Essay on "Using Social Psychological Principles to Help Create a Sustainable Future"

Essay 7 pages (1965 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Social Psychological Principles to create a Sustainable Future

Social Psychology Principles for a Sustainable Future

Today more than ever before, societies around the globe are pressed with increasingly complex issues. Environmental, economical and social issues have reached a critical stage forcing us to seriously reconsider indiscriminate use and abuse of natural resources towards a sustainable development plan for the future. The agricultural sector in particular is under tremendous stress to cater to the demands of the population, which is growing at a phenomenal rate. Achieving technological efficiency in the farming sector is crucial in meeting this growing demand for food supplies. It must be said that technological innovations in agricultural practices have yielded a significant boost in productivity over the last few decades both in the developed as well as the developing worlds. The story about English wheat production that it took around 1000 years to achieve productivity increase from 0.5 to 2 tha while it took only 40 years to achieve productivity boost from 2 to 6 t ha speaks of the significant yield improvements made possible by technological farming. This success is not only limited to the developed countries but is also witnessed in developing economies. Improved farming practices changed the agricultural picture of Asia from a continent faced with threats of food scarcity and mass starvation in the 1960's to achieving surplus production of the staple crops in the late 1980's though the population doubled during that period. [Hazell & Wood, 2007] However, the fact that more than 1.2 billion people around the world are starving is an entirely different issue that highlights the unequal distribution of the agricultural productivity.

Embracing and adopting new growing technologies such as modern plant breeding, no till farming, biotech farming, etc. are crucial to achieve a sustainable increase in productivity in the future as the population continues to grow. No till farming has proven to maintain soil fertility and is particularly significant for the agricultural future of the world. In the U.S., agricultural biotechnology has yielded productivity gains to the tune of $20 billion between 1996 and 2007. Social scientists have an important role in transforming the attitudes of people. A recent study indicated that in Africa, the technological revolution that is witnessed elsewhere in the globe is yet to be embraced. Statistics suggest that the use of inorganic fertilizer is less than 12 kgha, irrigated cropland is less than 4% and only 1 tractor per 620h ranks Africa among the least by global standards in terms of adoption of technological farming practices. The result is a stagnation of yields over the last 40 years. [Hazell & Wood, 2007] So it is incumbent upon the government to educate the farmers towards an environmentally friendly, economically viable and productivity enhancing farming methods. Practicing no till farming for instance could prove so beneficial for improving the soil nutrition and retaining soil moisture. The conservative African farming practices however resist changes to their traditional practices. Agricultural scientists should make use of social psychological principles to convince and motivate farmers to embrace technological farming practices. A more interactive approach that involves including the farmers input as an important part of the new agricultural policy measures is vital to leveraging the technological advances to attain a sustainable and at the same time a more productive agricultural practice around the world.

A classic example of bridging the technological divide is the case of Lalashan, a remote mountain place in Taiwan with an indigenous population making a living out of selling peaches. Due to the abundance in production, price of peaches fell down drastically making it an unprofitable trade for many of the indigenous families that cultivated peaches in Lalashan. The government-supported project in Lalashan helped this remote community in establishing a DOWEB (Digital Opportunity Within E-business) that enabled them to sell peaches over the Internet. This promised the native villagers an annual income of atleast NT$3,000,000. By this innovative method of creating demand for information technology, the government of Taiwan succeeded in making the local farmers interested in learning about the technology. In 2000, the average income for the families was NT$2,000,000 and most of the families were computer illiterate but by 2005, 80% of the households had computers with broadband connectivity and 91 families sold their peaches online and doubled their income compared to 2000. This is just one example where opportunity driven technological intervention proved to be an ideal solution. [Liu et.al (2006)]

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Global population has exploded over the last century. Currently the world population has crossed 6.7 billion and projections by the UN indicate that if unchecked, world population would be a staggering 9 billion by 2050. Given the scarcity of resources, this explosion of population would cause an environmental catastrophe. As Roger Marti, director of the Optimum Population Trust says, "The current level of human population growth is unsustainable and places acute pressure on global resources. Human activity is exacerbating global warming, and higher population levels inevitably mean higher emissions and more climate change victims,"[John Vidal, 2009] The Chinese 'One Child Policy' was remarkably effective in controlling the country's population. As Jonathan Porritt, the former Sustainable Commission chairman says, "Had there been no 'one child family' policy in China there would now have been 400 million additional Chinese citizens,." [John Vidal, 2009]

In India too, the government has recognized the importance of population control measures as can be witnessed by the increasing advertisement campaigns in the television and print media promoting the use of Birth control pills and other contraceptive methods. The health and family welfare ministry of India has recently urged the government to increase funding for provision of electricity to rural Indian villages and promoting television viewing as a means to educate rural viewers about family planning. "When there is no electricity there is nothing else to do but produce babies." "80% of population growth can be reduced through TV." [Jane Derry] Mass media advertisements relating to family planning is being vigorously pursued by the National government. Besides the nationwide advertisement campaigns, the Indian government is also pursuing an individual incentive approach by offering cash incentives (£62) for couples who delay having a child by two years and an additional £31 if they delay by one more year. This is an attractive offer particularly for the rural population. [PressTv]

Cash incentives are not an ideal method of controlling pregnancies in rich countries such as the U.S. Promoting sex education and safe sex methods and increasing the awareness about parenthood responsibilities are the most effective methods. In the U.S., adolescent pregnancy remains a pressing problem with an average of around 900,000 teenage pregnancies a year. [Klein, 281-286] School based interventions are an important part of the national population control programs.

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Consumption of resources is directly proportional to the population growth and the economic activity of a nation. The U.S. stands significantly higher in terms of the energy consumption compared to all other countries and is also the largest emitter of CO2 in the world. Making up only 5% of the global population, the U.S. accounts for as much as 25% of the global energy consumption. The government's motto of the 'Three R's of going green' namely 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' clearly projects the message of the environmentalists. Many other countries have accepted this strategy. [CDC] Governments and NGO's worldover are spreading the awareness of conserving water as the most precious natural resource. There is also increasing awareness about the paper consumption and the rapid deforesting that it causes. Bringing about a personal transformation is the crucial in our efforts to moderate resource usage and to promote sustainable developmental policies. Besides massive advertisement campaigns, people should also be motivated to change their lifestyles towards simple living. Behavioral studies in the past have indicated that increasing the awareness without creating the motivational drive for change is not very effective. Because corporations have vested interests in increasing resource consumption many a times, it would be a battle against the corporations. Any preservation efforts should be encouraged and actively supported by the global environmental community.

Social scientists also encourage increasing 'organized activity' as a well-known psychological motivational approach towards resource consumption moderation and sustainable future planning. Organized group activity is more effective in increasing the awareness and in the fight against environmental damage. [Stuart Oskamp, 2000] Environmental agenda and activity should be part of all community-based institutions such as schools, colleges, corporations and government bodies. This would not only increase the awareness but also instill a 'collective behavioral responsibility' in people. Government can use coercive persuasion as a means to effect immediate changes or by providing incentives. For example German government tried to reduce redundant packaging by offering incentives for firms using recycling. Similarly, the Dutch government promoted mass transport (bus as opposed to car) as an effective method of energy conservation. [F Duchin, 2005]

Since behavior is tied to a sense of personal identity, for consumption reduction efforts to be successful, a change from consumeristic value orientation has to be effected.

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