Sustainable Development of Peri-urban Agriculture

in South-East Asia Project
(Kingdom of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam RS)

The quality and safety of tropical food products

All over the world, food safety has become a major agenda item. In the minds of urban consumers in developing countries, as much as in the attitudes of European consumers, the quality of the food we eat is now a major public preoccupation. That concern is reflected in international negotiations on food safety and hygiene, and on the quality requirements of industrialised countries for their food imports. In this area, Cirad participates in research programmes to improve the hygiene quality of food produced for export and for local consumption. It also supports the development of the infrastructure required for food hygiene standards.

Putting international conventions to work

There are many conventions in the field of environment and development -such as on the management of biological diversity, greenhouse gases, desertification, integrated water management, persistent organic pollutants (POPs)and hazardous wastes- and Cirad is participating in research programmes on all of them. Our major focus is on the protection of biological diversity. Here,our dynamic concept links in situ conservation, through the creation of natural reserves and interaction with local user communities, with ex-situ conservation in gene banks.

Sharing land management

Each society has its own rules and rights for the way it uses its land and natural resources. These systems are all designed to keep a certain balance between the competing interests and uses of stakeholders. But the pressures are reaching critical levels, especially with the rapid growth of population in developing countries. There are many measures imaginable, and Cirad is involved, in a participatory and integrated fashion, in all of them: forestry planning, conservation in coffee and cocoa plantations, simulation modeling for water distribution, support to sustainable agrarian reform...

Sound development policies

If societies are truly to appreciate and apply a range of changes which are ecologically and economically viable, and socially acceptable, then there has to be an enabling political framework. And that framework means developing a coherent raft of policies, of necessity complex, and with a proper sense of direction.
The contribution of Cirad here is in putting together a set of instruments for governments to develop policies in concert with civil society, to negotiate them into existing multilateral agreements, and to advise donor organizations.

[ For further information please visit www.cirad.fr]

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