In Montenegro, smallholder farmers rely heavily on traditional agriculture practices for their livelihoods. So much so, that a poor blueberry harvest or honey season can have devastating impacts on rural households. That’s why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and...

Agroecology Newsletter of August 2020

The 2020 Global Food Policy Report focuses on the need to build inclusive food systems, both to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable people enjoy the benefits and opportunities that food systems can bring and to support sustainable development. Inclusive food systems can help create better economic opportunities for poor people,...

In this first article in the new column of Agroecology Now! named "Agroecology in Motion: Nourishing Transformation'', Patrick Mulvany, an Honorary Research Fellow (HRF) at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), makes a call to radically foreground a more robust and transformative understanding of agricultural biodiversity, especially the need to enhance...

IFPRI is curating a series of analyses from IFPRI researchers and guest contributors on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on national and global food and nutrition security, poverty, and development. The webpage will continue to be updated with new analyses in the coming weeks and months.

This mini Barefoot Guide is an introduction to the Seed Knowledge Initiative (SKI) partners’ journey of landscape-level work with communities in the Southern African region. It is a resource to those communities and those working with them to think about why this landscape-level work is important. They will find inspiration and lessons from successful...

The Senate in the Philippines has approved a bill recognizing Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) and amending the current legal framework for organic agriculture in the country. PGS are locally focused quality assurance systems of organic products certification which small farmers can afford, and which provides access to healthy and safe...

In February 2020, during the first plenary session of the recently renewed European Committee of the Regions (CoR) members adopted the opinion “Towards sustainable neighborhoods and small communities – Environment policy below municipal level” by rapporteur Gaetano Armao (IT/EPP). Euromontana is pleased to see that the rapporteur integrated its suggestions...

Food security faces many multifaceted challenges, with effects ranging far beyond the sectors of agriculture and food science and involving all the multiscale components of sustainability. This paper puts forward the point of view about more sustainable and responsible approaches to food production research underlying the importance of knowledge and...

The Serbian Government has recently approved hygiene bylaws on food products of plant origin, in line with EU legislation, that include flexibility measures and derogations for traditional food products. Under this new legislation, Serbian producers can continue following traditional methods for making and selling food products based on fruits, vegetables and...

 Le Centre de recherche et de formation en agriculture biologique et écologique (SAHEL VERT), propose une formation en ligne innovante sur l'agriculture biologique et écologique.

This activity is part of the South-South cooperation project called “Sembrando Capacidades”, whose objective is to improve differentiated public policies for peasant, family and community agriculture in Colombia, through the exchange of experiences with Brazil, in cooperation with FAO, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia, the Ministry of Agriculture,...

This publication showcases a number of different forms of collective action in Hungary and Croatia to provide a better understanding of their specific contexts, operations, challenges and opportunities supported by the activities carried out within the frame of the BOND Project (Bringing Organisations and Network Development to higher levels in...

According to the FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), cereal production in 2019 and the estimated closing stock in 2019/20 are both near record highs and supplies in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and around the world are estimated to be sufficient. As a result, global cereal markets...

The COVID-19 crisis has created a moment where existing calls for agroecology acquire new relevance. Agroecology provides a path to reconstruct post-COVID-19 agriculture, one that can avoid widespread disruptions of food supplies in the future by territorializing food production and consumption. There are five main areas in which agroecology can...

During the past 10 years, between 2010-2019, SALSA’s Eastern European (EE) countries lost an estimated 1.1 million small farms (23%). This is the equivalent of 350 small farms disappearing each day (based on EUROSTAT 2016 data).

Aujourd'hui, plus de 4000 exploitations agricoles urbaines produisent 1,5 millions de tonnes de légumes, sans pesticides ni engrais chimiques. Au début des années 1990, lors l'effondrement de l'Union soviétique, Cuba perd brutalement son principal fournisseur de pesticides. Pour éviter la famine, Cuba n'a d'autre choix que de développer des alternatives naturelles réduisant...

Over the past three decades, agroecology has gained much attention as the basis for the transition from conventional agriculture and external-market oriented production to ecological, localized agriculture that not only provides rural families with significant social, economic, and environmental benefits but also sustainably and more equitably feed urban populations. Agroecology has...

Constantly updated reading list of relevant articles/materials and practical information addressing the relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and the need to transition towards sustainable food systems. e

Following the session Rural Women, Agroecology and Covid-19, the course Formation and Use of Agroecological Notebooks - Africa will take place on 28 July. The session will be public and will feature the participation of family farmers, the national gender institute, donors and international agencies, with the aim of presenting the results and lessons...