Sustainable Development at Risk: Ignoring the Past Joseph H. Hulse Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd. Under the Foundation Books imprint Cambridge House, 4381/4 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110002 Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd. C-22, C-Block, Brigade M.M., K.R. Road, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560 070 Plot No. 80, Service Industries, Shirvane, Sector-1, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400 706 10, Raja Subodh Mullick Square, 2nd Floor, Kolkata 700 013 21/1 (New No. 49), 1st Floor, Model School Road, Thousand Lights, Chennai 600 006 House No. 3-5-874/6/4, (Near Apollo Hospital), Hyderguda, Hyderabad 500 029 © Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd., 2007 Jointly published by Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd. and International Development Research Centre. International Development Research Centre, PO Box 8500, Ottawa, ON KIG 3H9, Canada www.idrc.ca/[email protected] ISBN (e-book) 978-1-55250-368-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd., subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements. Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of Professor Y. Nayudamma, a dear friend, an exceptional Indian scientist and a former member of IDRC's Board of Governors. His life was a testament to his often-stated conviction that "Science serves no useful purpose if it does not serve to satisfy the needs of humanity, particularly those who are in greatest need". An Allegory of Prudence By Titian and workshop "Ex praeterito praesens prudenter agit ni futura actione deturbet." "From experience of the past the present acts prudently lest it despoil future action." Contents Dedication Foreword Preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction Sustainable development: scope and purpose of the text Difficulties of definition and concept Corporate memory Ancient concepts of sustainable development Development since World War II Food systems analysis Industrial biotechnologies Ethical, ideological and political issues General comment 2 Definitions and Concepts Defining and determining development What is sustainable development? Sustainable: static or dynamic? Primitive and early human development Development out of poverty Complexity of international development Resource conservation Adjusted net savings Uncertainties unresolved 3 International Development: In the Beginning The Atlantic Charter The United Nations and its Charter The international monetary system The UN and its Specialised Agencies Liberation from colonialism Colonisation of Africa Conflict in the Middle East International development conferences Purposes of international development programmes Assessments of international development programmes World Bank Development Reports Comment on World Bank Development Reports UNDP Human Development Reports Final observation 4. From Pearson to Johannesburg The Pearson Commission The Brandt Commission The Brundtland Commission Pearson, Brandt and Brundtland International conferences on environment and development The UN World Summit on Sustainable Development [WSSD] Final observation 5 Poverty Poverty and development Poverty and World Bank Development Reports Empowerment Security Constraints to trade and hopes for reform UNDP Human Development recommendations General comment 6 Development in Agriculture and Biotechnologies Sustainable survival Agriculture and biotechnologies Evolution of Planet Earth Hunting and gathering Early hominid diets From hunting to settled agriculture Demographic, economic and social change: the river valley civilisations Roman agriculture From empiricism to scientific agriculture From alchemy to chemistry Taxonomic classification Mendal Closing comment 7 Sustainable Agriculture Diverse and divergent concepts Other commentaries and recommendations Conservation and preservation Agricultural resources Variations on the sustainable theme Chemical fertilisers Contentious issues International agricultural research: the CGIAR Genetic modifications GM crops: potential benefits Closing comment 8 Sustainable Food Security Diverse definitions Food security, income and poverty Strategic food stocks Nutritional adequacy Urban growth and food security Final observation 9 Industrial Biotechnologies Biotechnologies: definition and evolution Beginnings of biotechnologies Food preservation From hand labour to mechanisation Science applied to biotechnologies Evolution of pharmaceuticals Food and pharmaceutical industries Influence of supermarkets Industrial biotechnologies: changing patterns and future prospects Biomedical industries Bio-informatics Industrial biotechnologies: trends and prospects Processes of preservation Final comment 10 Environment and Resources The planet's creation and evolution Governance of environments and resources Are resources sustainable? Confusion of carrying capacity The people that on Earth do dwell Energy Atmosphere and climate Water Final comment 11 Case Studies of Successful Projects The Canada-Mysore project Farming systems research – IDRC initiatives Ilo-Ilo and diversifying FSR Comment from M.S. Swaminatha Employment in rural agribusiness The MSSRF Biovillage programme VGKK/KT-CFTRI health and employment programme Focus on semi-arid tropics Post-production system Social forestry and agroforestry Local management of water Essential health in Tanzania Making waves – and escaping the tsunami 12 Political and Ideological Issues Systems of governance Unsustained political priorities A donor's vacillating policies Concepts of democracy What is the purpose of human existence? Religion and politics Unsustained and unsustainable political systems India's potential in world affairs Political participation in national development Governments and industrial research and development 13 Ethics, Communications and Education Ethical issues and concepts Ethics in biotechnologies Potential benefits from genetic modifications Functional genomics Ethics and sustainable bio-industries Ethics in international trade Centralised versus decentralised management Summary and conclusion Human resource development Language and communications Evolution of the means of communication Neglect of development progess Epilogue Glossary of Biotechnologies References Index Foreword Professor M.G.K. Menon When my good friend, Dr. J.H. – Joe to me – Hulse spoke to me over the telephone, requesting a Foreword for a book that he was writing on "Sustainable Development at Risk: Ignoring the Past", I readily agreed for many reasons. First and foremost, Joe and I have known each other for a long time; he has been a very good friend; and I have known him as a serious person, honest to his conscience, who thinks deeply. The second and equally important reason is that I regard an understanding of sustainable development as the overwhelming question that we face today. This phrase comes from T.S. Eliot's Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. in which he writes: "To lead you to an overwhelming question ... Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." That visit would be a study of this very interesting book by Joe Hulse. Dr. Hulse is a scientist, who has worked in industry, and with aid agencies, primarily in the promotion of research and development. His area of expertise is the life sciences, particularly relating to food, agriculture and agribusiness. He has frequently visited India and other developing countries. He was chairman of a committee (CASAFA) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), when I was its president. This committee dealt with the application of science on an interdisciplinary basis in the area of food and agriculture, and particularly with reference to the developing countries. Dr. Hulse has lived in a developed country, Canada; and there is a great deal of reference to Canada in the book, and to its distinguished Prime Minister Lester Pearson, who was indeed one of the great leaders of the world. At the same time, Dr Hulse has great empathy with the developing countries and the poor. This partly arises from the many visits he has paid to India, and this empathy comes through in the book. There are also many references to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), an organisation founded by Prime Minister Pearson and where Dr Hulse worked as a senior scientist from 1970 to 1988. As a former member of the Board of Governors, I am delighted that IDRC will co-publish this book. The book covers a wide range of topics relating to sustainable development. I found it truly educative; as well as being easy to read and holding ones interest. It contains unusual nuggets of information in every chapter. What sets the book apart is that there is, throughout its pages, in Joe's own words, a "philological and philosophical discussion of the etymological origins and changing concepts" of the different areas that he has dealt with. There are also accounts of the history of civilisation, tracing how we got where we are. The book represents the work of a true scholar and not of a technician. Particularly over the past half-century, sustainable development has become a powerfully appealing idea. It has, of course, become most popular as jargon, following its usage by the World Commission on Environment and Development chaired by Dr. Gro. Harlem Brundtland, which published its well-known report in 1987 on Our Common Future. It is interesting that, in an ancient Indian religious writing over 2,000 years ago, it is stated: "All in this manifested world, consisting