Agriculture

Sowing the Seeds of Change: Integrating Education and Agriculture in Rural Nepal

Join Food Tank in discussion with Surya Karki about his mission to bring quality education to Nepal, and why teaching agriculture and sustainability are key to alleviating poverty.

Crop Modeling May Help Pave the Way to Increased Food Availability

Crop modeling is just one form of agricultural research that may benefit from the unified approach of the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture.

21 Organizations Transforming Australia’s Food System

In the last decade, Australia’s good food movement has exploded; check out these 21 organizations in food rescue, Indigenous Australian farmer support, permaculture training, and more.

Opinion | How Salsas Sent Us to College

A Haitian immigrant student of fieldworkers, living in the nation’s leading town of tomato growers, discusses how running a sustainable farm-to-table business gave her the tools needed to succeed in college and beyond.

Ensure Tech for Better Food Says James Collins of DowDuPont, Corteva Agriscience 

James Collins, COO of the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont and CEO-Elect of Corteva Agriscience wants to change the narrative for global agriculture companies, with farmers and consumers at the center of their missions.

Millet and Sorghum are Climate-Smart Grains for Farmers in Chad

Climate-resilient grains like pearl millet and sorghum can help subsistence farmers in Chad enjoy increased crop yields and better self-resilience.

Effects of U.S. Shutdown Widen Throughout the Food System

From reduced food inspections to a lapse in services for farmers, the shutdown’s effects are hitting more than just furloughed workers across the country.

Opinion | The Wrong Conversation about Trump’s Tariffs

Rather than focusing on how large corporate entities attempt to minimize tariff costs, our attention must be on how we restore democratic accountability to economic policymaking, especially when it concerns the social and ecological sustainability of food systems.

How Native American Diets Benefit From Tucson’s Indigenous Seed Bank

In Tucson, Arizona, the nonprofit Native Seeds/SEARCH maintains a ‘library’ full of heritage seeds indigenous to the Southwestern US and Mexico. Several distribution programs return these seeds to Native Americans who historically incorporated the crops in their daily diets.

Rural Migration and the Changing Face of Agriculture

Rather than a crisis, the FAO views rural migration as critical for our food system and levelling out global inequalities. Better policies are needed, however, to maximize its benefits while minimizing its harmful effects.

Uniting African Farmers Through Social Media

A small farmer in Eastern Kenya is unifying thousands of farmers throughout Kenya using social media to address their plight, and provide a platform to learn from one another.

Bigger Data, Smaller Farms: The Role of Big Data in Sustainable Intensification

Sustainable intensification is one of the areas of agricultural research that is being transformed by Big Data. Through initiatives like the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, researchers are helping farmers create complex accounting systems for their farms and increase productivity while decreasing the environmental impact of farming.

119 Organizations Shaking Up the Food System in 2019

2018 was a great year for Food Tank, but 2019 will be even better! Check out the 119 organizations we’re excited to grow alongside in the coming year.

Let’s Make More Without Doing Harm to Environment Says Pretty

On Food Talk, author and sustainability advocate Jules Pretty talks about combining efficient food production with care for the planet in sustainable intensification.

Future Family Farmers Help Communities Grow

Niman Ranch farmers Chris and Joan Scheer of Lowden, IA are revamping generations of farming tradition: switching to sustainable practices for the sake of future generations.

UN Backs Seed Sovereignty in Landmark Peasants’ Rights Declaration

The Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas, which was the product of some 17 years of diplomatic work led by the international peasant alliance La Via Campesina, formally extends human rights protections to farmers whose “seed sovereignty” is threatened by government and corporate practices.

“We All Have to Be Open to Innovations in Food,” Says Sam Kass

“We need a pretty broad and ongoing shift in cultural norms around what we’re eating for our health and for environmental sustainability,” says Sam Kass on this week’s Food Talk.

Ways Forward to Step Up Soil Carbon and Meet Paris Pledges

One-third of carbon emissions are absorbed by the earth’s biosphere. After forests, agricultural lands and wetlands have the most potential to do this. A panel of experts convened at COP24 last week to discuss ways in which this potential can be realized.

Training Youth Key to Growing African Agriculture

For CORAF, training youth is not just a matter of preparing for the rising age of researchers or increasing unemployment, but a matter of enhancing the food system as a whole.

Reckless Soy Expansion Engulfs Tropical Savanna

Nearly three million hectares of natural vegetation in the Cerrado have been stripped for soy production since 2000. Beyond disrupting water systems and threatening the soy business, habitat destruction is destroying life in the most biodiverse tropical savanna region in the world.

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