The Ethics of Agricultural Intensification: An Interdisciplinary and International Conversation Paul B. Thompson and John Otieno Ouko* Global agriculture faces a number of challenges as the world approaches the second decade of the third millennium. Predictions unilaterally indicate dramatic increases in world population between 2010 and 2030, and a trend in developing countries toward greater consumption of animal products could multiply the need for prod- tion of basic grains even further. Although global food production in 2000 was estimated to be adequate for the existing population, hunger and malnutrition are persistent problems that have led decision makers to recognize that increasing food production in specific regions may be the most effective way to address food se- rity for impoverished peoples. At the same time, there will need to be policy adju- ments that improve poor people’s access to current food supplies without simultaneously undercutting the ability of local producers to obtain needed cash income. What is more, the uncertain effects of global climate change on agricultural ecosystems complicate planning for this process, while poorly understood processes of globa- zation create additional unknowns from the side of social systems. In short, despite surpluses in many parts of the developed world, finding ways to increase food p- duction on both selected regional and a total global basis remains a priority for many farmers, policy makers and agricultural researchers.
This volume was written in response to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Series of Ethics Papers that broached a series of previously neglected issues in international agricultural development. The volume contains a diverse collection of highly respected international scholars offering comments and elaboration on the FAO papers on the ethics of agricultural intensification and on intensification in animal agriculture. The full text of the FAO intensification paper is followed by chapters that mount specific reactions to its relevance for agricultural technology, environmental protection, globalization and animal welfare, and these four topics are further discussed, debated and elaborated by eight commentary chapters. Questions of agricultural development policy are addressed in terms of the relevance to farmers, consumers and other interested parties, as well as from key disciplinary and philosophical approaches. The rationale and purpose behind the FAO papers is explained and suggestions are offered on how to make ethics more central to programming and planning for agricultural development projects.
