China's government is increasing its investment in rural areas, especially in infrastructure, irrigation, education and health. It is also introducing supportive policies, including agricultural tax exemptions; subsidies for agricultural production and increased agricultural procurement prices; and expansion of social protection and social security coverage. Such investments aim to create a...

The building of a zinc shelter in the market at Morahang, Nepal, has helped hundreds of women farmers to trade their produce. The initiative came as a result of reform of the market management committee to be led by local women.

This paper describes the recent emergence of alternative food networks in China in the context of widespread food quality concerns. Drawing on interviews and public blog posts, we illustrate how participants in these networks are moving beyond instrumental market relations and developing the collective agency necessary to participate in shaping...

Entering Poland to European Union which resulted in accepting The Common Agricultural Policy caused a variety of changes in polish villages and countries. Previous problems of rural areas like fragmentation and low efficiency of farms, bad financial situation of inhabitants, high rate of unemployment, relatively low educational level and lack...

This research was designed to understand better the patterns of agricultural intensification and transformation occurring in Africa South of the Sahara using the Ghanaian case. The paper examines changes in farming systems and the role of various endogenous and exogenous factors in driving the conversion of arable lands to agricultural...

Rural women of all ages spend much of their day engaged in domestic chores, including collecting water and firewood, processing and preparing food, travelling and transporting, and caregiving. These tasks are unpaid and restrict a woman’s time and mobility. Moreover, the drudgery can cause poor health and nutrition for a...

Formed in 2007, Food Plant Solutions Rotary Action Group (FPS) creates science-based educational materials, which: identify highly nutritious local food plants, explain how to grow them in a sustainable, agroecological way, detail the nutritional value of the plants and describe why human bodies require those nutrients. The resources created by FPS allows people to better...

The status of women's land rights in Zimbabwe is the result of various legal interventions and historical, social, economic, demographic and climatic processes within and outside the country. The interventions produced diverse tenure types, cultural practices and resistance that mediate the way in which the processes impact on the specific...

How to feed our cities? – Agriculture and rural areas in an era of urbanisation

O governo brasileiro lançou a Política Nacional de Agroecologia e Produção Orgânica (Pnapo), com a edição do decreto 7.794, de 20 de agosto de 2012. Foi um importante passo para a ampliação e efetivação de ações de promoção do desenvolvimento rural sustentável, impulsionado pelas crescentes preocupações das organizações sociais do campo e...

This promo video emphasizes Africa’s booming economies and determination to invest in its own potential; we also meet beneficiaries of projects funded by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Uganda and see how their lives have been turned around. African leaders have pledged to end hunger...

Child labour hampers children’s education, and quite often has adverse effects on their health, safety and morals. However, not all tasks performed by children are considered child labour. Some activities may help children acquire important livelihood skills and contribute to their survival and food security. But much of the work...

In this book we focus mainly on innovation opportunities for small farmers, with a particular emphasis on marginalized small farm communities. The first chapter elaborates on the concept of the ‘small farm’ and offers a synthesis of the findings of all the chapters in this volume. The contributions have reconfirmed that...

In this video Nepalese farmers explain how they learned, after an FAO training course, to use bio-pesticides instead of the chemical ones.

Cash-for-work interventions implemented by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization are providing an income lifeline to communities affected by the ongoing drought in northern Somalia. While putting much needed cash in people’s pockets to buy food, the work is empowering communities to rebuild vital infrastructure with their own hands. ...

Family farming is the predominant form of food production in Asia and the Pacific which is home to 70 percent of the world’s family farmers. Family farmers produce 80 percent of the region’s food, 1 working on 85 percent of the total arable land2 and largely relying on the contribution...

In the context of increasing vulnerability to climate change for people dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods, the International Food Policy Research Institute and partner organizations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, and Bangladesh undertook a project broadly aiming to create knowledge that will help policymakers and development agencies to strengthen...

2015 was a prolific year for GRAIN. We produced a large number of high impact research reports and databases that became reference points for many groups and individuals working on land, food, seed and climate-related issues. At the same time, we worked with partners on the ground, supporting their capacity...

Es innegable el aporte de la denominada agricultura familiar a la alimentación en el mundo, a la preservación de los recursos naturales y al de muchos conocimientos y saberes acerca de la crianza de la vida. No obstante, la atención que se le otorga está por debajo de lo que...

La Organización Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas Andinas y Amazónicas del Perú – Onamiap, inició su proceso organizativo el 24 de junio de 1995, después de culminar el tercer taller nacional “Mujeres Indígenas camino a Beijing” organizado por el Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú - Chirapaq.   Se constituyó como un Taller Permanente de...