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.

The world’s marine and freshwater ecosystems – the Blue World – provide essential ecosystem services, biodiversity, food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people. The concept of a "blue economy" came out of the 2012 Rio+20 Conference. It is based on the premise that healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems are more productive...

This publication is the outcome of regional activity and the regional initiative on sustainable intensification of aquaculture for blue growth in Asia-Pacific so it contributes to the strategic objective 2. It will be important regional strategy document to support the concerted effort of member country governments and the regional /international...

Representatives from countries in Asia and the Pacific have pledged to take immediate action to combat the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The pledge was made with the support and collaboration of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the...

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 2nd Agribusiness Forum seeks to deepen partnerships to promote specific public–private partnerships to boost local production and value addition," said Michael Hailu, the Director of CTA. "The active engagement of the private sector is critical for the transformation of the agrifood sector in the Pacific to address major challenges...

A staggering 70% of the food we consume worldwide is produced by smallholders. Peasant and indigenous communities, who produce a great deal of this food, have been developing and saving seed for millennia—from Guatemala through Senegal to Nepal. However, today seeds are under threat everywhere. Laws are increasingly limiting what...

The article describes a community based seed enterprise for rice seeds, set up as part of a project in the Kurigram region of Bangladesh. The enterprise generates income for the seed growers, processors and traders, but the seed is also cheaper than other seed on the market because of the...

This paper presents an analysis of the characteristics of family farming in Asia and the Pacific and discusses its role in overcoming some of the major development challenges in this region. The main objective of the study is to depict family farming’s diversity in the region. Furthermore, it examines the...

A short video about  a Study visit to Paksong on commercial agriculture

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...

A short video about Technical Exchange Workshop on sustainable agriculture in Lao

There is huge potential for an increase in urban forests, trees and green areas to counteract the negative effects of rapid urbanization and improve livelihoods in the major cities of Asia and the Pacific, a regional meeting on urban forestry heard today. The First Asia-Pacific Urban Forestry Meeting is co-convened by...

In this book we focus mainly on innovation opportunities for small farmers, with a particular emphasis on marginalized small farm communities. The first chapter elaborates on the concept of the ‘small farm’ and offers a synthesis of the findings of all the chapters in this volume. The contributions have reconfirmed that...

In this video Nepalese farmers explain how they learned, after an FAO training course, to use bio-pesticides instead of the chemical ones.

Farmers’ organizations welcomed the plan of the Ministry of Agricultural and Spatial Planning / National Land Agency (ATR / BPN) the Republic of Indonesia to create a Presidential Decree (Decree) of Agrarian Reform as part of the political promises contained in the Nawa Cita. Actually, we think this is a...

While Bangladesh is more advanced in terms of agricultural mechanization, Ethiopia and Kenya can repeat the same success. Indeed, Ethiopia is one step ahead of Bangladesh in that it has developed an agricultural mechanization strategy – something Bangladesh has not done. This strategy is now being used to address the...

Family farming is the predominant form of food production in Asia and the Pacific which is home to 70 percent of the world’s family farmers. Family farmers produce 80 percent of the region’s food, 1 working on 85 percent of the total arable land2 and largely relying on the contribution...

In the context of increasing vulnerability to climate change for people dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods, the International Food Policy Research Institute and partner organizations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, and Bangladesh undertook a project broadly aiming to create knowledge that will help policymakers and development agencies to strengthen...

Four traditional farming systems in Bangladesh and Japan have been designated today by FAO as "Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems."