Suchergebnisse

Palm oil has become a leading vegetable oil over the past 30 years and smallholder farmers in Indonesia, with more than 12 million hectare the world's largest producer of palm oil, have massively engaged in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) cultivation. In Sumatra, where more than 60% of Indonesian palm oil is cultivated, smallholders currently cover roughly 50% of the oil palm area. The rapid expansion of palm oil however did not happen without controversy. In current efforts by the Indonesian government, NGO's and private sector to improve sector performance, smallholders are often characterized as the Achilles heel of the oil palm sector due to poor practices and low yields compared to companies. However, 'oil palm smallholders' is a container concept and there has been only limited research into smallholder diversity beyond the organised versus independent farmer dichotomy. This research delves into the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) among seven types of independent smallholders in Rokan Hulu regency, Riau province. The research area consisted of a relative established agricultural area on mineral soils and a relative frontier, mostly on peat. Smallholder types ranged from small local farmers to large farmers who usually reside in urban areas far from their plantation and regard oil palm cultivation as an investment opportunity. The underlying hypothesis is that larger farmers have more capital and therefore implement better agricultural practices than small farmers, who are usually more cash constrained. A wide range of methods was applied, including farmer and farm surveys, remote sensing, tissue analysis and photo interpretation by experts. These methods provided data on fertilizer use, nutrient conditions in oil palms, planting material, planting patterns, and other management practices in the plantations. Results show that yields are poor, implementation of GAP are limited and there is much room for improvement among all farmer types. Poor planting materials, square planting patterns, and limited nutrient applications were particularly prevalent. This implies that farmers across different typologies opt for a low-input low-output system for a myriad of reasons and that under current conditions, initiatives such as improving access to finance or availability of good planting material alone are unlikely to significantly improve the productivity and sustainability of the smallholder oil palm sector.

This chapter identifies urbanization issues affecting food system sustainability. Since the nineteenth century and the onset of industrialization, cities have been both the product and motor of food systems, which are expanding worldwide despite the impression that they are nonsustainable. Since both the problems and resources are concentrated in cities, the latter are also a source of innovation, which can in turn help enhance the sustainability of food systems.

By the mid-century, urban areas are expected to house two-thirds of the world's population of approximately 10 billion people. The key challenge will be to provide food for all with fewer farmers in rural areas and limited options for expanding cultivated fields in urban areas, with sustainable soil management being a fundamental criterion for achieving sustainability goals. Understanding how nature works in a fast changing world and fostering nature-based agriculture (such as low-input farming) are crucial for sustaining food systems in the face of worsening urban heat island (UHI) effects and other climatic variables. The best fit for the context is transformative agroecology, which connects ecological networks, sustainable farming approaches, and social movements through change-oriented research and action. Even though agroecology has been practiced for over a century, its potential to address the socioeconomic impact of the food system remained largely unexplored until recently. Agroecological approaches, which involve effective interactions between researchers, policy makers, farmers, and consumers, can improve social cohesion and socioeconomic synergies while reducing the use of various agricultural inputs. This review presents a timeline of agroecology transformation from the past to the present and discusses the possibilities, prospects, and challenges of agroecological urbanism toward a resilient urban future.

Global change is a complex process encompassing environmental, climatic, social, economic, cultural and political changes. It has always affected agro-pastoral systems worldwide and compromised their sustainability resulting in tremendous changes of the pastoral systems including a decline in rangeland resources and the number of herds, sedentarism trends, diversification of livelihoods and even abandon of farming activities.Based on the hypothesis that agro-pastoralists in contrasted areas of the world face similar challenges and share same concerns but their adaptive strategies are affected by their local context which either enhances or weakens their sustainability, this research project aims at assessing the sustainability of agro-pastoral systems in Lebanon which are undergoing global forces of changes.First, the challenges affecting the sustainability of agro-pastoral systems in Lebanon have been identified through a review of the literature on pasture and land use in Lebanon. Six main challenges have been identified: i) Lack of policies and laws related to pastoralism and land tenure; ii) Urbanization and rural migration; iii) Encroachment by agriculture; iv) Deforestation and overgrazing; v) Lack of technical skills and data for range management; and vi) Climate variability.Second, the perception of change of small ruminant farmers in the West Bekaa of Lebanon has been assessed and their adaptation strategies identified. The constraints perceived by the farmers varied based on the production system they belonged to and were mainly related to pasture access and quality, market and political uncertainties, climate variability, on-farm socio-economic conditions and animal health. In the absence of government support, farmers from all systems developed short-term adaptive strategies involving more time spent on pastures, more feed supplementation and a decrease in herd size. Moreover, herd movement was limited to the pastures around the villages hence evincing the shift to sedentarism.Thirdly, the sustainability of agro-pastoral systems in the West Bekaa and Chouf was evaluated through the analysis of the value chain of the traditional cheese "kishk" typically prepared with goat milk. Kishk production has been maintained by rural women and kishk proved to be a resilient product despite the changes in wheat varieties and fluctuations in the source and quantity of milk. Small ruminant systems were found to be more resilient than wheat production systems.Fourthly, the dairy bovine systems in the West Bekaa and Chouf-Aley were identified using a system typology, in an attempt to present them as a model for intensification for some agro-pastoralists particularly in feed optimization, use of appropriate technologies, diversification of activities and market access. The dairy bovine system provided an insight for the intensification of the small ruminant sector in Lebanon for those who can afford it.At last, a comparative analysis was done between the Lebanese case-study and seven short movies filmed in contrasted areas of rangelands (Tibetan Plateau, Canadian Great Prairie, Egyptian Bedouin area, Senegalese Sahel, Uruguayan Pampa, Brazilian Serra Gaucha and French Provence). The gaps and challenges reported in the seven movies were found comparable to those identified in Lebanon specifically in regard to climate variability and the need for specific policies that regulate the use of rangelands and valorize their diversity.Agro-pastoralists in Lebanon and around the world are facing similar forces of change namely climate variability, inadequacy of rangeland policies and the uncertain future of youth. The implementation of specific rangeland policies integrating the perception of agro-pastoralists ensures the efficiency of these policies and the sustainability of traditional pastoral systems.

Cet article analyse la progressive institutionnalisation de l'agriculture biologique en Ouganda depuis les années 1990, marquée par l'existence de 200 000 producteurs certifiés biologiques, un mouvement national, ainsi qu'une politique dédiée en cours d'élaboration. Cette success story s'explique par une agriculture au départ " biologique par défaut " (absence d'utilisation d'intrants chimiques de synthèse) et par l'absence de service public d'encadrement agricole (non-diffusion de techniques conventionnelles), conséquences d'une histoire politique et économique singulière. Ce contexte a été propice à l'adoption et à la diffusion de techniques biologiques. La politique libérale et l'encouragement au développement d'une agriculture commerciale ont ensuite favorisé l'essor des projets de production et d'exportation d'une agriculture biologique certifiée, soutenus par d'importants programmes d'aide au développement, tel EPOPA. La création de NOGAMU, organisation qui chapeaute le mouvement biologique, marque la stabilisation d'un réseau national d'acteurs.

Food and nutritional security refers to the challenge of providing sustainable, healthy and accessible food to all people. It has four interconnected dimensions: availability, access, utilization and stability. Tackling this tremendous challenge means transforming our food systems and mobilizing key stakeholders and decision-makers to leverage intersectoral knowledge and scientific evidence. From 2014 to 2020, CIRAD and INRAE led an ambitious interdisciplinary flagship programme on the transitions for global food security called GloFoodS. Authored by principal investigators and contributors to research projects funded by GloFoodS, this book is representative of the programme's interdisciplinary research but does not claim to provide exhaustive coverage of topics and approaches of food security. It presents recent research findings from many disciplines, including the life, engineering and social sciences. The findings were drawn from different analysis scales as well as from the combination of local and global food security approaches. The various chapters explore issues such as food system governance, balance and discrepancies between agricultural supply and food needs, the role of innovations in providing high-quality foods and promoting resilient value chains, and the role of local resource management in achieving food security. This book will be of interest to a broad scientific audience of researchers, academics, food systems professionals and decision-makers, as well as readers interested in food and nutritional security issues.

Dans ce chapitre, les auteurs font valoir que la coopération scientifique sur la sécurité alimentaire, nutritionnelle et l'agriculture durable entre l'Afrique et l'Union européenne fait encore face à deux défis majeurs : d'une part, la mise en pratique de solutions innovantes est encore en retard; d'autre-part, cette coopération doit évoluer vers des partenariats de long terme, construits autour d'une gouvernance partagée. La sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle est soumise à des contraintes structurelles, socio-économiques, politiques et même environnementales qui, pour être levées, nécessitent d'importantes collaborations entre tous les acteurs de la société et dans divers secteurs d'activités, incluant la recherche et l'innovation. Les asymétries dans la coopération euro-africaine s'atténuent, mais elles doivent disparaître pour mieux contribuer à la réalisation des objectifs de la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle en Afrique subsaharienne. Les auteurs soulignent le rôle stratégique que les pays africains peuvent jouer en diversifiant leur coopération notamment avec les pays européens moins présents dans les relations entre les deux continents et en promouvant des modèles de coopération innovants pour élaborer et développer des solutions concrètes aux problèmes alimentaires, nutritionnels et environnementaux sur la scène mondiale.

During the last two decades of 20 th century, the application of intensive cultivation technologies has helped China to enhance yields and emerge as the world's largest cotton producer. But this approach is being debated now because of the increasing labour costs, that are linked to the rapid ECONOMIC development and urbanisation of the country. A new approach called 'light and simplified cultivation' (LSC) has been initiated to respond to the new context. This approach become more relevant to the small-scale farm- ing systems of China as opposed to the complete mecha- nisation observed in developed countries. The approach of light and simplified cultivation (LSC) aims to reduce la - bour intensiveness. It simplifies cultivation management, diminishes the frequency of field operations, and adjusts techniques that blend with their implementation by ma- chines. Promising techniques have been already obtained, such as single-seed precision sowing, control of vegetative branches without pruning, one-time fertilisation, fertiga- tion, and maturity grouping for unique harvest. LSC tech- nology is believed to provide a solid support for sustaina- ble production of cotton in China and holds tremendous promise for yield-enhancement in the small-scale farming systems in Africa.

This Open Access book is for scientists and experts who work on urban food policies. It provides a conceptual framework for understanding the urban food system sustainability and how it can be tackled by local governments. Written by a collective of researchers, this book describes the existing conceptual frameworks for an analysis of urban food policies, at the crossroads of the concepts of food system and sustainable city. It provides a basis for identifying research questions related to urban local government initiatives in the North and South. It is the result of work carried out within Agropolis International within the framework of the Sustainable Urban Food Systems program and an action research carried out in support of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole for the construction of its agroecological and food policy.

Food systems need to focus more on health, prosperity, and environmental sustainability. This requires changes in what, where, how and by whom food is produced, marketed, and consumed. Interdisciplinary research and trans-disciplinary collaboration are needed. Stakeholders need to agree on their respective roles, values, responsibilities and modus operandi so that research better responds to real-world challenges and opportunities. This viewpoint argues that this is especially the case in the Global South post Covid-19. Without these changes, there will continue to be unrealistic expectations of impact from agricultural research, and disappointment when these are not realised.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa, Willd.) is an Andean grain crop recognized as an ally for global food security due to its high nutritional value. However, quinoa globalization entails challenges to the countries of origin. Farmers face a scenario of new concerns and competitors. In 2018, quinoa was present for research and production in 123 countries. Although 74% of global exports are still supplied by Peru and Bolivia, production outside the Andes is increasing. In addition, producer prices collapsed in 2015 while yields remained unstable, averaging 0.4–1.1 t ha−1. Understanding the reality of the new quinoa situation is fundamental to face the challenges of encouraging local biodiversity, promoting market diversification and cooperating with inclusive processes towards equitable benefits.

Cet ouvrage saura convaincre le lecteur de s'intéresser aux fruits et légumes et l'amèner à comprendre que leur production par des petites exploitations est essentielle à la réalisation des Objectifs de développement durable établis par les Nations Unies. Au fil de cinq chapitres, le lecteur découvrira les défis et les opportunités de ce secteur pour les producteurs, les distributeurs et les consommateurs. Chapitre 1 : définition opérationnelle des fruits et légumes et utilité du soutien des petits agriculteurs et des chaînes de valeur. Chapitre 2 : options de gestion agricole durable, notamment en ce qui concerne les ressources phytogénétiques, les systèmes de semences et la gestion de l'eau, des sols, des éléments nutritifs ainsi que des ravageurs et des maladies. Chapitre 3 : options à envisager pour intégrer les petits producteurs de fruits et légumes à vocation commerciale dans des chaînes de valeur socialement inclusives, y compris des services post-récolte novateurs, des débouches commerciaux et la réduction des pertes et du gaspillage alimentaires. Chapitre 4 : options à envisager par les praticiens et les responsables politiques dans des cadres gouvernementaux, institutionnels et sociaux en vue de promouvoir la production durable et la consommation de fruits et légumes nutritifs et sains à prix abordable. Chapitre 5 : interventions et innovations majeures permettant de favoriser la production durable de fruits et légumes dans la plupart des pays à revenu faible ou intermédiaire du monde. Cet ouvrage emmène le lecteur à la découverte d'un large éventail de fruits et de légumes au fil d'études de cas richement illustrées sélectionnées dans le monde entier. Il lui explique également pourquoi les fruits et légumes sont si importants et l'engage à contribuer activement à promouvoir leur production et leur consommation.

This book will convince the reader to care about fruit and vegetables and to see that the small-scale production of these crops is fundamental to achieving sustainable development goals. In five chapters, the reader will learn about the challenges and rewards for producers, sellers, and consumers. Chapter 1: a working definition for fruit and vegetables, making the case for supporting small-scale farmers and value chains. Chapter 2: options for farm management to ensure that production is sustainable including genetic resources, seed systems, management of water, soil, nutrients, and control of pests and diseases. Chapter 3: options to integrate small-scale commercial fruit and vegetable farmers into socially inclusive value chains, including innovative post-harvest handling services, market linkages, and reducing food loss and waste. Chapter 4: options for practitioners and policymakers at different governmental, institutional and social levels to promote the sustainable production and consumption of safe, nutritious, and affordable fruit and vegetables. Chapter 5: key interventions and innovations to facilitate the sustainable production of fruit and vegetables in low- and middle-income countries across the world. This publication takes readers on a journey introducing them to a diverse array of fruit and vegetables through colorfully illustrated studies from around the world. It justifies the importance of these crops and it encourages readers to take an active role both in promoting fruit and vegetable production and in encouraging more people to eat them.

Agroforestry systems (AFS) are recognized as being a land use system that can improve the sustainability of agroecosystems (Wilson et al, 2016). However, low market opportunities for its products is one of the challenges for its adoption, especially the more diversified AFS (Coq-Huelva, 2016). With this perspective, the Brazillian National School Meal Program (Pro-grama Nacional de Alimentação Escolar, PNAE) and Food Procurement Program (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos, PAA) have emerged in the last decade as public policies aimed at stimulating purchasing of local products (Grisa & Porto, 2015). This research aims at assessing how the programs have encouraged biodiversification and in particular in AFS. We compare two municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon, Paragominas and Irituia. By realizing interviews with local stakeholders and review of documents, we identify the variety of products that have been acquired through programs representing different cropping systems (Table 1). The AFSs are the most significant cropping system purchased by the programs in Irituia, differently from Paragominas. This can be explained by the set of background initiatives improving AFSs car-ried out in Irituia. Programs, in this case, have emerged as one of the drivers of this expansion process. We conclude that the programs have a great potential to act on the expansion of diversified systems such as the AFSs, as long as they are associated to other actions present at the local level.

Emerging challenges to farming drives farming systems to have three strategies; intensification options optimizing resources and technological innovations, firm diversification orchestrating interdependencies among sectoral boundaries, and transition to new system and trajectories. The intensification in the coffee system is the process to specialize in coffee using new varieties and practices while the second option is diversification to complementary enterprises to adapt challenges. The trajectory shift emphasis on how new sectoral systems (dairy sector) emerges, and its link with the previous system (coffee) in terms of impact pathway. In the multi-level perspective however, there is no simple cause effect relationship drives transitions rather systems change is enacted by various types of actors. This paper, therefore, presents (1) how the transition from coffee to dairy based farming system is taking place? (2) How the different actors in the innovation system of transition contribute to the learning and innovation process? (3) What contributes the transition from intensified coffee based to dairy based farming system on household food security? Our data collection consists of household survey (120) for household specific data, focus group discussions (9 FGDs) and stakeholders' interview. The results revealed, coffee production declined by 65% in the last 30 years, and the trend is straight. The dairy on contrary is in opposite visualizing sharp increase in volume of production and price. In line to this, innovation process and actors' interaction to adapt to climate change differs for the coffee and dairy. Actors in the coffee are limited, the system is highly centralized with limited options to farmers to process and market their product while the dairy sector is informally controlled by demand based business, comparatively numerous actors with limited government intervention, various options to marketing. The strong correlation between farm performance and socio-institutional variables, stakeholder interaction suggests the need for the establishment and strengthening of local institutions that have capacity to break the farmers' capital constraint to invest in climate smart agriculture which is beneficial to sustain systems.