In the literature on sustainability of agriculture, both labourers and workers are conspicuously absent. Here, the sustainability of agriculture has been defined in terms of whether the farm household in question is able to yield an energy surplus when its members and the animals in its possession are obtaining an...

Indian agriculture was transforming from a cereal-based production system toward high-value crops (HVC) during the 1990s. However, food security concerns resurfaced during the first decade of the 21st century, and the policy environment tilted in favor of cereal-based production systems, especially rice and wheat. This paper revisits an earlier study...

The Medium Term Cooperation Programme with Farmers’ Organisations in Asi and the Pacific, Phase II (MTCP2) aims to strengthen the capacities of farmers organizations in Asia and the Pacific to deliver better, improved and inclusive services to their members and to engage in effective dialogues with governments, thereby making FOs...

Farmers in Laos are rediscovering the value of a traditional crop – the bark of the bong tree. Because the once-abundant bong trees are now on the endangered species list, smallholders are establishing profitable plantations to meet the growing demand for the aromatic bark.

Innovation in family farming analyses family farms and the role of innovation in ensuring global food security, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. It argues that family farms must be supported to innovate in ways that promote sustainable intensification of production and improvements in rural livelihoods. Innovation is a process through...

SOFI 2014 presents updated estimates of undernourishment and progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and World Food Summit (WFS) hunger targets

FAO, in collaboration with other UN agencies, has produced Food and Nutrition Security Country Profiles for many Member States in Asia and the Pacific. These profiles are developed with the aim of providing a situation analysis on the current status of food and nutrition security in the countries. Related indicators...

Governments and international agencies frequently boast that small farmers control the largest share of the world's agricultural land. Inaugurating 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming, José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), sang the praises of family farmers but didn't...

In this study was analysed collection and utilization of non-timber forest products in rural areas of central Vietnam. This is an important issue for better understanding of household-forest interactions in rural areas near natural reserves, particularly in developing countries with rapid economic growth. This research aim was to (i) document...

Zinc is an important nutrient for human health, especially for the growth of children (Caulfield and Black 2004). In 2011 Pakistan’s National Nutrition Survey found that zinc deficiency is high (47 percent) among children under-five years of age and women of child-bearing age. Nearly 42 percent of non-pregnant women, 48...

The objective of this article is to identify the determinant of farmers’ bargaining power and analyse factors that explain the variation in bargaining power. A detailed set of variables covering farmers’ characteristics, assets, transaction types and information obtaining methods is used in the analysis. The emphasis in this article is...

Smallholder farmers in developing countries play a key role in meeting the future food demands of a growing and increasingly rich and urbanized population. However, smallholders are not a homogeneous group that should be supported at all costs. Whereas some smallholder farmers have the potential to undertake profitable commercial activities...

To meet the needs of a growing global population that is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050, agricultural production must increase significantly. As such, agriculture and rural development will continue to play a critical role in alleviating poverty and malnutrition. This brochure highlights some of the key collaborations between IFPRI...

This document provides lessons learned (good and bad) from three years of RFLP field activities on mainstreaming gender across the six collaborating RFLP countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste and Vietnam

The Federations of Free Farmers (FFF) is currently one of the largest and most effective non-governmental organizations of rural workers in the Philippines. It was organized in 1953 by a group of Catholic laymen soon after the break-up of the Communist-led revolutionary movement in the country during the term of...

Recent efforts to develop rice cultivars with drought-tolerance (DT) traits have resulted in the release of several varieties that demonstrate significant resilience to drought stresses. This paper addresses the previously unanswered question of whether the private sector might play a future role in developing similar strains through applications of advanced...

The Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community is located in the north of Zhejiang Province, N29°25′-29°47′and E120°17′ -120°38′. It includes 59 villages in 12 townships in Zhuji City, Shengzhou City and Shaoxing County. The total area is 402Km2 . There are around 1.05×105  ancient Chinese Torreya trees. Among them, 7.2×104 are...

This study explores chain participation differences among three different groups of potato producers in Indonesia. The three groups include (i) participants in Farmer Field School (FFS) programs; (ii) farmers working with a large food processors, Indofood; and (iii) a random sample of potato producers. FFS programs provide growers with an...

发展循环农业是实现农业清洁生产、农业资源可持续利用的有效手段, 也是解决现代农业发展困境 的必然选择。文章系统地阐述了循环农业的内涵、特征、理论基础与遵循原则, 指出其本质特征是资源节约 和产业链条延伸，是遵循循环经济理念的生产方式、资源节约和高效利用的农业经济增长方式、产业链延伸 的农业空间拓展路径和环境友好的新农村理念。分析了循环农业的发展动力与物质流程框架, 指出循环农业 的产业链循环包括农业生产过程中农产品的顺时针外循环路径和可再生资源的逆时针内循环路径，其发展动 力主要是产业链内固有的价格机制和竞争机制产生的拉动作用和产业链外资金、技术、政策等对产业发展产 生的推动作用。文章总结了国内发展循环农业的实践和相关的模式, 提出了循环农业今后的研究重点包括循 环农业的机理研究, 循环农业发展的制度创新和补偿机制研究以及循环经济闭合循环链条体系的构建。

Garden cultivation of Xuanhua milk grapes, with a long history of 1,300 years of cultivation in the local area, and which mainly includes the traditional technology of funnel frames and polyclonal hole-planting methods, has extremely important historical value and cultural connotations. The plantations are mainly distributed in Guanhou village, Penyao...