Is there a future for today’s youth in tomorrow’s agriculture? Not if we will live in a world where agriculture is in the hands of a couple of large companies and a small segment of farming entrepreneurs who have made it in the rat race. And, not if policymakers continue thinking in linear growth models … Read more

Agricultural markets are about more than buying and selling commodities. They are about the relationships between producers and consumers, and all the other actors in a value chain. They are also important for our relation with the food we eat. Globalisation has had far-reaching consequences for these relations, with products travelling long distances and with … Read more

The story of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an interesting one. It illustrates that relatively simple innovations can make a world of difference. It also shows that the transition to sustainable agriculture is a comprehensive social learning process involving many stakeholders – primarily farmers. Farming Matters | 29.1 | March 2013 Originating in … Read more

Sustainable agriculture in dry and degraded areas is about the resilience of farmers and ecosystems. Increasing the soil’s organic matter content is the most essential thing that dryland farmers can do to increase the stability of their farm. Organic matter contains nutrients and offers a space for the temporary storage of applied fertilizers, it absorbs … Read more

The past decade has witnessed the growing and strengthening of peasant and family farmers’ movements around the world: organisations such as La Via Campesina, ROPPA, PROPAC and AFA have strengthened their voices in regional and global fora. Organisations of small-scale ecological producers are growing at both local and national levels. Peasants and family farmers are … Read more

We do not know yet what the outcome of Rio+20 will be. But the preparations have already triggered a tremendous stream of information about smalls-scale family farming and agro-ecology – even if this is coming mainly from the civil society side. More than ever before, evidence is piling up to support the claim that agro-ecological … Read more

Ask a person (a farmer, an agrochemical vendor, an extension worker or a scientist) what she thinks of the role of insects in agriculture, and you will quickly learn about that person’s perspective on agriculture and ecology. Fear of insects is widespread, and based on an incomplete or distorted understanding of what insects do in … Read more

Twenty years ago, the first global conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro became a milestone, and there are high hopes that Rio+20 will be an even more significant event. In the previous issue of Farming Matters we introduced Rio+20. Since then, the complex preparations for the conference have been continuing. In January, the … Read more

Twenty years ago, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Many of the recommendations made in 1992 are still valid today. In June 2012 government delegations and numerous others will go to Rio again, to take stock of what has been achieved over the past twenty … Read more

Two hundred and twenty seven million hectares of land in developing countries – an area the size of Western Europe – has been sold or leased since 2001, mostly to international investors. The bulk of these land acquisitions have taken place over the past two years (see Oxfam Report: Land and Power). Think about this. … Read more