Potato is a major food crop in the mid-hills and mountains in Nepal. Traditionally, most farmers use small tubers as seed, to grow potato with the minimum input. Although seed tubers are easy to plant and plants grow quickly, they are expensive and may account for more than half of...

In India, a grassroots movement focused on agroecological farming is spreading fast. In Karnataka's southern state, the natural farming methods were adopted first by tens, hundreds, and now hundreds of thousands of farmers across India. So, what is so special about it? The natural methods have spread with support from the...

The presentation for the workshop “Pesticides, Agriculture and Food: Multiple and Growing concerns in Cambodia”, 28th of November 2019

Against the backdrop of the need to operationalize the SSF Guidelines in a participatory manner, the role of the local governance system of India cannot be overemphasized. As a complement to the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed the...

Farmers in the Mahintada village, in the Surkhet District cultivate ginger as a major income generating cash crop to be used as food or medicine. Ginger rhizomes selected for seed purposes are stored in pits to be used in the next season. It has been observed that around 25 to...

Natural hazards such as floods, landslides and drought occur frequently in different parts of Nepal with varying dimensions and magnitude. These hazards constitute the major causes of land degradation and deterioration of natural ecosystems. The introduction of a multi-storied agroforestry cropping system ensures the best combination use of crop-tree intercropping...

Low income farmers in semi-arid tropics, such as in the low rainfall areas of southern India traditionally combine different activities to diversify livelihoods so as to reduce the impact of natural hazards like drought. The Acacia Leucophoea and Cenchrus Ciliaris sylvi-pastoral system is an integrated sylvi-pastoral farming system that provides...

According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 (SOFI 2020) released in July amidst the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people affected by hunger is steadily rising globally. People with higher risk of food insecurity include those with the lowest levels...

In Bangladesh, both in flood years and in dry years, rice crop is under growing risks of yield losses due to disasters. The three-tier weather forecasting scheme provides information on the coming weather and allows to plan agricultural activities accordingly, following the ordinary cropping pattern in case of early or...

This entry gives an overview of the concept, the fundamental principles and the benefits of conservation agriculture (CA). CA is an approach to managing agro-ecosystems for improved and sustained productivity as well as increased profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the environment. CA is...

Cultivating lotus in raised beds is a local adaptation practice in flood prone areas of the Quang Tri province of north central Viet Nam. Communities traditionally collected lotus seeds from plants grown in common water bodies and sold them in markets. However, there was no initiative to further develop, promote...

Frequent landslides in mid-hill districts in Nepal have caused damage to productive land at the lower basin and affected human settlements and agriculture activities both upstream and downstream. Extensive areas of productive land were left fallow because of their vulnerability to landslides, and many settlements were displaced, mostly from the...

This practice describes how water logging tolerant wheat varieties can mitigate the impact of water-logging and drought spells on wheat crops through the introduction of more hazard resilient varieties and innovative cultivation technologies. This practice aims to mitigate the impacts of drought spells on wheat crops through the introduction of...

This study assesses the economic security of the city of San Jorge, Samar, Philippines, in terms of livelihood, income, and health in order to analyze the extent of the effect of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on the populace. The study evaluates the responses provided by the government, private nongovernmental organizations...

I want to tell the whole world to switch to organic farming. There is nothing to fear and you will find it highly beneficial.” Meet Muhammad, a farmer from Pakistan who has been farming organically for many years now

A video about the Impact of COVID-19 on small holder farmers in Laos

The losses caused by seasonal floods in the agricultural sector in the Juye county, in the southwest of the Shandong Province, have increased during the last decade. The Juye county is the lowest lying area of a topographical depression zone in the region. Rain water from the nearby other six...

Northwestern Bangladesh is increasingly exposed to drought, climate variability and slowly increasing temperatures. Strategies enhancing the ability to withstand the negative impact of natural trends and hazards on agriculture are a means to strengthen the livelihoods of the two thirds of the population employed in this sector. One such strategy...

Between the elevations of 1 000 and 2 000 m in the mid-hills of Nepal, over 12 million people subsist on land-holdings of less than 0.5 hectare. Farmers rely on rainfall and organic manures for soil fertility maintenance. A declining soil fertility is of increasing concern in the Bari lands...

The rural land tenure became a family responsibility in Qilin township, with the need to renovate irrigation infrastructure becoming more urgent. This urgency was due to natural disasters such as waterlogging and drought which caused economic losses and threatened farmer’s livelihoods. Major interventions as part of the Disaster Risk Management...