A community-based, bottom-up regime of fisheries management, rooted in traditional ecological knowledge, is practised in the pole-and-line tuna fishery of India’s Lakshadweep Islands. India is home to a large number of small-scale fishers (SSF) using diverse craft-gear combinations along the country’s long coastline and island systems. One standout entry is the...

Farming can be remunerative even from an acre of land holding, when practiced through natural methods, utilizing natural resources to the optimum. Thammaiah, a farmer in Karnataka shows how small farmers can make a decent living adopting the multi cropping system, through his one acre model. Mr. Thammaiah of Chowdikatte village,...

Shrimp farms in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu have proliferated despite a 1996 Supreme Court judgement to regulate coastal aquaculture. Given an option, I would move away from this village to nearby Chidambaram town because, year after year, the fertility of my agricultural land declines.” This was told to...

Experiential learning based pedagogy, farmer-centric participatory research and knowledge exchange are essential for promotion of agroecological education. Way back in 1982, recognising the negative effects of high input agriculture, and link between agriculture, ecology and human dimensions, a few enthusiastic individuals in the Netherlands launched Agriculture, Man, Ecology as an international...

This book brings to the fore the different dimensions of the deprivation of human capabilities and the intricate relationship between food security and economy, ecology, and state policy within the Indian state of Punjab.

If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. Lila Watson It was the harvest festival in January called Sankranti on the land of the Deccan Plateau in the State...

Strengthening agricultural advisory services to make agroecological knowledge and practices available to small and marginal farmers is critical to transition towards agroecology and organic farming. Digital learning tools are a cost-effective way to train farmers on agroecological practices, encourage farmer-led experimentation and local innovation, and upscale agroecology. Ecological farming is knowledge-intensive,...

Via social media farmers market their organic produce and customers place orders from ½ to 5 kg of organic produce. Customers receive guaranteed healthy, fresh farm produce delivered to their door. By having a fixed client base, farmers have a regular income and get a higher price for their produce....

Agroecological approaches are highly location specific as they connect the links between the food needs, livelihoods, local culture, environment and the economics. Education on agroecology is therefore a holistic approach connecting these links, where farmers are in the centre of the entire process. With the realisation of the ill effects of...

The centrality of any education system is knowledge. This article highlights how farmer’s traditional knowledge on millets was explored, revived and documented; how ‘farmer centric research process’ was carried out through participatory varietal trials; and, how the community based knowledge centre for testing, access and spread of knowledge was created. Agro-ecology...

Agroecology is not new. It is based on traditional ecological knowledge and can be found in family farmers’ practices, in grassroots social movements for sustainability and the public policies of various countries around the world. However, the education on agroecology has been largely in an informal manner. Given the challenges...

Many passionate farmers are giving back to the society by sharing their knowledge and experience on growing food in an eco-friendly manner. This is how knowledge got passed from generation to generation, traditionally. But, present day farmers are moving a step ahead by integrating the modern technology and social media,...

Traditional mountain landscapes governed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) conserve unique wildlife and agrobiodiversity, and strongly support climate change adaptation and mitigation by protecting ecosystem services, including grasslands that store almost 50% more carbon than forests. But mountain biodiversity and the Indigenous and traditional peoples that sustain it are...

Dans les campagnes de l’Andhra Pradesh, cet Etat agricole du sud-est qui a lancé depuis 2018 le plus grand programme d’agroécologie au monde. Près d’un million de paysans y sont déjà passés au "natural farming", délaissant OGM, pesticides, fongicides, et engrais chimiques.   

Urban home gardening, limited to private residential spaces, has a potential to address the urban food supply chain, when expanded. In Kerala, urban home gardening, supported by governmental intervention and people’s social media-based initiative has become a wider societal movement. Light weight designed grow bags are used for rooftop garden Kerala, a...

Peri-urban areas are not ‘waiting rooms’ for entry into urban areas. A fundamental change in mindsets is needed, to prevent further land-use changes and unregulated construction activities. The situation can be better managed by promoting and maintaining multifunctional green spaces and also peri-urban agriculture. The initiative of co creation of...

Rapid urbanization, industrialization, land ceiling, construction of multi-storeyed buildings, wide roads, offices, markets have resulted in the non-availability of land for gardening work in big cities and towns. Ever-increasing population in cities and increasing vehicles have resulted in an alarming increase in pollution. There is a great need to break...

  Dans les campagnes de l’Andhra Pradesh, cet Etat agricole du sud-est qui a lancé depuis 2018 le plus grand programme d’agroécologie au monde. Près d’un million de paysans y sont déjà passés au "natural farming", délaissant OGM, pesticides, fongicides, et engrais chimiques. Cette ”agriculture naturelle” veut réparer la terre et relever les...

Cet article met en perspective les résultats de deux projets. L’analyse montre que l’intensification du riz dans la vallée du fleuve Sénégal et celles de la révolution verte en Inde font non seulement décliner la biodiversité agricole des céréales locales, mais endommagent les capacités d’adaptation et la qualité nutritionnelle des...

Eleven people give an insight into their joys, their worries and their personal values in the environment of organic cotton production. The series "Faces of Organic Cotton" shows a new portrait every week until mid-December. It was created as part of FiBL Switzerland's SysCom (Farming Systems Comparison in the Tropics)...