Social Accountability in Sustainable Agriculture

ISEAL Alliance /Social Accountability in Sustainable Agriculture, Bonn. 

Lorenzen, R.P., Neil, C., Corbo, K. and Courville, S. 2004. SASA Pinal Report on Social Standards and Social Auditing Methodologies. Social Accountability in Sustainable Agriculture, International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling, Bonn. 

SASA Project 2003. Burkina Faso Organic/Fair Trade Mango Researcher Notes and Audit Report. Social Accountability in Sustainable Agriculture, ISEAL Alliance, Kaslo. 

It is only comparatively recently that we have become acutely aware of the need to utilize resources in a sustainable manner. The concept of sustainability began to receive attention during the 1970s and was first formalized internationally in the World Conservation Strategy of 1980. The initial concepts were taken from the idea of sustainable yield, as applied in forestry and agriculture. This is defined as the amount of crop that can be harvested without compromising the capacity of future harvests to produce an equal crop. The level of consumption of a resource to support an activity should meet the needs of the present, whilst ensuring that sufficient resources are available to meet the needs of the future. The concepts of sustainability include social, economic and environmental factors. All three must be taken into account if the absolute sustainability of a process is to be determined. 

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