Food and agriculture projects and articles

The current system of intellectual property rights is designed to promote commercial and scientific innovation. It offers little scope for protecting the knowledge rights of indigenous peoples, traditional farmers and healers, whose survival requires collective — not exclusive — access to new knowledge and innovations.

At the start of the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2) in Uruguay, Camilla Toulmin, the Director of IIED, and Charles Godfrey,

The increased mobility of rural youth today means fewer farmers tomorrow, which could potentially both radically change the profile of small-scale agriculture and national and global food systems.  

The Latin American Learning Network members of the Knowledge Programme ‘Small producer agency in the globalised market’ convened in Lima from 12 to 16 September. They organised and participated in a series of meetings and events in conjunction with various prestigious organisations. The highlight of the programme was the International Forum ‘Small-scale producers: Actors in Globalised Markets and Food Security?’ on 14 September, organised by the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

At the latest provocation from IIED and Hivos, held in Brussels last week (22 June), a group of around 60 policymakers, academics and development practitioners gathered to discuss, among other things, the role of CSR in achieving development goals such as poverty reduction and the empowerment of small-scale farmers.

From slow-onset sea-level rise to more frequent and severe floods and droughts, our changing climate is affecting agricultural productivity and outputs, and threatening livelihoods. A recent IIED project has been looking at how to adapt Malawi's agriculture to climate change. Lead country researcher, George Matiya, senior lecturer at Bunda College of Agriculture in Lilongwe, Milawi, tells us more about the project and its wider implications.

Across the developing world, food systems and supply chains are changing — exports are rising, particularly in fresh foods, supermarkets are playing an increasingly important role and there is a growing number of standards for safety, ethics and environment.

In The Hague, Stockholm and Paris we have heard the call for more support to producer organisations through which small-scale farmers can have a voice in the market. This call was re-iterated at the latest IIED/HIVOS provocation ‘Making markets work for smallholders or wage labour?’ — held in Manchester, United Kingdom, last week, in collaboration with The University of Manchester.