INSECTS ON THE FARM

Farming Mattters | 28.1 | March 2012This issue of Farming Matters pays special attention to farmers’ organisations. In what different ways do farmers organise? What problems exist in farmers’ organisations and how are these dealt with?Farmers’ organisations can play important roles in developing supply management schemes and various income insurance programmes. Farmers can learn from … Read more

Opinion: Food movements, unite!

The world’s different food movements need to work together, argues Eric Holt-Giménez. The question facing them is “How can we, in all our diversity, converge to become powerful enough to transform the world’s food systems?” The answer is being forged daily, on the ground, as political alliances grow between producers, workers and consumers, and as … Read more

Globally connected: What is a “green economy”?

With the Rio+20 conference coming up, it is time to evaluate what a “green economy” really means. Is this addressed in discussions throughout the world? Is a truly “green” economy viable in different regions? What are the main barriers in different countries? Network colleagues shared some of their opinions. T.M. Radha: “A gradual process” With … Read more

Mulch, a home for insects

One of the ways in which farmers can protect their soils is through the use of mulch. When the soil is covered with a thick layer of organic matter, it is protected from extreme rainfall, winds or drought. Mulch also serves as a home for insects, helping attract many species which significantly improve soil texture … Read more

Managing for higher yields

We tend to think of “insects” and “bugs” synonymously with words like “harmful” and “pests”. However, only a very small fraction of the world’s insect population cause damage to crops or harm humans. There are far more insects that can help in some way. Farmers can use techniques to attract beneficial insects to assist with … Read more

“We need to convince civil society…”

Jean Marc von der Weid – Twenty years after Rio de Janeiro was the stage for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the world’s gaze returns to Brazil for the Rio+20 Conference in June this year. The sequel to this first international meeting on sustainable development may well have important implications for the … Read more

Zambia: Abuzz with bees

Set up three years ago, the Zambia Honey Partnership (or ZHP) promotes the sustainable, social and economic growth of the country’s emerging honey industry. Known as “the platform”, it seeks to represent the interests of all stakeholders. By “enhancing their commercial orientation”, ZHP aims to help translate the production of honey into higher incomes for … Read more

Insect conservation

Although insects are capable of causing immense damage to crops, this is largely due to the way in which we farm, creating attractive monocultures of lush crops and failing to exploit the natural regulatory mechanisms that exist. Crop damage is caused by relatively few species, whereas many more species are beneficial: parasitising crop pests, pollinating … Read more

Farmers in focus: Water, and more

Vincent Hugo is one of the members of the UWAMALE Irrigators Marketing Cooperative Society Ltd. in Lekitatu, Tanzania. Starting with 15 members in 1997, the Society now has 175 farmer members, all of whom work to maintain, rehabilitate and expand the local irrigation infrastructure. Lekitatu, a village near the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha, is … Read more