Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts, the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.  Sustainable development is maintaining a delicate balance between the human need to improve lifestyles and feeling of well-being on one hand, and preserving natural resources and ecosystems, on which we and future generations depend. GIS organizes geographic data so that a person reading a map can select data necessary for a specific project or task. GIS can be an important tool for helping people map out plans for successfully achieving management strategies that are sustainable both at local and global levels. A good GIS program is able to process geographic data from a variety of sources and integrate it into a map project. Many countries, except ours, have an abundance of geographic data for analysis. GIS is key tool used in assessment, prioritization, mitigation, planning, science and training. Economic inequality, social instability and environmental degradation are common features of unsustainable development. Poor people bear the brunt of these problems because their livelihoods are precariously balanced on volatile economic opportunities and environments vulnerable to change. What we need is a national strategie for sustainable development (strategic and participatory process of analysis, debate, capacity strengthening, planning and action towards sustainable development), a tool to assist the farmers in overcoming their problems and start to strengthen their capacity for sustainable development. Using GIS in sustainable agriculture can lead to great benefits, especially for how they can be seen all the cultures they represent, the soil which are substances in the soil, availability of water, crop rotation, pests.

GIS; sustainable development; maps

Presentation: oral