Introduction and Literature Review

The world is facing a variety of interrelated problems such as water scarcity, lack of sanitation, population growth, unlimited food production capacity, energy availability, unemployment and urbanisation. There is a need for rapid economic development to increase food production for feeding the fast expanding human population and supply them with basic requirements. A combination of population increase and increasing demands on natural resources as a result of agricultural and industrial development in recent years has focused governmental attention on the need to retain life support systems and the amenities of land, energy and water for future generations. Many ecological disasters that have occurred as a result of non-sustainable use, abuse and misuse of natural resources, have clearly demonstrated that long-term sustainable development can be achieved only through sound environmental management. The need to learn from the experience of ecological-unsustainable development and to prevent its repetition on a global scale has been generally accepted.