AgriCultures Network - News from our partners
All members publish a quarterly magazine on small-scale sustainable agriculture and agroecology. But we do much more. Below, we update you on our other activities and programmes.
Also check out the calendar of events related to sustainable family farming.
From animosity towards collaboration
In an elaborate blog post with the title ‘Why the animosity?’ [16 April 2013], Bas Bouman of the International Rice Research Institute poses some critical questions about the ‘discord being cultivated’ in the March 2013 issue of Farming Matters, dedicated to the topic of Sustainable Rice Intensification (SRI).
Kenya: SMS service for best farmer prices
March 2013- The Arid Lands Information Network has been piloting an online and mobile phone-based platform known as Sokopepe.
Peru: Rural radio with an organic message
March 2013- To communicate with farmers about sustainable agriculture, rural radio is a highly effective tool, as demonstrated in Peru.
Promising Re-greening Initiatives in Western Africa
March 2013: AgriCultures Network member Innovation Environnement & Développement (IED Afrique) is using new tools to promote on-farm trees.
Brazil: March for Women’s Lives and Agro-ecology
On Women’s Day of 8 March 2013, the IV Brazilian March for Women’s Lives and Agro-ecology took place. More than a thousand women farmers gathered in the city of Solânea, Paraíba to denounce inequalities and violence against women, calling for women’s rights and just family farming.
Feeding the World conference 'missing the boat'
PRESS RELEASE, January 28, 2013: The conference 'Feeding the World' will take place on January 30 in the Amsterdam Hilton hotel. At this controversial event organised by magazine The Economist, Dutch princess Máxima will share the stage with pesticide multinational Monsanto. Critics label the event as misleading.
India: raising the profile of living soils
January 2013: AME Foundation produces five local language editions of LEISA India magazine, in addition to a national English edition. But they do much more than that. In various spaces, they promote agro-ecology and family farming.
Netherlands: a festival with a different logic
November 2012: Major interest in sustainable food & farming at a festival in Wageningen.
In memoriam: former ILEIA director Anita Ingevall
On November 24th 2012 we received the sad news that Anita Ingevall has passed away after a long battle with cancer.
Installation of Brazil's Agroecology Policy Commission
On Tuesday 20 November 2012 in Brasilia, the National Commission that will develop the new Agroecology and Organic Production Policy was officially installed. The commission unites government and civil society and is responsible for elaborating a National Plan for Agroecology and Organic Production. Paulo Petersen of AgriCultures Network member AS-PTA has played a large role in the process and is a member of the Commission.
Peru: Ban on GMOs comes into effect
On November 14, 2012, a new law came into effect that prohibits the import and production of genetically modified crops (GMOs) in Peru. AgriCultures Network member ETC Andes, is one of the participants in the platform “For a GMO-free Peru”. They have been participating in this movement together with other NGOs and farmer and consumer organisations since 2009.
Brazil: Civil society demands suspension of GM maize after study finds disturbing health impacts
Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | November 2012 - Civil society organisations in Brazil, including AgriCultures Network member AS-PTA, have issued an official letter to Brazil’s federal government questioning the commercial release of a specific type of genetically modified maize. Signatories include social movements, civil organisations, scientific bodies and rights-based NGO’s.
ILEIA welcomes new Chair
On 27 October 2012, Bram Huijsman officially took position as new Chair of the Board of ILEIA, the Dutch member of the AgriCultures Network. Mr Huijsman takes over this position from Teresa Fogelberg, who has completed her term. The AgriCultures Network is very grateful to Ms Fogelberg for her dedication, and warmly welcomes Mr Huijsman.
Social movements, including AS-PTA, involved in development of new agro-ecology policy in Brazil
On Sept. 19, 2012, social movements and civil society members gathered at in Brasilia to meet with the Brazilian Minister of the General Secretary, Gilberto Carvalho, and the Minister for Agrarian Development, Pepe Vargas. They discussed the new National Policy on Agroecology and Organic Production (PNAPO), which will be developed jointly with civil society.
ILEIA's response to university plea for industrial agriculture
At the opening of the academic year on September 3, 2012, the Chairman of Wageningen University made a simplistic plea for intensive agriculture, presenting it as the savior of the world. According to him, the choice is between intensive agriculture or hunger. This does not do justice to a great number of scientists, farmers and consumers who promote and practice a different kind of agricultural development.
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