The intrinsic values of pastoralists’ way of life – cultural heritage, their animals and the ecosystems in which they live – are often shunned by today’s policy makers. On top of this, the services pastoralists provide to society at large are underestimated. This issue of Farming Matters explores the different ways pastoral societies are improving … Read more

The world’s largest international movement to re-organise the way we structure our society around food and agriculture has advanced its European agenda. ILEIA joined 700 people from over 40 countries in the 2nd Nyéléni Europe forum for food sovereignty held in Cluj Napoca, Romania. The second Nyéléni Europe Forum for food sovereignty took place in … 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

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

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

This issue of Farming Matters looks at the growing number of initiatives worldwide that aim to harness the potential of traditional plants. Cultivating traditional plants builds resilience and nutrition, strengthens cultural practices and enhances food sovereignty. From the experiences presented here we learn that for the successful revival of traditional plants, farmers’ knowledge on agricultural … Read more

In 2015, a series of unique meetings on agroecology were organised on three continents. Hundreds of civil society representatives, academics and policy makers attended. What have the meetings achieved and what is next? “Agroecology (…) is an approach that will help to address the challenge of ending hunger and malnutrition in all its forms”said José … Read more

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 these crops and where the real … Read more

Victor M. Toledo is a Mexican ethnoecologist and social activist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His work focuses primarily on the study of agroecological and knowledge systems. In this interview, Victor M. Toledo explains why co-creation of knowledge is an integral part of agroecology and discusses the changes that are needed for this … Read more