| Chapter : | Introduction: Putting Ecological Economics into Sustainable Agricultural Practices |
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its practical implementation. In implementing sustainable agricultural development in the context of Chinese ecological agriculture, top-down national policies should be complemented with bottom-up local policy initiatives that meet the needs of farmers within resource constraints. Using a case study, the research in this book seeks to identify and demonstrate an effective methodological approach for improved policy making with the potential to narrow the gap between the theory and the practice of agricultural sustainability (see more details in chapters 7 and 8).
Justification of the Research
Hall et al. (1986) pointed out that ‘nature no longer offers us the luxury of ignoring or downplaying the role of natural resources’ (p. 526). In response to the increasing problems of the environment and development worldwide, sustainable development has been proposed in the Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio Janeiro, on June 14, 1992. In particular, it has been suggested that the current decision-making processes should be improved or reconstructed to fully integrate a consideration of socioeconomic and environmental issues and assure a broader range of public participation (UNCED, 1992). The urgency for an integrated or holistic approach to the sustainability issue requires that it be given top priority on international agendas. Ecological agriculture is a comprehensive agricultural, ecological, economic, and social system based on a multitiered and multipurposed intensive resource management system and the successful application of traditional agricultural practices. This system is designed and managed in accordance with ecological economic principles and a systematic engineering methodology, armed with advanced science and technology.
Ecological agricultural development is more complex than has been assumed. It consists not only of the biophysical aspects that are the fundamental bases of agricultural production but also of the sociocultural, economic, and political dimensions that continuously influence—and are influenced by—agricultural practices. In this regard, ecological