September 22, 2014
Setting Goals at the UN Climate Summit
Eva Fillion
EcoAgriculture Partners
If you are reading this, chances are that you’re already aware of the detrimental effects of climate change. You’ve read the research, you know the rhetoric: we are deep in a cycle of emitting harmful greenhouse gasses, degrading the land and depleting natural resources, which negatively affects not only our own lifestyle and health, but […] ...
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September 19, 2014
Equator Prize Recipients Incorporate Ecoagriculture Principles into Award-Winning Initiatives
Margie Miller
EcoAgriculture Partners
Next Monday, on the eve of the United Nations Climate Summit, as high level government officials from around the world check into their hotels, a different kind of UN gathering will be taking place in New York City—one that brings people who are far from the seats of power. The Equator Prize Award Ceremony, which […] ...
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September 17, 2014
Agroecology and Ecoagriculture: Coming to Terms with the Terminology
Margie Miller
EcoAgriculture Partners
With the International Symposium on Agroecology for Food and Nutrition Security just around the corner, a colleague of mine was recently asked by a peer to explain the difference between agroecology and ecoagriculture. “Funny you should ask,” she replied, “we have a blog coming out on that in a few weeks.” Both of these phrases combine the roots “agr,” related to th ...
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September 15, 2014
New Guides and Tools for Tackling Complex, Interdisciplinary Problems
Jes Walton
EcoAgriculture Partners
Many contemporary environmental scientists and land managers are adopting a refined perspective for addressing complex, interdisciplinary problems that acknowledges humans as an integral part of the natural world. This approach builds on the observation that functioning of human societies and nature are inseparably linked. Acknowledging this relationship is especially important ...
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September 13, 2014
Costa Rica Puts a Price Tag on Nature: Will it Work?
Editor’s note: The payments for ecosystem services (PES) strategy is a fairly controversial one: though it does provide strong incentive for sustainable practices, it also means monetizing natural features and linking the environment to an often unstable economy. Alvaro Umaña, Costa Rica’s first minister of environment and energy, gave the keynote address the 7th ...
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September 12, 2014
A Methodological Guide for Blending Local & Technical Knowledge on Soil Fertility Management
Edmundo Barrios
World Agroforestry Centre
Today is the United Nation’s Day for South-South Cooperation, which highlights the need for cooperation between developing countries to complement the international development efforts of industrialized nations. Edmundo Barrios of the World Agroforestry Center writes about a specific case of South-South cooperation between Latin America and Africa, in which a participatory me ...
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August 29, 2014
Guna Yala and REDD+: A Look at Why Some Resist
Jes Walton
EcoAgriculture Partners
Recently, several of us at EcoAgriculture Partners discussed the need to explore why some groups resist or hesitate to adopt ecoagricultural practices and integrated approaches to landscape management. As the Third International Conference for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) meets in Samoa this week, the case of the Guna people, whose ancestral lands of Guna […] ...
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August 25, 2014
LIBERATION: A Knowledge Platform for Ecological Intensification
Elise Ursin, EcoAgriculture Partners As it becomes increasingly clear that industrial agriculture is not sustainable, the current search for alternatives may very well define the future of food. Though academics, policy makers, and civil society organizations have produced an impressive amount of research on sustainable farming and ecosystems, these approaches still remain rela ...
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August 8, 2014
Recognizing the Rights and Contributions of Indigenous Peoples as Stewards of Landscapes
Jes Walton
EcoAgriculture Partners
This year’s International Day for the World’s Indigenous Peoples focuses on the rights and contributions of diverse knowledge systems to many aspects of our lives. Indigenous and rural communities have developed and maintained integrated systems for people, food and nature for centuries. Farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists, horticulturalists, foresters and landless peasants m ...
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July 15, 2014
Pitching to the Dragons: Where Science Meets Policy and Communications
Abby Waldorf
CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems
How can scientists mobilize their knowledge for action? During the Science Communications for Policy Impact side event at the LPFN in Africa Conference in Nairobi, researchers came face-to-face with policy makers to learn how to make their voices heard. In the “Dragon’s Den,” they pitched their ideas about food security to the panel and braced for blunt ...
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