ITPGR GB 4 HIGHLIGHTS:
MONDAY, 14 MARCH 2011
Delegates to the fourth session of the Governing Body (GB 4)of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the Treaty or ITPGR) met in plenary throughout the day, to hear statements and reports, address organizational
matters, and begin discussions on the Funding Strategy.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Markets | DAPA/Decision And Policy Analysis
Markets | DAPA
Insights from the Campesino..its January edition, the Journal of Peasant Studies (JPS) documents the agroecology movement in Cuba. The article shows how peasant farmers have been able to boost food production via environmentally friendly methods. According to the authors, agroecology has played an important role in helping Cuba survive the economic crisis caused by the collapse of the socialist bloc in Europe and the strengthening of the US trade embargo. The academic article has been written by Peter Rosset, together with members of Cuba’s peasant agriculture movement. Here are some of the main points from the article:
1.Agroecology has become increasingly popular with grassroots organisations, peasant groups and rural social movements such as La Via Campesina (LVC) in recent years.
2.Agroecology is seen differently by different actors. However, it generally emphasises “the adaption and application of the principles in accordance with local realities”, where real attempts are made to increase soil fertility through green strategies. This is different from organic farming in developed countries, which is often misleading. For example, toxic inputs are substituted with less noxious ones. Moreover, this type of substitution does not ensure produce become organic as the land it has been farmed on has suffered from years of chemical inputs.
3.In recent years, there have been violent fluctuations in the prices of petroleum based inputs; placing these products out of the reach of peasant farmers and acting as a barrier to entry. Agroecology offers an alternative to resource scarce farmers because greener inputs are likely to be cheaper
Insights from the Campesino..its January edition, the Journal of Peasant Studies (JPS) documents the agroecology movement in Cuba. The article shows how peasant farmers have been able to boost food production via environmentally friendly methods. According to the authors, agroecology has played an important role in helping Cuba survive the economic crisis caused by the collapse of the socialist bloc in Europe and the strengthening of the US trade embargo. The academic article has been written by Peter Rosset, together with members of Cuba’s peasant agriculture movement. Here are some of the main points from the article:
1.Agroecology has become increasingly popular with grassroots organisations, peasant groups and rural social movements such as La Via Campesina (LVC) in recent years.
2.Agroecology is seen differently by different actors. However, it generally emphasises “the adaption and application of the principles in accordance with local realities”, where real attempts are made to increase soil fertility through green strategies. This is different from organic farming in developed countries, which is often misleading. For example, toxic inputs are substituted with less noxious ones. Moreover, this type of substitution does not ensure produce become organic as the land it has been farmed on has suffered from years of chemical inputs.
3.In recent years, there have been violent fluctuations in the prices of petroleum based inputs; placing these products out of the reach of peasant farmers and acting as a barrier to entry. Agroecology offers an alternative to resource scarce farmers because greener inputs are likely to be cheaper
Hot Spots in the Emerging Global Food Crisis
Hot Spots in the Emerging Global Food Crisis | Environmental Working Group
The Environmental Working Group and ActionAid have collaborated to create an interactive world map highlighting countries at highest risk of a food crisis due to the recent food price hikes. Biofuels policies have contributed to increased demand for crops like soybeans and corn which, in turn, has put pressure on prices of these and other major food staples. Data was compiled from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the World Bank. Please click on the three categories below to see where citizens are suffering the most in response to near-record prices for commodities (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) which these countries rely on as basic food staples.
The Environmental Working Group and ActionAid have collaborated to create an interactive world map highlighting countries at highest risk of a food crisis due to the recent food price hikes. Biofuels policies have contributed to increased demand for crops like soybeans and corn which, in turn, has put pressure on prices of these and other major food staples. Data was compiled from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the World Bank. Please click on the three categories below to see where citizens are suffering the most in response to near-record prices for commodities (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) which these countries rely on as basic food staples.
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