This five-year project (2012-2017) aims to strengthen biocultural innovation for food security in the face of climate change, in China, India, Kenya and Peru. Much of the world's agrobiodiversity has been lost in the last century due to the spread of modern agriculture. Only about 30 crops now provide 95% of...

The Adivasi communities of Odisha, India, have experienced substantial losses of many natural resources from their area, which are key elements ensuring their food and livelihood security. Many farmers from the Adivasi communities have lost diverse varieties of traditional local crops like millet based mix crops while trying out market...

The key issues that this volume addresses are innovations in organizational and institutional arrangements that have enabled the creation of local markets for sustainably farmed agricultural products or, rather, “institutional innovations”. Institutional innovations can be described as new rules and forms of interactions. They help redefine sustainable practices locally and...

The significance and value of local and traditional farmers’ knowledge on improving agricultural practices is gaining more and more recognition. Participatory Guarantee Systems have been shown to hold great potential, to encourage knowledge sharing between farmers, and thus contribute to nurturing farmers’ knowledge.

Livestock rearing practices have changed enormously in the last 25 years. ANTHRA in Andhra Pradesh has taken initiatives to preserve the local knowledge on livestock rearing by documenting the practices and wisdom of the tribal, pastoralists and the women in the communities, with the hope that they could be used...

The two studies in this report explore these issues further using empirical quantitative surveys as well as qualitative fieldwork from a cross-section of developing economies in South and SouthEast Asia. The first study is an empirical investigation of the digital gender divide amongst the poor (broadly called the Bottom of...

Agroecology is the application of ecological concepts and methodological design for long-term enhancement and management of soil fertility and agriculture productivity. It provides a strategy to increase diversified agro-ecosystem. So it is benefiting the effect of the incorporation of plant and animal biodiversity, nutrient recycling; biomass creation and growth through...

A paper published in the journalAgricultural Systems analyzes the impact of agricultural water interventions (AWI) on farm incomes by using the Kothapally watershed in Andhra Pradesh in India as a case study. AWI refers to strategies and techniques such as on-site soil and water conservation strategies, irrigation and damming of rivers....

Weather variability poses numerous risks to agricultural communities, yet farmers may be able to reduce some of these risks by adapting their cropping practices to better suit changes in weather. However, not all farmers respond to weather variability in the same way. To better identify the causes and consequences of...

Climate change is already happening, and its effects, especially on rural communities in India, are particularly adverse. There is a need to highlight key issues and understand the practical challenges that must be addressed, if India is to build the capacities of its rural communities to robustly adapt to climate...

In India, rainfed agriculture accounts for over 40 percent of food production. With its high vulnerability to changing climate patterns and weather fluctuations, the increasing rate of climate change threatens India’s rainfed agricultural sector and the millions of people it supports.

As climate change threatens India’s food security, adaptation in the agriculture sector is becoming increasingly important. However, for too long, adaptation has been characterized by individual efforts and by small, time-bound pilot projects. Although these projects often have a strong grassroots focus, their capacity to benefit larger populations and to...

The aim of the guidelines is to enhance restoration efforts in the world’s drylands. They provide specific guidance for policymakers and other decision-makers, and for practitioners. Well-informed policymakers and other higher-order decision-makers can be enablers in the design and implementation of effective restoration efforts by providing appropriate policies, governance mechanisms...

G20 Members (Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indıa, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the EU) represent 85% of the world’s economy, 70% of the global agricultural economy and the two thirds of...

Abhijit Mohanty brings us the story of certain tribal villages in Koraput district of southern Odisha that have successfully overcome the challenges posed by denudation and inadequate irrigation and have etched out a path towards food security and well-being.

Amongst the various models for sustainable livelihoods being tried and tested in the tribal areas of India, the Wadi model has shown a lot of promise. Abhijeet Mohanty, Kieran Robson and Rosie Clarkson, find out why and how the Wadi model is doing in the tribal areas of Koraput district...

There is growing interest from the global development community in the role of agricultural research and extension (AR&E) systems to achieve development targets. Despite this interest, many smallholders in developing countries continue to lack access to updated agricultural information and reliable services. In an effort to increase the effectiveness, impact,...

  Young men from even the remotest places in the Himalayan mountains are leaving their homes in search of income opportunities elsewhere. This trend of out-migration has been driven by increased mobility and access to information, in combination with the effects of climate change, including both increased flooding and drought. Drought...

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 September 2007. Since then, the importance of the role that indigenous peoples play in economic, social and environmental conservation through traditional sustainable agricultural practices has been gradually recognized. Consistent with the...

As stress on Indian agriculture increases because of several reasons, such as continuous fragmentation of landholdings and climate change, there is a serious threat to livelihood based on farming. This is particularly true for small farmers. Growing rural populations and constrained employment opportunities in the nonfarm sector have caused subdivision...