Sustainable Management of Agricultural Resources and the Need for Stakeholder Participation for the Developing of Appropriate Sustainability Indicators

Abstract

The past 20 years have seen the rapid expansion of one development theory, that of sustainable development. This theory provided the opportunity for all stakeholders to be able to be involved in development projects. However, regarding issues of sustainable development, there is a historical tendency for these issues to be driven by top-down and technocratic agendas. Nevertheless, it is argued that the various stakeholders should be brought together and allowed to express their perspectives and perceptions, and that they should actively be involved in any developmental process. Within this context, this chapter argues that the adoption of a participatory, inter-disciplinary approach by the scientists/researchers in the development of sustainability indicators (with a focus on soil quality sustainability indicators) for use in agricultural ecosystems, can lead to the development of appropriate assessment tools that are meaningful to farmers and related to their understandings.