SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SARD)

CONTENTS 1 Welcome 2 What is SARD? 3 Background to G77 SARD Project 4 Objectives of G77 SARD Project 5 Current Status Of G77 SARD Project 6 Invitation to Participate in SARD Network

1. WELCOME

Welcome to the first issue of our monthly Newsletter devoted to Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (SARD). This newsletter is part of a south-south project, financed by the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), with technical support from the German Fund for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the University of Vermont. The Government of Guyana, through its Ministry of Agriculture, has responsibility for the project which will be implemented by the Guyana Office of IICA. This first issue presents the background of the SARD project, summarizes a few of the submissions of innovative experiences in various Caribbean and Latin American countries and extends an invitation to you to become a member of our SARD Network. Subsequent monthly issues will report on the status of the SARD project, share information on useful Internet sites and examples of SARD.

2. WHAT IS SARD?

SARD is one aspect of Sustainable Human development (SHD). In its 1994 Human Development Report, UNDP defined SHD as: ……..development that not only generates economic growth but distributes its benefits equitably; that regenerates the environment rather than destroying it; that empowers people rather than marginalizing them. It is development that gives priority to the poor, enlarging their choices and opportunities and providing for their participation in decisions that affect their lives. It is development that is pro-people, pro-nature, pro-jobs and pro-woman. Sustainable development of agricultural and rural areas is viewed as a multi-dimensional and cross-generational process designed to maintain or raise agricultural production on a competitive basis, while promoting the conservation and sound use of natural resources and stimulating greater social equity. Sustainable development, therefore, includes aspects which influence capacity building in institutions, provision of credit for development (especially to women, youth and Indigenous people), management and development of natural resources, technology development and transfer, improved access to markets and agro-processing as crucial elements of economic and social development.

3. BACKGROUND TO G77 SARD PROJECT

In January 1996, members of G77 countries and China held a review meeting of the agriculture sector in Georgetown, Guyana. In the Georgetown Declaration on Sustainable and Competitive Agriculture, the meeting agreed that agriculture must be promoted as a complex of social, economic and technological inter-relationships, based on the active involvement of a wide range of participants; providing multiple and diverse opportunities for business, adding value and conserving natural resources which, in turn, provide the basis for improved quality of life, and thus, contributing to the social stability and sustainable human development. In addition, delegates of the G77 sectoral review meeting acknowledged that “case studies presented at the meeting provided important lessons for promoting agriculture and rural development”. They recommended, therefore, that those case studies and additional ones should be compiled and disseminated in ways that would ensure that they reach the key information users for the benefit of developing countries. To this end, IICA’s Office in Guyana (Guy TCA) prepared a proposal that was submitted by the Government of Guyana to the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund, administered by UNDP. The proposal was approved. Subsequently, IICA was contracted by the Ministry of Agriculture to implement the project.

4. OBJECTIVES OF G77 SARD PROJECT

This one-year project seeks to identify, document and transfer to developing countries innovative experiences and projects in the Caribbean and Latin America which have contributed to, or have lessons for, sustainable development of the agricultural sector and rural communities. As many experiences as possible will be documented in brief profiles and a maximum of 20 projects will be documented in detail, both in writing and as part of a video documentary, for dissemination to developing countries. A web site will be created to facilitate information dissemination and to foster discussion among visitors to the site on various aspects of SARD.

5. CURRENT STATUS OF G77 SARD PROJECT

IICA GuyTCA has drafted a SARD conceptual document and two questionnaires have been prepared and field-tested. Format A questionnaire (Box 1) is a one-page profile which will be used to identify innovative experiences for detailed documentation using Format B questionnaire. In the preliminary phase of this project, IICA’s Representatives in Caribbean and Latin American countries were requested to submit examples of appropriate projects for consideration, using Format A.Up to the end of December 1998, profiles had been submitted for 24 projects in six countries in the Caribbean and five in Latin America (Table 1).

Country #Projects Haiti Jamaica St. Lucia St. Vincent & The Grenadines Suriname Trinidad & Tobago 2 1 1 1 1 4 Argentina Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Uruguay 1 1 9 2 1

In addition to the countries listed in Table 1, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Grenada and Peru have provided a listing of project ideas for consideration.

Summaries of selected profiles in the Caribbean and Latin America are shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. Submissions of innovative experiences will be evaluated to facilitate identification of those offering insights on sustainable development.

Contact persons for those innovative projects will be requested to complete the more detailed Format B questionnaire.

Dr Veronica Broomes will act as Project Manager and Facilitator for the Caribbean. Dr Hector Munoz has volunteered his services to act as Facilitator in Central America. Both persons will work out of the respective local IICA offices, in Guyana and Costa Rica.

Box 1
Format A Questionnaire used to identify examples of innovative SARD experiences and projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.

1. Name of innovative experience or project. 2. Brief summary of project/experience. 3. Type of project, e.g. economic, social, institutional, environmental, cultural or other. 4. Principal sponsor of experience/project. 5. Date experience began and ended. 6. Approximate cost of experience/project. 7. Type of beneficiaries. And approximate numbers. 8. Why do you feel this experience/project should be documented? 9. What lessons can we learn from this experience/project on Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development? 10. Give name and contact address (e-mail, fax, telephone) of IICA or other person willing to complete a more detailed follow-up questionnaire (Format B). Thank you for your support!