NGO position on Agriculture in Towards Earth Summit II  section 2.8:
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security
We call for: Implementation of the provisions of Chapter 14 of Agenda 21 that call for sustainable and ecological food, production and distribution systems to protect the environment, contribute to the well-being of human and non-human inhabitants of the earth, and ensure the human right to food, including access to land, for all women, men, youth and children.

Implementation: Commit to capacity-building opportunities and structures to support farmers, women and men, especially small- scale producers and peasants, to enable them to employ agricultural methods that are ecologically sound, socially acceptable, and sustainable.

Rationale: Long-term food and nutritional security depends upon the ability of primary food producers to achieve sustainable food systems both now and in the future. Locally controlled ecologically-based production and distribution systems are better suited to protect the natural biodiversity, health and well-being of their communities. The industrial model of agricultural production is contributing, dramatically, to ecological disruption and the destruction of rural communities . Increasingly the globalized food system is the root cause of the social and environmental crisis in agriculture. This kind of energy-intensive and chemical-dependent agriculture degrades the fertility of soils, intensifies the effects of droughts, pollutes water, causes salinization and compaction, destroys genetic resources, wastes fossil fuel energy, contaminates the food supply, and contributes to climate change. (Refer to NGO Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture paper). As part of these efforts, the FAO/others needs to promote and ensure that agreement is achieved in relation to implementation of the Pollutant Transfer Registers, and the reduction of pesticide use by at least 50%.