Blog for People, Food and Nature

By Kristin Komives, Monitoring & Evaluation Manager ISEAL Alliance, London, UK “…we have examples of long-standing members refreshing their standards to address landscape issues, and new standards that address certification from a landscape lens.” Faced with the challenge of reducing the social and environmental impact of agriculture, many businesses and governmen ...

“If the focus becomes functional landscapes then forests can also be seen within the context of such landscapes.” – Meine Van Noordwijk, Lead author  The World Agroforestry Centre’s blog recently highlighted a book published at the end of 2011 on trees in multifunctional landscapes as means of dealing with climate change. Entitled How Trees and People [&hellip ...

The challenges ahead for world agriculture are huge. Before the end of the century we need to feed 10 billion people sustainably – with climate change, water scarcity and energy security issues making life much more difficult for farmers.  We must achieve this on about the same amount of agricultural land that we use today.  […] ...

  Cross-posted from Bioversity International. Interview with Fabrice de Clerck, Bioversity Programme Leader, Agroecological Intensification and Risk Management  at the International Forum for Landscapes for People, Food and Nature – Nairobi, March 6-9th 2012.  Q: We are here at the final day of the International Forum for Landscapes, Food and Nature in Nairobi. First ...

Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition, Parma, Italy According to the USDA Economic Research Service, 1.2 million hectares of land in Italy is devoted to growing Durum wheat, the main variety used to produce pasta. Comprising around 8% of the agricultural land in Italy and over two-thirds the land area in wheat (FAOStat), durum wheat […] ...

A story from the Blue Nile Basin, in the Ethiopian Highlands By Catherine Pfeifer, Post-Doctoral Scientist International Livestock Research Institute and International Water Management Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Landscapes in the Ethiopian highlands are mainly shaped by rainfed agriculture. The mixed crop-livestock agricultural system is characterized by unevenly distribu ...

Today is World Water Day, and it just so happens that this year focuses on water and food security! Agriculture is not only a primary user of water, but it also impacts water quality considerably. A recent National Geographic Magazine article explored the challenges posed by agriculture in the Mississippi River Basin. As part of the […] ...

By Dr. Leigh Winowiecki, Soil Scientist Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Sustainable Land Management Program, based in Nairobi, Kenya.  Land degradation is increasingly recognized as a major cause of low agricultural productivity, loss of biodiversity, and poverty. When degraded lands are continuously cultivated without rehabilitation or conservation measures, they can ...

Less than a decade ago, researchers became aware of a substantial effort by farmers in Niger and other Sahelian countries to protect and manage tree species on their land. This practice, which has been occurring for decades, improves water use efficiency and availability, increases crop yields, and protects soil from erosion. Not something completely novel, […] ...

By Bruce Lloyd Crawford Fund for International Agricultural Research and the Bunbartha Landcare Group, Victoria, Australia A landscape approach is gaining traction as a natural resource management strategy Down Under. “Landcare” – Australia’s community based natural resource management (NRM) process and ethos – has endured for more than twenty years as a national move ...