News - When conservation agriculture was introduced to Zimbabwe, rural areas became dotted with what observers called “NGO plots” – parcels of land where farmers practised the approach. However, these small plots were surrounded by other fields where farmers continued their conventional methods. Initially, FAO and other development groups supplied farmers with enough seed and fertilizer to plant half a hectare under conservation agriculture – enough to get them started. However, the fact that they did not expand these plots made it obvious that, while farmers welcomed the inputs, they were not convinced enough to convert all of their land. There were...

News - Family farmers must remain central to bringing agroecology to scale, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva stressed in his closing remarks to the 2nd International Agroecology Symposium at FAO in Rome.  "It's time to scale up the implementation of agroecology," Graziano da Silva said. "We have succeeded in moving from talking about what is agroecology, to now having specific program targets to be achieved in the next few years, and strong support from civil society and those governments who have worked hard to make this symposium a success," he added. "When we speak of agroecology, we are not speaking of strictly technical matters. I...

News - This book is a contribution to creating the world we want. Maize, rice and wheat are fundamental to world food security. Although the 2014 global cereal harvest was an all-time record, most of it was grown in a few key production areas, where farmers are paying the price of decades of intensive monocropping: soil degradation, groundwater depletion and a marked slow-down in the rate of yield increases. In vast areas of the developing world, farmers obtain barely a fraction of potential yields, owing to natural resource constraints and lack of access to the knowledge and technologies that would enhance their productivity....

News - Hunger-fighting initiatives in Africa need to be deepened and broadened to put the continent back on track to eliminating the scourge of undernutrition, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today told heads of state and government gathered here for the African Union (AU) summit. “Achieving zero hunger in our lifetime is still possible,” Graziano said. “(It) will require a redoubling of current efforts and a push for political commitment and timely concrete actions such as never seen before.” He spoke at a high-level event in Addis Ababa to review and renew the 2013 partnership – forged here between the AU, FAO and...

News - A policymaker’s guide to the sustainable intensification of smallholder crop production The challenge is to place food production and consumption on a truly sustainable footing. Between now and 2050, the global population is projected to rise from about 7 billion to 9.2 billion, demanding – if current trends continue – a 60 percent increase in global food production. Given the diminishing area of unused land with good agricultural potential, meeting that demand will require ever higher crop yields. Those increases, in turn, need to be achieved in the face of heightened competition for land and water, rising fuel and fertilizer prices,...