Agency 22: Cropland and Pastures
The twenty-second agency in the community deals with cropland and pastures. The agency facilitates access to land that the community, through limited partners who work as farmers, uses to raise crops and livestock.
While promoting production of healthy and sufficient food, the agency also ensures responsible use of land to avoid overexploitation and pollution, support soil regeneration. It is the first of three agencies in the Land and Utilities Bureau. Other agencies in the bureau are Agency 23 (Community Land and Utilities), and Agency 24 (Raw Materials and Transport).
The Capital Bank Agency (agency 8) receives investment in the form of partnership interest from limited partners, which it in turn invests in community agencies, including the Cropland and Pastures Agency. The agency uses these funds for operations, including down payments for the loans it needs to acquire land, and delivering chargeable services to participants. From its revenues, it pays the Capital Bank a return on its investment, which in turn enables the bank to pay limited partners superior returns on their investments.
Overview: food production in the community
Part of the community’s aim to provide sustainable prosperity to participants is achieved by facilitating the production of healthy food that optimizes land use and productivity and minimizes agriculture’s impact on the environment.
The community’s setup gives every participant an opportunity to produce food. There is a garden behind every apartment, to which the limited partner renting it has a first right to farm there. If the limited partner is unable or unwilling, the garden is rented out to a professional farmer. Having more people engage in food production means that there are diverse farming practices and a variety of food produced. This promotes sustainable agriculture, more responsible farming that is organic and environmental-friendly, and greater responsiveness to market needs. This can help in producing healthier and more nutritious food.
To be competitive as businesses, farmers in the community prioritize growing a larger variety of foods, which helps in maintaining biodiversity and more choices for consumers.
Growing food, especially perishable produce such as vegetables close to where people live also helps minimize food miles – the distance that food travels from farm to fork. The greater the distance, the greater the chances that the food will have more preservatives and processing, less fresh and nutritious, and have a bigger carbon footprint.
The community prioritizes rearing animals in environments that are as close as possible to their natural habitat but still producing optimal animal products – meat, dairy, and eggs. Additionally, the community aims to thoroughly integrate animal rearing and crop farming to be mutually beneficial to each other, and human health.
The employment of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) is frowned upon because of the various challenges it poses to animal and human health. Among them, meat produced through CAFO depends on antibiotics and hormones to boost growth and prevent disease. This has been cited as a reason for rising cases of antibiotic resistance in people who consume meat.
CAFO meat has less nutritional value, attested by the different levels of fatty acids in the meat compared to pasture-reared meat. CAFO operations are usually enormous operations that exert too much pressure on the water resources in the areas they are situated. The operations are also often unable to control the air pollution associated with the crowded nature of their pens. For these reasons, among others, the community favors pasture-fed livestock rearing, to the extent that it is economically viable.
Vertical farming, which involves indoor food production, especially of vegetables, and aquaponics, which integrates both meat production (fish rearing) and crops, are also promoted alongside traditional, outdoor farming. This enables the community to, within a small area, produce diverse foods for the people, promoting a healthy diet and providing business opportunities for more participants.
With these considerations, the Cropland and Pastures Agency works with participants to have as many people as possible engage in gainful food production while aligning such production with environmental, health, and ethical considerations. Currently, the standard Western diet uses up around 1-3 acres per person per year. However, it has been blamed for some health conditions, due to low representation of fruit and fiber, and a high concentration of ultra-processed foods. The agency endeavors to manage this.
Roles of the Cropland and Pastures Agency
- Acquire land for farmland and pastures on the community’s behalf
- Facilitate farming on the community land
- Monitor farming methods to ensure compliance with standards
- Training farmers and contractors
Cropland and pasture acquisition
The land that the community uses for its needs – building its physical campus, food production, raw materials, transport, and mining – is acquired with the help of capital investment from the Capital Bank (agency 8), and with loans from the bank agencies. The Cropland and Pastures Agency is loaned funds by the Community Bank Agency (agency 7). The Capital Bank loans the Built-up Area and Utilities Agency (agency 23), while the Commercial Bank (agency 9) loans the Raw Materials and Transport Agency (agency 24).
The three agencies work together to acquire the right land and develop it according to the plan. Once this is done, the Cropland and Pastures Agency further develops agricultural blocks and pastures where necessary to make them fit for farming activities. This includes fitting irrigation systems and water management facilities as needed and available, and soil testing to establish which areas may need additional farm inputs to make them fit for crop cultivation, among others.
Due to the geographical or climatic circumstances in an area, a community may need more or less land to feed the same number of people. The agency works out how much land is needed during the acquisition process, and also determines how the land will be utilized when growing food, animal feed, and pasture. 1 The community through the agency acquires extensive amounts of land as may be needed to optimally produce food, regenerate the soil, and accommodate other environmental demands.
Facilitating farming
With the land acquired and the necessary infrastructure in place, the Cropland and Pastures Agency leases the land to farmers to produce food. Farmers are current or upcoming limited partners with extensive knowledge of farming. They should be able to provide food in the required quantities, quality, and variety as needed to sustain a healthy lifestyle in the community.
The agency issues farmers with leases that are renewable upon satisfactory performance. Leases depend on the duration within which a farmer’s performance can be assessed fairly. For instance, the lease to a farmer growing wheat will be different from another farmer’s, who intends to produce avocadoes.
Land is competitively allocated based on availability, the farmer’s experience and capability, and their business plan. The agency can in some instances give a farmer a trial run to determine whether they can assure optimal production, before allocating them more land or withdrawing a lease.
Indoor and controlled environment agriculture, using greenhouses, vertical farms, and aquaponic farms are located in the mirrored villages. These farms are owned and leased out by the Cropland and Pastures Agency to professional farmers. The farms focus on fresh produce – vegetables, and herbs, for instance. Storage of grains is also done in silos located in these mirrored villages.
Large-scale agriculture, producing grain and other crops that require large-scale production to be economically viable is practiced beyond the mirrored villages. Large farms are located a maximum of 10 miles from the community’s built-up area (residential area). Farmers can easily commute to and from their apartments to the farms and back daily.
Some pastures are located alongside outdoor farms, and may periodically rotate based on the agency’s plans for regenerating soil exhausted by crop farming. Additional pastures are available beyond the 10 miles used for large-scale farming. This land is between 50 – 200 miles away from the community, in the hinterlands. Ranchers and herders who work in these areas set up temporary shelters, which can be easily dismantled as needed. They stay in these camps for two weeks a month and spend the other two weeks in the inner community. This allows them to be active members of the community.
The community’s agricultural industry is highly mechanized, using smart technologies including robotics to improve productivity and reduce overheads. The machinery needed to do this is provided by the Business Operations Agency (agency 3). The agency does not provide farmers with this equipment directly. Instead, it liaises with businesses vetted by the Cropland and Pastures Agency, which hire the equipment, and lease it to farmers. This arrangement relieves the two agencies of the logistical headache that is needed to provide farmers with what they need on time, presents additional business opportunities, and creates more income for the agencies.
The Cropland and Pastures Agency requires all farmers and ranchers to insure their crops and livestock against crop failure, disease, and other risks. This insurance is provided by the Health and Nutrition Agency (agency 4). Businesses also take out insurance against business disruption that may occur as a result of these issues, which is provided by the Life Planning Agency (agency 5). The Business Operations Agency secures insurance for its assets, including the equipment it leases, with the Recreation, Arts and Sports Agency (agency 6).
Monitor food production
The Cropland and Pastures Agency closely works with farmers to ensure that they employ the right farming techniques that ensure that the food produced is produced sustainably, and is fit for human consumption. Towards this, the agency has some agrichemicals that it bans from use, based on scientific evidence of their detrimental effects on human health, the environment, and animals. It regularly tests crops and animals to ensure they are being reared as per regulations.
Besides the quality of production, the agency also monitors quantity. Farmers receive leases competitively. A less-than-ideal production is picked up by the agency, which engages the farmer to see whether there is any help they need to boost production. If the interventions do not help, the agency can cancel the lease and award it to another farmer who shows that they are more capable.
The agency keenly promotes soil regeneration techniques. Overgrazing, persistent monocultural cultivation, and improper irrigation techniques are all discouraged. The agency routinely monitors the farming and ranching practices to ensure that farming is sustainable and that these practices are not practiced.
Training
The Cropland and Pastures Agency appreciates the importance of information in enabling farmers to attain high productivity using the right methods. The agency also empowers contractors who help farmers with information on agriculture best practices that help them farm as the agency recommends.
Training sessions, which are mostly conducted online, aim to empower farmers to produce food in ways that promote the safety and health of consumers and the environment. They are also trained on how to run successful agribusinesses, by, for instance, finding alternative, organic farm inputs, animal feed formulations, and marketing techniques. The Cropland and Pastures Agency contracts experts to formulate training modules that target all types of farming.
How the agency works
Background on presidencies
Every presidency in the community presidency is a four-member entity whose members represent one of the four major demographic groups, or divisions: married men (A), married women (B), single women (C), and single men (D). However, a president serves the whole community in their role, rather than only their own demographic. Presidents’ diversity and commitment to serve all is provided for in the community bylaws and ensures that all access services without any discrimination.
These four major demographics are evenly split in ordinary society, with each group accounting for between 23 and 27% of the population, and with regular fluctuations as people’s status changes. The community appreciates that discrimination across all social categories happens based on marital status, other social categorizations notwithstanding; married men are likelier to dominate other demographics, especially single men and single women. Married women are also likelier to have better prospects in careers and leadership than single women.
The community’s infrastructure promotes equal access to economic and social resources and opportunities. The composition of the community as a whole and those who serve it in the community public service is closely monitored to prevent numerical domination, which can lead to nepotism or unequal access.
Besides marital status, the recruitment to be a participant, and to serve in the public service carefully considers other social categorizations, to ensure racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual groups are well represented in the community as they are in the society in which a community operates. These considerations inform the constitution of the community public service. The diversity in community public service, which is provided by bylaws, is aimed at creating a community that is blind to all other considerations besides service to participants. The service is therefore designed to be free of discrimination.
Agency presidency, bureau board, and demographic presidencies
The Cropland and Pastures agency is served by an agency presidency of four presidents. The agency presidency sets the agency’s overall strategy and operating policies. It also sets up an automated system through which the agency interacts with participants. Adjusts the strategy, policies, and automated system as needed to better serve the community.
As part of the Land and Utilities Bureau, the Cropland and Pastures Agency’s agency presidency forms a 12-member bureau board together with the agency presidencies serving the Community Land and Utilities, and Raw Materials and Transport agencies. The board is a check and balance tool for individual presidents and agencies, especially on decisions that have far-reaching implications for the community. In the initial period, as a community is formed, the board plays a critical role in the acquisition, zoning, and development of land for various uses.
Within the bureau board, three presidents from the same demographic form a demographic presidency. There are four such presidencies in the bureau. The demographic presidency works on matters of common interest to a demographic, that cut across the three agencies. The demographic presidency also plays an important role in the mentorship and training of new presidents.
Demographic presidency A | Demographic presidency B | Demographic presidency C | Demographic presidency D | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Agency presidency, Cropland and Pastures (22) | 22A | 22B | 22C | 22D |
Agency presidency, Community Land and Utilities (23) | 23A | 23B | 23C | 23D |
Agency presidency, Raw Materials, and Transport(24) | 24A | 24B | 24C | 24D |
Limited partners and branch presidencies
Limited partners and dependents
A limited partner is the basic unit in the community. A limited person, usually above 18 years old, but sometimes as young as 16, has been admitted into the community and has invested $20,000 as partnership interest, for which they earn a return. This is regarded as one unit of partnership interest.
Over time, a limited partner can add more units of partnership interest, as their business prospers. The more partnership interest units a limited partner has, the more the return they receive from the Capital Bank.
A dependent is a minor, or a person living with a disability, under the care of a limited partner. In some instances, a dependent may be a fit adult, who for various reasons is supported by community agencies, and assigned by contract to a limited partner. Limited partners are responsible for any legal agreements that their dependents enter into, either with community agencies or other participants, and therefore have the right of attorney.
Together, limited partners and dependents are referred to as participants. Participants who are dependents, because they are still minors, can start a business when they reach 12 years of age. This allows them to save up and invest $20,000 into the community by their 18th birthday, and possibly as early as 16.
Limited partners and their dependents reside in apartments (village buildings). Each apartment has 4 floors, with each floor containing 16 apartments. Each floor has floor has 7 – 12 limited partners, with each limited partner having 1 – 3 dependents. Each floor therefore has around 25 residents. With four floors, each building has approximately 100 residents. An apartment building also forms a branch.
Limited partners and unit
A limited partner is the basic unit in the community. A limited partner, usually above 18 years old, but sometimes as young as 16, has been admitted into the community and has invested $20,000 as partnership interest, for which they earn a return from the Capital Bank Agency, which invests other community agencies. This is regarded as one unit of partnership interest. Over time, a limited partner can add more units of partnership interest, as their business prospers. The more partnership interest units a limited partner has, the more the return they receive from the agency.
A dependent is a minor, or a person living with a disability, under the care of a limited partner, and who has, in any of these cases, given their power of attorney to the limited partner. In some instances, a dependent may be a fit adult, who for various reasons is supported by community agencies, and assigned by contract to a limited partner. Limited partners are responsible for any legal agreements that their dependents enter into, either with community agencies or other participants. Together, limited partners and dependents are referred to as participants.
Participants who are dependents, because they are still minors, can start a business when they reach 12 years of age. This allows them to save up and invest $20,000 into the community by their 18th birthday, and possibly as early as 16. Limited partners and their dependents reside in apartment buildings (village buildings). Each apartment building has five floors, with four containing apartments. An apartment building also forms a branch.
Captains and branch presidencies
Of the approximately 100 residents in a branch, around 40 of them are limited partners.They are divided into 4 units, each of which has 10 limited partners and their dependents. The limited partner membership in a unit is diverse, containing different social groups that are reflective of the society within which a community operates.
Additionally, a unit contains members of the four main demographics: married males (A), married females (B), single females (C), and single males (D).
The 4 demographics in the branch form 4 groups, as follows:
- Group 1: married males and married females
- Group 2: single females and single males
- Group 3: married males and single males
- Group 4: married females and single females
Within each group, there are different subsets, known as classes, based primarily on age. There is a class for Nursery (0-2), toddlers (3 – 5), young children (6-9), pre-teens (10-12), teens (13-18), young adults (19-31), adults (32-72), and empty nesters (73+).
Meeting week | Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | Class 5 | Class 6 | Class 7 | Class 8 |
Week 1 and 3 | All married adults | All single adults | Teen boys and girls | Pre -teens | Young children | Toddlers | Nursery | |
Week 2 and 4 | All men | All women | Teen boys | Teen girls |
Further details on the composition of units, groups, classes, and branches, and their meeting schedules, is detailed here.
Recruitment and diversity
Captains are responsible for recruiting limited partners into the community through their council and by extension, branch. A captain does not recruit limited partners only from their demographic. Instead, they work to ensure that their recruits are diverse, considering social categorizations, gender, and social status, in addition to demographic groups.
Captains work in concert with their fellow captains in the branch presidency, and other presidencies in a village and district to ensure that the district is as diverse as possible. They are guided by present data on how diverse their district, village, and branch are, and what needs to be focused on to improve. They are also guided by community bylaws, which expressly require diversity as shown by demographic data about a population from which the community intends to recruit limited partners.
The captain serves as a service extension of the Human Relations Agency, though they also act as an interface between participants and other community agencies. For agencies that do not have bureau presidencies, such agencies in the Economic and Public Administration Bureaus, captains come in handy in helping participants navigate these agencies’ automated system and other relevant tools used by the agency to deliver services.
The automated system is designed to help participants with all the help they need in matters related to various agencies, including the Human Relations Agency. However, should they run into problems, captains assist them in navigating the system, or direct them to relevant contractors who help them at a fee..
Automated system
The Cropland and Pastures Agency performs much of its work through an automated system. The automated system handles most interactions between the agency and participants, including training, lease agreements, and monitoring, among others. Contractors and branch/ village presidencies also engage with the agency through the system, unless in specific instances when they need to personally engage with the agency presidency. Such engagements happen from Monday to Thursday every week, for 45 minutes from 8:00 to 8:45 AM.
Contractors
Contractors are frequently hired by farmers to help with animal and plant husbandry. They are also needed to consult on the mechanization of agriculture, such as proper management of vertical farms, robotics in planting and tending crops, and irrigation automation. Contractors are experienced agriculture experts, who do consultancy work as their business, but may also be farmers with area-specific experience.
The Cropland and Pastures Agency also hires contractors to help in matters where the automated system and branch presidencies are unable to provide sufficient help. For instance, soil testing, monitoring farming activities, and preparing training modules, are handled by contractors. Contractors are paid by whoever has contracted them – either the agency or by a limited partner.
Limited partners who practice farming already receive extensive business support from other agencies, such as Business Planning and Marketing Agencies. Their interaction with contractors is therefore focused on effective and quality farming techniques to ensure optimal and quality food production and sustainable profitability.
Inter-agency cooperation
The 24 community agencies form three columns of 8 agencies each. There is loose collaboration between the agencies in a column, as we will see below in the case of Column 1, which the Cropland and Pastures Agency forms a part of.
The Cropland and Pastures Agency extensively cooperates with the Human Relations Agency (agency 1) to ensure that there is an optimal mix of farmers admitted into the community to achieve its aims. The agency also cooperates with the Health and Nutrition Agency (agency 4) to ensure that food produced by farmers is healthy and sufficient. The two agencies also cooperate when farmers seek to take out insurance against the risk of crop or livestock failure, which can affect the community’s self-sustenance and food security.
The Community Bank (agency 7) provides the loans that the Cropland and Pastures Agency needs to acquire and develop land for agricultural production. The Communication Agency (agency 10) provides network connectivity to surrounding areas so that ranchers can employ technology in managing their herds, minimizing the need for human involvement in the business. Agriculture also uses smart technology, which the agency also powers.
The Business Planning Agency works with the Cropland and Pastures Agency in instances where a business wants to engage in farming, to establish the viability of the plan based on available opportunities and the farmer’s potential.
Presidencies’ offices, meetings, and quarterly conferences
Offices
The Cropland and Pastures Agency presidency has permanent offices in District Building 22’s first floor, on the western side. Facing them on the eastern side are the offices for trustee presidency and Regulatory Bureau presidency serving the agency and District 22.
Trustees and the regulatory bureau presidencies alternate their offices. Trustees have the offices in building 22 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while the bureau presidencies use the offices on Mondays and Wednesdays, as shown in this timetable:
Building 10/ Communication | Building 22/ Cropland and Pastures | |
---|---|---|
Monday | Trustee presidency | Regulatory Bureau presidency |
Tuesday | Regulatory Bureau presidency | Trustee presidency |
Wednesday | Trustee presidency | Regulatory Bureau presidency |
Thursday | Regulatory Bureau presidency | Trustee presidency |
The first floor’s layout is as follows, including other public servants who serve District 22.
Working hours and meetings
All community public servants work from Monday to Thursday, from 8:00 to 8:45 in the morning. The Cropland and Pastures Agency presidency uses this time to meet relevant parties including branch presidencies and other community public servants. On Thursday, each presidency (four presidents serving A, B, C, and D) meets for a 45-minute meeting from 9:00 to 9:45 in the morning.
On the last Friday of each quarter, between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM, each demographic presidency meets. The three-member presidency discusses common bureau matters that are of interest to the demographic they serve. On Saturday, again between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM, the whole board meets, where the presidents present their input from the previous day’s demographic presidency meeting, and prepare for the quarterly conference. The aim is to have a cohesive presentation during the quarterly conference but tailored to specific demographic interests.
Quarterly conferences
Quarterly conferences are held on the last Sunday of each quarter, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with a lunch break in between. During quarterly conferences, each demographic presidency sits together in the same row.
Quarterly conferences are held in District Buildings 5 and 17. Each building has a lower and higher assembly court. The different demographic groups use the assembly courts as follows:
Building | Assembly court | Demographic |
---|---|---|
5 | Lower court | Married men (A) |
5 | Higher court | Married Women (B) |
17 | Lower court | Single women (C) |
17 | Higher court | Single men (D) |
Branch presidencies do not attend quarterly conferences. Instead, they follow the relevant proceedings online alongside other participants.
Each of the four assembly courts has seats for 480 presidents representing the respective demographic. In the diagram below each of the 4 courts is illustrated. The ceiling of each court has an elliptical arch that enables agency presidents, who are the only ones who make a presentation during the conference, to speak without the need to amplify their voices. The 480 seats are easily rotatable to enable presidents to face whoever is speaking.
Each of the four courts has an identical arrangement and number of seats. The exact arrangement of each court can therefore be illustrated using one court, in this case, building 5’s lower court that is used by married men (A).
Within an assembly court, the 480 presidents are arranged in terms of demographic presidencies of 3. Land and Utilities Bureau’s demographic presidency for married men (22A, 23A, and 24A) sits as highlighted in the graphic.
Some additional notes/definitions from an earlier version of this page:
- Sustainable land management is necessary to ensure that while the available land meets the current needs of the population, it is also able to guarantee long-term productive potential. Sound land management ensures that while the users derive the maximum economic and social benefit from the available land, they also safeguard the ecological support functions of the land. The Land Management Agency will strive to provide the platform on which the community can achieve this (FAO. Sustainable Land Management. 2019. 10 07 2019).
- Land resource management policies are important in that they enable a community, country or region to adequately address all aspects of land management. In the community, there will be attempts to improve the economic and social benefits of land, while rehabilitating natural resources to enable them to be more beneficial to human activity (Binswanger-Mkhize, H., R. Meizen-Dick and C. Ringler. Policies, Rights, and Institutions for Sustainable Management of Land and Water Resources1. Background Thematic report. Geneva: FAO, 2009).
- The community, as is the case with democratically led local authorities, will have its own approach to land management, with the participants’ best interests at heart. However, this is not going to be enough without participation from the other stakeholders, who will be affected by any management policies, formulated an implemented. This will necessitate a partnership between participants, stewards in agricultural production, and the Land Management Agency so that the achieve can adequately satisfy its interests (Magigi, W. “Public-Private Partnership in Land Management: A Learning Strategy for Improving Land Use Change and Transformation in Urban settlements in Tanzania.” Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 3.15 (2015): 148-157).
- Land zoning is an important element in urban development. Through zoning, there is a mechanism through which land-use rules can be enforced, besides land maintenance, and ensuring that land is used only for the intended and most suitable purpose. The community will be less encumbered in its zoning processes, given that there will only be a few considerations including residential vs commercial or industrial, natural resource protection – including wildlife, riparian and catchment areas (Steele, E. “Participation and Rules-The Functions of Zoning.” American Bar Foundation Research Journal 11.4 (1986): 704-755).
- A centralized distribution of electricity will enhance uniformity and pricing, enabling the community to price housing and other rentable property uniformly. The quality of power produced will also be uniform, in a way equalizing all parts of the community as far as access to power is concerned. However, there might be issues with efficiency and wastage due to bureaucracy, which will need a concerted effort between the Land Agency and power distributors to resolve (Momoh, J. Centralized and Distributed Generated Power Systems – A Comparison Approach. Future Grid Initiative White Paper. Washington: Power Systems Engineering Research Center, 2012).
- It is important to involve participants in land management, so that such a process will include all their special needs and be as holistic as possible. Incorporating professional viewpoints is also important, so that land use is always compatible with the environment, and optimized for maximum community gain (Kiria, E., J. Anyonga and H. Ipara. “Promoting Effective Community Participation in Land Use Planning and Management of Wildlife Conservation Areas.” Journal of Natural Sciences Research 4.2 (2014): 29-33).
- Land use policy in most parts of the world considers several aspects. These include systems of land ownership, government bureaucracy, and local land use and practices. Land policy must be tuned to accommodate these issues (Hermunen, T. “Land Use policy in Kenya – Experiences from Taita Taveta District.” University of helsinki (2004): 118 pages).
- The role of the intervention of these agencies (QHSE and Land Management) is geared towards striking a balance between environmental conservation and urban development, and other land use. The community appreciates the importance of conserving the environment, but also the need to adequately provide for those within the community, through easy access to facilities (through easements), as well as the economic and social benefits associated with land use (Burchi, S. Balancing development and environmental conservation and protection of the water resource base – the “greening” of water laws. Washington, DC: DEVELOPMENT LAW SERVICE (FAO Legal Papers 3006), 2007).
- The community may not always insist on having livestock if the cost-benefit analysis does not allow for it. For instance, in drier areas where fresh water is scarce, the community may only focus on crop farming, and source its animal products requirements from elsewhere.[↩]