The paper contains 12 different case studies and chapters on agroecology; other sustainable farming methods;  agroecology and resilience to climatic changes; evidence of the food security potential of agroecological systems; the scaling up of agroecological innovations, with challenges and opportunities; the approaches that can be used for scaling up agroecology ; conclusions and way forward.

This report highlights some of the opportunities and challenges of establishing an organic farming movement that “can increase food security, reduce poverty and protect environmental resources” in the Southern hemisphere. Even though the report asserts that government policies are still needed to encourage the extension of organic farming, several positive trends are identified through a number of worldwide case studies.

Daniel Bornstein is a student at Dartmouth College interested in global food security. He has written columns on international development issues for PolicyMic.com, the Merrick Herald (Merrick, N.Y.), and College News Magazine. He was named a national semifinalist in the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search for his research on poplar’s viability as a biofuel—a potential alternative to the corn-based ethanol that drives up world food prices.

Environment and Development Series No. 15.
This booklet is a portrait of a unique participatory learning project involving farming communities in the Rwenzori region of Western Uganda. The project brought rural households together in ‘Farmer Family Learning Groups’ (FFLGs) with the aim of enhancing community food security.
This booklet looks at the guiding principles behind the project, how it has worked in practice, the successes achieved and the challenges faced.

Environment and Development Series No. 14.
This paper looks at how ecological agriculture, by building healthy soils, cultivating biological diversity and improving water harvesting and management, can strengthen farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change. Accordingly, the authors call for a reorientation of policy, funding and research priorities from the dominant industrial agriculture model to ecological agriculture.

Las experiencias de producción familiar agroecológica en diferentes regiones del mundo han evidenciado que es una opción viable para promover la seguridad alimentaria y, al mismo tiempo, conservar la biodiversidad de nuestros países. En los países andinos, los pequeños productores junto con los
movimientos agroecológicos han cumplido un rol importante para la promoción y sostenimiento de este tipo de iniciativas, como una propuesta con potencial para atender la precaria situación prevaleciente en el campo. Con el propósito de difundir estas iniciativas agroecológicas en la Comunidad Andina, los gobiernos nacionales, junto con la Secretaría General de la CAN, ejecutaron el Proyecto “Promoción de la Agricultura Familiar Agroecológica Campesina en la Comunidad Andina”.  La presente publicación presenta un resumen de los principales resultados de este trabajo.

A new 30-minute film produced by The Gaia Foundation and the Africa Biodiversity Network, in collaboration with MELCA Ethiopia, Navdanya International and GRAIN.
Narrated by actor Jeremy Irons, Seeds of Freedom is set to explode pervasive myths about agriculture, development and Africa’s ability to feed herself. At the heart of the film the story of seed and its transformation from the basis of farming communities’ agri-culture, to the property of agri-business.

An agro-ecological approach to rural development in the Philippines and China, devloped by Resource Efficient Agricultural Production Canada (REAP-Canada).

Ex-combatants and returned refugees formulate ecologically sustainable agricultural development plans in post-war El Salvador.

This case study outlines the plan for a 0.5 acre garden in downtown Toronto. This market garden was part of Field-To-Table’s Urban Agriculture initiative and will complement ongoing rooftop and sprout growing. The Urban Agriculture Initiative sells vegetables and sprouts to the Field-to-Table Good Food Box, an alternative distribution mechanism available to all Torontonians.