ABSTRACT Adoption of rotational grazing or multi-species herbal leys, planting trees and integrating livestock into arable rotations can increase agricultural productivity and carbon storage on temperate ruminant livestock farms. However, farmers frequently have rational reasons for not adopting seemingly beneficial management practices. Here, we conduct semi-structured interviews with sheep and beef cattle farmers and industry representatives in England, to determine the advantages, disadvantages, and reasons for non-adoption of these four management practices. We find key reasons that farmers rationally do not adopt these practices include capital outlay, incompatibility with farming objectives, and the risk that desired benefits are not delivered.

ABSTRACT In the global cocoa-chocolate chain, sustainability certification became the most widely applied industry tool to respond to sustainability challenges, such as extreme poverty among cocoa producers, and related issues of child labor and deforestation. This contribution analyzes how sustainability certification shapes broader social dynamics in targeted communities by applying the concept of social cohesion. This framework allows for the discussion on the appropriateness of sustainability certification to foster the needed societal conditions for community empowerment and collective action, both of which often regarded as key for a broader sustainability transition. Insights from key informant interviews in two Ghanaian cocoa communities targeted by a Rainforest Alliance cocoa sustainability project indicate that there is an enhanced interaction between scheme participants leading to new ingroup-outgroup patterns among community members. Further, while some informal institutions and one particular societal group are negatively affected by the sustainability intervention, no broader effect on communities’ overall social cohesion was measured. Finally, despite contributing to the greening of cocoa production, certification implements measures that risk to hamper the spread of collective action and may dilute the “societal glue” in targeted communities.

ABSTRACT Industrial farming contributes significantly to feeding and clothing the world’s population of nearly eight billion people. While the use of mechanized, chemical and scaled-up farming practices have enabled increased food and fiber production, the practices associated with industrial agriculture also have the potential to adversely impact soils, environment and climate. Organic agriculture began as a movement to counter industrial farming, and organic certification has played a significant role in expanding organic agriculture worldwide. Regenerative agriculture is a fast-developing industry that also offers an alternative to industrial farming. It has been dubbed as going ‘beyond organic’ to take a more holistic view of agricultural production and practices. Based on 15 key-informant interviews with experts in the Australian organic and regenerative agricultural industries, this case study presents insight into the challenges that the organic industry has faced in its relationship with certification, thus offering a guide to the regenerative agricultural industry in developing its own approaches to labeling or certification.

ABSTRACT Extreme climate events have increased in recent years, leading to huge losses of agricultural products. A field study of a two-year organic horticultural rotation (2015–16 and 2016–17) was conducted to evaluate the effects of soil hydraulic arrangement and cover crops management on cash crops productivity, soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) sequestration, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and C balance. The experiment consisted of two simultaneous rotation systems, a cauliflower-tomato rotation on raised beds and a zucchini-lettuce one on flat strips between them, combined with cover crops as living mulch or break crops. The results pointed out that the use of proper hydraulic arrangements may partially reduce the exposure of crops to extreme climate events, like heavy rains and floods, allowing the preservation of soil fertility. The cover crops increased the yields and enhanced the soil nutrient pools. Our study showed the important role of cover crops since the soil C stock values were significantly higher when they were used in the rotations. The analysis of the GHG emissions, C balance and C efficiency revealed that combining agro-ecological and conservation practices can improve environmental sustainability in organic farming in the Mediterranean area, allowing farmers to maintain/increase their agricultural systems sustainability.

This timely book by local food council expert Mark Winne, Food Town USA: Seven Unlikely Cities That are Changing the Way We Eat, is a well-focused report describing his visits to key local players ...

ABSTRACT Sweetpotato is increasingly important in sub-Saharan Africa due to its yield potential under sub-optimal growing conditions. But lack of planting material (seed) at the onset of the rains is a major constraint. This study examined smallholder strategies for sweetpotato seed conservation and multiplication, their agroclimatic determinants, and farmers’ perceived drought risk at four sites (Dilla, Chuko, Hawassa, Sodo) in Ethiopia using informant interviews, a survey of 278 households, and agroclimatic statistics. Conservation practices were dictated by farming system and agroecological conditions. The long-term mean length of dry period when multipliers must conserve seeds ranged between 103 and 131 days across sites. Seed multipliers faced high uncertainty of rainfall onset that varied from the end of February to mid-May. Estimated probabilities of moderate and severe droughts affecting seed conservation ranged from 36–75%, and 15–58%, respectively. In drier sites, age of multiplier, land-holding size, sweetpotato production experience and access to extension were positively associated with being a vine multiplier. Knowledge of indigenous conservations strategies should inform seed system intervention design.

ABSTRACT We compared seasonal changes in food availability between Maya subsistence farmers and modern householders who pursue cash earnings in rural Yucatan. Modern households encourage the substitution of vegetable for animal protein that severely affects them during scarcity season, particularly in small towns. Subsistence households have increased their legume intake when food was scarce. Seasonality had the largest effect on fruit availability. Unable to obtain enough protein and micronutrient rich foods when meats, fruits and vegetables become scarce, modern households make up for it by purchasing more fats and sugars, particularly in large towns with many grocery stores.

ABSTRACT Wild harvested plants (WHP) and crop wild relatives (CWR), part of the segment of natural diversity that is collectively known as ‘Plant Genetic Resources’, have great socioeconomic importance for humans because they are used either directly or in crop breeding. In order to lay down a solid base for constructing conservation strategies for Italy, an updated annotated list of CWR and WHP was produced for the country including information on known uses. Taxa included in the list were then prioritized using a pragmatic approach based on their value, native status, and need of protection or monitoring.

ABSTRACT Input-driven agriculture has led to an epidemic of impoverishment, farmer suicides, and environmental degradation in India, but has also shown consistent staying power in Indian politics. We examine the case of organic farming policy adoption to explore this paradox. Specifically, our objective was to evaluate how the state-wide Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) program (now formally known as Community Managed Natural Farming) in Andhra Pradesh, India came to be. Evidence was drawn from government documents, field notes from a ZBNF workshop and farmer interactions, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders. Results suggest that advocacy of civil society networks, champions within the bureaucracy, emphasis on rural livelihoods, and the 20-year history of consensus building around agroecology all played a key role in the adoption of the ZBNF program in this state. Given the possibility of scaling up ZBNF at the national level, our analysis of the enabling environment is especially timely.