The New Agriculturist

The New Agriculturist edition 2008-03

In this issue...

As the world continues to be gripped by rising food prices, in this edition we report on recent calls to change farming practices and how that might be achieved.

Full listing of the contents of this edition of the New Agriculturist

With prices for rice, wheat and maize having recently doubled or even tripled, it is timely to re-focus on the neglected or underutilised crops that can provide food security and income generation, particularly for the poor.

Nature's choice: utilising wild plants in the Philippines

Neglected indigenous plants can be found on sale at markets in the Cordillera region (credit: Lorenza Gonzales-Lirio) The mountainous region of the Cordillera in the northern Philippines is home to many tribal groups and an extensive range of wild plant species which could be better marketed and consumed more widely.

African leafy vegetables come out of the shade

Edible, broad-leaved African Nightshades are growing in popularity in East Africa (credit: Bioversity International) Despite being rich in nutrients, African leafy vegetables have been overlooked in favour of more exotic vegetables. But with increasing food prices at local markets, they may yet find their place on the plates of rural and urban households.

Australian acacias for Africa

Acacia colei seeds are easily-harvested and highly nutritious (credit: Peter Cunningham) Multi-purpose edible Australian acacias have the potential to be used in sustainable agroforestry farming systems in semi-arid parts of Africa, to rehabilitate degraded farmland and provide a nutritious food source as shown by the work of the Maradi International Development Project in Niger.

Developments

Zimbabwean agriculture on its knees

This healthy crop - like many others - was destroyed in December by flash floods. (credit: Busani Bafana) For many years hailed as southern Africa’s bread basket, Zimbabwe’s agriculture has been on a steady decline, shrinking by 50 per cent in seven years, triggering a wave of food shortages and pushing up the prices of food stuffs. Political and economic stability and security of land tenure are key to agricultural revival.

Farming revolution needed to feed the world's hungry

Demand for food is expected to double in the developing world in the next 25-50 years (credit: World Bank) A UN-backed report has called for radical reform of agriculture in order to meet the challenges of food insecurity, climate change and environmental sustainability.

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Download the larger sections (Focus on, developments, news brief and book reviews) from this edition of the New Agriculturist as Rich Text Format (rtf) documents.

Book reviews

Reviews of some of the latest publications related to agriculture and rural development. The lead book in this edition is 'Common Wealth' by Jeffrey Sachs.

News brief

The potato is the third most important food crop in the world (credit: FAO/Giulio Napolitano) Myanmar's looming humanitarian crisis in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the ongoing world food price rises, the UK government's pledge to development research and fears of a water crisis in the Middle East and North Africa all feature in this edition's News.