Download the expanded PDF version of this article Read this article in French or Spanish “Agroecology is a process. You cannot expect a process to be perfect immediately. But once you make a step, you are moving.” With these words, Ugandan farmer Jowelia Mukiibi captured both the essence of the agroecological transition and the attention of her … Read more

Deadline 1 december 2016 For many people, food sovereignty remains an abstract term. Therefore, Farming Matters believes the time has come to ‘unpack’ it. What does food sovereignty look like in practice? And how is it taking shape in Europe, specifically? How do efforts to gain food sovereignty in Europe influence the rest of the … Read more

Patrick Holden is a farmer and director of the Sustainable Food Trust, an organisation in the United Kingdom providing leadership, influencing research and policy and sharing information on the sustainable transition of food systems. In this article Holden tells his story of True Cost Accounting, an initiative that addresses the invisible costs of so called … Read more

Agroecology has come to stay within the northern Nigerian state capital city of Kaduna. The farmers now produce more diversified products all year round. Over the past two years, the practice of intercropping has spread from farmer to farmer. Although formal support for their practices are lacking, the farmers remain hopeful that this will change. … Read more

Clara Nicholls is the president of the Latin American Scientific Society for Agroecology (SOCLA). For over three decades, she has worked in Latin America teaching, researching and promoting agroecological alternatives to industrial agriculture. She has also provided technical advise to a number of peasant organisations. In this interview Clara argues for more participatory research to … Read more

Whereas yield increases are considered central in modernised agriculture, they can be seen as just one element of impact in peasant farming. In assessing their farms, peasants depart from the specificities of their farm, the ecosystem in which it is embedded, the society and the markets in which they operate, and the possibilities and limitations … Read more

Edward Mukiibi of Slow Food Uganda appeals to young African farmers, agronomist and food activists to embrace agroecology to safeguard our future. As a young African with a farming background, like many out there, I cannot underestimate the contributions of agroecology to the sustainability of our fragile ecosystems. It is undeniable that African land is … Read more

Farmer Madelyn Álvarez Díaz explains how the agroecological movement in Cuba has grown from aiming to improve soils to striving for farmers’ political self-determination. “My name is Madelyn Álvarez Díaz and I am a peasant. I also coordinate the agroecological peasant-to-peasant movement in the Cienfuegos province, in Central Cuba. On our family farm, we use … Read more

Farming Matters | 32.3 | September 2016 This issue of Farming Matters explores innovative ways to demonstrate that agroecology provides critical solutions to the challenges of our time. Agroecology is gaining recognition for its potential to address climate change, biodiversity loss and malnutrition, and many successful examples exist. The experiences, opinions, and perspectives featured in this issue … Read more

On August 31 2016, the well-deserved eighth annual Food Sovereignty Prize was awarded to the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). The Food Sovereignty Prize champions real solutions to hunger, as opposed to the much-criticised World Food Prize. The US Food Sovereignty Alliance who awarded the prize states that, “this year’s winners are strident … Read more