The video outlines three case studies of farmers utilizing agroecological practices in their farming systems. It focuses on complex adaptive rice systems in the Easter part of the island of Java, Indonesia; on a large-scale farm in the Netherlands applying sustainable soil management practices; and on social aspects of agroecology...

More than 500 million family farms dominate agriculture around the world ensuring food security and providing employment to hundreds of millions of people. Family farms are also essential in safeguarding agro-biodiversity, and sustaining communities and cultures. However, family farming faces numerous challenges including insecure land rights, and limited access to...

The Market Access and Growth Intensification Project will operate in the six dzongkhags (districts) of the eastern region, where some 30 per cent of the population of the country lives. The overall goal of the project is to reduce poverty and improve food security and the standards of living of...

Jujube is a unique fruit species native to China. Located in the Jinshaan Canyon at the middle reach of the Yellow River, the Jia Count is recognized as the place with the longest history of jujube cultivation. It boasts a large over-one-thousand-year-old jujube community. The community presents the whole domestication...

This report captures three years of accomplishments beginning 2012 to 2014. It highlights AsiaDHRRA work that has evolved the past three years as an agri-agency member of  AgriCord, alongside other  accomplishments as a  regional network of DHRRAs dedicated to building partnerships among rural development stakeholders towards the empowerment of organized...

Originating in the Persian Gulf, jasmines were introduced into China during the West Han Dynasty. Ever since, they have been cultivated in China for over 2000 years. Fuzhou is most famous for their cultivation as the city boasts the most favorable climate for the many species. It‘s in this city...

Formed in 2007, Food Plant Solutions Rotary Action Group (FPS) creates science-based educational materials, which: identify highly nutritious local food plants, explain how to grow them in a sustainable, agroecological way, detail the nutritional value of the plants and describe why human bodies require those nutrients. The resources created by FPS allows people to better...

To feed a growing world population, there is a pressing need to increase crop production while ensuring sustainability and enhancing resilience to fa ce new challenges. This is particularly relevant to rice production in Asia, where increases in productivity are slowing and land, water and labour are moving out of...

This paper describes how the social capital of rice farmers of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, as manifested in the tradition of collective farming practice, has changed. Collective rice farming persisted for decades, irrespective of critical events that challenged its continuation, due to two key factors: the high need for...

FAO has a long history of cooperation with Vanuatu, a Pacific Island Country which joined the Organization in 1983 and, as of 2014, hosts a country office. Over the past three decades, FAO cooperation with Vanuatu has focused on agricultural data collection, strengthening capacities for local food production, developing market...

The Outer Island Food and Water Project (OIFWP) came into force in September 2014. Targeting the four outer islands of Abebama, Beru, North Tabiteuea and Nonouti, OIFWP promotes improved household food security and nutrition as well as clean water through rainwater harvesting and community planning and action activities. OIFWP aims to...

The many plants in Laxmi Acharya’s farm means that it is often mistaken for a miniature botanical garden. She needed more food for her family. But with so little land, she chose diversity.

From a situation of widespread undernutrition, consuming fresh vegetables all year round has now become a reality for many Nepali households thanks to their expanding home gardens. But the stories they tell show that the benefits of home gardens are not limited to improving household nutrition. The gardens also help...

The product of a two-year collaborative effort among Khon Kaen University, Thailand, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other partners, this publication sheds light on the need to promote underutilized and indigenous food sources for overcoming malnutrition and hunger in the Asia-Pacific region. I sincerely hope...

The International Year of Family Farming was launched as part of a global campaign to reinforce awareness and support for small scale and family farmers around the world. The move to focus on family farmers for the international year was driven by strong advocacy from civil society, mainly the World...

FAO is warning that coconut farmers in the Philippines are in urgent need of assistance to recover their livelihoods, nearly three months after Typhoon Haiyan tore through the country. In this region alone, approximately 33 million coconut trees were damaged or destroyed and more than one million coconut farmers impacted....

Farms throughout Asia are predominantly small and family-based. In the past, small farms in tropical Asia achieved significant improvement in the yield of cereal crops, such as rice and wheat, which is dubbed the Green Revolution. As a result, grain production increased much faster than population growth, thereby contributing to...

The demand for food is expected to increase by over 60 percent over the next 40 years as the global population reaches 9 billion. FAO estimates that 91 percent of the increase in food production needed to meet this demand must come from yield increases based on advancements in agricultural...

The celebration of the IYFF (International Year of Family Farming 2014) gave impetus to a group of foundations to launch the European Foundations for Family Farming (E4F) initiative, with the support of the European Foundation Centre (EFC). This initiative seeks to raise the visibility of the family farming agenda among...

This book discusses the policy, strategic, methodological, technical and programmatic issues associated with food-based approaches, proposes “best practices” for the design, targeting, implementation and evaluation of specific nutrition-sensitive, food-based interventions and for improved methodologies for evaluating their efficacy and cost-effectiveness, and provides practical lessons for advancing nutrition-sensitive food-based approaches for...