Promoting sustainable agriculture production and products in the Asia and Pacific region

Various forms of sustainable agriculture have been promoted in the Asia and Pacific region, with organic agriculture constituting the single most important form. There is a commonality in the way sustainable agriculture has been defined, but often these definitions miss nuances such as its relation to climate change. Several sustainable agriculture indicators have been proposed, but with limited application on the ground. So far, certification has been the major method of promoting sustainable agriculture, but this approach has several limitations. Certification-based market access for poor and marginal farmers has been a major issue and there is a need to adopt non-certification means of promoting products from these farmers. Identifying a common set of sustainable agriculture indicators could help in operationalizing, harmonizing and promoting sustainable agriculture concepts on the ground. Existing sustainable agriculture indicators need to be improved with respect to social, climate change and biodiversity dimensions to bring more products into the gamut of sustainable agriculture.