Title of document: Organic Agriculture and Post 2015 Development Goals: building on the comparative advantage of poor farmers Authors: Sununtar Setboonsarng, Anil Markandya & al.  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: ADB Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: South East Asia Url original document: http://www.adb.org/publications/organic-agriculture-and-post-2015-development-goals Summary: The book makes an evidence-based case for organic agriculture in developing countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia. It starts by examining the data from organic agriculture farms, comparing them with those from nonorganic agriculture farms to see what can be said about the effects of organic agriculture on the livelihoods of comparable people and in terms of the MDGs (Chapters 1, 8, and 9). The book then goes on to look at the economic dimension of promoting organic agriculture and actual experiences in implementing it. It explores the following questions: Are the benefits of such programs justified in terms of their costs (Chapter 2)? Does certification help farmers in terms of increased incomes for their products (Chapter 3)? How well has certification worked to increase incomes and livelihoods in particular cases (Chapter 4)? Which benefits motivate farmers to adopt organic agriculture (Chapter 5)? (This is important as a guide to which policies to use to promote the practice.) Is organic agriculture the best way to improve rural livelihoods, or can we do better through other interventions, such as promoting biofuels (Chapter 6)? What are the macroeconomic impacts of promoting organic agriculture (Chapter 7)? Following these chapters, the book looks at evidence on some of the big environmental questions related to sustainable agriculture. The first is its role in sequestering carbon, a major issue given the threats we face from climate change (Chapter 11). A second is enhancing biodiversity and preventing the loss of genetic material (Chapter 12). Finally, the book considers some of the big issues in the debate surrounding agriculture which touch on organic agriculture in developing countries. One deals with the environmental costs of shipping agricultural products over large distances (food miles, Chapter 13). Another is whether organic agriculture does indeed lower yields and thereby reduce our capacity to feed the growing population of the planet (Chapter 14).   Read More

Title of document: Climate Resilient Agriculture: Educational/Training Posters Series Authors: Julian Gonsalves Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: CIAT Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Southeast Asia Url original document: https://ccafs.cgiar.org/publications/climate-resilient-agriculture-educationaltraining-posters-series#.V01EUiGwEgg Summary: These posters are based on key messages derived from a sourcebook of reading/reference materials in a companion production entitled "Towards Climate Resilience in Agriculture for Southeast Asia - An Overview for Decision-makers". They were produced by CIAT with CCAFs funding for an FP1.1 project entitled “Integrated agricultural technologies for enhanced adaptive capacity and resilient livelihoods in climate-smart villages (CSVs) of Southeast Asia”. These posters are designed for use in training or educational events, primarily for starting discussions on important issues facing agriculture in a changing climate. The poster series cover a range of topics/ issues related to climate change in agriculture.They can be used one at a time, and not necessarily in any particular sequence. These pictures can also be enlarged to serve as educational posters, displayed one at a time. They can be used in power point presentations . The illustrations can serve as prototypes for local adaptation and further improvement by local artists. Any use of the illustrations should provide adequate credits to the source   Read More

Title of document: Report on the Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on Agroecology in Asia and the Pacific, FAO, Authors: FAO Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: FAO Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Asia and the Pacific Seeking to gain a better understanding of the role that agroecology can play in eradicating hunger and malnutrition, FAO organized the International Symposium on agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition in September 2014 in Rome, Italy, followed by three regional meetings in Asia and the Pacific, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the  Caribbean. The Multistakeholder Consultation on agroecology for Asia and the Pacific was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 24-26 November 2015. FAO acted as a facilitator to enable debates and foster collaboration among a variety of actors in order to advance science, knowledge, public policies, programmes and experiences on agroecology, supporting the strengthening of the already-extensive evidence-based knowledge for agroecological approaches in agriculture. The participants in this meeting, representatives of governments, civil society, including peasants, fisherfolks, pastoralists, urban communities, indigenous peoples, women’s organizations, youth and others, academia, and private sector, issued recommendations for the development of agroecology in Asia and the Pacific after two days of discussion.   Read More

Title of document: Enhancing Agricultural Livelihoods through Community Institutions in Bihar, India Authors: Debaraj Behera, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary,Vinay Kumar Vutukuru, Abhishek Gupta, Sitaramachandra Machiraju & Parmesh Shah Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: World Bank and Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: India, Bihar State Bihar’s agriculture sector employs more than eighty percent of the labor force and more than fourfifths of these farmers are small and marginal. They have one of the lowest agricultural productivity in India that has not increased due to several constraints. Jeevika, a project jointly supported by the World Bank and the Government of Bihar, has piloted, customized and eventually scaled-up several innovative livelihood interventions to improve the well-being of poor households in Bihar. A number of innovative aspects account for the success of these livelihoods programs in the state. Foremost among these is the fact that it was implemented through community-driven and community-owned institutions. The institutional platform that was facilitated by the project has enabled the creation of a single-window system at the doorstep of small and marginal farmers. Farmers can now demand better services from the public sector, access credit from commercial banks, and experiment and customize various technologies. This note will focus on System of Crop Intesification’ (SCI), which has evolved from a well-known farming methodology called System of Rice Intensification. It has been customized and adopted for wheat, green gram, oil seeds and vegetables in Bihar. The participant farmers have witnessed 86% increase in rice productivity and 72% increase in wheat productivity. The profitability of rice cultivation has increased 2.5 times and has almost doubled for oil-seeds. Since 2008, implementation of SCI has contributed to an additional income increase of around US$10.7 million.   Read More

Title of document:  Multiple pathways: case studies of sustainable agriculture in China. Authors: Cook, S. and Buckley, L. (eds.) Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: IIED, London. Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: China Chinese agriculture currently faces major challenges. China’s use of fertilisers and pesticides is among the highest in the world. Soil erosion and soil pollution are widespread, as is the loss of agricultural biodiversity as high-yielding hybrid crop varieties replace traditional landraces. Water scarcity is widespread and the rapid pace of urbanisation has led to a mass exodus from rural areas, with major implications on the availability of agricultural labour. There is a small but growing trend towards sustainable food production and consumption in China, witnessed by the rise in ecological farms, organic farmers’ markets in major cities and an increasing emphasis on sustainability elements in Chinese agricultural policies. This report from IIED presents eight sustainable agriculture initiatives from seven provinces in China. The case studies include cooperatives, companies, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives, and government-led and farmer-led initiatives. The report views sustainability in all its social, economic and environmental dimensions. The conclusion is that adopting sustainable agriculture in China is quite achievable from a technical standpoint. The major bottlenecks for moving forward are economic and social. Key challenges include how to ensure an adequate market for the products of sustainable agriculture; how to ensure that market returns reflect the environmental, social and health benefits of more sustainable modes of production; how to ensure that smallholders benefit; and how to find sufficient labour to carry out sustainable agricultural practices in rural areas. The case studies showed that collective organisation was essential to the viability of sustainable agriculture and that external actors and the government played a crucial enabling role in supporting a diversity of pathways to sustainable agriculture.   Read More

Title of document: China’s view on implementation and performance of agroecology Authors: China Ambassador at FAO Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: China Speech given by China Ambassador at FAO Headquarter, 11th March 2016 China’s views on agroecology: How China sees Agroecology, What China has achieved, and what’s China future plan.   Read More

Title of document: Trends, drivers and impacts of changes in Swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontier: A global assessment Authors: Nathalie van Vliet et al. in Global environment change Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Year of publication: 2012 Geographic focus: Global level This meta-analysis of land cover transformation of the past 10-15 years in tropical-agriculture frontier worldwide show that swidden agriculture decrease in landscapes with access to local, national and international markets that encourage cattle production and cash cropping, including biofuels. Normal 0 21 false false false FR X-NONE TH /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tableau Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} www.elsevier.com/locate/gloencvha     Read More

Title of document: Field Exercise Guide on Fruit Flies Integrated Pest Management Authors: Prabhat Kumar, Abubakar, AlmaLinda, Jan Willem Ketelaar, Vijaysegaran Shanmugam Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand; FAO Asia IPM Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAORAP,Bangkok, Thailand; FAO Consultant, Fruit Fly IPM Expert (formally with University of Griffith, Australia) Year of publication: 2011 Geographic focus: South and South East Asia School of agroecology: Integrated Pest Management A range of technical sessions are carried out in a Farmer‘s Field School /Training of Trainers courses to facilitate enjoyable learning experiences for IPM farmers and trainers. These exercises follow non-formal education methodologies based on adult learning principles as the core of its design and allow a participatory learning process on selected topics. A range of exercise guides have been developed on many pests an, crops and have been very successfully used in implementing FFS and/or TOT in many geographical areas of the world. This is the first such attempt to develop a range of exercises on key technical aspects on fruit flies. It has been developed through a participatory and collaborative effort during the FAO/AIT Regional Training on IPM for Fruit Flies, held at the Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI), Tien Giang, Vietnam from 07-14TH December 2010. This regional training was held under the auspices of the Asian Fruit Fly IPM Project, involving a group of selected IPM trainers from the Asian region and resource persons.   Read More

Title of document: Regional Training on IPM for Fruit Flies / Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management of Fruit Flies in South and Southeast Asia Author: Prabhat Kumar, Alma Linda Abubakar, Jan Willem Ketelaar and Vijaysegaran Shanmugam Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand; FAO Asia IPM Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO-RAP, Bangkok, Thailand; FAO Consultant, Fruit Fly IPM Expert (formally with University of Griffith, Australia) Year of publication: 2011 Geographic focus: South and South East Asia School of agroecology: Integrated Pest Management A Regional Training on IPM for Fruit Flies under the auspices of the project “Area-wide Fruit fly Integrated Pest Management in South and Southeast Asia” was organized at the Southern Horticultural Research Institute, Tien Giang in Vietnam from 07 - 14 December 2010. Attendees (some 35 persons) included resource persons, country representatives from project implementation countries and other countries in South and SE Asia, representatives from partner institutes (FAO, BCRL India) and personnel from the host institute SOFRI and PPD of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam. The overall objective of the training was to provide participants with information, education and hands-on experiences on fruit fly IPM to prepare them to assist farming communities in developing location-specific and effective area-wide strategies for sustainable fruit fly management. The training course sessions were divided into learning blocks on: (1) Fruit Fly Species Diagnosis, Biology and Ecology; (2) Damage Symptoms Recognition and Assessment; (3) Management Options for Fruit Fly; (4) Design of Area-wide Best-bet Management Strategies for Fruit Fly; and (5) Training Curriculum and Materials Development.   Read More

Title of document: The Southeast Asian Network for Agroforestry Education (SEANAFE), Phase II Author: Bo Tengnäs; Awang Noor Abd. Ghani; Hendrayanto Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department for Natural Resources and the Environment, Sida Evaluations Year of publication: 2007 Geographic focus: South East Asia School of agroecology: Agro-forestry Sida supports the development of education in agroforestry in SEAsia. The main objectives are to solidify an effective regional and national (in fi ve SE Asian countries) networking infrastructure and to enhance university lecturers’ capability to teach certain aspects of agroforestry. The aims of the mid-term review are to fi nd out if SEANAFE is on track, draw lessons for the remaining project period and to recommend new directions, where necessary. The three-person mission visited universities in four countries in SEAsia. The team benefi ted from having two members from the region and the third member with broad experience of the region and of the particular program. The project was relatively well on track in certain respects, less so in others. Four out of the five national networks have performed relatively well, while the fifth was lagging behind in evolution and performance. The sustainability of the regional network in a future without donor support is a concern. Most important, therefore, is to achieve sustainability of results and impact at institutional and national level. The most important recommendation for the remaining period is to revise the budget and streamline planned activities so that a high-quality output of targeted activities can be achieved.   Read More