Knowledge Portal

This article explores how communities in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya create and use maps to ensure food safety. While informal settlements tend to play a key role in the economies of cities, they are often not depicted on official maps from the government. However, a map on which food kiosks, street vendors and hazards such as rubbish dumps and open sewers are depicted can help to ensure food safety. »

This article analyses the effect of specialty coffee certification on income diversification of smallholders and questions the benefits of this certification for them. Smallholder coffee producers are responsible for 80% of global coffee production and need farm certification to access specialty coffee markets. Although rural households are known to depend on more than agricultural production alone, the literature on specialty coffee and certification has rather narrowly focused on coffee income and production. In this study, broader impacts are explicitly taken into account. »

The Seeds of Freedom Trilogy tells the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity-rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolise the global food system. The films are created by Gaia foundation in partnership with the African Biodiversity Network, MELCA Ethiopia, Navdanya International and Grain. »

This report is a reference document on the status of global soil resources that provides regional assessments of soil change. The report states that soils are rapidly deteriorating due to soil erosion, nutrient depletion, loss of organic carbon, soil sealing and other threats. The report notes how there is a general consensus on soil-related strategies that can, on the one hand, increase the supply of food, while on the other, minimize harmful environmental impacts. »

This movie narrates the story of Ethiopian plant geneticist Dr Melaku Worede and his lifelong commitment for the acknowledgement of traditional farmers’ knowledge and his commitment to secure Ethiopia’s crop diversity. The movie tries to underscore the importance of the knowledge of farmers. »

This movie on SciDevNet shows how improved seed varieties in Timor-Leste have contributed to improved food security. The movie documents the advances of the project Seeds of Life, which is designed to improve food security through helping farmers produce and distribute improved seed varieties. The farmers can use the seeds themselves but also sell the seeds for profit. Improved seed varieties can improve climate resilience. »