Editorial – Change will come from the farms and the streets

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

Home Gardens for enhancing food security in Sri Lanka

Food security remains a major challenge in Sri Lanka, particularly in the northern region which has been ravaged by the long civil war. In 2007, the national government initiated a campaign called Api wawamu rata nagamu (“Let’s grow and build the country”) to promote the adoption of home gardens, already a tested and effective approach. … Read more

Agro-ecological approaches to enhance resilience to climate change

The Green Revolution has performed well in well‑endowed areas with a stable climate, adequate water supply and access to inputs and cheap energy. But the necessary fertilizers, pesticides, farm equipment and fuel are derived from dwindling and ever more expensive fossil fuels. At the same time, climatic extremes are becoming more frequent and intensive agricultural … Read more

Crowd-sourcing organisational intelligence: Capturing the rich experiences of farmers’ organisations

Although the 2012 UN International Year of Cooperatives is half‑way through, it has already contributed much to showing the importance of farmers’ organisations. Collective action by farmers is very much needed, especially when farms are (or will become) too small to be attractive to trading partners. Smallholder farmers are, by definition, scattered, and so they … Read more

Getting heard in Rio

Many organisations are bringing their agendas to the negotiation tables. In this section we present a short review of some of the documents that are already being discussed. Call to action La Via campesina In this short but powerful paper, La Via Campesina argues that the root cause of the current global crises is the … Read more

Poverty alleviation – Dignity, ecological growth or just money?

While everybody is talking about a “green economy”, we still seem to be missing a critique of the concept. However hard the term has tried to appear different, many people still feel uncomfortable with it. How can we ensure that the new “green economy” is not just a new “greed economy”? Year: 2009; venue: Copenhagen. … Read more

Sowing organic seeds

There is a growing realisation that only the adoption of ecological and sustainable farming practices can reverse the declining trend in farm productivity in the state of West Bengal, India. A small farm of 3.8 acres run by Birendra Kumar Roy and Paromita Sarkar Roy in the village of Kamalakantapur, near Santiniketan, shows that excessive … Read more

The energy dilemma

The access to and depletion of energy sources is an issue that is receiving more and more attention, especially in relation to agriculture and rural areas. Key aspects in this debate include how to use existing energy sources sustainably and how to develop more sustainable sources of energy. This leads to the questions of how … Read more

Agrobiodiversity @knowledged – Enhancing the debate for a real transformation

Small‑scale farmers depend on biodiversity for their livelihoods and survival, yet agriculture can also be the greatest destroyer of biodiversity. Hivos and Oxfam Novib have recently launched a programme that aims to generate insights and evidence about the role of biodiversity in agriculture, and how to change to agricultural systems that harness biodiversity. This programme … Read more

Learning about … A holistic approach to small-scale sustainable farming

Over the years, many readers of our network’s magazines have asked for support material explaining the principles behind sustainable small‑scale farming. The Learning AgriCultures series is ILEIA’s response to these requests. The aim of this educational series is to have more and better trained agricultural educators and students who are able to analyse and promote … Read more