Increasing agricultural productivity by over 20 percent just by using a negligible percent of arable land for creating forest areas sounds like a good deal. As practice shows, this is achievable with agroforestry – the practice of integrating woody vegetation with crops or animal systems. And the real bonus is...

The brief uses a unique set of data from Zambia collected from smallholders before and after the 2015/2016 ENSO event, which was widely anticipated by regional and global forecast services to contribute to dry conditions in southern Zambia and an overall shorter growing season. Three findings emerge from the analysis....

This is the Newsletter of the Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture, www.airca.org. This edition showcases examples for the use of Information and Communnication Technologies in agriculture research and development.

Fisheries co-operatives in Sri Lanka need to be restructured into true co-management platforms to ensure the sustainable use of coastal zone resources

Poor rural people are often excluded from markets and do not benefit from tailored technologies and rural advisory services. These constraints lower their agricultural productivity, perpetuating poverty and hunger. To achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agriculture needs to become more inclusive, sustainable and productive. FAO helps countries meet...

Soil and nutrients loss are among the major impediments to a stable and sustainedagricultural development in Malawi. They have historically affected the country but thehigh population growth, rapid deforestation, overgrazing and ploughing, combined withthe impacts of climate change, such as temperature increases and changing precipitationpatterns, are increasing the impact of...

Érosion, désertification, salinisation, à Fimela, delta du Saloum, 30 % seulement des terres agricoles restent cultivables. C’est la cause du bradage des terres et de l’exode rural vers les villes ou vers l’étranger. Pour  remédier, l’ambition de Jardins d’Afrique est de former des jeunes à la pratique d’une autre agriculture,...

The Seafood Slavery Risk Tool helps inform businesses about abuses of labour and human rights in their seafood supply chains

The Model Agreement for Responsible Contract Farming is a simple and practical legal tool to support the implementation of global principles and guidelines and make responsible investment a reality. It is designed to address some of the inequalities in contract farming that disadvantage producers; to help create more equitable and...

A workshop on Cyclone Ockhi, which swept through parts of south India, discussed ways to make coastal fishing communities more resilient to natural disasters

This report presents a synthesis of the main findings from case studies carried out in six countries in Africa (Ghana, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia) and Asia (Laos and Philippines). The findings were disseminated and discussed in multistakeholder initiatives at regional and country level. The report illustrates...

Cyclone Ockhi, which hit southern India late last year, brought out the need to empower communities to manage risks through locally owned and locally appropriate approaches

Family Farming and Sustainable Development at the CPLP

Climate change is one of the most important challenges to sustainable development in the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam. IK is also used in cultivation techniques in extreme climatic conditions. With cultivation conditions are mainly sloping land, many traditional techniques have been applied to limit soil erosion due to heavy rainfalls...

There is growing awareness of the unique and important role smallholder farmers around the world play in conserving, using and enhancing biodiversity. Conventional breeding has created a separation between farmers and specialised breeders. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is a field of action developed over the past 25-30 years to overcome...

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 largest conference on occupational safety and health in the fishing industry returns after a gap of nine years

El agua es esencial para la vida del ser humano; sin embargo, en algunas comunidades es un recurso con acceso limitado, especialmente durante el verano. Por esta razón, la FAO y el Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación (MAGA), impulsan en Guatemala la implementación de filtros artesanales de aguas grises....

El objetivo de este trabajo de investigación fue evaluar la competitividad de las exportaciones del grano de la soja en el Paraguay en el periodo de 2005 a 2014. Se utilizó el modelo Constant Market Share para tal fin, con la base de datos de UNContrade; el modelo descompone en tres efectos el...

Comment/Editorial: On Land, at Sea, Lives Matter, India - Natural Hazards: In the Eye of the Storm by Manas Roshan, India - Cyclone Ockhi: A Stitch in Time by  K G Thara, Puerto Rico - Hurricane María: Mortal Embrace by María Suárez Toro, Analysis - Decent Work: Freedom from Modern...