The term sustainable development was introduced in the 1987 report "Our Common Future". The World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Different communities are organizing themselves to promote this ideology. They are combating the pressure of corporations’ economic practices, which damage the environment and living conditions.
Corporations are taking over community farms. This is degrading the land due to the harsh agricultural processes used for mass production. The use of chemicals, found in pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides causes strain on the land. The meat industry is one of those corporations responsible for soil erosion and land destruction. McDonalds and Burger King use lethal poisons to destroy vast areas of Central American rainforest, to create grazing pastures for cattle, to be sent back to the states as burgers and pet food, and to provide fast food packaging materials. It takes 800 square miles of forest just to keep them supplied with paper for one year. In an interview in the meat production plant in Costa Rica, it was found that Montecillos Cooperative produces 20 to 24 tons of meat for hamburgers per month to export to fast-food restaurants in United States. ( S.D. "Sergio Quintana: Meat plant manager")
Among other environmental and social problems is land use management. In Mozambique, for a family to own a small piece of land is a great privilege. Over 80 percent of Mozambique’s 17 million people are peasants whose survival depends on the food they grow. In the 1990’s a peace treaty was signed between Mozambique and Portugal. Once this happened local and foreign investors began buying up huge tracts of land to grow cash crops and to extract natural resources for export, putting peasants at risk of being pushed off their land unless they could prove they owned it. They are not used to dealing with written proofs of land ownership. There are extensive forms to fill out in order to claim property and the people can’t afford the legal fees, big corporations have no problems doing this paper work and paying money to gain tittles to the land. (U.S. and African Farmers Creating Co-Opportunities)
On the other side of the world, in the Andes of South America,. Andean agriculture ran the risk of being permanently damaged. The Green Revolution had a great effect on the people because of the incorporation of hybrid seeds. These arrived at the time of the year allowed to produce very large potatoes. The technicians convinced the local people to plant these. At times of heavy frosts the hybrid did not withstand the cold, but the native species began to be lost. If the local people had continued doing agriculture in their traditional way this would not have happened. (The Founding of Chuyma Aru) These three examples show how modernization, technology and corporations’ quest for power, have failed to provide a better life style for local people from developing nations. Sustainable development is an alternative solution for their problems. Different organizations such UNESCO, OXFAM, CFED and others, are working to increase sustainability and social justice in these different parts of the world.
In the case of Mozambique, in 1981 a small group of farmers met to discuss the obstacles they faced. They decided that the best way to deal with their problems was to pool their resources and start a cooperative farming project. Soon, others wanted to join. Today there are 183 cooperatives with more than 11,000 members. The Union of Cooperatives has helped different families to get the title to their land on their own. This Union of Cooperatives is supported by OXFAM.
In the Andes Region, discovering the potential of the traditional way of farming has led to the improvement of agricultural practices. The task that undertook this operation was to collect information and statistics from state organizations. From the state’s agriculture and animal husbandry census, it was learned that campesinos (native farmers) in Peru had only 10 percent of arable land; but they produced 60 percent of the food consumed in the country. The experts were saying that land was not good for anything, and yet the campesinos were creating their small family plots and producing large amounts of foods. As an example, when the Green Revolution started, a study showed that insects were eating about 10 percent of the agricultural products in the high-altitude plains. In response they started a big program to eradicate the insect population. However, 40 years later, a new study shows that insects are eating even more of the produce now. One of the major differences among the Green Revolution and the Traditional Way of farming is the campesino cosmovision, their way of seening the world. They see themselves as an entity within nature and so they treat the land with the same respect they treat other humans and animals. They search for natural indicators or signs and as a result they know what the next season, the next year, will be like—whether there will be heavy rains, drogue or an intermediate year. So they know what to expect, and what kind of crops will survive. We are far from using these methods in the modern agro-business, where all that matters is mass production, and the technology used to produce these vast quantities of food damage the land in a irreversible manner.
In the United States, cities have initiated their own projects to initiate sustainable communities, such Les Cheneaux Economic Forum in Cedarville, MI. The vision is a city where people enjoy a high quality of life, businesses are innovative and create ways to profit from preserving natural beauty and leaders value and strive for balance among the economic, environmental and social priorities of the community. This is a complex task that required the participation of the community as a whole. The process requires several stages,
Citizens are taking action and organizations
are being formed to improve the quality of life and the conservation of
nature for future generations. As observed in the examples of Mozambique,
the Andean Region, and Cedarville,MI. Corporations play an important part
in this process, because they have the financial and technological power
to cause vast amounts of destruction to the land and to small communities
around the globe. But, they also have the economic means to find new technologies
that work in benefit of nature and support educational programs for local
people in order to improve their quality of life. Paradoxically, statistics
from the Green Revolution show that the search for new technology may lead
to the re-discovery of traditional ways to work with the land and to re-establish
our lost connection with nature as in the Andean region example. These
changes and visions for a sustainable future are happening in every part
of the world. The goal of sustainable development is to create a sense
of responsibility towards other humans and nature and to promote the awareness
that we only have a limited amount of resources, which need to be properly
distributed. The most important aspect of sustainability is taking action
in reflecting these ideas.
Conca Ken, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Green Planet Blues, Westview Press 1998.
Sustainable Development "Les Cheneaux Economic Forum"
Witness Statement "Sergio Quintana: Meat Plant Manager"
OXFAM America "U.S. and African Farmers Creating Co-Opportunities"
OXFAM
America "The Founding of Chuyma Aru: Reviving Andean Culture"