Agroecology – benefiting farmers around the world

April 26, 2013 by 1 Comment

Farmers is Malawi are realising the benefits of acroecology © CIMMYT ( CC BY-NC-SA licence)

Farmers in Malawi are realising the benefits of acroecology © CIMMYT (CC BY-NC-SA licence)

This week, the UK Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, David Heath, has announced his support for the use of agroecological farming methods which are seen as the foundation of sustainable agriculture. The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (IAASTD) define agroecology as “the science and practice of applying ecological concepts and principles to the study, design and management of sustainable agroecosystems”. In practice, this means simulating natural ecosystems and using low inputs to increase productivity.

In 2011 the UN reported that by using agroecological methods, projects carried out in 20 different African countries were able to double crop yields in 3-10 years. The projects also recorded a reduction in the use of pesticides, leading to savings for the farmers. The agroecological approach has multiple benefits, beyond these economic gains. It also takes into account social and environmental issues, including soil fertility, water availability and climate change.  Read more of this post

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Is sustainable agriculture the answer to climate change?

December 7, 2012 by 4 Comments

Drought can have devastating effects on crop yields (Credit: USAID Africa Bureau)

Drought can have devastating effects on crop yields
(Credit: USAID Africa Bureau)

As the most recent set of climate change talks draw to a close, the focus is once again on the policies that could help in the resolution of this global issue. There has been little faith in the outcomes of these talks before, with targets continuously missed. The conference aims to secure a new treaty by 2015, replacing the 1997 Kyoto protocol, which has seen a range of success and failures. The current talks are being held in Doha, Qatar, which has the highest per capita carbon emissions and gets the majority of its income from the sale of fossil fuels.

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Earthworm-farmer friendship, redefined

October 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

Earthworms suppress fungal diseases in the soil © pfly (Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 license)

Earthworms are known as farmers’ best friends because of the multitude of services they provide that improve soil health and consequently plant health. The density of earthworms in the soil is considered to be a good indicator of a healthy soil because they improve many soil attributes like structure, water holding capacity, moisture content etc., and also increase nutrient availability and degrade pesticide residues. As scientists understand these ‘ecosystem services’ provided by earthworms, they discover that this earthworm-farmer friendship is a lot deeper than previously imagined! Read more of this post

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Ecosystem services and the need for sustainable intensification

March 22, 2012 by 3 Comments

Our first guest blog is from Professor Tim Benton. Tim is Professor of Ecology at the University of Leeds, where his research interests focus around agriculture-ecological interactions.  He also currently has a role as “Champion” for the UK’s Global Food Security programme which aims to coordinate food security related research across the major public funders. Read more of this post

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The problems of achieving food security for 1.6 billion people in China

January 10, 2012 by Leave a comment

Agriculture in China has grown at a remarkable rate over the past 50 years © Gabriele Quaglia (Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license)

It is predicted that the population of China will stabilise at 1.6 billion within the next two decades. In order to feed this many people, crop production will need to increase by 2% each year to provide the estimated 580 million tonnes of grain that will be required. Mingsheng Fan and colleagues have published a review of past trends in agricultural production in China and the solutions that they think will allow China to produce more food in the future without an increase in available agricultural land. The main crops produced in large quantities in China are cereal crops, particularly wheat, maize and rice. The main limiting factors for the continued increase in agricultural production are water availability and soil quality. There is also the requirement to reduce use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers because they pollute the air and water.

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Clash of the food security threats

November 23, 2011 by 1 Comment

“On a planet with sufficient food for all, a billion people go hungry.”
The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change

The growing global population will continue to need more staple foods such as wheat © Brad Smith

As the global population grows, it is not just one factor that threatens food security but several interconnected threats that will continue to make it difficult to produce enough food for everyone. The combination of population growth, climate change and inefficient use of resources will continue to pressurise the food system, and a concerted effort will have to be made to tackle these issues. A new report from the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change details the actions that will need to be co-ordinated globally to achieve food security as the climate changes.
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Increasing Food Security and Empowering Women

August 18, 2011 by 1 Comment

Efforts to help developing countries increase their food security and to empower women should be considered together as both are dependent on one another. The FAO has said that if women had the same resource access in agriculture as men then food output in developing countries would increase by enough to pull 100-150 million people out of hunger (FAO Report). By comparing the work by BirdLife and Plantwise’s own plant clinics (plant clinics around the world) you begin to see the first signs of how empowering women can lead to increased food security.

CABI Plantwise Image

Recently a project in Paraguay by Nature Canada (partnered with BirdLife) helped 478 women farmers in efforts to promote sustainable agriculture in the region.  They aimed to balance conservation objectives, such as preventing deforestation and monocultures, with benefiting farmers.

They were successful in this and were also able to improve the awareness of gender equality as well as the rights of women. It has led to some women actively demanding their rights be respected and the formation of 10 committees by the women farmers who have successfully obtained municipal recognition.

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Call for support for sustainable smallholder agriculture

June 9, 2011 by 1 Comment

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), last week called for a dramatic increase in support for sustainable agriculture, including smallholder farmers, as a way to drive green growth and reduce poverty.

This is something we feel strongly about at CABI, where we work closely with farmers in developing countries to provide practical advice for sustainable control of crop pests and diseases. Our Plant Clinics take place weekly in a prominent local meeting place, such as a market, so that any local farmers can bring their plant samples along for treatment advice. Better management of crop pests and diseases results in higher yields – in Bangladesh, for example, farmers benefitted from a 9% increase in crop yields (read study summary).

“Well managed, sustainable agriculture can not only overcome hunger and poverty, but can address other challenges from climate change to the loss of biodiversity. Its value and its contribution to multiple economic, environmental and societal goals needs to be recognized in the income and employment prospects for the half a million smallholdings across the globe,” said Mr. Steiner.

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Filed under Agriculture, Food security, International development, Plant clinics, Plant health Tagged with , , ,

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