W ildfires have raged across the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya this year. The Indian state of Uttarakhand lost over 1,500 hectares of forest while Nepal saw hundreds of forest fires in March and over a thousand in April. As frightening and destructive as these fires have been, for over 10,000 years, everywhere from the Central...

Drive five hours north of the capital, Colombo, and the air hangs dry with a sun that seems to scorch just about anything it touches. The so-called Dry Zone is the agricultural heartland of Sri Lanka where life revolves around a single, most-precious resource: water. For decades, farming communities here have looked...

As global temperatures rise, heat stress has become a significant concern with varied effects on agricultural production, human health and productivity, and sustainability. Heat stress threatens food security and can exacerbate existing social and gender inequalities. Seventy percent of global agriculture will be exposed to the risk of heat stress...

About 14.6 million people (20 percent of the analysed population) experienced high levels of acute food insecurity, classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) between February and March 2024. An estimated 14.3 million people are in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) and about 0.3 million people are in...

On a rainy day in August, when the availability of fisheries resources is high in the Teesta river here, Bimal Das returned from a four-hour fishing trip with only three kg of fish. While sorting the fish from the ice slabs, a dejected Das contemplated quitting fishing to looking for...

The International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 (IYAFA) was celebrated worldwide. It provided a global platform to highlight the importance of small-scale fisheries and artisanal aquaculture, their role in sustainable development and the myriad of ways they ensure food security and poverty alleviation in dependent coastal and rural...

Co-innovation is a process in which researchers work together with stakeholders to realise innovations of different kinds, such as combined technological and institutional innovation (Bossink, 2002; Dogliotti et al., 2014; Klerkx et al., 2017). Co-innovation goes beyond participatory and transdisciplinary research in the form of doing joint experiments, given that...

Malho Marndi, a tribal farmer from Odisha, India, faced declining rice yields and labor challenges due to worsening climate conditions. With support from the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and the Odisha government’s DSR-Odisha project, she adopted Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) technology, which reduces labor and water needs....

Born and raised amidst the lush landscapes of the mountain provinces of the Philipines, Daniel Jason Maches and Jaymar Garcia, two Indigenous youth, have always been connected to the land. They’ve witnessed their parents tend to the earth, cultivating crops that sustained their families for generations.  

The Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus Leadership Program in Nepal aims to not only strengthen leadership and negotiation skills, but to create champions equipped with the technical knowledge and tools, and create the enabling conditions (including recognition and support networks) these champions need, to advance equitable WEFE nexus decision-making and implementation.

"Unleashing the potential of women livestock keepers" explores how enhancing women's roles in livestock production can significantly contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 5, which aims at achieving gender equality and empowering women. In developing countries, women constitute a large part of the agricultural labor force, particularly in small-scale livestock farming,...

Highlights • Bhoo-samruddhi program was launched by government of Karnataka to benefit smallholder farmers with goal of raising farm income and crop productivity. • CSA intensification is categorized as low (adopting only one practice), medium (adopting any two practices), and high (adopting more than two practices). • Results show higher CSA intensification leads to higher incomes...

Besta Pulum cannot contain his excitement about the tablet computer he is holding in his hands. “When I was young, I never saw that kind of computer. Now I’m seeing it; I didn’t sleep [from excitement],” says the community chief, who reckons his age at around 60. Like his father before...

Solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) are gradually replacing diesel pumps in relatively water-intensive agricultural production systems and geographies to reduce carbon emissions from food systems. However, beyond its climate change mitigation potential and fulfillment of Nationally Determined Contributions commitments, the adoption of solar irrigation also has direct co-benefits for farmers. Taking...

Coastal ecosystems and associated biodiversity are under severe threat due to global climate change and subsequent sea level rise (SLR). Mangroves, as a socio-ecological system, are of paramount importance for combating climate change, ensuring the sustainability of coastlines, and supporting coastal communities. Despite providing numerous ecosystem services and tangible benefits...

The Andhra Pradesh Zero Budget Natural Farming project was implemented by India’s State of Andhra Pradesh in 2016 and renamed AP Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) in 2020. APCNF is recognised as a sucessful example of peasant-led agroecology by social movements, multilateral UN bodies, governments, and researchers. We offer more...

This review summarizes findings from 22 case studies published together in Tropical Forest Issues 61 (Torquebiau 2024). The case studies present clear and tangible benefits from the adoption of agroforestry, based on a wide range of practices from Africa, Latin America and Asia. In this review practices and conditions for...

An assessment of seven innovation case studies in Pakistan in 2022 found that agriculture innovation systems show limited collaboration and networking, and a supply-driven rather than market driven approach to innovation. This limits the potential for scaling innovations such as the ‘Super Seeder’, a machine that sows wheat directly in...

The family is deeply involved in organic farming, with all three members actively participating. Effective farming is a collective effort, and without my family's support, it would be impossible to achieve our goals. My husband fully supports my farming endeavors, making their work both productive and fulfilling. They directly deliver...

The Eastern Gangetic Plains are a densely populated region of South Asia with comparatively low productivity yet a strong potential to intensify production to meet growing food demands. Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) has gained academic and policy traction in the region, yet despite considerable promotional activities, uptake remains limited....