News

Few would doubt that agriculture is one of the key sectors of the future – for feeding a growing world population, improving rural livelihoods and reducing poverty. And if managed sustainably, agriculture can help fight climate change and protect biodiversity. Still, the contributions of 500 million family farmers to food security are undervalued. To highlight […]

The projected transition of livestock systems from pure grazing diets to diets supplemented by higher quality feeds will cut greenhouse gas emissions from land use change globally by as much as 23% by 2030, while improving food availability and farmers’ income, shows new IIASA research.  Livestock production is responsible for 12% of human-related greenhouse gas […]

Four new IFAD policy briefs introduced during discussion event on rural transformation and the post-2015 agenda. The Pre-Governing Council thematic side event on 18 February was devoted to “achieving a sustainable future for all: IFAD and the post-2015 agenda” and marked the release of new policy briefs on these subjects: Leveraging the rural-urban nexus for development An empowerment agenda […]

By Jeff Campbell, Manager of the Forest and Farm Facility Family Forests and trees on farms are part of Family Farming systems. A large proportion of forest dependent people in the world are also family farmers and a significant number of family farmers depend heavily on forests. Family forests overlap directly with family farming in […]

Deforestation is linked to activities of various sectors, such as agriculture or mining. At the same time, actors at different levels have an impact on forests: the people that live near them and depend on their goods as well as national governments or multinational corporations. Success of initiatives to tackle deforestation, like REDD+, depends on […]

Originally published by Barbara Fraser on the Forests News Blog.  LIMA, Peru — Ricardo Vásquez Sánchez glances up at the dry thatched roof on the wood-framed platform that is his home in Peru’s sweltering Amazon lowlands. “If a spark lands there, it’ll go up in flames,” he says. It is a very real danger, especially […]

By the time we find out about deforestation, it’s usually too late to take action. Scientists have been studying forests for centuries, chronicling the vital importance of these ecosystems for human society. But most of us still lack timely and reliable information about where, when, and why forests are disappearing. This is about to change […]

By Robert Zougmoré, Regional Program Leader CCAFS West Africa Members of the Ghanaian Parliament have committed to support the mainstreaming of climate change into agricultural investment initiatives in Ghana, including research on climate-smart agriculture to benefit the most vulnerable populations. On 29 January 2014, government ministers, members of parliament and other high-level policy makers in […]