A trilogy of books has been designed as a sequel to the highly-acclaimed publication "Voices from the Forest: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainable Upland Farming" (RFF Press, 2007) that brought scientific attention to indigenous innovations in improved fallow management. A third and final volume, edited by Malcolm F. Cairns and with the continued assistance...

Past agricultural mechanization efforts in Ghana and Nigeria have focused more on the styles of machinery used in western countries or Latin America, where average farm sizes are much larger. While West African countries, particularly Ghana, are still relatively land abundant compared to Bangladesh, seeking the right balance across various...

This is an evaluation of the Draft Revised Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture No. 82/2013 on Guidelines for Facilitation for Farmers and the Association of Farmers for Farmers Organization guidelines. One of the mandate of the Law on Protection and Empowerment of Farmers is the strengthening of farmer organizations. The...

The Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) undertook a project performance assessment (PPA) of the Environment Conservation and Poverty Reduction Programme in Ningxia and Shanxi (ECPRPNS) in the People’s Republic of China with the objectives of: (a) assessing the results of the programme; and (b) generating findings and recommendations...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in conjunction with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Lao PDR, the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Embassy in Vientiane has launched a regional symposium promoting the Geographical Indications (GI) initiative which aims to help smallholder farmers...

Civil society has urged governments and public institutions to support the declaration on the Decade of Family Farming and to put in place the appropriate tools required to promote Family Farming in their countries.

n September 2015, members of the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030. These goals are a continuation of the Millennium Development Goals, which ended on 2015.Sustainable development is defined as meeting the needs of the present generation without harming the capacity of future generation to meet their needs. It focuses...

Coming forward to set up cooperation groups and cooperatives to open the training courses, technique training, and demanding loans to support the supply of agricultural materials to members - this is the impact model, the farmers' creation in Ha Tinh.

Pacific Island countries and territories already face a range of development challenges due to their specific geographic and socio-economic characteristics, and their generally high exposure to natural hazards. The projected changes to the climate of the Pacific Island region over the coming decades present another challenging dimension that the region...

In 2010, severe flooding killed nearly 2 000 people in Pakistan and wiped out 1.6 million homes. Whole villages were submerged, and families lost not only their homes, but also their livestock and standing crops – 2.4 million hectares of soon-to-be-harvested crops were destroyed, and estimated agriculture losses stood at...

Seeking to gain a better understanding of the role that agroecology can play in eradicating hunger and malnutrition, FAO organized the Multistakeholder Consultation on agroecology for Asia and the Pacific, held in Bangkok, Thailand on 24-26 November 2015. FAO acted as a facilitator to enable debates and foster collaboration among...

This short video explains the basis of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). It was designed as a trailer and short version of the documentary: A guide to Participatory Guarantee Systems for Organic Agricultureavailable to watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbwiC...The video was produced by IFOAM – Organics International with the financial support of the Technical...

Chandra Kala Thapa is a thirty-year-old smallholder farmer living in Ranichauri, a village in the Sindhuli District of south-eastern Nepal. Like many women farmers here and in other parts of the developing world, she has faced a number of barriers to improving her agricultural productivity and increasing her income.

  Farmers in Koutiala, a district in Southern Mali grow cereals to feed their families and keep cows for milk and as a form of savings. There, all the arable land is currently under cultivation. During the four months of the rainy season, farmers prioritise the cultivation of cereals over fodder...

Around the world, farmers are losing their lands, often violently, to large companies and speculators who see farmland as a lucrative investment. But what are the complex mechanisms behind these processes? Could your pension fund be contributing to land grabbing in places like Brazil? This animated video shows how a global...

Nguyen Thi Hoi is a woman farmer in the province of Thai Binh, Viet Nam. She is one of many smallholder farmers whose lives have improved thanks to a project implemented by FAO and IPSARD (the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development). Through the local farmers' cooperative, the...

Across the developing world, rural women play a crucial role in agriculture and farming. And Bangladesh, where women exceed 50 percent of the agricultural labour force, is no exception. So it’s no surprise that much of FAO’s work in the country has focused on supporting rural women farmers across a variety...

Agriculture is a sector that holds great promise for pro-poor economic growth. Economic growth is a key success factor for reducing undernourishment, but it has to be inclusive and provide opportunities for improving the livelihoods of the poor. Enhancing the productivity and incomes of smallholder family farmers is the key...

Smallholder farmers have a vital role to play in global food security and nutrition, and in supporting a range of development and climate change goals. Strengthening the resilience and commercial viability of these farmers, particularly women and youth, can increase their capacity to contribute to these global goals.

Farmers are learning to prepare and cope with climatic variations by observing, learning and interacting with farmers and researchers. Science Field Shops in Indonesia are serving as a response to climate change, facilitating this process successfully.