The project has validated a participatory breeding approach for developing superior, mosaic disease-resistant cassava, demonstrating that it can provide a means by which farmers, plant breeders and plant pathologists could work together in an effective and inclusive manner. It also provided an environment whereby farmers made a significant and consistent...

In Belgium we have an expression: “all Belgians are born with a brick in their stomach”, meaning that all citizens aspire to build their own house someday. But when bricks are literally eaten, something has gone seriously wrong.  

There is increasing attention on the importance of biodiversity for food security and nutrition, especially above-ground biodiversity such as plants and animals. However, less attention is being paid to the biodiversity beneath our feet, soil biodiversity, which drives many processes that produce food or purify soil and water. This summary...

Onion is a biennial vegetable grown in temperate regions as an annual crop. Onions are especially suitable for smallholder farming in many countries because they require a small amount of initial capital. Onions require a small piece of land and they take a relatively short time to mature. Onions can...

A study of three fishing communities shows only with empowerment can women occupy positions of power in fisheries cooperatives. What do young fisherwomen in Belize need? How can decent work and empowerment come to them? A collaboration among three bodies addressed these questions; they included the Belize Fishermen Cooperative Association (BFCA),...

In early 2020, the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 prompted India, among many other countries, toput in place stark measures to stem the virus’ spread and the cost of human lives. We analyze data fromphone-based surveys on disruptions to agricultural production and food security, administered with1515 smallholder producers in the states...

The Panama Country Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has promoted several initiatives with and for the country's indigenous peoples. These initiatives, thanks to their scaling-up and coordination, have given shape to FAO’s Indigenous Agenda in the country, helping to develop the economic basis...

El aguacate ha sido plantado y consumido desde hace más de nueve mil años sobre la Tierra, sin embargo, solo hacia finales del siglo XX se dio un aumento sostenido de su cultivo y producción, que sobrepasó, en 2018, los 5,6 millones de toneladas. Además ha adquirido una gran valor...

"La primera plaga que debe enfrentar la agricultura familiar es la soledad", afirmó José Mujica, agregando que "hay que luchar por el agrupamiento, por la creación de pequeñas empresas cooperativas" para "sacarse de encima la intermediación que se queda con la parte más importante de la rentabilidad" y llegar de...

The ENRD newsletter provides all the latest rural development news from Europe straight to your inbox once a month. From policy updates to ENRD meetings and from project outcomes to online videos, this new and updated tool aims to provide something for everybody interested in rural development policy in Europe....

Tuta absoluta (Tomato leaf miner) is a threat to the tomato production worldwide, as Tuta is resistant to most insecticides. In this video, Eduardo Crisol and Jan van der Blom from Coexphal explain how Tuta can be successfully controlled by a natural enemy called Necremnus tutae. This tiny wasp enters...

Join an interactive network of policy makers interested in making our food systems sustainable in the face of current global challenges. Through this network you will have the opportunity to meet, learn and get inspired by other policy makers via peer-to-peer exchanges. Share your experiences, get to know the evidence...

Did you know that chocolate is obtained from beans extracted from the fruit of a tree called Theobroma cacao? The fruits are yellow or deep red pods that contain beans covered with a sweet-bitter pulp. Cacao originated in the Amazon region and, for this reason, South America has the highest...

The policy brief reviews the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants working in agri-food systems and their families in rural areas of origin. It points out some of the policy implications and presents key policy recommendations. Measures affecting the movement of people (internally and internationally) and resulting labour shortages,...

Organic agriculture is an integrated production management system that promotes and enhances agroecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It emphasizes the use of natural inputs (i.e. mineral and products derived from plants) and the renunciation of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

The objective of implementing the slope agriculture land technology (SALT) is to stabilize the slope and improve the terrace or the contours in order to control soil erosion along the slopes and improve soil fertility. This practice describes how to implement the SALT method.

The technology was developed in collaboration with farmers in the Teso farming system of Uganda. It comprises of the development of appropriate animal-drawn implements, primarily for weeding but also for ridging (sweet potatoes), line planting and lifting (groundnuts). These implements are now being manufactured locally. Impact assessments showed that adoption...

Farmers in Uganda started taking care of pigs in their sties because of problems with the pigs that were free roaming. Farmers would not know where the pigs had gone and what they had eaten or whether they had contracted any disease.

Amélie Dennebouy has challenged gender stereotypes to become a successful mussel entrepreneur in Pénestin, France. “ We don’t employ women!” Just how many times Amélie Dennebouy, a mussel farm worker, heard that phrase since she began working in the sector at age 17, it would be impossible to say. “Ten years...

Confronted with plans for an offshore wind farm, the fishers of the Bay of Saint Brieuc in France are clamouring for their rights to be respected and guaranteed. It is important to highlight that the millions of people who, to this day, still rely on ocean space for their lives and...