For healthy crops you need a healthy soil, because a healthy soil contains many good microbes and earthworms. To prepare biofertilizer for half a hectare, you need 10 kg fresh cow dung, cow urine, flour from chickpeas or another pulse, jaggery or unrefined sugar, and a handful of healthy soil....

The clod breaker is a simple wooden tool made out of a cylindrical log with iron spikes. It can be pulled by animals or even by an adult person. By driving the clod breaker over your field in opposite directions, the soil will become loose, aerated and absorb more water....

West Africa has all the ingredients to become the epicenter of the global agroecology movement, and one of the frontrunners in transition to sustainable and equitable food systems. Through a three-year participatory research process, IPES-Food identified eight key obstacles to agroecology in West Africa, but also four leverage points where sustained action could...

Baobab fruit juice made from the pulp is very healthy, and can be added to porridge and sauces. However, the quality of the pulp can be greatly affected if fruits are not handled well during and after harvest. When baobab pods are damaged and have splits in the shell, moisture...

The Mediterranean fruit fly is a worthy enemy. This pest, also known as the medfly, is widespread over the tropics, attacking and spoiling oranges, mangos and many other fruits. Each female can lay 200 eggs in her brief lifetime—allowing rapid population growth. The medfly damages so much high value fruit,...

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of today’s global food systems, and the risk of a food crisis is higher than ever. Yet the failures of industrial food production have long been clear; manifest in persistent global hunger and malnutrition as well as environmental destruction that is driving the...

In collaboration with Biovision and the Institute of Development Studies, IPES-Food analyses the all-important financial flows in food system research that go to sub-Saharan Africa. Our new data shows that only a fraction of agricultural research funding in Africa is being used to transform food and farming systems.

El objetivo de esta nota es compartir con la comunidad educativa de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario (FCA-UNR) y con los ciudadanos de la región el acontecimiento de una experiencia técnica-pedagógica excepcional en la formación profesional de un grupo de estudiantes. Experiencias que nos plantean...

Voici un document très complet sur les avancées de l'agroécologie en Afrique de l'Ouest, et les expérimentations réalisées avec nos partenaires sur place. Depuis bientôt 30 ans, Terre & Humanisme transmet et soutient l’agroécologie vers tous les publics, pour accompagner la transition vers un modèle agricole écologique, humain et solidaire....

Social capital, collective action, agroecology and cooperation are the four leading principles proposed to policy makers in the national CAP reform of 2020. By showcasing the BOND Project’s chosen regional activities and analysing their scope and implications, this report argues that the European farming sector needs a fresh approach, based...

Cultivar testing is used by breeding and seed companies, farmers and variety testing authorities to assess the general performance or specific traits of a cultivar. Three different forms of cultivar testing can be distinguished: pre-registration testing, registration testing and post-registration testing.

Desde que comenzó el confinamiento por la covid-19, hemos cambiado el hábito de nuestra compra de alimentos y esto afecta tanto a quien los produce como a quien los consume. Por un lado, han aumentado las cuotas de mercado de las grandes cadenas de supermercados; quienes perpetúan un sistema de aprovisionamiento...

Drawing on practical examples from eight countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, this Policy Brief focuses on the contributions that the territories and areas governed, managed and conserved by custodian indigenous peoples and local communities — ‘ICCAs – territories of life’ — make to food sovereignty and how,...

The selection of varieties is essential for the success of any crop. A variety can be defined as plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank showing characteristics that result from a given genotype, distinguished from any other plant grouping by the expression of the characteristics,...

Vijay Kumar presents the revolutionary CMNF initiative which has already converted 600,000 farmers to agroecology.

In ‘The Fate of Food’, Amanda Little (professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University) takes us on a strange journey to the cutting edge of agricultural research. Little has an astonishing knack for getting quality face time with some of the most innovative (and busy) people in the...

The National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) of Argentina organizes a cycle of 11 virtual meetings on agroecology through Instagram. The meetings are happening every Thursday from 18:00 to 19:30 (GMT-3). A special issue on "Agroecology at FAO" will be held on 30 June 2020 at 16:00 (GMT-3) with the participation of Anne Mottet...

Como práctica, la agroecología propone el diseño y manejo sostenible de los agroecosistemas con criterios ecológicos (Altieri 1995, Gliessman, 2002) a través de formas de acción social colectiva y propuestas de desarrollo participativo que impulsan formas de producción y comercialización de alimentos y demás productos agroganaderos que contribuyen a dar...

A sustainable food strategy is key to achieving the goals of the EU’s Green Deal. This strategy sets out the regulatory and non-regulatory measures needed to create more efficient, climate-smart systems that provide healthy food, while securing a decent living for EU farmers and fishermen.

The Latin American Agroecological Institute (IALA IXIM ULEW) initiative of the global peasant movement La Via Campesina aims to train young people in agroecology principles and practices. This video explains more about graduates' experiences from IALA in Nicaragua through Migdalia Cruz, a young woman from Jinotega, a coffee-growing department in northern Nicaragua. Migdalia is also a...