Biotic pollination improves yield of many global crops, contributing to local and regional food security, and rural livelihoods. Aesthetic and nutritional aspects of agricultural products (i.e. crop quality) often influence market price. Yet, information on the effects of pollinators on crop quality is still scarce. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important...

In SustainSahel's eighth newsletter discover the latest happenings! 

A message from Slow Food on the International Day for Biological Diversity “Biodiversity for food and agriculture is indispensable to food security, sustainable development and the supply of many vital ecosystem services.” This is the key message of Edward Mukiibi, Slow Food president, on the International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated on...

Agroecology Newsletter of January 2023

Significant detrimental effects of agricultural intensification and specialization are becoming increasingly evident. Reliance on monocultures, few varieties, and intensive use of agrochemicals is a major factor in climate change, biodiversity decline, soil health deterioration, and pollution, putting our food system at risk. This requires sustainable agricultural processes, such as crop...

Both climate change and biodiversity loss have distorting social and economic impacts on development and cause severe risks for food security, nutrition and livelihoods among rural populations in Europe and Central Asia, most of whom depend directly or indirectly on the agricultural sector. The mutually reinforcing and complex nature of...

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 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Pacific Community (SPC) have pledged to collaborate on a ten-year plan, the Pacific Strategic Plan for Agriculture and Fisheries Statistics (P-SPAFS) which aims at strengthening the collection and dissemination of statistics related to food security, agriculture, fisheries, and...

Following the events organised in July and December 2022 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the United Nations has adopted the first Resolution on promoting the social and solidarity economy for sustainable development during the General Assembly held today 18th April 2023. As an observer of the UN Task Force on the Social and...

In response to the sustainability issues that agriculture faces in advanced economies, agroecology has gained increasing relevance in scientific, political, and social debates. This has promoted discussion about transitions to agroecology, which represents a significant advancement. Accordingly, it has become a growing field of research. We reviewed the literature on...

✔Rural Realities | Testing Grounds for Wellbeing ✔Are We Ready to Amend the CAP SP to Fit For 55? ✔The Michael Dower Award for European Rural Resilience And much, much more in our Weekly Briefing

Harvest and clean the fruits, and slice them longitudinally. Crush the fruit sections into a mixture of pulp, seeds, and juice. Subsequently pour the mixture into a large container where it ferments for a period usually lasting three days. For acid extraction, apply an equal volume solution of hydrochloric acid...

B. oleracea plants are usually self-incompatible and they need to cross with other genotypes for generating progenies. The self-incompatible genotypes require specific management for controlled pollination achieved by spatial isolation in the field or by the use of pollination chambers isolated by net for avoiding pollen contamination by pronubes. Self-incompatibility...

Indigenous communities continue to face marginalization and exclusion from vital resources and opportunities, leading to alarming rates of poverty and malnutrition, particularly among women and young people. In some part of the world, they often live in conditions of high vulnerability, high food insecurity and lack of access to human...

To successfully transition to more sustainable diets, it is necessary to understand consumers' demands and expectations. The present exploratory research shows a cross-cultural study (Spain, Slovakia, Denmark) in which different aspects were included in an online survey: (i) food choice motivations, (ii) the importance that consumers give to different attributes of...

Organic agriculture uses organic seeds or untreated conventional seeds when no alternative exists. In both ways, seeds can carry diseases and are better treated using a method which • is acceptable for organic farming, • has a good success rate at disinfecting the seeds and • does not significantly reduce...

Farmers in Busia County have partnered with Kilimo Hai, an agriculture organization, to adopt agro-ecological farming practices using organic fertilizers made from animal waste and rabbit urine as pesticides. This transition has been motivated by the high cost of conventional farming inputs and the need for sustainable ecosystem management and...

A new European project, coordinated by CIRAD and involving 27 organizations in 14 countries, launched recently. Named IntercropValuES, it aims to use the advantages of intercrops to build productive, diverse, resilient, profitable, environmentally friendly cropping systems that are acceptable to farmers and agrifood chain stakeholders. Food production is resource-intensive, and currently...

Healthy soils are essential for food production but are under threat: over 60% of soils in Europe are unhealthy, thus not able to deliver vital ecosystem services, including climate change mitigation and adaptation. With the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, the European Commission is pioneering a novel instrument...

Debido al éxito obtenido, este 2023 repetimos nuestro diplomado de agaves y mezquites para regenerar zonas semiáridas.