Glossary

Integrated production systems involve the horizontal and vertical integration of crops, livestock, noncrop plants, and aquaculture. The objective is to optimize the use of natural resources (land, soil, water, etc.) and agricultural inputs (seed, fertilizer, pesticides, etc.) to arrest land degradation as well as conserve and improve soil fertility/productivity, provide for the diversified needs of producers, and enhance farm incomes, with the overall objective of conservation and improvement of the environment through the adoption of good agricultural practices. Integrated production systems aim to achieve sustainability in agriculture through the optimal use of natural resources and agricultural inputs, better waste management, conservation of biodiversity, and meeting diversified needs of rural communities, especially farming families.

Integrated plant nutrient management (IPNM) is a holistic, integrated approach that considers all the available farm resources that can be used as plant nutrients. The main principles of IPNM are to maximize the use of organic inputs while minimizing nutrient losses and to make only supplementary use of chemical fertilizers. Good practices for IPNM often involve a combination of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients. Organic materials maintain and improve soil productivity, whereas chemical fertilizers are often needed if production is to increase. IPNM contributes to better farm waste management, minimizing environmental pollution, improving soil productivity, and the production of safe food and feed.

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a decision support system for crop protection which focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems with minimum impact on human health, the environment, and nontarget organisms. IPM takes into consideration all available pest control techniques and tactics (cultural, mechanical, biological, chemical) and integrates measures that discourage the development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically, socially, and environmentally justified. IPM emphasizes the growth of healthy crops for better productivity with the least possible disruption to agroecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms. It can be an effective strategy to promote Green Productivity in agricultural and food products.

Loosely defined, the informal sector is a collective term referring to all legal economic transactions that are not captured in the National Accounts. (Illegal economic transactions are referred to as the underground economy.) The size of the informal sector varies from one economy to another. It is likely to be bigger, for example, in a country where the tax collection mechanism is immature. It can also depend on the organizational behavior of the economy with respect to the ways people are inclined to conduct economic activities.

The concept of the informal sector has evolved over time. During the 1950s and 1960s, there was a common view that in the process of economic growth, the traditional sector comprised of petty traders and small producers and the range of casual jobs would be absorbed into the formal economy. However, by the early 1970s, the Kenya Employment Mission of the International Labour Organization (ILO) recognized that the traditional sector had not just persisted but even expanded to include profitable, efficient enterprises as well as marginal activities. To reflect that phenomenon, the Kenya Mission decided to use the term informal sector rather than traditional sector for the range of small-scale and unregistered economic activities. Since then the term informal sector has become popular in the economic literature.

There was a debate over the role of the informal sector in economic development. By the 1980s, the focus of the informal sector debate had expanded to include the changes that were taking place in developed countries. The larger presence of the informal sector sparked a growing interest in statistics on it among international organizations. The Fifteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 1993 defined the informal sector as all unregistered or unincorporated enterprises below a certain size, including: microenterprises owned by informal employers who hire one or more employees on a continuing basis; and own-account operations owned by individuals who may employ contributing family workers and employees on an occasional basis. (Source: APO Productivity Databook 2008)

Hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) is a proactive food safety concept. This systematic method serves as the foundation for assuring food safety in an era of globalization and trade liberalization. HACCP is designed to prevent the occurrence of food-borne hazards from production through the processing, storage, and distribution of a food product. The HACCP method involves the identification of specific hazards throughout the entire process and focuses on preventive measures to assure the quality and safety of food. This includes analysis of raw material sources and uses, processing equipment, operating practices, packaging, and storage, together with marketing and conditions for intended use. There is less reliance on the traditional system of end-product testing, and food safety is built into the product from conception through development and distribution. In brief, the purpose of HACCP is to identify potential problems that could occur in an operation, consider each, and establish controls to minimize or prevent their occurrence.
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See also: ISO 22000