Livelihoods in Darfur are intimately linked to the conflict, none more so than the livelihoods of the Northern Rizaygat—a group of Arabicspeaking, camel-herding nomads living in the Sudanese states of North, South, and West Darfur. They have achieved notoriety for their role in the Janjaweed—the pejorative name given to the...

This brief has been prepared for the UN Convention on Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen, December 2009, to raise awareness of the imminent impacts of climate change on food security in Pacific island countries and territories and to urge participants to consider the importance of mainstreaming food security in climate-related...

The last decades have seen a proliferation of economic studies that have compared the economic performance of organic and non-organic farming systems. Several criticisms were formulated questioning the validity of such comparisons, partly because of the inherent difference between the two systems (in terms of complexity, diversity and objectives other...

There is barrier among farmers in developing countries to convert to organic farming. This study examines factors affecting the decision of Thai vegetable farmers to convert and suggests possible measures to improve conversion

The FAO Glossary on Organic Agriculture in English, French and Spanish contains 401 concepts and definitions, where appropriate, which have been selected from FAO and international documents and publications on Organic Agriculture, as well as from the proceedings of meetings of experts discussing Organic Agriculture and Food Security issues. The...

This paper uses the sustainable livelihoods framework to explore the contribution of smallholder production to food security in some sub-Saharan African countries and relates it to the South African case. Noting that many of the world’s hungry are smallholder farmers, it is clear that food insecurity is closely linked to...

Seed interventions are the major agricultural response during emergency and recovery phases of humanitarian relief. They are implemented by diverse agencies, and widely promoted: for instance the FAO alone managed 400 such projects between 2003 and 2005. However, seed aid suffers from a lack of critical attention, perpetuating widespread myths...

Sitio web de la revista Agrópolis, la es una publicación semestral de la Fundación para el Desarrollo Regional en los países del Mercosur ampliado (FUNDER). Es de carácter no gubernamental y su Directorio está conformado por personalidades de Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay y Uruguay. Agrópolis se idea como espacio de reflexión en el que...

Informal markets receive little attention from governments and researchers, despite their centrality to farmers’ seed security. This paper documents the importance of informal markets for supplying seed and restocking critical plant genetic resources in normal and stress periods. It analyses farmers’ rationales for using such markets and their strategic actions...

This sixth and last volume in our publication series features the final results of the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture (ITF). The ITF worked from 2003 to 2008 in search of solutions to trade barriers created by worldwide proliferation of organic standards and technical regulations....

The project has supported the Volta Mango Growers Association (VOMAGA). This report presents the results of a survey among a sample of the mango farmers on the impact of the project. The report first gives an introduction to the mango sector in Ghana and the project partners and activities. Subsequently...

Los días 28 y 29 de mayo de 2008, se llevó a cabo en Bolivia, el Seminario sobre “Enfoques de Desarrollo Territorial y Desarrollo Rural” a iniciativa del Postgrado en Ciencias del Desarrollo de la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (CIDES/UMSA) el Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA)...

The FAO project “Increasing incomes and food security of small farmers in West and Central Africa through exports of organic and fair-trade tropical products” has supported the Ekumfi Atwia WAD Organic Farmers Association (EAWOFA) and its exporter Weya Agricultural Development/African Foods Ltd (WAD). This report presents the results of a...

Afghanistan is a beautiful country with a rich history. Today it faces enormous challenges. Afghanistan’s terrain is mountainous, dry, and subject to extreme droughts and devastating floods. Decades of conflict coupled with abuse, overexploitation and mismanagement of its natural resources have decimated its forests, degraded its rangelands and wetlands, and...

Déclaration liminaire à la conférence publique animée par la Coordination régionale de la Coalition pour la Protection du Patrimoine Génétique Africain-COPAGEN à Cotounou, Bénin, sur les politiques agricoles africaines et le développement des exploitations agricoles familiales.

The project has supported the cocoa farmers association Kpeya Agricultural Enterprise (KAE). This report presents the results of a survey among a sample of the cocoa farmers on the impact of the project. The report first gives an introduction to the cocoa sector in Sierra Leone and the project partners...

Is low greenhouse gas emission (GHG) agriculture possible? Is it, in fact, desirable? In seeking answers to these two basic but extremely relevant questions, this study examines current farming practices, and incorporates scientific databases from longterm field experiments as case studies for low GHG agriculture. Further, the study examines the...

The aim of this document is to describe the potential of organic agriculture to sequester carbon and to meet the requirements of carbon accounting systems, including factors such as carbon permanence, leakage and additionality. Furthermore, the document discusses the suitability of measurement and verification methodologies to agriculture systems, including an...

The purpose of the FAO Diversification booklets is to raise awareness and provide decision support information about opportunities at farm and local community level to increase the incomes of small-scale farmers. Each booklet focuses on a farm or non-farm enterprise that can be integrated into small farms to increase incomes...

The increased demand for high quality products in export markets, coupled with Pacific Island Countries (PICs) national desire to protect the environment, biodiversity and family farming structures, lead to assume that organic agriculture could offer good prospects for PICs development. Besides market opportunities, organic agriculture could increase PICs food self-reliance...