For my first case study I found an article from the Colby college based on Agriculture in Indonesia (http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/ag-ind.html). The focal question for this case study was “How has Indonesia’s desire for food self sufficiency in rice compromised it’s ability to address the issues of sustainable agricultural development?” The goals of the Indonesian government were to increase their rice production so they could be self sufficient in food. In which case they would be free to focus on other aspects of life and work on science and technology which has been seen to be the basis for developing and developed worlds; starting in agriculture and moving to science and technology when obtaining/cultivating food is no longer a concern. However they compromised their agricultural sustainability in the process to become self sufficient. This lead to many problems in health, economy, and pollution similar to those discussed throughout the module. Having learned from this, however, Indonesia has since implement more effective pest management programs (IPM) and agricultural policies to ensure their food is sustainable and reduce the harmful effects production causes on the environment.

My second case study was on sustainable agriculture in Thailand, focusing on the village Talad and specifically a single family/farmer there in. The goal of the study was to show how other farmer around the world are implementing sustainable agriculture and how they are achieving it. I found the article at http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_c/mod15.html?panel=3#top under the Thailand link. The study describes how the farmer, Thongdee Nantha, set up his farm in order to use integrated farming methods, like using ducks, fish, pigs, plants, rice, etc to create a nutrient replenishing circle allowing his farm to be self sufficient. The article discusses how the farming style was taken up by other farmers in the village and how it is not sustainable for “absentee landlord[s]” or “industrial farmer[s]”. However it does give an insight into how farming is done in other areas of the world. It shows how important Nantha’s attention to the details of the farm and the day to day chores, decisions, etc. are and how consuming it is. He has no time for other focuses, no time to work on other things because he must be paying attention to his farm and his source of food, which ties into the development throughout history concept and why Thailand, which is fertile, is not as developed as other countries.

These cases are slightly similar to where I live and different at the same time as well. I live in State College current (Souderton, PA when I’m at my parents, both are very similar areas though). The idea of sustainable agriculture with an integrated farming and pest management program discussed in both studies with how they relate to where I live now. The farms here focus on crop rotation, biological and chemical pest control, nutrient replenishment, etc. which is what the farmers in the case studies were also trying to do and accomplish. They are different however because here there is a much more established and highly developed system that allows us to spend time on other areas of interest than the farms in the two studies. It is important to examine the ideas, concepts, failures, and successes of other countries so that we can avoid making the same mistakes (like the health and environmental issues in Indonesia) and so we can become better at establishing a sustainable food system (similar to the small farm in Thailand) so we can be better at taking care of ourselves, our neighbors, and our planet. It will also allow us to help out other countries if we know they are struggling and lost so they too can improve their standard of living, development, etc.