This study was presented during the conference “Production and Carbon Dynamics in Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Systems in Africa” held in September, 2010.

1. Sustainable Development & Agriculture: Historical
Underpinnings and Carbon’s Emergent Role
Melinda Sundell and Amy S. Willis, SIANI
ABSTRACT
Managing the natural environment in order to improve human well-being has been an ever-
present task. Over time, the ideas of sustainable development and sustainable agriculture
have been molded and adapted to the changing needs of a growing, dynamic, and
increasingly industrializing society. Taking a close look at what has moved the discussion
forward, and how climate change concerns have caused carbon to enter the sustainable
development and agriculture discourse, provides a conceptual framework for how
environmental policy is likely to implement sustainability-focused change in the coming
decades. As carbon sequestration is discussed more frequently, the myriad of benefits
surrounding carbon sequestration as a part of sustainable agriculture methodology is
revealed. In many respects, carbon sequestration simultaneously addresses climate change,
food security, and natural resource concerns. In turn, already-existing sustainable agriculture
techniques can enhance carbon sequestration.
If the positive outcomes from sustainable agriculture’s use of carbon sequestration are
outlined and if these pressing issues of climate change, hunger, and resource use are framed
effectively, policymakers and those in the environmental arena will have the impetus to take
action more capably than ever.

2. The Sustainable Development
Discourse

3. In essence, sustainable
development is a
process of change in
which the exploitation of
resources, the direction of
investments, the
orientation of
technological
development; and
institutional change are all
in harmony and enhance
both current and future
potential to meet human
needs and aspirations
“
”
- Brundtland Report
1987

4. Events in Sustainable Development
300 BC: Aristotle
Recognizes a tragedy of
commons-type problem
and the need to conserve
resources
1700s: a reaction against
mercantilism fuels activity
within sustainable
development discourse
1800s: concerns
surrounding
population
growth begin to
mount
1972: UN Stockholm
Conference on the
Human Environment
1987: Publication of the
Brundtland Report by the
World Commission on
Environment & Development
1992: UN
Conference on
Environment &
Development and
Agenda 21
2000: Adoption
of Millennium
Development
Goals
2001: Kyoto
Protocol
negotiations and
signing
2002: Earth
Summit in
Johannesburg

5. Environmental
Justice
Origins of the
environmental
justice
movement,
United States
1987
How has
environmental
justice changed
over time, global
North South
dichotomy
Framing current
issues through
environmental
justice

6. A History of
Sustainable
Agriculture

7. Research from thinkers
such as Leibig,
Boussingault, Darwin and
Mendel set foundation for
science in sustainable
agriculture
20th Century
industrialization
spurs backlashes
of sustainable
agriculture
research and
movements
The Green
Revolution, Silent
Spring, and the
evolution of modern
sustainable
agriculture
Events in
Sustainable
Agriculture

8. The Green Revolution
Norman Borlaug in Mexico: the “quiet” wheat revolution
Application of principles to rice crops in India
Expansion and success in China, Pakistan, and the
Philippines

10. Since The Green Revolution
• 1970s: a number of events set the stage for the
Alternative Agriculture movement
• Permaculture sustainability movement and
philosophy
• 1980s: re-emergence of hunger issues and
weaknesses of the Green Revolution
• 1990s: attempting to solve environmental
problems with technology and quantitative
models

11. Climate Change and Carbon:
Global Threats Re-frame the
Discourse
EvolutionofClimate
ChangeAnalysis
Human-caused
micro-climate
concerns for
centuries
Svante Arrhenius
20th Century
studies and
entrance into
international policy
arena
CarbonSequestration
WMO pollutant
monitoring project
IPCC Second
Assessment
Report
Kyoto Protocol
CarbonMarkets
Market
environmentalism
North-South
debate
Weaknesses of a
climate change
strategy based on
carbon markets

13. Carbon, Climate Change, and
Hunger

14. Looking through the Lens
of Carbon:
Climate-Agriculture
Interactions

15. Carbon Emissions from Farm
Operations

16. On-Site Functions of the Soil
Organic Carbon Pool

17. Off-Site Functions of the Soil
Organic Carbon Pool

18. “Why…is a human-made phenomenon like
global warming – which may kill hundreds of
millions of human beings over the next century
– considered ‘environmental’? Why are
poverty and war not considered environmental
problems while global warming is? What are
the implications of framing global warming as
an environmental problem – and handing off
the responsibility for dealing with it to
‘environmentalists’?”
- consultants Michael Shellenberger
and Ted Nordhaus

19. Image Credits:
• http://7darya.net/images/20080902032604_dsc_0890.jp
• http://www.yufreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/envjustice1.jpg
• http://muerteporkiki.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/sustainable-agriculture.jpg
• http://www.manitoba.ca/conservation/pollutionprevention/Headers/Grants%20Lake%20Dugout%20-%20Wetlands.jpg
• http://www.state.il.us/hpa/images/IH1203Cover.jpg