1991-1996 WSAA World Sustainable Agriculture Association

This is a very complete collection that includes minutes of meetings, memos and correspondence, Earth Summit and other international meeting reports, copies of the organization’s international newsletter, and a great deal of other information about global organic and sustainable agriculture development. Roger was one of the founders of WSAA at a 1991 meeting in Japan of organic and sustainable agriculture advocates from multiple countries.

Book Chapter in “For All Generations: Making World Agriculture More Sustainable ” Publicly Funded Models Supporting Sustainable Agriculture: Four Model Profiles 1997

For All Generations: Making World Agriculture More Sustainable Edited by Patrick Madden and Scott Chaplowe. Publisher: Om Pub Consultants (June 25, 1997) ISBN-10: 0965576701 ISBN-13: 978-0965576703 Chapter 12 Publicly Funded Models Supporting Sustainable Agriculture: Four Model Profiles by Roger Blobaum Nearly five years have passed since representatives of 178 countries came together at the Earth Summit and endorsed Agenda 21, a global action plan to engender sustainability in social, economic, and environmental development. Earth Summit participants acknowledged the importance of sustainable agriculture as a development agenda item, raised questions about the Green Revolution approach, and called for a global transition to resource-conserving and environmentally sound food production systems. The interface between agriculture and the environment was dealt with in Chapter 14 of Agenda 21, which was entitled Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD). It called for 1) improving food security, 2) encouraging employment and income generation in rural areas, 3) ensuring the conservation of soil and water and other natural resources, and 4) enhancing environmental protection. The importance of a farmer-centered approach in realizing these aims was emphasized. The NGO Sustainable Agriculture Treaty, developed during the Earth Summit by NGO and farmer representatives from around the world, went much further…

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Book Chapter in “For All Generations: Making World Agriculture More Sustainable” – The Worldwide Expansion of Organic Farming: Its Potential Contribution to a Global Transition to Sustainable Agriculture 1997

For All Generations: Making World Agriculture More Sustainable Edited by Patrick Madden and Scott Chaplowe. Publisher: Om Pub Consultants (June 25, 1997) ISBN-10: 0965576701 ISBN-13: 978-0965576703 Chapter 7 The Worldwide Expansion of Organic Farming: Its Potential Contribution to a Global Transition to Sustainable Agriculture by Roger Blobaum Expansion of organic fanning throughout the world, rapid growth of trade in certified organically grown products, and evolving con­sensus on international organic standards strongly suggest that organic agriculture will emerge as an important component of the global transition to sustainable agriculture called for at the Earth Summit in 1992. Agenda 21, the plan of action for the next cen­tury approved by more than 150 countries at this global confer­ence, calls for moving away from capital-intensive and chemi­cal-dependent industrialized agriculture and toward ecological farming methods more in harmony with nature (Rogers 1993). Specifically, Chapter 14, entitled “Meeting Agriculture’s Needs Without Destroying the Land,” calls for the development of na­tional plans for sustainable agriculture and a global transition to resource-conserving and environmentally-sound food production systems. Although “organic farming” is not mentioned specifically in any of the official documents adopted at the Earth Summit, it was a well-established agricultural sector in many countries before the conference…

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Report by WSAA to the Commission for Sustainable Development of the United Nations – Publicly Funded Models Supporting Sustainable Agriculture: Twenty Model Profiles 1997

Dedicated to the well being of all people in harmony with Nature WSAA Report to the Commission for Sustainable Development of the United Nations WSAA Occasional Paper No. 3 April 1997 by Roger Blobaum Preface Established in 1991, The World Sustainable Agriculture Association (WSAA) is an educational, research, advocacy and service organization that promotes agricultural sustainability. The ultimate goal of WSAA is to enhance the well-being of planet Earth and of all people by regenerating soil and society through farming and food systems in harmony with Nature. Our goal encompasses the food security and well-being of all present and future generations of people, regardless of race, creed, religion, national origin or socio-economic status. WSAA is a private, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization (incorporated in Hawaii) governed by a Board of Directors from seven countries. Not a grant-making organization, WSAA seeks effective ways to help other organizations obtain resources essential to their serving, and a voice in determining policies that shape their futures. In general, WSAA serves as a catalyst for action, and a convener of organizations, agencies and institutions. Organized as a federation of autonomous branches, local chapters and offices, WSAA has a headquarters office in southern California, an office in Washington,…

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Earth Summit Article titled Two Years After Rio: Progress in Making a Global Transition to Sustainable Agriculture 1995

TWO YEARS AFTER RIO: PROGRESS IN MAKING A GLOBAL TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE Reprinted from FFTC Book Series No. 46 Sustainable Food Production in the Asian and Pacific Region December 1995 By Roger Blobaum World Sustainable Agriculture Association (WSAA) 907 North Tower,  1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington D.C. 20004, U.S.A. Keynote Speech INTRODUCTION As a Westerner involved in agricultural policy, I am pleased to have an opportunity to participate in discussions relating to the kind of agriculture that is traditional in Asia. I was influenced as a student by Farmers of Forty Centuries, a book written by F.H. King, a soil scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He wrote in great detail about farming practices that had been followed for 4,000 years in Japan, China and Korea. I still feel we have much to learn from farmers in Asia. I have found it difficult to believe that the heavy use of agricultural chemicals in some countries in this region is consistent with the Earth friendly farming practices followed here for so many centuries. I also have been influenced by Mokichi Okada, founder in Japan of the Mokichi Okada Association, who taught that the universe consists of a visible material…

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Earth Summit: Draft Framework for NGO Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture 1995

Background and Purposes: The Nongovernmental Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture (working group for short) has been in existence since May, 1992 when it was formed to assist with coordination of NGO position and consensus development for the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The working group has no formal status, but is an adhoc and ongoing working group with the following purposes: 1. To EXCHANGE information related to international coordination of policy and program development for sustainable agriculture and food security issues to social movements involved in agricultural and rural development 2. To MONITOR important meetings and policy development processes of international governmental and nongovernmental groups related to policy and program development (2). 3. To REPORT on and to disseminate information about national regional and international events and processes related to sustainable agriculture policy and programs (3). 4. To FACILITATE development of balanced South/North positions and/or statements and convey them into specific national/regional/international fora (4). Working Group Participation: The working group is an open forum to groups and individuals engaged in the ongoing work of linking local, national and international efforts to achieve a just and participatory sustainable agriculture. Membership is not formal but participation is based on the following…

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A paper titled Organic Food and Farming; Development of Ecologically-Sound Agriculture Around the World 1993

Organic Food and Farming; Development of Ecologically-Sound Agriculture Around the World By Roger Blobaum, World Sustainable Agriculture Association 1993 Abstract. This paper reports on the growth of organic agriculture in many parts of the world, continuing attempts to define organic food and farming, trends in the development of international organic food markets, factors responsible for growing consumer demand, and problems associated with development of international standards. It deals specifically with issues identified in the development and implementation of the Organic Food Production Act, the U.S. organic standards law enacted in 1990, and the outlook for harmonizing these standards with others established in the European Economic Community and elsewhere. A growing number of people around the world are concerned about the long-term sustainability of our food production system, agriculture’s growing dependence on non-renewable resources, soil erosion and other resource base depletion, and heavy reliance on synthetic chemicals and pesticides.  Widespread chemical use also raises questions about human and animal health, food quality and safety, environmental quality, and the deterioration of rural self-reliance and communities. These concerns have led to development and adoption of low-input approaches, initially referred to as alternative agriculture and more recently as sustainable agriculture.  These encompass a broad…

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Article published in the “Wisconsin Academy Review” – Report from Rio: Focus on Sustainable Agriculture 1992

Report from Rio: Focus on Sustainable Agriculture by Roger Blobaum 7th June of this year, in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro, I attended the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development as the accredited representative of the World Sustainable Agriculture Association. This event, the largest United Nations-sponsored meeting ever held, is usually referred to by insiders as UNCED. It is better known to everyone else as the Earth Summit. This was not only an international extravaganza involving more than 100 heads of state and official delegations from 170 nations. This event was the culmination of a two-year process that also included active participation by representatives of hun­dreds of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This long par­ticipatory process helped produce both a spirit of cooperation and consensus-based commitment. My report on what happened is offered from the perspec­tive of someone who focused almost exclusively on sustainable agriculture. As a member of the International Sustainable Agri­culture Task Group. I was directly involved during March and April in live weeks of preparatory meetings in New York. These meetings, which were both official and otherwise, were referred to as Prepcom IV. I also helped organize the Interna­tional Forum on Sustainable Agriculture which was part…

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Earth Summit Report presentated at the Issues and Answers Forum of the UN Conference on Environment & Development 1992

Presented at NAL’s Issues and Answers Forum, November 18, 1992 Updated and Published in Agricultural Libraries Information Notes, Volume 19, Numbers 10-12 October-December 1993 ISSN: 0095-2699 1993 by Roger Blobaum, Associate Director, World Sustainable Agriculture Association (WSAA) I want to thank Jayne MacLean for this invitation to participate in this Issues and Answers Forum. She asked me to talk about my recent experience as the World Sustainable Agriculture Association’s accredited representative to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. She also suggested covering some of the things that went on behind the scenes. The conference, the largest UN- sponsored meeting ever held, is usually referred to by insiders as “UNCED.” It’s better known to everyone else as the Earth Summit. This was much more than an international extravaganza involving more than 100 heads of state and delegations from 170 countries. It involved much more important issues than whether President Bush would go or what he would say when he got there. This event, held last June [1992] in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro, was the culmination of a 2-year process that also included active participation by representatives of a record number of non-governmental organizations [NGOs]. The United…

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Earth Summit NGO Action Treaties On Sustainable Development June 11,1992

These treaties are meant to be new models for agreements unlike traditional government treaties. NGOs which agree to sign on are committing themselves with the other signatories to take action and work in collaboration with other signatories lo achieve the goal(s) of each treaty. They are not meant to direct others or indicate what should be done by governments or international institutions, but only refer to our own commitments. PROPOSED TREATY STRUCTURE 1. General Principles: a short set of principles of an ethical nature which NGs agree should guide decision-making and action in this particular area. These should be specific to the issue at hand, while much broader points such as respect for human rights and democratic process, would be developed separately, perhaps by the group dealing with NGO cooperation. 2. Specific agreed action areas: Each should indicate a specific action which will be undertaken by one or more signatories. NGOs will be encouraged to sign on to each action which they can commit to, but will not be forced to agree to all of the actions in total. Therefore disagreements about different approaches can be avoided, as long as the general principles are followed. 3. Coordination and Monitoring: NGO…

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Earth Summit NGO Food Security Treaty JUNE 11, 1992

I. PREAMBLE:   CURRENT POLICY & CRITIQUE Food security is having the means as an individual, family, community, region, or country to adequately meet nutritional needs on a daily and annual basis. It includes freedom from both famine and chronic malnutrition. Food security is best assured when food is locally produced, processed, stored and distributed, and is available on a continuous basis regardless of climatic and other variations. Despite significant increases in food production in recent years, food insecurity has increased. Recent estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) place deaths due to hunger-related problems in rural areas of the developing world at more than 15 million for 1990, and about 500 million from the same areas are likely to remain chronically undernourished. Paradoxically, these occurred in spite of dramatic increases in food production. Presently, the world food insecurity problem is a result of an undemocratic and inequitable distribution of and access to resources (such as land, credit, information and incentive), rather than a problem of global food production. As a result, there is a concentration of production in certain regions and in the hands of fewer and fewer intensive producers, to the detriment of the other regions, small scale…

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Earth Summit NGO Sustainable Agriculture Treaty JUNE 11, 1992

I. PREAMBLE:   CURRENT POLICY & CRITIQUE Knowing that: 1.      The dominant global socio-economic and political system which promotes the model of industrial agricultural production and rural development is the root of the social and environmental crisis in agriculture, and its effects extend from rural to urban areas on a planetary scale; 2.      Although the present model of agriculture has contributed in the last decades to a substantial increase in food production, it has not solved the world’s hunger problem, which has increased parallel to increases in food production; 3.  This model decreases diversity in ecosystems, landscapes and production, reduces natural resources that are the common heritage of all to criteria and a logic of production which mines the resource base, seeks immediate profits, and shifts the control of production of foods and raw materials toward large transnational corporations and trade interests at the expense of local control and quality of life for farmers and food security for all people; 4. The present industrial, chemical intensive agriculture system of the so-called “Green Revolution” degrades the fertility of; soils, intensifies the effects of droughts and contributes to desertification, pollutes water resources, causes sanitization, increases non-renewable energy dependence, destroys genetic resources, contaminates the…

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Timetable and Plan for the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro | 1992

ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE LINKAGES WITH THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: EARTH SUMMIT IN RIO DE JANEIRO. JUNE 1992 The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) is expected to be the largest United Nations summit ever held. Decisions made at UNCED are likely to shape the international environmental agenda well Into the 2lst century. UNCED has generated Intense Interest and activity among non-governmental organi2atlons (NGOs) worldwide, which have won an unprecedented degree of access to decisionmaking at UNCED. Due to this access the conference preparatory process is forging new alliances among NGOs that transcend special Interest and geographic boundaries. Through the Association for Progressive Communications, much of the UNCED Preparatory Committee (Prepcom) proceedings and dialogue between NGOs active in the UNCED process have been accessible at low cost via electronic conferences. In the United States. EcoNet. a network of the Institute for Global Communications is the easiest and lowest cost means of following these dialogues. Despite its central role In environmental degradation, agriculture does not have Its own heading on the UNCED agenda. Agriculture was Initially left off the UNCED agenda because it was not perceived as a high priority by the United Nations Environment…

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Proposals for Language On Sustainable Agriculture In Agenda 21 | 1992

SUBMITTED BY ORGANIC FARMERS ASSOCIATIONS COUNCIL, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL AND EARTHSAVE FOUNDATION Prepared for the Fourth Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development Working Group I – Land Resources 2 March – 3 April 1992 New York, USA Proposed Language: PROGRAMME A: Sector Policy Review, Planning and Programming with Emphasis on Food Security Under “Objectives”: “Direct resources to the research and development of technologies and systems to improve the harvesting, storage, processing and distribution of food products in an environmentally sound and equitable manner.” “Develop operational sectoral plans and programmes to achieve these.” Under “Activities”, paragraph no. 12, add the following new sections: National governments should: “Introduce policies and programmes to reduce post-harvest wastage in the food system by improving the harvesting, storage, processing and distribution of food products in an environmentally sound and equitable manner.” “Introduce policies and programmes which ensure equitable access to the food system and supply, especially for vulnerable populations.” “End the current subsidy and price support systems that encourage environmentally damaging systems of production and distribution, and cause social and economic disparity” “Formulate, introduce and monitor policies, laws, and regulations leading to sustainable agriculture and rural development and improved…

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Preconfence Informational Paper on the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), or Earth Summit Global Forum | 1992

What precisely is the ’92 Global Forum? The ’92 Global Forum is the series of simultaneous, substantive, independent sector events to take place during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), or Earth Summit, that will be held in Rio de Janeiro between June 1-12, 1992. Most of the ’92 Global Forum events will take place in the Flamengo Park where special facilities will be built, in the Hotel Gloria Convention Center and in approximately 30 auditoriums in downtown Rio de Janeiro and environs. Who runs the ’92 Global Forum? The ’92 Global Forum secretariat, which has been installed at the Hotel Gloria in Rio since mid-1991, is a joint effort between the Forum of Brazilian NGOs and the International Facilitating Committee (IFC). The Forum of Brazilian NGOs is an coalition of hundreds of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) who are devoted to environment and development issues. The Forum of Brazilian NGOs is represented at the ’92 Global Forum by Tony Gross, a respected Amazon researcher and author. The IFC was formed of representatives from international, independent sector environment and development organizations and one of its prime objectives is to assist the Brazilian NGOs in putting on the ’92 Global…

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Inaugural Meeting of the World Sustainable Agriculture Association | September 1991

Saving the Earth and Protecting Our Environment have become universal watchwords. The benevolent Earth has provided us with its manifold blessings of pure water, clean air and nurturing soil for untold generations. However as we head towards the 21st Century, we find the Earth in a sad state of unbalance, largely due to damage inflicted by man since the Industrial Revolution. Agriculture, providing the staff of life, was intended as a natural way for human beings to insure the supply of adequate nourishment.   Today most of our modern agriculture methods pollute the water, air and soil. Our food brings toxins as well as nutrients into our systems. Now we must adapt our agriculture to the sustainable course in order to preserve our environment, our health and well-being. Organic farmers, Nature Farmers, Biodynamic or Regenerative farmers, regardless of nomenclature, must unite with those concerned with the future of our planet. The World Sustainable Agriculture Association invites your active participation to create a better future for the Earth. Goals of the World Sustainable Agriculture Association Modern agriculture has made great achievements in agricultural science and technology utilizing new inventions and innovations. We have succeeded in harvesting an abundance from nature, thereby insuring…

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Information on the World Sustainable Agriculture Association: Goals, Mission, Policies 1991-1996

Science and technology have enabled agriculture to become increasingly productive, to produce abundant harvests by manipulating Nature, and to increase the quality of life in most areas of the world. However, a heavy price is paid for this abundance. Many modern agricultural practices harm the environment, impair human health, and destroy the social and economic well-being of rural communities. Sustainable food and farming systems that enable producers to work in partnership with Nature have been developed to correct these deficiencies. These economically-viable and environmentally sound systems have been successfully demonstrated throughout the world. However, their adoption has been slowed by lack of government support and difficulty in gaining access to new information. In 1991, a group of concerned and like-minded individuals and organizations, rising above their respective nationalities and religions, committed themselves to the task of trying to reverse these trends. They established the World Sustainable Agriculture Association (WSAA) and agreed to work together to restore harmony between people and Nature. GOALS OF WSAA Develop and disseminate scientific and technical in­formation that will facilitate wide adoption of sustain­able agriculture systems and practices and build broad support for global transition to sustainable agriculture. Provide producers with farmer-friendly and site-spe­cific information by…

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Goals and Directors of the World Sustainable Agriculture Association 1991-1996

Dedicated to the well being of all people in harmony with Nature Goals of the World Sustainable Agriculture Association The ultimate goal of WSAA is to promote sustainable food and farming systems that are economically viable, socially just, and environmentally harmonious with Nature. We work cooperatively on local, national and international levels to reverse the many modern agricultural practices and public policies that harm the environment, impair human health, and destroy the social and economic well-being of rural communities. Highly dedicated individuals and organizations in many parts of the world are eager to make their agriculture truly sustainable, and their communities decent places to live and raise families. WSAA seeks to inform and facilitate efforts to implement changes at all levels, ranging from national and international policies to the grass roots. We work with cooperative government officials, farmer organizations, consumer groups, and other NGOs (non-governmental organizations). WSAA is not a grant-making organization; we seek effective ways to help others obtain resources essential to their serving, and a voice in determining policies that shape their futures. WSAA is primarily an educational, advocacy and service organization which functions as a catalyst for action. We serve as a convener of organizations, agencies, and…

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