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Focus on |
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Using water wisely to feed growing cities
In Soukra, Tunisia, an IDRC-financed project has been working to mitigate environmental threats urban farmers face, while helping them secure and improve their livelihoods. read article
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Livestock in the city: separating fact from fiction
In 2005, a study was initiated by the University of Nairobi and ILRI to understand the risks and benefits of urban dairying, to contribute to pro-poor policy and create good practice guidelines for risk reduction. The study revealed some surprising results. read article
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The role of UPA in rebuilding Liberia
To help reduce urban poverty, improve food security and enhance waste management, Welthungerhilfe and the RUAF Foundation have collaborated with Monrovia Municipality to promote urban and peri-urban agriculture in Liberia. read article
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Urban agriculture gets policy-level support in Sri Lanka
To boost production of safe and nutritious food and enhance urban agricultural activities in Sri Lanka, urban gardeners in Gampaha on are being assisted with marketing, business planning and agricultural water management. read article
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Transforming waste and wasteland in Dakar
In Dakar, Senegal, micro-gardening projects are re-greening urban spaces previously lost to rubbish dumping and car parks. New waste collection and sorting practices have reduced pollution and provided raw material for compost making. read article
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GFAR: Research innovations |
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Organic sack gardening in Bangladesh
 In Bangladesh, 500 people with limited access to land are supplementing their food and income by growing vegetables in sacks. In addition to enabling families to consume vegetables more regularly, sack gardening has also empowered women, who most often organise and take care of the gardens. read article |
Making mountain communities nutritonally secure
To help smallholders in India's central Himalayan mountain region attain food and nutrition security and increase their net incomes from sustainable livelihoods, the Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education is working to promote agricultural biodiversity and add value to smallholder produce. read article
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Protecting Vietnamese street food
 Informal street food contributes to food security and to national economic growth but the selling of food without proper sanitary measures raises food safety concerns. In Vietnam, one NGO has launched a campaign to encourage vendors to implement good practices to protect consumers. read article |
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Developments |
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Combating aflatoxin - a value chain approach
 To tackle aflatoxin contamination and secure more reliable access for smallholders in Malawi to value-added international markets, a UK-based ethical trading organisation has devised an approach to stop moulds developing, and has also established a groundnut processing plant. read article |
Making the most of sea cucumbers
 To improve the incomes of remote Pacific island communities, fishers are being provided with support to enable them to process sea cucumbers to the high quality demanded for export, particularly to China. read article |
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Points of view |
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Investing in agriculture
Participants at the Future Agricultures Consortium's Political Economy of Agricultural Policy in Africa conference discuss the factors that influence governments and others to support investment in agricultural development in Africa. read article |
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In pictures |
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Afghan nomads - changing lives
 Afghanistan's Kuchi nomads were once able to graze their large flocks of fat-tailed sheep across the country's hills and mountains. But increasing competition for land from a growing population is pressuring families towards a more sedentary lifestyle. read article |
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My perspective |
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Tsegaye Tadesse, Farm Africa, Ethiopia
Tsegaye Tadesse, a senior forestry advisor for the NGO Farm Africa, explains how communities in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains are set to earn carbon offset funding through the UN's REDD scheme, because of their participatory forest management. read article |
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Country profile |
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Burundi
With an economy dominated by subsistence agriculture, Burundi is working towards revitalising the economy but rapid population growth and inefficient agricultural production are serious challenges. read article
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GFAR updates |
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GFAR present a selection of brief news items based around recent international and regional events and meetings concerned with agricultural innovation and its implications in development. read article
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News brief |
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Recent news, including the rapid spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease, the development of a national aquaculture strategy in Timor-Leste, the publication of South African land reform data, and a new report detailing the importance of international collaboration and investment in agricultural research. read article
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Book reviews |
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Reviews of some of the latest agriculture and rural development publications, including What has nature ever done for us? by Tony Juniper. read article
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