Food systems are a major driver of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution — and are also part of the solution. Food systems governance requires new approaches to drive the transformation of food systems towards greater environmental sustainability, equity and food security. This policy note presents...

A three-year FAO project is providing recovery and reconstruction assistance to smallholder farmers in the Republic of Albania impacted by the 2019 earthquake.  Implemented with the financial support of the governments of the  Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the project “Earthquake...

The International Summer School is a collaboration between Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)'s research group Geography of Food, the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), the Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (ÖMKi), and research institutes in Spain and Slovenia. In this International Summer School, you will learn about various perspectives on agrobiodiversity and its contribution...

Historically, before the introduction of high-yielding rice varieties (HYV), the traditional rice varieties (TRV) were predominant in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam (MDV). The TRV-based farming system is environment-friendly and has been existing for hundreds of years—now, it has been proven to be sustainable under increasing climate change conditions. It is...

The digital revolution has changed the way we work, access information and connect with each other. It offers opportunities to those who can use the new technologies, but also presents new challenges for those who are left behind. Often referred to collectively as Information and Communications Technologies or ICTs, these technologies...

The Organic Research Centre is a leading, independent, research charity working for better farming, food and health, promoting environmental sustainability, quality food and health and wellbeing for all. We work in the UK and internationally to: research and develop practical, sustainable land management and food production systems based on organic...

Despite the ravages of storms, seaweed farming is transforming the lives of Filipino families in traditionally male-dominated fishing communities, turning women into family breadwinners who are paying for their children to go to college. The Cherish Fisherfolk Cooperative of 120 seaweed farmers in the Palawan village of Balintang is named after...

Éliminer la faim d’ici à 2030 fait partie des objectifs de développement durable fixés par l’ONU. Un défi de taille en Afrique subsaharienne, où un tiers des ménages se trouve toujours en situation d’insécurité alimentaire. Pour répondre à la demande de la population africaine en pleine expansion, la nécessité d’une augmentation importante...

One of the most lucrative fisheries in Atlantic Canada – the elver [baby eel] fishery, which garners up to $5,000 per kilogram – was closed this past spring due to concerns about conservation and safety caused by poaching. In a fisheries management order prohibiting the fishing of elvers issued on April...

Understanding the logic behind farmers' choice of adaptive water management practice is important to appreciate the opportunities and challenges they face and to scale targeted solutions effectively. This paper aims to understand the main drivers of change that induce adaptation in water management. The Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework that juxtaposed...

Emphasising the relevance of the Assamese language versions of ‘Access Agriculture’ training videos on agroecology and organic farming for the smallholder farmers of Assam state in northeastern India, Dhirendra Nath Kalita, Head of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of Kamrup district, called it the “the need of the hour.”

There is broad consensus on the key role of organic production and consumption in the transition to a sustainable food system, with the Farm to Fork Strategy including the objective of ‘at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and a significant increase in organic aquaculture'. To achieve this target and to help...

With the new programming cycle for 2021-2027 now under implementation, the seventh progress report provides an opportunity for closure with respect to the EU’s ambitious 2013 pledge to allocate EUR 3.5 billion to nutrition between 2014 and 2020. The annual resource tracking exercise presented here confirms that by 2020 the...

La agricultura siempre ha mirado más a las plantas que a sus raíces, más al verde que a los suelos. Pero la agricultura regenerativa se ha fijado precisamente en las tierras donde cultivamos, con el objetivo de mejorar la salud del suelo, aumentar la biodiversidad y mejorar la disponibilidad y...

ALL-Ready and AE4EU jointly host their final project conference at the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 27 September 2023. REGISTER HERE The one-day conference will shed light on how the two projects paved the way for a European Network of Living Labs and Research Infrastructures. Both projects will feature...

On Wednesday, 20 September 2023, the Committee on Fisheries held a public hearing entitled "The importance of fisheries and aquaculture for rural areas". The objective of this hearing is to listen to various stakeholders on what is important to them when it comes to fisheries and aquaculture in rural areas. Fisheries...

Exploiting the potential benefits of plant-associated microbes represents a sustainable approach to enhancing crop productivity. Plant-beneficial bacteria (PBB) provide multiple benefits to plants. However, the biogeography and community structure remain largely unknown. Here we constructed a PBB database to couple microbial taxonomy with their plant-beneficial traits and analysed the global...

Forests are an important component of natural capital and deliver a broad range of ecosystem services that underpin human well-being. The extent and condition of forests in many parts of the world, however, have declined dramatically during the preceding decades due to unsustainable harvesting of timber, forest fires, urbanization, and...

The 2023 Illuminating Hidden Harvests Report is arguably the most concerted and comprehensive research effort so far to focus exclusively on small-scale fisheries but it is not enough. Jointly produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Duke University and WorldFish, the 2023 Illuminating Hidden Harvests (IHH)...

Our food production model drives unhealthy choices leading to poor diets. This becomes clear when walking down any supermarket aisle: the shelves are filled with over-packaged food imported from all over the world and look the same whatever the season. Even when people would prefer to eat well, many barriers...