I recently came across a very interesting presentation given by Prof. Wu Wenliang of China Agricultural University in 2005 that I think does an excellent job of showing the relationships he is drawing with agriculture within the greater context of sustainable development:
Chinese eco-agriculture is a new integrated agriculture system which integrates agricultural production, rural economic development, environmental improvement and protection, resources fostering and using together effectively.
Still largely in “pilot status” role, Eco-agriculture pilots have already been taking place in some of China’s poorest growing areas where a 3 step process/ strategy typifies the program:
1) it should improve the exasperated eco-environment, especially recover vegetation;
2) it should emphases the agricultural infrastructure construction, especially the basic farmland construction;
3) it should optimized the agriculture produce structure, especially raising the yields of cereal crops and reducing the area of cereal crops, expending the area of forest, fruits and animal husbandry.
Taking the Loess Plateau for example, a project with heavy world Bank involvement, the 10 sq km area required 10 years from planning to the point where it was considered successful. Study the natural terrains and meeting with local resident to learn about their livelihoods, planting practices, and methods of grazing were some of the most important steps before going back out to build the consensus needed to then take drastic measures
It was a process that we can see was followed in a similar manner when designing the solutions, and what is interesting about the results is that the solutions presented have some very different characteristics.
One is a greenhouse with an attached space for pigs, while the other more closely resembles a closed fenced system that just has livestock feeding into the biogas system, and there are several others. throughout the presentation the lesson that farmers in China are not capturing their full potential (agriculturally or economically) is omni-present, and that the key to real improvement lies in some simple technologies and education.
Perhaps that is not good news for a VC investor looking for a complex product that will sell a billion times over, but it is good new many looking for low cost solutions.