Latest

Apr 23, 2013

European Coordination Via Campesina for the defence of family farming and small-farmers

Press Release, 17 April- Fuerteventura. From 15th to 17th April, ECVC, a European association of small-farmers that brings together 27 farming bodies from 17 countries across Europe, including outside the EU, held its annual General Assembly in the Canary Islands, Spain. One of the Outermost...

Jan 15, 2013

Fair and sustainable food systems: from vicious cycles to virtuous circles

A policy brief by Michel Pimbert. Modern industrial food, energy and water systems are fundamentally unsustainable. Their linear, and increasingly globalised, structure assumes that the Earth has an endless supply of natural resources at one end, and a limitless capacity to absorb waste and...

Jan 14, 2013

Investing in smallholder agriculture. Open consultation

The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) has published the V0 draft of the report  Investing in smallholder agriculture for food and nutrition security  and is currently seeking feedback and inputs to further elaborate the document. Deadline for the online...

Jan 14, 2013

From desertification to vibrant communities

Sustainable agriculture in dry and degraded areas is about the resilience of farmers and ecosystems. With examples from different parts of the world, the latest issue of Farming Matters, shows the importance of local knowledge and appropriate policies. Farming Matters is published...

Nov 20, 2012

Surin Declaration: First Global Encounter on Agroecology and Seeds

International delegates of La Via Campesina gathered in Surin, Thailand, from 6 to 12 November 2012 for the First Global Encounter on Agroecology and Seeds. The objective of the reunion was “to share experience and construct a strategy and vision on agroecology and seeds, in the holistic...

Recently Added Initiatives

• Organic Agriculture: African Experiences in Resilience and Sustainability

  This new volume published by FAO  tries inspiration from the Conference on Mainstreaming Organic Agriculture in the African Development Agenda held in Lusaka, Zambia in May 2012. It expands on selected research shared during the event and demonstrates that organic management can benefit people, the economy and ecosystems, particularly in Africa.

  
  

• Fed up. Now’s the time to invest in agroecology

  With case study evidences from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Pakistan, and citing global studies and surveys, this report argues that agro-ecology – or ecological agriculture – offers tools that can help the poorest communities to develop new, affordable, dynamic, low-carbon and locally-adaptable models of agricultural development to meet these multiple challenges. Recent research shows that agro-ecology is highly productive and holds great promise for the roughly 500 million food-insecure households around the world.

  
  

• Tipping the Balance: Policies to shape agricultural investments and markets in favour of small-scale farmers

  A recent wave of large-scale land acquisitions and other commercial investment in agriculture has raised concerns that small-scale producers are being marginalized. This report takes a new look at the role of public policy and market governance in ensuring inclusive sustainable development. It also foucses on elements that can contribute to gender-equitable results. Four country case studies, conducted in Guatemala, Nigeria, Tanzania and the Philippines supports this work.

  
  

• Dams and alpacas in the Peruvian Andes

  In addition to severe losses in the mountain soil’s fertility, climate change is easily visible in the Peruvian Andes: the glaciers which feed all the rivers, and the snow on the mountaintops, are noticeably getting smaller, less and less water is flowing down into the valleys. The water harvesting approach is proving susccessful to cope with this problem and strenghthen local organizations.