After the Green Revolution

"The Green Revolution" of the 60s and 70s produced immense gains in food cereal production in the Third World. But there are huge problems in the "post revolutionary" era - farmers with small or marginal holdings have benefited less than wealthier farmers, intensive mono-cropping has made production more susceptible to environmental stresses and shocks. Now that there is evidence of diminishing returns from intensive and intensively chemical agricultural production the authors contend that what is needed is a new approach, equally revolutionary, but different in its ideas and style. The book sets out what is meant by "sustainable" agriculture in the new era and look at effects of international economic restraints and of national policies on the kind of development they see as necessary. It charts a path for sustainable livelihoods for Third World farmers enmeshed by forces outside their control. It describes methods of evaluating and resolving the tough trade-offs at all levels of intervention, from international trade down to the individual farm. Edward Barbier is co-author of "Blueprint for a Green Economy" and author of "Economics, Natural-Resource Scarcity and Development".