The international community is increasingly aware of the link between biodiversity and sustainable development and its direct impact on wealth, health and well-being. Biodiversity is the origin of all crops and domesticated livestock. It is also the source of vital ecosystem services and functions, including soil conservation, water cycling, pollination,...

Mariam Mayet is the director of the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). In a recent report, ACB turns their attention towards genetic modification of non-commercial ‘orphan crops’ and the way this technology is replacing farmer managed food systems. In this interview Mariam explains what is wrong with genetic modification of...

FAO welcomed an agreement by Indonesia and the European Union (EU) to issue the world's first Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) timber license as a major achievement in the fight against illegal logging. As of 15 November, the FLEGT license can accompany shipments of timber exported from Indonesia to...

This practice describes how moringa plant can be propagated by air layering to promote vegetative propagation of trees and produce seedlings. Farmers nowadays might prefer propagation of moringa through air-layered cuttings rather than through seed propagation because through vegetative propagation the air layered seedlings represent the characteristics of selected mother...

The increased consumption of dairy products in Asia and the Pacific is playing a vital role in improving child nutrition and boosting the livelihoods of small farmers across the region, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced. The announcement was made during the opening session of the...

ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) have adopted a common regional position on agriculture sector issues and will be promoting it at the forthcoming 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that begins this week in Morocco. The ASEAN Common Position on Issues...

China is a large country with diverse agro-ecosystems and numerous different agricultural production systems. These agricultural systems are managed by more than 200 million households who provide agricultural products to meet the needs of almost a fifth of mankind. Agriculture plays numerous key functions, including not only the provision of...

Adoption of new cattle management practices by Indonesian smallholders occurs less as a ‘technology transfer’ in the classical sense but rather as a series of conscious decisions by farming households weighing risks and resources as well as matching innovations to livelihood strategies. This paper uncovers the context of decisions and...

The critical role of smallholder farmers in ensuring global food security has been widely acknowledged. Smallholders produce up to 80% of food supply in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and not only are they supporting their families, but also rural communities and ultimately all of us. In Asia, we have 74% of...

New agreement aims to ensure capacity development, farmers’ access to productive resources, knowledge exchange. India's Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and FAO are strengthening their collaboration to boost rural development and reduce poverty in Asia and Africa via local initiatives focused on empowering rural women and youth.

Key forestry leaders from Asia-Pacific began deliberations today on a series of critical natural resources issues challenging the region. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to the negative impacts of climate change are among the priority topics on the agenda for the five-day meeting that will be the main...

Fodder sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is used for feeding animals in the drylands of India. The forage crop is sown in an intercropping system along with staple crops. The intercropping of the forage sorghum between other crops additionally improves the land-use efficiency, providing diversified yields within a specified area of...

Farmers’ Rights Global Consultation, held between 27-30 of September in Bali, organized by the Government of Indonesia with support from The Government of Norway and The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).  

After decades of successful collaboration, China and FAO have agreed to broaden the scope of their cooperation, building on their achievements to further promote rural development worldwide.

Mono-cropping of cash crops for generating incomes has displaced mixed farming systems and associated local crop diversity, negatively impacting on food security and climate resilience. Initiatives to produce improved varieties through participatory varietal selection, intercropping trials with pulses and millets and promoting local millet seed production through community seed banks...

Aquaponics is a symbiotic integration of two mature food production disciplines. Aquaculture (the science of fish farming) and hydroponics (the science of growing plants without soil) are combined within a closed recirculating system. This technology describes in detail how to build Bumina and Yumina special aquaponic type systems. Bumina system...

The overall objective of the ER+ component is to assist ultra-poor women and their families in disaster-prone areas of Bangladesh in lifting themselves above the lower poverty line toward greater food security. To achieve the objective, a third “promotional” year has been introduced to ER, during which women—either ER laborers/trainees...

The International Symposium on Agroecology for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems has been jointly organized by FAO and CAAS, and the People’s Government of Yunnan Province of China, with the support of the Government of France. In his message from the Director General of FAO, Ren Wang, Assistant Director-General stressed that:...

Yam has several nutritional benefits, yet the crop remains neglected and underutilized. In the absence of national research and extension programmes on yam, LIBIRD’s initiative to promote yam cultivation on terrace walls has caught up with the Chepang communities in Nepal.

From drones to smart phones, advances in ICT are bridging the extension gap, providing information on climate-smart technologies and practices, and helping to level the playing field by making these technologies more affordable, accessible and applicable for even the poorest smallholder and family farmer.