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- Mongabay
Sustainable silvopasture is popular with U.S. farmers despite waning financial supports
Vermont farmers are increasingly adopting sustainable silvopasture practices, integrating trees and livestock to improve forage quality and animal comfort. Despite declining financial assistance, this regenerative farming method continues to grow in popularity due to its practical agricultural and environmental benefits.
- Mongabay
Heavy rains during critical period of cacao cultivation hit Ghana’s yields
A recent study by Harvard researchers reveals that intense rainfall during the flowering phase is driving significant cacao harvest declines in Ghana. Understanding this climate impact is critical for agricultural stakeholders and humanitarian planners working to secure West African farmer livelihoods and stabilize global supply chains.
- UN News
‘Season of fear’: Escalating Israeli attacks on West Bank olive farmers, deadly strikes on Gaza
Over the weekend, deadly military strikes in Gaza killed at least six people, including children. Simultaneously, United Nations experts urged Israeli authorities to safeguard Palestinian agricultural workers facing escalating settler violence during the current West Bank olive harvest.
- The Guardian — Global development
From black soldier flies to mealworms: farming insects for food, fodder and fertiliser in Uganda
In Uganda’s Kyaka II refugee settlement, smallholders are raising insects like black soldier fly larvae to supply affordable livestock feed and household nutrition. This practice helps vulnerable families overcome high commercial feed costs while simultaneously reducing environmental pressure on local land resources.
- Mongabay
Counterfeit seeds threaten African farmers’ crops and climate resilience: Study
- Global Voices
How a farmers’ protest in Bucharest was inflated online, then hijacked
- Mongabay
Women shoulder the burden of expanding wildfires in rural India
In India’s Uttarakhand region, rural women act as unpaid first responders against intensifying forest blazes. Despite facing severe safety risks without proper gear or institutional backing, these residents protect their communities from climate-driven fires, highlighting a critical gender gap in local disaster response and environmental management.
- Inter Press Service
Renewables, Farmer Aggregation Offer Solutions to Africa’s Post-Harvest Losses
Sub-Saharan Africa loses up to forty percent of its agricultural yield annually, primarily due to insufficient refrigeration. To counter these systemic deficiencies and protect regional export capacities, industry experts recommend expanding renewable energy infrastructure and promoting farmer cooperatives to improve food preservation.
- Inter Press Service
If We Can Start an Epoch, We Can Start a Farming Revolution
Comparing the legacy of a 1952 nuclear test to the vast potential of 475 million smallholder households, commentators highlight the critical need for an agricultural transformation. Empowering these rural producers is essential for reshaping global food systems and addressing current ecological and nutritional challenges.
- The Guardian — Global development
‘Water yes, mining no!’: the 87-year-old farmer who became a nature hero in Colombia
Eighty-seven-year-old farmer Porfirio Garcés and ten other residents of Jericó, Colombia, face criminal charges for protesting a proposed copper mine. Under a pro-extraction government, the group's legal battle highlights escalating tensions between local environmental defenders seeking to protect vital water sources and national resource development policies.
- Inter Press Service
A Stronger Future for Coffee Starts Where It Is Grown
Improving agricultural productivity and market access can enhance stability within the global coffee sector. Strengthening producer livelihoods at the origin point helps secure long-term commodity sustainability and economic resilience for vulnerable farming communities worldwide.
- Mongabay
Turning vulnerable livestock into four-eyed beasts helps protect them in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe’s Chiredzi district, local communities frequently face human-wildlife conflict involving livestock depredation and crop damage near major game reserves. To mitigate these threats, residents are painting eyespots on their cattle's hindquarters. This low-cost deterrent leverages visual deception to protect vulnerable animals from predators, safeguarding rural livelihoods in the region.
- Inter Press Service
What Faith Can Teach Agriculture
Traditional agricultural development approaches often overlook the valuable expertise held by smallholder farmers. Integrating local traditional knowledge with modern farming practices can improve global food security and climate resilience. Recognizing these communities as active leaders rather than passive beneficiaries is essential for sustainable rural development.
- Mongabay
Uganda pastoralists turn to wild plants as food shortages bite, study finds
A recent study reveals that pastoralist communities in Uganda are increasingly consuming wild plants to cope with severe food shortages driven by climate shocks. This coping mechanism highlights growing vulnerabilities in traditional agricultural systems, offering insights into how marginalized populations navigate extreme weather events to maintain basic nutrition.
- Inter Press Service
Fragmented Policies Hold Back Agroecology Adoption in Africa’s Congo Basin
Compartmentalized regional policies in the Congo Basin restrict agroecological initiatives to small-scale pilots. Participants at a Yaounde convening emphasized that scarce financing, insufficient extension services, and limited markets hinder wider adoption. Overcoming these regulatory barriers is vital for scaling sustainable agriculture across Central Africa.
- Mongabay
Farmers in South Africa’s Limpopo face unpredictable rainfall, uncertain futures
- UN News
Sudan’s farmers are ready to return – private investment could get them there
- Inter Press Service
When African Smallholders Access Finance, They’ll Show You What’s Possible
Rooted in personal experience as a refugee and the child of smallholder farmers in East Africa, an expert highlights the critical need to expand financial access for agricultural workers. Unlocking financial resources enables smallholders to significantly improve their productivity and livelihoods, offering vital lessons for regional development and poverty reduction.
- Mongabay
Floating weeds threaten farming and fishing at Malawi’s Chia Lagoon
- Inter Press Service
African Farmers Demand Affordable Finance as Governments Fall Short on Funding
African agricultural producers are urging for increased credit access as public budgets consistently fail to meet established funding targets. Delivering capital to remote smallholders remains difficult, compounded by widespread political interference in resource distribution. These financial bottlenecks severely constrain agricultural productivity across the continent.
- Mongabay
Did you know cocoa pulp tastes like lychee?!
Mongabay has launched a four-part series examining non-timber forest products in collaboration with The Rainforester. The first installment explores the history and cultural significance of cacao. This educational content helps humanitarian and environmental professionals better understand sustainable forest economies and traditional livelihoods.
- Inter Press Service
Investment in Irrigation Systems Is Vital in Preparing for the Next Climate Shock
With roughly 95 percent of African farmland relying solely on rainfall, the continent faces severe food insecurity due to recurring climate shocks and impending El Niño droughts. Expanding agricultural irrigation systems is essential to protect crop yields and build long-term resilience against extreme weather variability across the region.
- Mongabay
As saltwater advances, Gambian farmers rethink how to protect rice fields
Farmers in Kiang Jifarong, Gambia, are struggling to protect their traditional rice paddies from encroaching saltwater along the Bintang Bolong estuary. Villagers continually construct earthen barriers to preserve their crops, highlighting the severe impacts of environmental degradation on local food security and agricultural livelihoods.
- Mongabay
Women farmers in Sumatra find a gentler way to keep elephants at bay
In Sumatra, Indonesia, a women-led farming collective near Tesso Nilo National Park has implemented non-violent methods to deter wild elephants. Amid severe habitat loss from deforestation and agricultural expansion, this community-driven approach successfully mitigates human-wildlife conflict and protects local crops in areas heavily impacted by shrinking forest boundaries.
- Inter Press Service
Africa’s Pastoralists Need More Than COP17’s $1.2 billion Rangelands Pledge
In Tanzania's northern Maasai Steppe, pastoralists are struggling as prolonged dry spells deplete water sources and pasture, threatening their livelihoods. The recent $1.2 billion pledge for rangelands made at COP17 may not be sufficient to address the urgent needs of these communities, who face potential hunger and loss of livestock if conditions do not improve.
- Global Voices
China’s new cotton law deepens control over Uyghur farmers’ land and labor
China's recently enacted cotton-quality regulations tighten state oversight of farming communities in Xinjiang. The legal framework merges agricultural output with digital monitoring, land consolidation, and mandatory ideological training. For humanitarian and development specialists, the policy formalizes systemic labor exploitation within regional supply chains.
- Inter Press Service
U.S. Midwest Flooding Is a Growing Threat to Agriculture
Severe storms and heavy rainfall have triggered catastrophic flooding across the U.S. Midwest, prompting disaster declarations in Illinois and Indiana. The extreme weather has displaced hundreds of thousands of residents and severely damaged critical infrastructure. This unfolding crisis threatens regional agricultural production, raising concerns for food security and rural livelihoods.
- Mongabay
Pastoralists in a Changing World
Traditional pastoralist communities worldwide are facing significant environmental disruptions that threaten their mobile livestock-rearing practices. These populations depend on flexible access to rangelands to sustain their livelihoods. Understanding these pressures is critical for humanitarian and development actors designing effective resilience and land-management interventions in dryland regions.
- Mongabay
Blast fishing destroys reefs. Underwater microphones can help detect it
In South Sulawesi, Indonesia, marine researchers are utilizing underwater microphones and artificial intelligence to locate destructive blast fishing. Because underwater acoustics carry sound over long distances, this acoustic monitoring technology helps conservationists pinpoint detonations and protect vulnerable coral reefs from ongoing illegal exploitation.
- Mongabay
‘They will do it legally or illegally’: Interview with James Giahyue on Liberia’s cocoa boom
Global cacao price surges and land scarcity in Côte d'Ivoire have spurred a rapid cocoa industry expansion in neighboring Liberia. Journalist James Giahyue warns that this economic boom is driving unchecked agricultural encroachment. This trend risks accelerating severe environmental degradation and land conflicts across the West African nation if left unregulated.
- Mongabay
At global desertification conference, pastoralists call for greater recognition
At the international desertification conference, pastoralist communities emphasized the need for increased policy support as climate change threatens their traditional livelihoods. In Tanzania, Maasai herders are transitioning from cattle to drought-resilient goats to cope with intensifying water scarcity. This shift underscores the severe economic and cultural pressures facing livestock-dependent populations in vulnerable regions.
- Mongabay
EU’s deforestation rule could derail Liberia’s cocoa trade
Liberia’s cocoa exports in Grand Gedeh county face severe disruption due to the upcoming European Union Deforestation Regulation. Because the EU is Liberia's primary cocoa market, local farmers risk losing their main trade channel unless they comply with the new ban on agricultural products originating from recently deforested land.
- Mongabay
Microplastics in the Amazon
Plastic debris now contaminates aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Amazon basin, stretching from the Negro River bed to coastal nesting areas. This widespread pollution threatens regional wildlife and biodiversity. Understanding the extent of this contamination is crucial for addressing environmental degradation in critical tropical habitats.
- Global Voices
How changing diets are creating new markets for Africa’s Indigenous crops
Shifting consumer health needs across Africa are driving demand for alternative gluten-free foods. This dietary transition is creating new commercial opportunities for traditional and native crops. Consequently, local agricultural markets are expanding to supply specialized nutritional products for individuals with specific food intolerances.
- The Guardian — Global development
‘We now live without this violence’: the Colombian farmers giving up coca for palm oil
Smallholders in northern Colombia are transitioning from illicit coca cultivation to palm oil production. Supported by government subsidies and reduced armed group activity, this economic shift is helping rural communities escape long-term conflict, improve livelihoods, and build stability in the region.
- UN News
Gaza: Only three per cent of cropland available to grow food
In the Gaza Strip, ongoing military operations have restricted farmers’ access to agricultural land, leaving just three percent available for food production. This severe constraint drastically undermines local sustenance efforts and deepens the humanitarian crisis, as residents face mounting difficulties in securing basic nourishment amid the protracted conflict.
- Mongabay
Land crisis and ‘green revolution’ practices trap millions of Malawi’s farmers
Smallholder farmers in Malawi face severe food insecurity driven by land shortages and high input costs associated with conventional agricultural practices. This agrarian crisis leaves millions struggling to secure adequate nutrition and livelihoods, highlighting vulnerabilities in the nation's dominant farming systems.
- Mongabay
‘Cocoa fever’ in Liberia’s Grand Gedeh is wiping out native forests
In Liberia’s southeastern Grand Gedeh county, rapid agricultural expansion for cacao production is causing widespread deforestation. Spurred by proximity to Côte d’Ivoire, this land-use change threatens the region's remaining natural habitats, which had remained largely intact until recently.
- Inter Press Service
As Mongolia Hosts COP17, Pastoralists Demand Space to Move, Survive and Restore
The Silk Road Caravan has arrived in Mongolia to coincide with COP17, following a journey across Eurasia that gathered testimonies from vulnerable herders. The participants are advocating for protected migration routes and improved land restoration policies. These measures are vital to safeguard traditional animal husbandry amid escalating climate pressures and severe pasture degradation.
- Mongabay
How women farmers are helping elephants and forests in a Sumatran national park
- Mongabay
‘To speak of agroecology is to speak of farmers’ autonomy’: Interview with Olga Muthambe
- Devpolicy Blog
PNG’s declining agricultural output requires a return to commercial production
Papua New Guinea’s agricultural sector has experienced a prolonged downward trend despite numerous interventions and financial investments. To revitalize rural employment, National Research Institute Chairman Wilson Thompson advocates for a revival of structured plantation and settlement production models. This approach aims to restore the sector's historical productivity.
- The Guardian — Global development
Halting the march of the armyworm: fungus discovery offers hope to African farmers
South African researcher Letodi Luki Mathulwe has identified a naturally occurring soil fungus that effectively kills the African armyworm. This discovery provides a promising biological solution for farmers across East and Southern Africa to combat the destructive caterpillar pest and protect vital food crops.
- Global Voices
Cocoa farmers in southeast Cameroon are adapting to EU regulations, but they still want a fair price
- Inter Press Service
The Year of Pastoralists Must Be More Than Symbolic
The United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists to highlight traditional livestock keepers. Observers emphasize that this global designation must lead to concrete support rather than remaining purely symbolic amid escalating humanitarian and environmental crises.
- The Guardian — Global development
‘Danger no longer only comes from the hitmen, but from the state’: the Honduran farmers labelled terrorists for protecting their land
In Honduras, smallholder farmers defending their territory face escalating violence from agribusiness and criminal groups alongside state criminalization of community leaders. This hostile environment for land defenders threatens rural populations and highlights severe rule-of-law challenges in the region's agricultural sector.
- The Guardian — Global development
A rain festival with no rain: the Indian farmers bracing for a ‘super’ El Niño as monsoon arrives late
Farmers in Odisha, India, marked the traditional Raja monsoon festival amid delayed seasonal rains that forced planting during dry conditions. The late precipitation highlights agricultural vulnerabilities as communities brace for severe El Niño impacts, threatening crop yields and rural livelihoods across the region.
- Inter Press Service
Preparing Agriculture for a New Era of Extreme Weather
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has issued a warning about an upcoming El Niño phase that could lead to increased droughts, heat waves, storms, and flooding, posing significant risks to agriculture globally. This alert underscores the need for preparedness in the face of escalating climate-related challenges to food security.
- The Guardian — Global development
‘I fell in love with the art of coffee-making’: the female baristas shaking up Somalia’s booming cafe scene
As security conditions improve in Mogadishu, a growing coffee shop industry is expanding employment opportunities for women. Female baristas are staffing newly established cafes across the Somali capital. These venues serve as vital social spaces and employment drivers amid the city's ongoing economic and urban recovery.
- Inter Press Service
Global Value Chain Trade Reaches Historic Highs, Despite Push for Reshoring
A 2024 OECD report indicates that international trade through global value chains has hit record levels. Despite increasing protectionism and geopolitical instability, these cross-border production networks remain deeply integrated, underscoring the continued resilience of the global economy against recent trends favoring domestic manufacturing.
- UN News
Gaza farmers battle to rebuild as WFP warns of West Bank settler violence
Farmers in Gaza are receiving support from the UN as they work to restore their agricultural operations following extensive damage from the recent conflict between Hamas and Israel. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme has raised concerns about increasing violence from settlers in the West Bank, which poses additional challenges to food security in the region.
- Inter Press Service
How Farmers Are Learning About Restoring Soils and Scaling Agroecology in Kenya
Farmers from Vihiga and Kakamega counties in Kenya have traveled to Yumbuni Village in Makueni County to participate in community-led agroecology research. They are evaluating various homemade organic fertilizers and farm inputs to enhance soil restoration and promote sustainable agricultural practices. This initiative aims to improve farming resilience and productivity in the region.
- The Guardian — Global development
Blockades, marches and human shields: Bolivia’s farmers resist as land opened up to industry
Indigenous groups in Bolivia are protesting against government policies that favor agribusiness and mining, fearing increased deforestation and land privatization. Activists, led by peasant farmers' union leader Vivian Palomequi, have organized marches to oppose laws that threaten protected areas and criminalize environmental defenders, highlighting tensions between economic development and environmental conservation.
- Inter Press Service
Why Pastoral Production Requires Regional Coordination, Harmonised Policy
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