Welcome to the latest edition of Farming First eNews!
Farming First
Helping identify and promote the ideas, projects and innovations making agriculture more sustainable around the world.
In this month's edition, we highlight insights on...
🌱 Embracing crop diversity for improved nutrition
🌱 Supply chain transparency for emissions reduction
🌱 Harnessing agrotourism for sustainable food systems
Plus, we feature recent news and upcoming events in food systems.
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Expert Insights
How Technology Supports Farmers to Protect Their Profitability
By Corrina Filipovic
At the beginning of 2024, farmer protests in Europe revealed that farmers felt they were caught between conflicting public demands for cheap food and climate-friendly processes while rising input prices made significant hits to their bottom line.
The most important question for agriculture is how to continue to produce more but better and how to tackle climate change while achieving higher productivity. Technological solutions can support farmers to optimise their practices to overcome financial burdens and make more of a well-deserved profit while benefiting the planet.
Sustainable agriculture is not a choice but an imperative. As the world struggles with issues related to food security and environmental concerns, leveraging technology like farm management software provides optimism. Read on
How Sustainable Agriculture Contributes to Achieving Zero Hunger
SDG2 aims to create a hunger-free world by 2030. Farm Africa’s Dr Diana Onyango shares how it is achievable through sustainable agriculture. Read more
Supply Chain Transparency Can Put India at the Forefront of an Agricultural Revolution
Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU)’s Alex Andreoli and KM Jayahari share how agrifood companies in India could help mitigate global food systems emissions by 2030. Read more
Is Cellular Agriculture the Next Big Leapfrog for East Africa?
Aleph Farms’ Didier Toubia explores how adopting cellular agriculture in East African countries can preserve smallholder farming and simultaneously achieve food security. Read more
"Given the right resources, training and access to technology, women and youth have the potential to significantly elevate Africa’s agricultural and food security outlook."
DR JOHN ULIMWENGU, INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IFPRI)in “The State and Future of Africa’s Food Systems"
Latest News
Recommended by LinkedIn
SOFI Report: Hunger Numbers Stubbornly High for Three Consecutive Years
As global crises deepen, the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report has revealed that the world is falling short of achieving zero hunger by 2030. Read more
Legume Genetic Discovery Could Improve Crop Growth
A genetic “off switch” that shuts down the process in which legume plants convert atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients has been identified for the first time by a team of international scientists. Read more
Transformations to Sustainability From a Decade of Transdisciplinary Research
Research by the International Science Council over nine years across 35 countries has produced vital insights into how best to respond collectively to global sustainability challenges. Read more
🌱 Invasive Alien Species is a Threat to Biodiversity in the Caribbean – Wayne Coles, CABI. Read more
Featured Case Study
Harnessing Agritourism to Promote Sustainable Agrifood Systems in Albania
The untamed river valleys and the breathtaking atmosphere of the Vjosa Wild River National Park attracts wilderness enthusiasts and adventurers alike into Albania every year. In recent years, the number of tourists visiting Albania more than doubled, from 4 million in 2016 to 8.4 million in January-October 2023. This significant boom in tourism has led to a high demand in quality local food and related services.
This presents a great opportunity for family-run agritourism businesses to increase their capacity to meet the growing demands. Albania has recognised that fostering the agritourism sector can create new market opportunities and boost rural development.
In 2022, to support the Albanian government in this quest, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) implemented the Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean (SFS-MED) project, funded by the Government of Italy. The project provided trainings, facilitated dialogues between national and local representatives and lent expertise to stakeholders from various sectors to strengthen agritourism and enhance rural livelihoods.
The Lile family received training from the Rural Association Support Programme (RASP), a local NGO participating in FAO’s SFS-MED project. “They helped us not just with material things, like building a greenhouse so we can grow vegetables year-round, they also helped expand our minds,” Fabje Lile said.
The Lile family was able to increase the visibility of their business through labelling and showcasing their products in fairs. They also learned agritourism best practices from the SFS-MED organised study tour to Puglia, a southern region of Italy.
Learn more about how FAO is assisting Albania in building its capacity for agritourism. Read more
🌱 Burundi’s Fishers and Farmers Adapt to Climate Crisis – Read more
🌱 How Diverse Crops Create a Safety Net for Solomon Islanders – Read more
Upcoming events
🗓️ Have an event you’d like to share with the Farming First network? Send us an email at info@farmingfirst.org with the subject line “Event submission”.
🌱 09 August: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
🌱 12 August: International Youth Day
🌱 19-21 August: World Conference on Food Science & Technology
That's it for this edition of Farming First eNews!
Check out all the expert insights, news and more from the world of sustainable agricultural innovation at FarmingFirst.org.