According to FAO, monoculture is the agricultural practice of cultivating a single crop over a whole farm or area. The conventional/productive agricultural system, also known as the industrial model of agriculture, is characterized by its preference for monocultures and large-scale agriculture - utilizing intensive production practices that rely heavily on the use of capital, technology and external petrochemical inputs. It orients itself towards the national market and increasingly more towards the global market due to the liberalization of commercial agriculture and food security policies based on international trade.
This guide wants to present an analysis of the most outstanding problems concerning the industrial agriculture production of monocultures, including forest plantations, from a Human Rights perspective. Its aim is the facilitation of mapping, identification and documentation of human rights violations for the communities affected by the monocultures and their supporting organizations. Furthermore, it wants to contribute to monitor the effects of agrofuel expansion; and it wants the affected communities to be able to make use of their human rights, applying them for advocacy strategies when bringing their complaints to the national and international human rights protection system. This guide focuses on the effects of the agricultural and agrarian system especially on the poor rural population and on sustainable food production.
Published by FIAN and HIC Latin America, June 2009
See the guide: Monocultures and Human Rights
