Sustainable solutions to improve environmental and human health

Agriculture is the most important user of environmental services, including water, forests, pastures, soil and nutrients. Poorly managed agriculture can lead to environmental degradation and pollution, deplete natural resources and compromise food safety and human health. Sustainable agriculture provides environmental services that are important to society in urban and rural areas, locally and globally.

As agricultural pests become more resistant to the chemicals used to control them (pesticides), farmers can become trapped in a vicious cycle of unsustainable debt through increased costs of pesticide applications with the accompanying risks to health. Finding alternative approaches to reduce the quantity or toxicity of pesticides needed to control pests can help farmers exit this cycle. 

Successful control of the cotton bollworm caterpillar in India, Pakistan and China has been achieved using less insecticide through more timely and efficient application, and an integrated pest management (IPM) approach using natural predators.  In India, the Government’s Insecticide Resistance Management Programme has promoted messages from DFID funded research to 3 500 growers in 26 districts in 9 states. As a result, average insecticide use declined by 56%, yield increased by 13% and net income by 74%. Participating farmers now benefit by purchasing less pesticide and by reduced hazards from pesticide application.

Fruit fly damage to fruit crops in Pakistan deprives poor households of an important, nutritionally valuable food source. Consumption of fly infested fruit can cause diarrhoea, especially in children, adding to existing problems of malnutrition. Alternative control methods developed use 'bait spots', in which a protein source (needed by the flies to mature their eggs) is mixed with a very small quantity of insecticide. These kill the flies more effectively than traditional blanket sprays over a whole area and reduce the amount of insecticide used by 95%. Whilst being cheap, a more easily prepared home-made meat broth has approximately 71% effectiveness, per unit volume, compared to the commercial bait.

Contamination of underground water, from excessive use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers in agriculture, can be a serious cause of water pollution, along with the discharge of industrial wastes and the lack of effective sewage treatment. Use of purpose-designed water quality test kits has been initiated in schools in selected communities in Kumasi, Ghana. Through targeting schools, children and their teachers have assisted in raising awareness of local water management needs in these communities. This activity has caught the attention of the national environmental protection agency that, as a consequence, is now investigating the use of the kits in schools throughout the whole of the country.

Pests such as rodents contaminate food and water supplies, and can even spread diseases such as leptospirosis and bubonic plague to humans, as well as other viruses and parasites.  Pesticides used to control them are expensive and often toxic, leading to health risks and environmental problems. Research in Mozambique and Bangladesh is examining the use of traps based on the Indian multi-catch traps, which are both safer and cheaper than 'rodenticides', have a long life span and can be easily made locally using wire and small pieces of metal. 

Throughout Asia, construction of water control structures and their subsequent poor management have altered ecosystems and interfered with the livelihoods of communities dependent on fish for nutrition and income. Natural fish stocks have declined by up to 60% during the last 15 years. In Laos, participatory research developed an integrated management system for village community reservoirs, including recommendations on stock enhancement (stocking densities, fish species), access to resources, harvest periods and techniques and community fisheries fry (young fish) production. This has helped local village communities increase fish yields and protect natural fish populations during the dry season.

Improved farming practices and approaches can help ensure the future viability of agriculture, not only to provide food, but also by allowing farmers to become better stewards of the environment and enjoy improved health. These practices and approaches will depend on innovation developed through participatory research with beneficiaries whilst considering not only social and economic factors, but also the sustainability of the environment. A holistic approach should look at peoples' strengths and opportunities, including the assets on which they depend. It also analyses their vulnerabilities, and the policies and institutions that affect them.

Source(s):
'Working to improve family nutrition', in id21 Insights Health #5, May 2004
'Natural resource management and human health: the forgotten link?'

Funded by: UK Department for International Development

id21 Research Highlight: 14 May 2004

Further Information:
John Beddington
Fisheries Management Science Programme
Marine Resources Assessment Group Ltd.
47 Princes Gate
London SW7 2QA
UK

Contact the contributor: j.beddington@ic.ac.uk

Marine Resources Assessment Group Ltd., UK

Christopher Floyd
Natural Resources Systems Programme
HTS Development Ltd.
Thamesfield House, Boundary Way
Hemel Hempstead
Herts HP2 7SR
UK

Contact the contributor: christopher.floyd@htsdevelopment.com

HTS Development Ltd., UK

Department for International Development, UK

Other related links:
'A better working environment'

'Supporting local knowledge and protecting resources'

'Food systems and security: helping the poor to cope'

'Improving family nutrition'

'Animal to human: controlling diseases which affect poor people in livestock'

'Gut reaction: simple steps to improve food safety and sanitation'

'Spreading the word'