Agriculture, Trade and Sustainability


Rehber E., Grega L.

EUROPEAN LEGACY-TOWARD NEW PARADIGMS, cilt.13, sa.4, ss.463-479, 2008 (AHCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 13 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2008
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/10848770802180755
  • Dergi Adı: EUROPEAN LEGACY-TOWARD NEW PARADIGMS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, American History and Life, Historical Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Philosopher's Index, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.463-479
  • Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

In recent decades there has been growing concern about the combined undesired consequences of rapid economic growth, based on the free market movement, and developments in science and technology. This concern has placed the sustainable development concept on the world's agenda. The notion of sustainability, which originally referred mostly to the environmental consequences of human activities, along with their economic and social aspects, has been discussed not only at the national and the global levels but also in relation to particular sectors of the economy. One such sector is agriculture, which to be sustainable must be ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible. Unless current trade and agricultural policies are geared to creating such a structure, sustainability will be no more than a myth in the industrialized and globalized world, while considerable numbers of people will be left struggling with hunger and poverty. Ethical, fair trade and ecologic agricultural practices, such as organic farming, have been suggested as alternatives to existing practices. However, with their current and potential size, these alternatives cannot compete with existing production and trade systems. But these alternatives nevertheless highlight the main problems of current day free trade and industrialized agriculture structures and their related solutions.