Further reading
Bees, butterflies & blooms
Pollinators are in crisis: "our bees, butterflies and pollinating insects are dying out. This giant insect workforce pollinate our crops and if they disappear most of our favourite foods will vanish too" declares Sarah Raven in 'Bees, Butterflies and Blooms'. The BBC Two documentary explores the shocking truth about wild flowers and pollinators and the role they play in food security, healthy diets, consumer choice and the maintenance of wildlife.
Refugees of their Own Country - Water and Land Grab in Ethiopia
Ethiopia, a land-locked and densely populated country, has one of the lowest rates of electricity access in the world. In 2006, the government launched the Gibe III project, an aggressive plan to develop hydropower for exportation with the aim of doubling Ethiopia's power capacity upon completion in 2013.
Reconnecting natural cycles and real local food
Nature, land and food are vitally connected which means dwellers in most communities should relate to sustainable cycles when preparing their daily meal. Yet, the rapidly growing urban population is increasingly unaware of the journey of food from land to table.
Underutilized Species: Where Are We?
Six years after the LEISA article on underutilized species in which views on best practices and approaches were presented (viz. need to focus on model species, critical role of capacity building of the poor, the need to adopt gender-sensitive approaches and pursue inter-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder cooperation), we wanted to come back on these pages reporting some key international developments and reflections on emerging trends, challenges and opportunities on current and future sustainable use of these species.
New record in Bihar thanks to SRI
Darveshpura, a village in Nalanda district, Bihar, the third most populated state of India, located in the eastern part of the country, has been theatre of an incredible success.
Chances to grow tomato under organic agriculture in Mexico: Are conventional systems a choice or a need?
The region of La Frailesca is in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Maize is the dominant crop together with some vegetable crops, principally tomato. The region is an important agricultural center and a great part of its agricultural production is destined for the national market.
Challenges & Opportunities of Farmers to Farmers Video
Farmer-to-farmer training videos have the potential to trigger learning across culture and borders. While there is a growing demand for agricultural extension the focus has shifted to an increased attention given to farmer's innovation.
Erosions of the rural and celebrations of the global
Over the past two decades (1991-2011), as the agenda of liberalizing and globalizing the economy has gained strength, the rural and the agricultural in India have been officially envisioned in two sharply dichotomous perspectives; from that of seeing agriculture as redundant to one of rescuing the rural. The result is the constitution of rural India into a bundle of contradictions by the dual processes of ‘accumulation by dispossession’ and the new ‘welfare governmentality’.
Farmer-to-farmer videos
The recent food, energy and financial crises, have sent the levels of poverty and hunger rocketing. It has become clear that reliance on food imports in the developing world only exacerbates the crisis while small-scale farming is key in ensuring regional food security. As a result, development policy makers and aid workers have increasingly been focusing on agricultural extension to stimulate agricultural productivity and market development.
A European movement for Food Sovereignty
Nyeleni Europe 2011, European Forum for Food Sovereignty Krems, 16th - 21st August
Money grows on trees
Money Grows on Trees is an apt phrase to commemorate the Year of Forests. At times, however, the literal sense gets overawed by the discreet reflection that is quite on the contrary.
From airport to community garden in the heart of Berlin
In Berlin, located in what used to be an iconic pre-World War II airport, now flourishes a 5,000 square meter community garden where more than 500 people share the 185 parcels of land available to grow fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Source It Local
Local sourcing refers to Agri-business companies in developing countries that source their food inputs locally and sell their end product to the domestic market. Local sourcing is an opportunity for companies that want to ensure sustainable supply and reduce costs by substituting imports with local products.
The Edible Landscape: Introducing Boskoi
Boskoi is a open source project that aims to unlock the collective knowledge about (urban) edible species and their location. It is a tool to explore and map the ‘edible landscape’ wherever you are while using your Android phone.
Local vegetable production in Papua New Guinea
Improvements in vegetable production, transport and marketing are important to the well being of small holder farmers in Papua New Guinea, and opportunities for strengthening the industry and enhancing performance can be achieved by use of value chain analysis.
Haat Bazaar: A strategy for promoting local food systems in Nepal
In Nepal, the Haat Bazaar has developed as an alternative for small scale farmers to fullfil their economic potential by allowing them to sell their products while promoting local food system. For a population of whom the majority are dependant on small scale agriculture, this market development in a local context has proven to be beneficial.
Democratising research
EU agriculture is in crisis. What role can research play to overcome this? That is the question that the recently published report “Participatory Research and On-Farm Management of Agricultural Biodiversity in Europe”, by Michel Pimbert, deals with.
ForeFinance Global Survey results
Jul 01, 2011: One of the articles in issue 26.2 of FARMING MATTERS (June 2010) presented the tools that ForeFinance is developing in order to help the “missing middle”: farmers who are too small to attract loans or be of interest to commercial banks, and too large to benefit from microfinance. Some months later, they ran a survey in order to try to get more information that could help them develop these products. What follows presents some of their findings.(JCT)
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