CRS` Agriculture Principles

All of Catholic Relief Services' agricultural and environmental work is guided by the following six principles:

1. Work with farmers as partners

2. Treat farming as a family business, acknowledging that rural communities are linked to markets and that farm families need income for off-farm products and services.

3. Focus on farming systems, supporting diverse production - crops, livestock, trees and fish.

4. Promote agricultural practices that do not deplete or damage resources, linking production to conservation.

5. Use watershed approaches, fostering cross-community collaboration for resource protection, natural disaster mitigation, and upstream/downstream cooperation to meet competing water needs.

6. Ensure immediate benefits; invest in long-term production. CRS' programs are based on assessments of local needs, opportunities, and key limiting factors. Activities include:
   
   

   • Rural credit
   • Agricultural recovery from disaster
   • Crop and horticultural production
   • Soil and water conservation
   • Agro-forestry
   • Livestock production
   • Fish farming
   • Soil improvement
   • Integrated pest and water management
   • Watershed management
   • Marketing
   • Small-scale irrigation
   • Land tenure and titling