Asia

This paper in the Science of the Total Environment journal assesses the impact of urban expansion on the CNPP in China from 1992 to 2015 in a spatially explicit manner. The authors concluded that rapid urban expansion from 1992 to 2015 caused stress to China’s food security. It is still vital for China to effectively protect cropland to improve the urbanization level to 60% by 2020. »

This report by IFAD shows how IFAD-supported projects are working with smallholder farmers to protect biodiversity in five countries. Poor rural people depend on natural resources for their livelihoods, relying on a range of natural assets from their ecosystems and biodiversity for food, fuel and much else. Productive and sustainable agricultural systems need clean water, healthy soil, and a variety of genetic resources and ecological processes. »

This article provides a comprehensive literature review of the grain postharvest losses in developing countries, the status and causes of storage losses and discusses the technological interventions to reduce these losses. Storage losses account for the maximum fraction of all postharvest losses for cereals in developing countries, and negatively affect the farmers’ livelihoods. The basics of hermetic storage, various technology options, and their effectiveness on several crops in different localities are discussed in detail. »

This book makes the “business case” for the role of biotechnology innovations for sustainable development in emerging and developing economies. It seeks to support the factual debate on biosciences and technology for developing and emerging economies. »

This book summarizes the achievements as well as some of the challenges faced while implementing integrated systems research to support the sustainable development of smallholder farming in the uplands of the Mekong region. The third chapter on integrating tree, crop and livestock technologies provides solutions and interventions to sustainably recover land while ensuring short-term economic returns. »

This issue of Farming Matters by ILEIA explores the different ways pastoral societies are joining forces to challenge the policies that undermine their culture and way of life. For millennia, pastoralist societies have managed the rangelands of the world’s most challenging environments, producing food and providing ecosystem services for millions of households. The experiences, opinions and perspectives presented in this issue highlight the importance of pastoral societies for agroecology and the transformation of entire food systems. »