Senegal, like all Sahelian countries, suffers from the combined effects of population growth and climate disturbances that affect its productive bio- system and induce degradation. This is manifested in different forms depending on the physical environment and production systems in different eco-geographic areas. Several factors are responsible for the degradation...

Does the same question asked of the same population yield the same answer in face-to-face interviews when other parts of the questionnaire are altered? If not, what would be the implications for proxy-based poverty measurement? Relying on a randomized household survey experiment implemented in Malawi, this study finds that observationally...

Due to its prime location, Guinea has significant potential for fruit and vegetable production. The country has assets such as soil fertility, abundant rainfall and a rural population traditionally oriented towards agriculture. Farmers represent 61% of the population and constitute 80% of the poor. They are mainly engaged in the...

African Civil Society Statement: FAO Regional Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, Dakar, 2015.

The Harvest of Hope initiative is a vegetable box scheme in Cape Town, South Africa, set up as a social enterprise by a local ‘social profit organisation’. By promoting ecological urban farming, Abalimi Bezekhaya (meaning ‘Farmers of Home’ in Xhosa) improves income and household food security, and empowers disadvantaged households...

The objective of this study was to consider whether smallholders operate within homogenous or differentiated farming systems i.e. a similar “‘one type”’ system or a system that could be described as a smallholder typology consisting of a number of farming types. The enquiry firstly described and analysed farm diversity and...

The county of Loga is considered the most underprivileged in the Dosso region and one of the poorest in Niger. A community rehabilitation program, after the food crisis of 2012, ranked the county as the most vulnerable area of all five departments that make up the Dosso region. The annual...

Dépêche relative au lancement du programme Agrifinance-Burkina , dans sa phase active. L’initiative qui bénéficie de l’appui du Programme des nations Unies pour le développement (PNUD) et de la Coopération Suisse vise à améliorer le financement de l’agriculture familiale dans le pays et sera mis en œuvre jusqu’en 2019.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) are expanding their operations in response to growing food insecurity as a result of poor harvests across much of southern Africa. There will be an estimated 27.4 million food-insecure people in the region...

The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa (NAFSN) launched in May 2012 under the auspices of the G8 aims to create the conditions that will allow the African countries concerned to improve agricultural productivity and develop their agrifood sector by attracting more private investment in agriculture. The...

Le ministre sénégalais de l’Agriculture et de l’Equipement rural, Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck, a vanté, la pratique de l’agroécologie qui, selon lui, constitue ‘’un support de systèmes alimentaires solides et démocratiques, garantissant un revenu conséquent et durable et assurant la santé des communautés rurales, tout en préservant l’environnement"

Au Burkina Faso, les organisations paysannes mettent en pratique depuis quelques années le warrantage paysan. Les paysans et paysannes stockent une partie de leurs récoltes et les utilisent comme garantie pour accéder aux crédits collectifs octroyés par les institutions de micro-finances. Cette activité permet, d'une part, l'accès au crédit pour...

A bocage is a balanced environment, created to combine trees, crops and livestock. The concept of a bocage perimeter is created to solve the problems associated with extensive agriculture (overgrazing, erosion, fires etc.). A bocage perimeter is the result of land consolidation at the request of owners of a site....

Dans la région du Sahel, des techniques simples d'amélioration des sols et de rétention de l'eau ont aidé les agriculteurs du pays à reverdir près de 300 000 hectares de terres menacées de sécheresse.

In semi-arid cropping regions of West Africa, fallow periods are getting shorter. As land becomes more scarce, farmers are not able to give their soils enough time to rest. This is leading to depletion of soil organic matter, severely threatening soil fertility and damaging soil structure. In the worst cases,...

10 March 2015, Rome - An innovative partnership spanning five African countries is providing important lessons on how governments can procure food for public institutions, such as schools, directly from small-scale family farmers. Modelled on Brazil's achievements in fighting hunger and poverty, the Purchase from Africans for Africa programme (PAA...

Biowatch is among the organisations and international social movements that see agroecology as a means to realise the goal of food sovereignty. In 2007 civil society and social movement organisations representing millions of farmers met in Nyéléni in Mali to launch an international movement for food sovereignty. This movement views...

Biowatch advocates for agroecology as a proven, multi-faceted approach to creating a sustainable, diverse, just food system that applies ecological principles and methods to farming, while addressing wider environmental, economic, social, cultural, and political dimensions in order to transform the industrialised food system.

L’Organisation des Nations unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (Fao) explore de nouvelles pistes pour mieux lutter contre la faim et la malnutrition. Elle semble vouloir activer un nouveau levier, notamment l’agroécologie. «L’agroécologie est une des solutions qui sont faites pour un monde libéré de la faim. Elle permet également de...

Cereal production has exhibited unprecedented growth in Ethiopia, leading to important welfare improvements in the country. However, it is not well understood what the drivers have been of this growth and how it can be sustained. In particular, there is a lack of evidence on the contribution of improvements in...