The New Agriculturist

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Focus on

Markets: From pigs and potatoes in Vietnam and Inner Mongolia, to coffee, rice, onions and high-value vegetables in Africa and cocoa in the rainforests of Ecuador, we highlight how farmers are coming together to improve their access to established markets and take advantage of emerging market opportunities.

Points of view

Success in agricultural development: A recent publication, Millions Fed, highlights successful interventions in agricultural development over recent decades. At the publication launch, development practitioners discuss whether the lessons learnt from these case studies are relevant to the increasingly complex challenges which will be faced during the next 50 years.

My perspective... a personal viewpoint

Ajay Vashee: After the conclusion of the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, Ajay Vashee reflects on the outcomes and highlights the importance of staying actively engaged in the process for achieving an international framework.

Country profile

Colombia: One of the most biodiverse countries in the world, agriculture in Colombia reflects the country's range of terrains, climates and altitudes. But, despite its wealth of natural resources, a host of issues have caused its rural areas to remain locked in poverty.

News brief

Onset of rains in East Africa brings little relief: Torrential rain across Kenya has left thousands in need of aid. At least twenty people have died as a result of flash floods and more than 70,000 have been affected as homes, livestock and crops have been swept away.
Future of forests depends on climate agreement: Despite high hopes for achieving a planned international mechanism to distribute billions of dollars in payments for reducing deforestation at Copenhagen, the outcome for REDD was incomplete, the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has said.

Editorial

At the start of a new year and a new decade, it is a time to look forward and constructively face the challenges that lie ahead. In this edition, we review the outcomes of the Copenhagen summit and what has still to be achieved but also the success of agricultural development over recent decades and the lessons learnt for the future.
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In pictures

Pineapple waste not, want not: Pineapples are, in yield per hectare, the most productive crop in the world; however, processing the crop for production of juice or chopped fruit creates signficant waste. Pineapple exporter Blueskies Ghana Limited is turning waste into an opportunity, producing compost which is sold to local farmers at a subsidised price.

Developments

A new era for biocontrol in the Pacific: Invasive species have wrought havoc on both natural ecosystems and farming systems in the Pacific islands. But a more reliable science of biocontrol, and a renewed commitment to networking across the region, mean that biocontrol can now take its place in helping restore equilibrium within the fragile ecosystems of the islands.
Faidherbia - Africa's fertiliser factory: Soil degradation has led to reduced crop yields in Malawi. But conservation agriculture - preserving soil structure by practising minimum tillage farming and planting the nitrogen-fixing Faidherbia albida acacia tree - could restore degraded land, reduce input costs and potentially triple maize yields.

Book reviews

Food Rebellions! Crisis and the hunger for justice: Global food production must be doubled by 2040 if demand is to be met. Views on how this may be achieved are presented but with an underlying insistence that the basis on which food production is organised needs to be radically overhauled.
Farmers as shareholders: A close look at recent experience: When farmers become shareholders in the companies that process or export their produce, what benefits does it bring and to whom? Four case studies are discussed, including Ghanaian chocolate and Rwandan tea.

New Agriculturist