News
The SIANI African Biochar Expert Group meeting in Potsdam the 27th to 30th of May was a huge success.
2015 is an important year; soon the representatives from the UN´s member states will meet in New York and take a decision on a new Universal Development Agenda. This agenda is defined by 17 goals and 164 targets. It is very encouraging is that food security, improved nutrition and sustainable agriculture is prioritized.
Young agriprenuers in Nigeria are seeking cooperation with students in Agricultural and Rural Management at SLU.
The University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa hosted the first meeting of the newly launched project “B3Africa - Bridging Biobanking and Biomedical Research across Europe and Africa” on August 24-25, 2015.
Systemic Practice and Action Research have made a fresh appearance in relation to the renewed focus on food security and land use globally. This has been referred to as the second wave of systems thinking in international agricultural research, which acknowledges farming systems thinking and participatory research of the 1980s as the first wave.
Do agroforestry systems produce more and a greater range of ecosystem services than segregated agriculture and forestry systems? Agroforestry practices and multi-functional landscapes have recently returned to the forefront of discussion in response to challenges of the conventional agriculture systems.
On August 30, 2015 Jose Graziano da Silva, FAO Director General together with Elizabeth Backteman, the Swedish State Secretary for Rural Affairs visited the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU in Uppsala. The focus of the visit was to exchange knowledge about ways to reduce the use of antibiotics in global livestock and aquaculture production.
During World Water Week, young Kenyan Environmental Scientist Hudson Shiraku tells Farming First how farmers in Kenya are overcoming water scarcity in a variety of ways.
Water is required for all stages of food production - from growing to preparation, and it is no surprise that 70% of all fresh water withdrawals are used for agricultural purposes. Yet water and agriculture actions in most of the regions often operate with little or no coordination.