure
> that investments flowing into growth corridors include solutions for the
> sustainability of water, land and ecosystems that are socially inclusive
> and that build resilience to climate change.
> https://www.iucn.org/content/sustain-africa
>
> The Business of Landscapes
> By Duncan Pollard
>
> http://www.sustainablefoodlab.org/the-business-of-landscapes/
>
> A recent seminar convened by EcoAgriculture Partners, Sustainable
> Agriculture Initiative Platform, IUCN and the Sustainable Food Lab set out
> to understand where and how companies should or could be more involved in
> this movement. The consensus from the companies present[1]
> <http://www.sustainablefoodlab.org/the-business-of-landscapes/#_ftn1> was
> that there is a strong case for corporate engagement at a landscape level
> when:
>
> - there is a high level of dependency upon a landscape by the company
> (either through sourcing of raw materials, the presence of fixed assets
> such as a factory, and/or the need for a “license to operate”)
> - there are major sustainability risks that can’t be solved alone i.e.
> local participation and multiple stakeholders are needed, especially
> governments
> - supply chain approaches, with simpler tools such as certification
> have not worked or are unlikely to work
>
> The latter point on simplicity is an important qualifier – landscape
> approaches are complex so need serious commitment and time. From our
> deliberations, two types of sustainability challenges stood out clearly as
> appropriate for landscape approaches:
>
> - Water stewardship
> - Helping farmers become resilient, principally to extreme weather
> events and climate change
>
> There may be others.
>
> The concept of landscapes grew out of the conservation community, and it
> is still seen as a way to deliver conservation outcomes at a broad
> geographic scale. It would arguably be more relevant for companies if the
> advocates promoted the potential to deliver on social outcomes too.
> Ultimately too, governments need to be at the center of any initiative for
> it to succeed.
>
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--
Karl North - http://karlnorth.com/
"Pueblo que canta no morira" - Cuban saying
"They only call it class warfare when we fight back" - Anon.
"My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son
will ride a camel."
—Saudi saying

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--
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared




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