When Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda) struck in November 2013, it severely damaged or destroyed many seaweed facilities, crippling the income of Filipino coastal farmers who relied on this as their main source of livelihood. The Philippines is one of the world’s largest producers of seaweed and initial assessments...

Earthworm compost can increase soil fertility and help increase the production of vegetables in poor and salty soils. Here we will learn about a fast and easy way to make earthworm compost on a small piece of land.

The Asia and Pacific (APR) region has witnessed remarkable growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in recent decades, averaging an annual 4.5 per cent in 1980-2000 and 4.4 per cent in 2000-2013, compared with 2.6 per cent and 2.0 per cent for the rest of world over these periods. This...

This contribution discusses access and benefit sharing within the context of participatory plant breeding. It presents how Chinese farmers and breeders interact in relation to crop improvement and on-farm maintenance of plant genetic resources. Based on more than a decade of action research, a number of institutional changes were accomplished...

Climate change is altering aquatic ecosystems, driving shifts in physical and chemical processes, ecological communities and the distribution and abundance of species. These changes have implications for fisheries management, food security and the livelihoods of more than 600 million people worldwide that are employed in fisheries and aquaculture or related...

The Port State Measures Agreement "marks the dawn of a new era in the effort to combat illegal fishing" but rapid action is needed to make sure its implementation is effective, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today at an event held to celebrate the world's first international treaty...

The 8th Steering Committee meeting of the China-CABI Joint Laboratory was held successfully in Beijing, China on 4 March 2016. Steering Committee members and other key delegates were delighted with the Joint Laboratory’s achievements and progress in 2015, and agreed its plans for 2016. The Joint Laboratory is now regarded...

In February 2016, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a controversial new trade agreement covering 12 countries of the Asia-Pacific region, was signed in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The result of a US-driven process, the agreement aims to boost trade and investment among a select group of countries—excluding China. The TPP will have...

This policy brief discusses ways to scale up agroecological approaches and suggests actionable advice tailored for various stakeholders, including policy-makers, private sector, financial partners, research and development community and civil society. The brief focuses on how to design scaling up initiatives and provides success as well as failure stories.

The Asia-Pacific region is home to more than 60 percent of the roughly 800 million hungry people in the world. Since 1990, the region as a whole managed to reduce hunger by half – a key objective of the former Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But most of those gains were made in the earlier...

Even as many pockets of the state, including its capital, battle the ravages of development and consumerism, a couple of villages visited by the author stand as examples of resilient local economies and lifestyles.  The village is not very old; it all began in 1963 with three families. Nongtraw comprises of...

The international community is beginning to recognize the integral role of urban agriculture in improving the economy, environment, and health of cities. The Resource Center on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) Foundation expects that by 2020, 85 percent of the poor in Latin America, and about 40 to 45...

As part of a Unileveler-funded Project, CABI in South Asia and the Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI) in India organized a workshop on sustainable tea production. Entitled ‘A non-chemical approach to pest management’, the workshop was held on 18 February at the Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, and looked at ecological...

Many countries in the region met or exceeded the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on hunger several years before the deadline. Going forward, to meet the 2030 hunger target of the Sustainable Development Goals, the challenge will be to fully eliminate the prevalence of undernourishment across the region and to achieve...

The MoCa Family Farm in Padre Garcia, Batangas is a farm that integrates not only all its farming activities and but also its community. A perfect showcase of farm tourism for small filipino farmers.

The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific organized a Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on Agroecology during the 24-26 November, 2016, in Bangkok. Following FAO's Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition in September 2014, FAO acted as a facilitator to enable debates and foster collaborations among a variety of...

Various agro-ecological practices have existed in the region, primarily as an alternative to conventional chemical-intensive farming based on Green Revolution prescriptions. These alternatives are often directed at enhancing soil fertility, through organic matter management and water conservation. Throughout Asia and the Pacific, different terms are used for specific practices including:...

Indigenous Engineering Techniques on Diary Farming - Success story of Tinson, State Ksheersree Award Winner, Aiswara Diary Farm , Kollam 

The benefits of establishing mixed-species agroforestry in Pacific island countries are widely recognised. There is some underutilised land in western Viti Levu in Fiji, including in areas marginal for sugarcane where planting has ceased due to low profitability, and in areas where unproductive grasses are subject to regular burning. Two...

Strong and secure forest tenure for forest dependent communities is a necessary condition for improved income and sustainable livelihoods. However, in many Asian countries community tenure is generally weak and contested. This commonly results in conflict. Strengthening the forest tenure systems is necessary if forest dependent communities are to benefit...