ABSTRACT
Development means increasing human productivity, and only by increasing human productivity can nations provide for their citizens a decent standard of living and an opportunity to develop their talents. It is a major responsibility of national governments to promote their own national development. It is imperative that the poor nations succeed in achieving substantial development in order to produce a sustainable global society. The world community, especially the wealthy nations, have a major responsibility to assist poor nations in achieving substantial development. Development plans and projects often fail because they do not meet human needs and yet destroy or degrade the natural resource base. National governments direct scores of highly specialized organizational units: agencies for agriculture, irrigation, forests, road construction, industry, health, and education, not to mention police, courts and national defence. Planning effectively for sustainable development requires linking together the specialized development, environment and population agencies of government.
