ricultural by-products in aquaculture and effluents from aquaculture in agriculture), etc.
Introduction and naturalization of species: Aquaculture is currently based on a limited number of species that have been disseminated all over the world. Aquaculture populations commonly escape establishing feral populations that can adversely effect the population density, health (e.g., when one population is a pathogen carrier), or genetic diversity of native species. More research evaluating and quantifying the impacts of introductions of aquaculture species on natural populations can ensure better integration of these species in the ecosystem while avoiding harmful effects on the surrounding environment. The culture of triploid fish is one way to ensure the non-reproduction of escaped fish.
6.2.10 Ensuring socioeconomic viability of the systems and improving rural livelihoods
Changing priorities and the reform of agricultural policies recently have reduced the financial rewards for farm production in NAE with economic and social consequences for those whose livelihoods depend on it. Simultaneously, concerns have grown about the high, yet hidden, social and environmental costs of intensive agricultural systems. It is critical that, drawing on lessons from the past, socio-economic mechanisms are harnessed to help achieve the new paradigm of multifunctional agriculture, securing the incentives and benefits to those engaged in its delivery and maximizing overall welfare. Doing this has major implications for the types of AKST required and how AKST can best be mobilized to meet new expectations.
6.2.10.1 Social issues
Development of AKST in agriculture strongly affects and is strongly affected by the multiple societal issues related to rural society. Ensuring social sustainability of locally dynamic economies will require AKST research on the necessary social relationships that could be reinforced or developed to meet goals for NAE (Narayan, 1999; Flora and Flora, 2004).
Social institution building
Because many of the institutions in rural NAE have been developed and maintained to support national agricultural commodities and commodity prices, it is likely that new institutions will be required to support rural economies that have a strong local component. Research can help determine how the present institutions can support and maintain a focus on a local economy and the institutional changes required. Several measures can be considered including:
• Providing appropriate training and new credit systems to enable rural workers to become farm owners and operators;
• Establishing locally-based market linkages between farm products and consumers;
• Improving rural quality of life, including better schools, health care, recreation and food quality and availability;
• Identifying and encouraging institutions to facilitate transitions to a multifunctional agriculture;
• Developing instruments for the provision of new in- |
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come, in particular for goods and services that are not marketed today; and
• The new paradigm of multifunctional agriculture emphasizes environmental sustainability and the provision of public goods. There will be increasing demand for collective (community) rather than individual actions (Ostrom, 2003), encouraging a new "moral" economy in which people constrain their immediate individual freedoms in order to achieve improved common and subsequently individual, welfare (Trawick, 2004). There is a role here for AKST to devise new mechanisms for joint action especially concerning the management of scarce natural resources (Trawick et al., 2005).
Farmer organizations. Building producer capacities, an important objective of AKST, could be facilitated through professional and inter-professional organizations. To be effective, agricultural development requires the participation of the farmers and their organizations in domains such as elaboration of agricultural policies, extension and training systems, organization of the markets and the supply chains, rural credit, land policies. The roles that producer organizations play are diverse and can cover various topics such as:
• Policy representation and defense of the interests of the members ;
• Economic services through the supply chain organization and the collective setting in markets;
• Development of technical services such as economic and technical advice, training, the use of materials owned jointly; and
• Provision of public services, for instance the elimination of illiteracy, infrastructure maintenance, etc.
The current debate on the place and the role of the agricultural organizations in supporting family farms revolves around three themes (Mercoiret et al., 2001): producer support mechanisms; creating new forms of coordination between actors; building and strengthening the capacity to face global phenomena.
Supporting these professional and nonprofessional organizations could lead to the building of new relations between the different actors, based on the partnership, dialogue and negotiation.
On the economic side, strengthening the economic organization of agriculture is essential to ensure decent incomes through economic market management (MAP, 2006). It is important to accord a specific place to inter-professional organizations. They are private organizations bringing together the partners upstream and downstream of an agri-food network related to a product or a group of products. Their goal is to sign inter-professional agreements which define and promote contracting policies between members, contribute to market management (improved product adaptation and promotion) and reinforce food safety.
Organization of workforce. Demand for agricultural labor remains high in those regions in NAE that fill the increased consumer demand in domestic and export markets for vegetable, fruits, nuts, wines and juice products. Many tasks in this agricultural sector including planting, pruning, cultivating and harvest, remain labor intensive. The tendency |