Environmentally Sustainable Rural and Agricultural Development Strategies in the Philippines (Lessons from Six Case Studies

This book is the result of the efforts of an interdisciplinary team from SEARCA and then Institute of Environmental Science and Management (IESAM), which was upgraded into the School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM) of the Univerity of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). The team studied six cases of environmentally sustainable agricultural systems in the Philippines.

The case studies focused on the socioeconomic perspective rather that technologies ones. Specifically, they aimed to find out critical social and economic factors in the process where farmers and communities adopted environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. Some of the critical factors examined were improvement in markets accessibility, land tenure/ownership, and price fluctuation of farm produce.

It is hoped that through these six case studies, workers and students of sustainable agriculture will understand the socioeconomic factors critical in the adoption of environmentally sound technologies in the Philippine agricultural systems.