BOOK REVIEW

Don't forget people in
sustainable agriculture

Niels Roling and M.A.E. Wagemakers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998, 318 p.

This book is not just another sustainable agriculture book that is hung up on agriculture's changing structure, or its dependence on fossil fuels, chemicals and pesticides. It probes, tries to answer, probes again and often admits lack of conclusions because sustainable agriculture is, after all, about people. People defy quantification, and perhaps so does their environment.

The book's basic proposition is that the environmental "crisis," while real, is a crisis that has to be understood as a part of the human experience. Environmental management has traditionally been regarded primarily as a technical task, whereas the causal agents of environmental damage are people. Until human behavior is brought into the equation, solutions will not be forthcoming.

The middle section contains 12 case studies of problems and solutions from many countries, including Switzerland, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Indonesia, Australia and the United States. The book is heavily influenced by the experiences with Landcare, the Australian approach to learning and facilitation of ecologically sound agriculture practices. It is a strong and powerful book, and should be regarded as a turning point in the advancement of sustainable agriculture in today's world.

---Dennis Keeney, Center director