Photo by Magdalena Smolnicka on Unsplash Written by John Vidal, The Guardian The land to the north of the village of Foros de Vale Figueira in southern Portugal has been owned and farmed through the centuries by Romans, Moors, Christians, capitalists, far rightists, even the military. It has been part of a private fiefdom, worked by slaves as well as communists. Now this 100-hectare (247-acre) patch of land just looks exhausted – a great empty grassland without trees, people or animals, wilting under a baking Iberian sun. But look closely and you can just see the future: tips of tho ..read more

Jim Kelly in the community of Bampu, Papua New Guinea, stands next to a young cacao tree within an agroforestry garden. Image by Camilo Mejia Giraldo for Mongabay. Written by Erik Hoffner, Mongabay The highly climate- and biodiversity-friendly agricultural practice of agroforestry is now practiced widely around the world, but its roots are deeply indigenous. Agroforestry is the practice of growing of trees, shrubs, herbs, and vegetables together in a group mimicking a forest, and its originators were indigenous peoples who realized that growing useful plants together created a system where ..read more

Photo by Krzysztof Niewolny on Unsplash Written by VIRGINIA GEWIN, Civil Eats Dung beetles—named for what they eat—may be one of the more underrated creatures in the food web. When no one is looking, these tiny janitors clean up pound after pound of manure on pastures, enriching the soil as they spread and bury it. Now, there’s evidence that dung beetles may also help make our food safer—even as food-safety fears make it difficult for researchers to find farms willing to help conduct real-world tests. In 2013, Matt Jones, a doctoral student from Washington State University, approached dozens ..read more

Agroforestry in France. Photo taken by Propagate Ventures Written by Meine van Noordwijk, The Conversation “Agroforestry” – the practice of having trees as part of farms – is as old as agriculture itself. But as a field of scientific enquiry and policy making, it’s now marking its 40th birthday. In 1978 the International Council for Research in Agro-Forestry was created to document the use of trees on farms – as a source of income, food and for a healthy environment – and spread information about it. Research gradually became a stronger focus and today it is known as the World ..read more

Photo by Cameron Offer on Unsplash Written by Erik Hoffner, Mongabay The 4th World Agroforestry Congress aims to bridge the gap between agroforestry science and its practical implementation worldwide. Over 1,200 attendees from all over the world are here presenting new research and sharing ideas for implementation of this agricultural technique that is good for food security, biodiversity, the climate, and more. One topic gaining extra attention at this Congress is the involvement of the private sector in boosting agroforestry’s implementation worldwide, because it can be q ..read more

Photo by jean wimmerlin on Unsplash Written by NPR In the 1930s, the Dust Bowl ravaged crops and helped plunge the U.S. into an environmental and economic depression. Farmland in parts of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas disappeared. After the howling winds passed and the dust settled, federal foresters planted 100 million trees across the Great Plains, forming a giant windbreak — known as a shelterbelt — that stretched from Texas to Canada. Now, those trees are dying from drought, leaving some to worry whether another Dust Bowl might swirl up again. An Experiment That W ..read more

Photo by Elegance Thika on Unsplash Written by ANNA LAPPÉ, Civil Eats In early 2019, the journal Biological Conservation published findings from a study about global insect decline that did what few such scientific journal articles ever do: It hit the front pages of major media outlets around the world. The reason? The paper found that one-third of all insect species are in serious decline around the globe and, if trends don’t improve, we could face near mass extinction of all insects within the next century. Civil Eats recently spoke with one of the lead au ..read more

Photo by Heiko Janowski on Unsplash Written by AUSTIN FRERICK , The American Conservative A senior official at the Iowa Farm Bureau, the nation’s largest agricultural organization, recently told me that most rural communities will soon disappear. Even though the organization’s nominal mission is to help “farm families prosper and improve their quality of life,” the official seemed accepting of this fate, even a bit happy about it. Either way, he told me that nothing could be done. The thing is, the senior official isn’t wrong—the outlook for rural communities is grim. There are fewer jobs tha ..read more

Written by Ethan Roland Soloviev There are 5 primary intellectual and practical Lineages of people who are using the term “Regenerative Agriculture”. Each lineage has a different definition, farming philosophy, and approach to growing their community. In the last year, one of them is quickly (but quietly) out-growing the others. This article will help you clarify what people are talking about when they use the term, and what perspective they are coming from. Here are the Five Lineages of Regenerative Agriculture: 1. Rodale Organic Basic organic agriculture practices promot ..read more

Photo by Sandy Zebua on Unsplash Written by ROB FINLAYSON, The World Agroforestry Centre More than 3.5 billion people — around half the world’s population — have rice as their staple food. In Asia, people often eat rice two or three times a day, obtaining 30–70% of their dietary energy from it. In 2014, 31% of the global rice harvest was from Southeast Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. But the production of rice is threatened by climate change, land degradation, water scarcity, and over-exp ..read more