24 Agricultural Harm to the Environment
Wise words from eminent politicians and scientists. But lost on the altar of progress.
Until now, perhaps, as new ideas on agriculture have begun to emerge and gather
credence.
Agriculture’s Unique Multifunctionality
We should all now be asking: what is farming for? Clearly, in the first instance, to pro-
duce food, and we have become very good at it. A great success, but only if our meas-
ures of efficiency are narrow. Agriculture is unique as an economic sector. It does more
than just produce food, fibre, oil and timber. It has a profound impact on many aspects
of local, national and global economies and ecosystems. These impacts can be either
positive or negative. The negative ones are worrying. Pesticides and nutrients leaching
from farms have to be removed from drinking water, and these costs are paid by water
consumers, not by the polluters. The polluters, therefore, benefit by not paying to
clean up the mess they have created, and have no incentive to change behaviour. What
also makes agriculture unique is that it affects the very assets on which it relies for suc-
cess. Agricultural systems at all levels rely for their success on the value of services flow-
ing from the total stock of assets that they control, and five types of asset, natural,
social, human, physical and financial capital, are now recognized as being important.^4
Natural capital produces nature’s goods and services, and comprises food, both
farmed and harvested or caught from the wild, wood and fibre; water supply and
regulation; treatment, assimilation and decomposition of wastes; nutrient cycling
and fixation; soil formation; biological control of pests; climate regulation; wildlife
habitats; storm protection and flood control; carbon sequestration; pollination;
and recreation and leisure. Social capital yields a flow of mutually beneficial collec-
tive action, contributing to the cohesiveness of people in their societies. The social
assets comprising social capital include norms, values and attitudes that predispose
people to cooperate; relations of trust, reciprocity and obligations; and common
rules and sanctions mutually agreed or handed-down. These are connected and
structured in networks and groups.
Human capital is the total capability residing in individuals, based on their stock
of knowledge skills, health and nutrition. It is enhanced by access to services that
provide these, such as schools, medical services and adult training. People’s productiv-
ity is increased by their capacity to interact with productive technologies and with
other people. Leadership and organizational skills are particularly important in mak-
ing other resources more valuable. Physical capital is the store of human-made material
resources, and comprises buildings, such as housing and factories, market infrastruc-
ture, irrigation works, roads and bridges, tools and tractors, communications, and
energy and transportation systems, that make labour more productive. Financial cap-
ital is more of an accounting concept, as it serves as a facilitating role rather than as a
source of productivity in and of itself. It represents accumulated claims on goods and
services, built up through financial systems that gather savings and issue credit, such
as pensions, remittances, welfare payments, grants and subsidies.