Title of document: Lao National Agro-Ecology Programme PRONAE PCADR / Development and Implementation of Direct Seeding Mulch-Based Cropping Systems in South-East Asia / Case studies from the Lao National Agro-Ecology Edited by: F. Tivet, H. Tran Quoc, P. Lienhard, A. Chabanne and K. Panyasiri Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: NAFRI; Cirad Year of publication: 2005 Geographic focus: Laos School of agroecology: Conservation Agriculture Farming is changing throughout Laos, with traditional slash-and-burn giving way to more modern agricultural methods in many areas. In southern Xayabury for example, traditional rotational cultivation has been replaced by cash crops such as maize, rice-beans, peanuts, Job’s tears and sesame. Such development, when not carefully managed, can quickly deplete soils and nutrients. Maize is now widely sown and spreads to new areas every year: more than 15,000 ha was sown in southern Xayabury in 2004. Land preparation based on burning residues and ploughing on steep slopes has allowed for cultivation of large upland areas. However, within a few years this generates heavy soil degradation and depletion of natural resources, especially when crop rotation is abandoned. In many degraded areas of southern Xayabury, smallholders have modified conventional land preparation and are shifting from ploughing to herbicides.   Read More

Title of document: UPDATE STUDY ON AGRARIAN CHANGES AND THE STATUS OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IN SOUTHERN SAYABOURY PROVINCE Guillaume Lestrelin June Author: Guillaume Lestrelin Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Cirad; DALaM; AFD; European Union Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Laos School of agroecology: Conservation Agriculture Between 2001 and 2009, the four districts of Boten, Kenthao, Paklay and Thongmixay in southern Sayaboury Province have been targeted by two AFD-funded projects dealing with research and extension of Conservation Agriculture (CA), namely the “Programme National Agro-Ecologie” (PRONAE) and the “Programme de Capitalisation en Appui à la Politique de Développement Rural - Point d'Application du Sud de la province de Sayaboury” (PASS). PRONAE was essentially focused on technical research and experimentation on Conservation Agriculture in a few localities while PASS was engaged in the dissemination of the research results among farmers of the four districts. In 2008, PASS had set up CA farmer groups in 44 villages, involving about 1100 households and 1500 ha of land cultivated with direct seeding mulch-based cropping systems.   Read More

Title of document: KNOWLEDGE CAPITALIZATION ON THE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT FUND IN SAYABOURY PROVINCE (2008-2014) Author: Guillaume Lestrelin Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Cirad; DALaM; AFD; European Union Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Laos School of agroecology: Conservation Agriculture Between 2001 and 2009, the four districts of Boten, Kenthao, Paklay and Thongmixay in southern Sayaboury Province have been targeted by two AFD-funded projects dealing with research and extension of Conservation Agriculture (CA), namely the “Programme National Agro-Ecologie” (PRONAE) and the “Programme de Capitalisation en Appui à la Politique de Développement Rural - Point d'Application du Sud de la province de Sayaboury” (PCADR-PASS). PRONAE was essentially focused on technical research and experimentation on Conservation Agriculture in a few localities while PCADR-PASS was engaged in the dissemination of the research results among farmers of the four districts. In 2008, PCADR-PASS had set up CA farmer groups in 44 villages, involving about 1100 households and 1500 ha of land cultivated with direct seeding mulch-based cropping systems.   Read More

Title of document: AGRARIAN CHANGES IN SOUTHERN SAYABOURY PROVINCE 2005-2014 AND THE STATUS OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE Authors: Dr. Guillaume Lestrelin (EFICAS-NUDP/CA); Mr. Xayavong Chantasone (CADF Secretariat); Mr. Bounmy Rattanatray (CADF Secretariat) Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Cirad; DALaM; AFD, European Union Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Laos School of agroecology: Conservation Agriculture This report aims at providing up-to-date information and analysis on the recent socioeconomic and agricultural changes and the current status of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in villages of southern Sayaboury Province targeted by the PRONAE and PCADR-PASS projects between 2004 and 2009. In 2008, these projects had set up farmer groups in 44 villages, involving about 1 100 households and 1,500 ha of land cultivated with direct seeding mulch- and maize-based cropping systems. Questionnaire surveys had also been conducted annually in 21 villages of Boten, Kenthao, Paklay and Tongmixay districts in order to monitor agro-economic changes and the adoption of CA. Before the end of the PCADR-PASS project in 2009, a Conservation Agriculture Development Fund (CADF) was set up to continue supporting agricultural extension activities. Since then, the CADF has been supplied by a 10 LAK per kilogram tax on maize sales and exports collected in 10 districts of Sayaboury Province. Between 2010 and 2014, the Fund supported traders and farmers associations, through field demonstration activities, capacity building of farmers in the field of CA, and promotion of contract farming systems for agri-input supply. Between November 2014 and February 2015, a study was coordinated by the EFICAS-NUDP/CA project in order to take stock of these experiences of promotion of CA. Under the supervision of the CADF Secretariat and in collaboration with the Agricultural and Forestry Offices, the 21 villages monitored by PCADR-PASS between 2005 and 2008 were revisited with questionnaire surveys conducted   Read More

Title of document: Food and Nutrition Security ATLAS of Lao PDR Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: World Food Programme (WFP); Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Year of publication: 2013 Geographic focus: Lao PDR The Atlas on Food and Nutrition Security in Lao PDR is based on a conceptual framework developed by WFP/VAM. The framework allows for a comprehensive analysis of food and nutrition security by taking into account household livelihood assets and strategies, contextual factors, shocks and hazards.   Read More

Title of document: Lessons from Nature - A guide to Ecological Agriculture in the tropics Authors: Shimpei Murakami Year of publication: 1991 Over millions of years, nature has built up an intricate system of relationship of exchange and mutual dependence among its elements - land, water, air, forest, sunlight and living things - to create what we call the ecosystem. It is the life support system of all living things on this planet and provides not oniy the daily needs but also saves resources for future generations. But this very life support system is endangered by man's aggression against nature. In the last few decades, the aggression has reached unprecedented levels. Blinded by his so-called 'scientific and technological achievements' he believes in 'conquering' nature and that it can be exploited endlessly. This is nothing but arrogance and an excuse for rapacious greed. With all his bragging about science and technology he fails to understand the superior science of nature. Based on this false understanding, man's relationship with nature has turned into one of enmity. But in this war of aggression, man is certainly going to be the loser; he and other living species will face extinction. Already, the signs are foreboding - global warming, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, massive deforestation, advancing deserts, prolonged drought, marauding flooc and apocalyptical cyclones are ravaging many parts of the earth. However, the destruction of the environment is not only the result of man's arrogance of science, but also a result of the way he has organized his society - its economic, social and cultural systems. The economic system encourages monopolization of resources by a few, the social system promotes the acquisition of power by a small minority at the cost of disenfranchising many, and the cultural system advocates greed and reckless consumption in the name of individualism. If sanity does not prevail upon man, then he will soon destroy the environment and with it himself and other living things. For survival, he has to build a society which is based on equitable and sustainable sharing of resources which decentralizes social power and promotes consumption based on need, not on the greed of a few. His technology and science should try to understand the principles and laws of nature and derive sustenance in a sustainable manner by harmoniously blending technology and science with the superior technology and science of nature.   Read More

Title of document: A quantitative and qualitative historical analysis of the scientific discipline of agroecology Authors: A. Wezel; V. Soldat Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Agroecosystems, Environment and Production, ISARA, Lyon, France Year of publication: 2009 Main issues / topics addressed: agroecology, agroecosystem, agronomy, biodiversity, organic farming, rural development, sustainability In general, agroecology deals with different topics and questions related to agricultural production. In the last two decades, the term agroecology has been increasingly used with different meanings (Wezel et al., in press). On the one hand it is used for the scientific discipline of agroecology, that will be the topic of this paper; but, on the other hand the term agroecology is also used in the sense of a movement or as an agricultural practice (Wezel, 2007; Wezel, et al., in press). Environmental movements in the 1960s often emerged in opposition to industrialized agriculture, when public policies did not consider the environmental impact of agriculture, in particular pesticides, or the social aspects of rural development. Initially, the term agroecology was not used explicitly to describe a movement. It was only in the 1990s when the word started to be used in this sense, especially in the USA and in Latin America, to express a new way of considering agriculture and its relationship to society, and its place within it.   Read More

Title of document: Profiles of People’s Organizations In Rural Asia Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: ASIADHRRA; AGRITERRA Year of publication: 2002 Geographic focus: Asia This study entitled Profiles of People’s Organizations in Asia under the auspices of AsiaDHRRA and Agriterra covered seven countries: Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines. It attempted to do the following: 1. generate a reliable and updated individual profile of selected farmers’ organizations (FOs); 2. identify the issues, problems and needs of these FOs; and 3. consolidate the results of the individual profile and draw a regional sketch of farmers’ organizations and their development needs. Through the study, AsiaDHRRA hopes to provide a guide to rural development stakeholders in their direction setting, program planning, and provision of services to their constituents.   Read More

Title of document: Farmers’ Sustainable Agriculture Perception in the Vietnam Uplands: the Case of Banana Farmers in Quang Tri Province Authors: Nguyen Van Thanh; Patana Sukprasert; Chinawat Yapwattanaphun Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Horticulture; Department of Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Vietnam Main issues / topics addressed: Perception, sustainable agriculture, upland farmers Upland farmers in Vietnam are associated with the lowest income and face serious issues of natural resources degradation and environmental pollution because of poor agricultural practices. To persuade the upland farmers to adopt sustainable practices, it is vital first to assess their perception of sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to measure banana farmers’ perception towards sustainable agriculture and its determinants in the Vietnam uplands based on a case study in Quang Tri province. Stratified sample technique was used to randomly select 300 respondents from 2 upland districts of Quang Tri. The primary data were gathered by using a structured questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.84. The results showed that the majority (84.7%) of the farmers had low to mode rate perceptions of sustainable agriculture. Farmers had positive perceptions towards sustainable agriculture in issues related to protection of agricultural resources, negative effects of agrochemicals on human health and the environment, input application, crop rotation, product consumption and roles of farmer groups; whereas, they had moderate perceptions about issues related to production profits, plant residue use and modern technology application. In addition, the study revealed that agricultural programs on TV, education, ethnic group, economic status and credit use were the factors that affected farmers’ sustainable agriculture perceptions.   Read More

Title of document: Asia at the Crossroads Prioritising Conventional Farming or Sustainable Agriculture? Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: ACTION AID; 1. Muong ethnic minotiry sisters Ban Thi Cuc, 19, left, and Ban Thi Yen, 20, work on their family rice field in Duong hamlet, Vay Nua commune, Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province, Vietnam. © Chau Doan / OnAsia / ActionAid. 2. Emergency response to floods in Cambodia © ActionAid. 3. Multi-Purpose Farm in Cambodia © CEDAC / ActionAid. 4. Limited access to water in Myanmar. © Celso Marcatto / ActionAid. 5. Pesticide use in Sanya, Hainan Island, Hainan Province, China © Li Xiaoguo / Xinhua Press / Corbis. 6. Tractor spraying fertilizer in a conventional agricultural system © Imageplus / Corbis Year of publication: 2012 Geographic focus: Asia In June of 2012, representatives of over 140 nations are expected to take part in the “Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development”. The conference – scheduled 20 years after the first Rio conference saw an agreement that the United Nations must do something to address environmental degradation and global warming – is expected to focus heavily on the concept of the “green economy”. The “green economy” includes the idea that livelihoods, growth and environmental sustainability must go hand-in-hand in developing countries. While the concept itself may be laudable, it will be an unattainable ideal unless governments show a willingness to adopt a new development model – one based on human rights as opposed to profit for elites. A key example of the need for change – both in terms of the right to livelihood, environmental sustainability and the right to sufficient and nutritious food – is the agriculture sector. This paper seeks to address fundamental questions about the agriculture sector in Southeast Asia and China and to begin to sketch what a way forward – a way towards the “green economy” – may look like.   Read More