May 22, 2018
Trees for more food, improved livelihoods and a better planet
A new paper in Food Security from International Tree Foundation Vice Chairman Roger Leakey seeks to draw together some lessons from the last 25 years of his career working in agroforestry. A breathing space yet to be filled Unfortunately, large-scale rural development projects using trees to provide a wide array of services and products have not been accepted by […] ...
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May 17, 2018
Vibrant Cities Lab: Urban Forestry at Your Fingertips
In the beginning, it was about the trees. 18th century urban growth in Europe had already begun to encompass nearby forests – Epping [London], Grunewald [Berlin], Fontainebleau [Paris]. In the US, Thomas Jefferson, disheartened by rampant cutting of trees in the swamplands of the new capital, confided to a friend that he wished he could […] ...
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March 6, 2018
Weathering Change: Women Farm Cocoa, Too
Rachel Friedman
University of Queensland
You have probably read an article or two (or more) about how climate change is going to be the end of chocolate. Compounded by potential losses of our other favorite indulgences – coffee and wine – this is nothing short of tragic. But what these articles don’t really discuss is what happens to the farmers who […] ...
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July 13, 2017
Finding shared solutions at the landscape level: the landscape approach provides a platform for all stakeholders
PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
The landscape is the level on which our current and future global challenges converge. In pre-industrial, primitive or traditional landscapes, the use and conservation of available natural resources appears to have been balanced, most likely due to lower population densities, a deeper sense of community within human settlements and a locally based food production system. [&hell ...
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March 27, 2017
Douglas McGuire: Forum will build links between investors and sustainable landscapes
The Editors
EcoAgriculture Partners
It seems like every week we hear about another major commitment to restore degraded forests and landscapes, and pledges of millions, even billions of dollars to do so. For example, the government of Norway in January pledged $400 million for restoration, intended to catalyze a further $1.6 billion in private investment. At least $1.5 billion has […] ...
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March 20, 2017
The impacts of climate change on agricultural workers
Julie Potyraj
Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University
A thriving agriculture sector is necessary for food production. But a healthy agricultural workforce is just as important. By 2050, the world’s population is expected to grow from its current 7.37 billion to 9.7 billion. With almost 2.5 billion more mouths to feed, global food demand will also inevitably increase. In fact, between 2005 and […] ...
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August 4, 2016
Shared value in supply chains as a step toward landscape management
Catherine Rothacker
EcoAgriculture Partners
Achieving rural development, sustainable agriculture, and environmental conservation goals through integrated landscape management is a complex, long-term investment for stakeholders—how can the private sector, government, and civil society take steps to make this transformational approach a reality and provide benefits to stakeholders in the near term? A collaboration among ...
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July 20, 2016
Mato Grosso links agribusiness supply chains to landscapes through jurisdictional sustainability
Catherine Rothacker
EcoAgriculture Partners
Mato Grosso, the agricultural giant Brazilian state, has traded in a race to the bottom for a leading role testing and implementing a jurisdictional sustainability governance model. This article is the first in a series of stories about landscape partnerships that effectively include private sector actors that were showcased at the Business for Sustainable Landscapes Work ...
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May 11, 2016
Agriculture or Forest? Studying Tree Cultivation in West Java, Indonesia
Syed Ajijur Rahman
University of Copenhagen, Bangor University, and CIFOR
Small-scale farmers in Indonesia boast a number of agroforestry systems that integrate biophysical and socio-economic functions. In Gunung Salak Valley, West Java, farmers have a range of agroforestry practices that can be classified into five systems: home gardens, fruit tree systems, timber tree systems, mixed fruit-timber systems, and cropping in the forest understory. Altho ...
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April 21, 2016
Harnessing the power of crop wild relatives for pulse improvement
Nik Tyack
CWR Diversity
Pulses, annual leguminous crops that include lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas, have nutritious value as a low-fat source of protein and fiber. They help to increase soil fertility by virtue of their nitrogen-fixing properties, and generally have a lower water footprint compared to most other protein sources. As valuable as current pulse varieties are, however, […] ...
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