Thethird ‘’Asia-Pacific Urban Forestry Meeting (APUFM)’’ kicked off virtually and will last until 29 October 2021. The event is organized by FAO with the support of UNEP, UN-Habitat, IUCN, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. Over 450 technical experts, scientists, practitioners, policy makers, NGOs, international organizations and other stakeholders have registered...

Regenerative agriculture (RA) is proposed as a solution to reverse climate change, biodiversity loss, declining water quality and health of freshwater ecosystems, wellbeing crisis in rural and farming communities, and food system dysfunctions. RA may also open overseas premium and niche markets. However, there is a lack of clarity about...

This video tells the story of Sireesha - one of the thousands of women and men farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, practicing agroecology in Farmer Field Schools facilitated by the Andhra Pradesh Community managed Natural Farming Programme and FAO. Through agroecology and FFS,

China's agroecological and organic farming sector is developing rapidly as increasing numbers of consumers have the economic means to consider their food's safety and health. The market potential is vast, but many challenges remain: educating the consumer and building trust, supporting new entrants, recovering damaged ecosystems, and creating viable market...

Khweng has the highest agrobiodiversity with over 319 crops followed by Marmain, which are both villages from Ri Bhoi, indicating rich biodiversity in the communities.This was informed by Senior Associate, Research, North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), Dr. Bhogtoram Mawroh, at a state-level dissemination workshop on findings of...

Tonle Sap Lake in northeast Cambodia is one of the most productive inland fishing waters in the world, due to flooding and monsoon. Fisheries are the backbone of country’s economy, with Tonle Sap contributing over half of the country’s fish production. Yet the lake’s 4.8 million residents are some of...

Climate change is likely to exacerbate gendered vulnerabilities and compound intersecting forms of discrimination against women. International donors and policymakers are increasingly interested in strengthening social protection programmes to address such adverse impacts, but there is a lack of evidence about how this can be achieved. Addressing this gap, this paper...

With the introduction of imported, hybrid crops, many farmers across Nepal have stopped growing indigenous crops altogether. Agriculturalist Kushal Poudel is hoping to change that by reintroducing native crops through age-old farming techniques.

Besides the severe health crisis, the COVID-19 epidemic also caused the global economy to contract at a rate not seen since the Second World War and led to a severe increase of poor and food insecure people as well as a sharp projected decrease of production of agricultural goods in...

This book is an output of a regional experts’ consultation meeting on “UN Decade of Family Farming: Formulating Strategies and Action Plan to Strengthen Smallholder Family Farmers in South Asia”, 5-6 November 2020 organized by SAARC Agriculture Center (SAC), Bangladesh in collaboration with Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA), Philippines, and the...

On July 26, 2021, AFA’s Secretary-General Ms. Estrella Penunia delivered an opening speech during the UNFSS Plenary’s Opening Session. With the theme “A Bold Ambition to Improve Food Systems,” Ms. Penunia highlighted the current state of our global food systems, and she emphasized what being bold means for small-scale food...

As the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic continues to claim lives, ruin the health and livelihoods of millions across the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in South Asia at present, a team of veterinary scientists, epidemiologists, sociologists and other One Health experts is beginning a two week session to map out a five year plan...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) introduced the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in 1989 to educate farmers on improved agricultural practices. The FFS approach has been used widely where a season-long school is established for farmers to engage in group learning and training activities. As...

Existing health and community nutrition systems have the potential to deliver many nutrition interventions. However, the coverage of nutrition interventions across the delivery platforms of these systems has not been uniform. We (1) examined the opportunity gaps between delivery platforms and corresponding nutrition interventions through the continuum of care in...

Conservation Agriculture (CA), No-till method of farming which is climate smart, increases organic carbon of the soil, essentially are generative agricultural practice, considerably increases productivity of the land and adds to the amazing happiness & confidence of the farmer." The Saguna Regenerative Technique (SRT) cultivation method was evolved in 2011...

Sandeep Narayan Jamjade is a farmer residing in Jalochi Village, Baramati, and Pune, India. He is 37 years old with a family of 11. He started his farming venture when he was 24. It took him years of trial and error to adopt various practical solutions leading to ecologically sustainable agricultural...

The practice of natural agriculture focuses on biodiversity preservation and promotes seed conservation.  This approach emphasizes the environment's fundamental characteristics and supports the Satoyama concept that integrates ecological compatibility among landscape and seascape management. In this session, part of the Oxford Real Farming Conference 2021 programme, Shumei Natural Agriculture presented a virtual tour of natural agriculture farms...

Aquaculture is vital for feeding the world's expanding population and the conference is considering a range of issues and opportunities ranging from traditional family farming in vulnerable communities to cutting-edge technology.  Themes to be discussed at the conference include: innovation, genetic resources, biosecurity, the social and human dimension, value chains...

Understanding how the Papua New Guinea (PNG) agricultural economy and associated household consumption is affected by climate, market and other shocks requires attention to linkages and substitution effects across various products and the markets in which they are traded. In this study, we use a multi-market simulation model of the...

Climate change is increasingly experienced in Southeast Asia in the form of rising temperatures, longer periods of hot weather, prolonged droughts, more powerful typhoons, and extreme rainfall. Farmers in many parts of the region are facing degradation of arable land, shortage of water, increased occurrence of pests and diseases, declines...