Only a small number of governments have established meaningful and effective farmer-centred measures for the implementation of access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. One reason is the highly complex nature of the international regulatory system. This special issue of Farming Matters magazine presents practical ways in which access and...

How 25 women farmers are working to reduce pesticides use and shift to agroecology

This contribution discusses access and benefit sharing within the context of participatory plant breeding. It presents how Chinese farmers and breeders interact in relation to crop improvement and on-farm maintenance of plant genetic resources. Based on more than a decade of action research, a number of institutional changes were accomplished...

The 8th Steering Committee meeting of the China-CABI Joint Laboratory was held successfully in Beijing, China on 4 March 2016. Steering Committee members and other key delegates were delighted with the Joint Laboratory’s achievements and progress in 2015, and agreed its plans for 2016. The Joint Laboratory is now regarded...

家庭农场是2016年农村经济新亮点，那么2016年国家对家庭农场扶持政策有哪些呢?据资料显示，各省对家庭农场的扶持力度都很大，如四川省就出台了8项扶持政策，涉及登记服务、示范创建、土地流转、财政扶持、金融支持、用水用电用地、社会化服务和人才培养等方面，对四川家庭农场主或有意涉足者来说，无疑是多重利好。

Food crops represent one third of Rwanda’s GDP, but the supply remains fragile due to soil pests such as white grubs, cut worm and bean fly which damage vegetable and root crops. Options for control are limited. A team from China, Africa, the UK and Switzerland is working with the...

Farming has long been seen as an overworked and underpaid job. Many people, especially the youth in the countryside, choose to leave the fields. Now, the stereotype is changing. A pilot family farm scheme in Shanghai's Songjiang District has made farming a career with a decent income. In 2015, the average...

This special issue of Farming Matters magazine has explored the ways in which access and benefit sharing of plant genetic resources can work for family farmers. On one hand it presents cases that demonstrate the limited extent to which family farmers have been able to benefit from the ‘formal’ ABS...

上海市松江区推出的“种粮+养猪”相结合的家庭农场模式，符合条件并有意愿的家庭农场主可申请代养松林肉猪，猪棚由松林公司按统一标准建造，虽然提高了农民的收入，但是猪棚的建造是否改变了耕地用途，如果是的话，需要加以取缔和制止，这根弦一定要绷紧。家庭农场，是近些年我国农业生产经营中出现的一种新型经营主体，它以农户家庭为基本生产单位，增加技术、资本等要素投入，实行农业专业化生产、规模化经营，提高农业产出率和农产品商品率，提高农业生产机械化和农业经营集约化水平。2013年中央一号文件提出，鼓励和支持承包土地向专业大户、家庭农场、农民合作社流转，成为近年来农业发展的亮点之一，一时间，更是成为媒体关注的热词之一。

In order to meet the world’s sustainable development goals of defeating hunger and poverty by 2030, governments and the private sector need to reenergize their agricultural science and technology research capacities, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization announced today at a meeting of the world’s top agricultural scientists. That will require...

China is a large country with diverse agro-ecosystems and numerous different agricultural production systems. These agricultural systems are managed by more than 200 million households who provide agricultural products to meet the needs of almost a fifth of mankind. Agriculture plays numerous key functions, including not only the provision of...

After decades of successful collaboration, China and FAO have agreed to broaden the scope of their cooperation, building on their achievements to further promote rural development worldwide.

The International Symposium on Agroecology for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems has been jointly organized by FAO and CAAS, and the People’s Government of Yunnan Province of China, with the support of the Government of France. In his message from the Director General of FAO, Ren Wang, Assistant Director-General stressed that:...

This book on Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement provides with valuable knowledge and information both at the global, regional, and national levels on the costs of land degradation and benefits of taking action against land degradation. A key advantage of this book is that it goes beyond the conventional...

This project's goal is to sustainably reduce poverty and improve livelihoods for small farmers involved in agricultural value chains in the target areas. Its specific objectives are to empower the rural poor to participate in commercial farming and to increase farm family incomes while decreasing income variability.

This five-year project (2012-2017) aims to strengthen biocultural innovation for food security in the face of climate change, in China, India, Kenya and Peru. Much of the world's agrobiodiversity has been lost in the last century due to the spread of modern agriculture. Only about 30 crops now provide 95% of...

493万贫困人口、山区土地支离破碎、农业比较效益受到挤压、资源环境约束趋紧等实际困难，“十三五”时期贵州该怎么办？在近日召开的贵州省委农村工作会议上，贵州省提出要立足实际，不断厚植发展优势，以创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享五大发展理念为引领，推动现代山地特色高效农业发展、一二三产业融合发展、无公害绿色有机农产品大省建设、农业园区发展、农民生活改善和脱贫攻坚实现新跨越。

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...

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...

中国农业的未来不在于大规模机械化的农场，而是在于资本-劳动双密集化的小规模畜-禽-鱼饲养和菜-果种植家庭农场。中国的食品消费正从原来的8：1：1型，即八成粮食、一成肉食、一成蔬菜向4：3：3型转化。它促进了农业结构的相应转型。小规模家庭农场其实比大农场更适合中国的新时代农业，包括绿色农业，因为它需要的是频繁的、多种小量的手工劳动，不允许简单的规模经济效益，更多依赖的是范围经济效益。同时，它也更适合于中国高人口压力的实际。 但小农场仍然需要从生产到加工到销售的纵向一体化，虽然并不附带耕作上的横向一体化。合作组织正是在如此的背景下，为了把小农场与规模加工和销售整合起来而自发性地兴起的。但是近年来中国政府一直在积极扶持资本主义型的龙头企业，把它们认作纵向一体化的第一选择。今天，中国农业正面临一个十字路口，其将来的纵向一体化将以什么样的组织模式为主尚是个未知数。