One of the first volumes of what was then known as the ILEIA Newsletter described how farmers in Rwanda were working with new ideas and approaches to rice production, including some used by Asian farmers. Michael Loevinsohn showed how farmers, through their experimentation, had managed to cultivate rice at altitudes well above normal levels.
Many current global policies propose that farmers can get out of poverty by being (better) linked to markets. Government and NGO programmes thus often promote cheap agricultural input supplies, and support farmers to sell their products through
Honey production is frequently promoted as a pro-poor income generation activity as it is accessible to many members of a rural community, has low start-up costs and requires little land or labour. But while apiculture (beekeeping) presents an opportunity for many African farmers, the potential to create a significant livelihood from selling honey often remains out of reach.
Awudu Ngutte works as a project co-ordinator for INAPA, a small organisation based in Buea, Cameroon. He has been receiving LEISA Magazine since 2004, sharing it with his colleagues and other organisations. He was particularly interested in issue 23.2,
With more than 3.5 million animals, Ethiopia has the largest cattle population in Africa. Milk production, however, is very low, and its per capita consumption is lower than the African or the world
Once, the women of Muddana Guddi, a village in Raichur district, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, suffered from drought and poverty. With no alternatives except cursing their own troubles, they used to migrate to neighbouring states for work. Now, they are earning their own livelihoods by running a business worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.
If an entrepreneur is a creative person, or someone who takes risks and innovates, then small-scale farmers are definitely entrepreneurs. Their role as such, however, faces many challenges, of which accessing markets is only one of them.
Spate irrigation is an ancient form of water harvesting. It is a method of managing unpredictable and potentially destructive flash floods for crop and livestock production. By making water available, it can contribute to increasing the diversity of farming systems where it is found. It is the major source of livelihood for many communities in west Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Demand for organic products continues to grow and outstrip the supply. How organic are these products, when they have to be transported over many miles to reach consumers? And how sustainable is organic produce, when it is grown on large farms, leaving less and less room for biodiversity? Questions like these add another dimension to a debate that has been going on
