Land degradation and soil loss threaten the livelihood
of millions of people and future food security,
with implications for water resources and the conservation of biodiversity. There is an urgent need
to define ways to combat or reverse the worldwide accelerating trend of soil degradation, using an
ecosystem approach, taking into account the needs of populations living in mountain ecosystems
and recognizing the multiple functions of agriculture. The greatest challenge for humanity is to
protect and sustainably manage the natural resource base on which food and fibre production
depend, while feeding and housing a population that is still growing. The international community
has recognized the need for an integrated approach to the protection and sustainable management
of land and soil resources, as stated in decision HI/11 of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Biological Diversity,25 including identification of land degradation, which involves all
interested parties at the local as well as the national level, including farmers, small-scale food
producers, indigenous people and their communities, non- governmental organizations and, in
particular, women, who have a vital role in rural communities. This should include action to ensure
secure land tenure and access to land, credits and training as well as the removal of obstacles that
inhibit farmers, especially small-scale farmers and peasants, from investing in and improving their
lands and farms.
It remains essential to continue efforts for the eradication
of poverty through, inter alia, capacity-
building to reinforce local food systems, improving food security and providing adequate nutrition for
the more than 800 million undernourished people in the world, located mainly in developing
countries. Governments should formulate policies that promote sustainable agriculture as well as
productivity and profitability. Comprehensive rural policies are required to improve access to land,
combat poverty, create employment and reduce rural emigration. In accordance with commitments
agreed to in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of
Action, adopted by the World Food Summit (Rome, Id-17 November 1996, sustainable food
security among both the urban and the rural poor should be a policy priority, and developed
countries and the international community should provide assistance to developing countries to this
end. To meet those objectives, Governments should attach high priority to implementing the
commitments of the Rome Declaration and Plan of Action, especially the call for a minimum target
of halving the number of undernourished people in the world by the year 2015. Governments and
international organizations are encouraged to implement the Global Plan of Action for the
Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture as
adopted by the International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources (Leipzig, Germany,
17- 23 June 1996). At the sixth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, in 1998,
the issues of sustainable agriculture and land use should be considered in relation to freshwater.
The challenge for agricultural research is to increase yields on all farmlands while protecting and
conserving the natural resource base. The international community and Governments must
continue or increase investments in agricultural research because it can take years or decades to
develop new lines of research and bring those research findings into sustainable practice on the
land. Developing countries, particularly those with high population densities, will need international
cooperation to gain access to the results of such research and to technology aimed at improving
agricultural productivity in limited spaces. More generally, international cooperation continues to
be
needed to assist developing countries in many other aspects of basic requirements of agriculture.
There is a need to support the continuation of the reform process in conformity with the Uruguay
Round Agreement, particularly Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, and to fully implement
the WTO Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform
Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries.
