July 13th, 2015
World crop diversity survives in small farms from peri-urban to remote rural locations
Published by ScienceDaily, February 13th, 2015
This article in ScienceDaily shows that that small farmers, in many cases women, are the ones preserving landraces of food crops. The researchers looked at new census data from 11 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and combined that data with field observations. In between periurban and marginal areas are a range of environments where small farmers grow crops and preserve diversity. Knowledge of potential problems in these areas and plans for responses to potential disruptions of agriculture are important to preserve diversity and improve food security.