Food and agriculture blogs
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Building transparency and trust into smallholder commodity trading and contract farming
13 November 2018Smallholder farmers have long had difficulties getting a fair price for their produce. A recent IIED webinar discussed how linking farmers to commodity exchanges and an ‘incentive-based’ contract farming (IBCF) approach can help improve farmer-buyer relations and establish more transparent trading arrangements
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As climate changes, Himalayan farmers return to traditional crops
29 October 2018Traditional crops and innovations are offering Himalayan farmers a way to deal with the challenges of climate change, but there is much work to be done for this to become a truly viable alternative
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Achieving real transformation in our food system
23 October 2018Frank Mechielsen of Hivos reports back from the annual Committee for Food Security, the main international platform that explores food security concerns. He describes how joint action can deliver much needed change in the way we produce and consume our food
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Food, sisterhood and dreams
16 October 2018On World Food Day, Nicole Szucs reports back from a dialogue on increasing dietary diversity and local food systems in Bolivia, and highlights a new video showing how women play a vital role in the food cycle, from production to consumption
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Creating knowledge and supporting action: citizen-generated evidence from food diaries in Uganda
14 September 2018Citizens in Western Uganda are using food diaries to generate data on food consumption – helping them understand their own diets and advocate for a better food system
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We need to safeguard biodiversity and promote diverse diets
22 May 2018Coinciding with this year’s International Day for Biodiversity, a new report from IIED and Hivos explores how we can reverse the alarming loss of biodiversity in agriculture and foster diverse diets
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How people are providing evidence, and influencing to get food policies that work for them
26 April 2018Food policies that are based on evidence and advocacy delivered by citizens are more likely to benefit those whose lives they affect most. An event this week heard how connecting people to policy can help secure healthy and more sustainable diets for everyone
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Attracting Zambia's youth to agriculture: it's about time
29 January 2018Zambia's vibrant youth are crucial to developing a prosperous agricultural sector. This means shaking off outdated perceptions and providing young people with the right incentives
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Food, ecosystems, equality – can we have it all?
19 December 2017Sustainable landscapes are essential for our future. A major international gathering will this week look at how to speed up action for more resilient, equitable, productive and climate-friendly landscapes. IIED and partners have recently launched a new project that will use innovative ways of working to promote these outcomes in Africa
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Nourishing diversity in our food systems
10 October 2017Although our food systems seemingly deliver impressive abundance and variety, we are losing crucial agricultural biodiversity and our increasingly homogenised diets are leading to disease and obesity. Seth Cook sets out five steps for better, more diverse food systems
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Shaping the future of forest and farm landscapes in Africa
21 August 2017As part of a new interdisciplinary partnership, IIED will be working with sector experts, scientists and practitioners to better understand and manage the growing competition for land in Sub-Saharan Africa, as governments seek to balance food production with forest conservation targets
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Promoting diversity on the farm – and the plate
5 June 2017As a recent meeting in Lusaka showed, Food Change Labs offer an innovative path towards greater diversity on the farm and on the plate in Zambia
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Notes from the field – Dlonguebougou, Mali
11 April 2017Returning to the village in Mali she first studied 35 years ago, senior fellow Camilla Toulmin finds three changes remarkable
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Reframing food security for an urbanising world
10 April 2017Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030 means taking account of changes in both rural and urban contexts. Cecilia Tacoli reports back from a workshop organised with IFAD on some of the issues raised
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Fall army worm maize attack: a case for diversity from farm to fork
8 February 2017As the Zambian government scales up efforts to control an army worm outbreak that is damaging maize crops across the country, William Chilufya wonders if the infestation will encourage a policy shift away from mono-cropping maize
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Designing a biocultural heritage labelling system: survey results
16 January 2017Our survey found broad support for a labelling scheme for biocultural heritage-based products. Now we need to get a pilot project off the ground
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How much can the eyes in the sky really tell us about deforestation?
11 January 2017A recent study by the University of Edinburgh and IIED reveals the limitations of remote sensing technology to monitor the impacts of agriculture expansion on forests in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why food diversity must be on the menu
14 October 2016As World Food Day approaches, Seth Cook explores the dangers of losing local crop and animal varieties and what we can do about it
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Mixing more voices into food policy
10 October 2016How an innovative 'Food Change Lab' in Uganda is bringing together a range of voices to shape a food system that works for all, including ordinary citizens
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Growing rice needs more than soil and water
30 September 2016Research in West Africa finds that smallholder farmers are not benefiting enough from investments in irrigation because they are not getting access to the agriculture services they need
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Farming the future: Cuba's food transformation
19 May 2016A visit to Cuba served up a menu of innovative climate-friendly food projects for Khanh Tran-Thanh
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Chinese engagement in African agriculture is not what it seems
6 April 2016New research by IIED's Seth Cook, which features in the journal World Development, uses the agri-food sector in Ethiopia and Ghana to show how the role of Chinese migrants in Africa is poorly researched and understood
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Nurturing the shoots of China's sustainable agriculture
23 March 2016A growing trend towards sustainable food offers hope for addressing environmental, social and food safety concerns associated with China's food system
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Nourishing livelihoods: the food vendors sustaining Nairobi's slums
15 January 2016Selling food in Nairobi's informal settlements can provide cheap meals and create vital livelihoods, especially for women, but these providers are usually ignored and remain invisible
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Making sure Fort Portal's 'modernisation' plan feeds the poor
11 December 2015An innovative research project in Fort Portal, Uganda is seeking to prevent a rise in inequality as the city modernises