New Agriculturist

Bittersweet: going organic for pineapple in Uganda

Jali Organic is the first Ugandan company to attain Soil Association certification for their pineapples. But despite this notable achievement, their quest for certification has not yet guaranteed a better market for their produce.

Date published: July 2009

Innovation systems: a testing process

A pilot project in India and Nigeria is learning some interesting lessons from five very different sites about building capacity for change around the issue of fodder scarcity.

Date published: May 2009

Predicting and coping with climate change in Africa

By analysing problems and extrapolating solutions from small areas to large, scientists in Africa are able to recommend new farming practices that can help to protect agricultural production in the face of climate change.

Date published: May 2009

Voting for vetiver in Ethiopia

At a recent conference reviewing 20 years of Ethiopian experience of the Vetiver System (VS), delegates agreed that the use of VS in Ethiopia should be scaled-up, as well as introduced for non-farm purposes.

Date published: May 2009

Cocoa video - Ghana's television extension

In Ghana, a team of farmers has been given technical training in video production, and have made eight short training films on different aspects of cocoa farming. Through video viewing clubs, the 'best practice' messages are now reaching hundreds of cocoa growers.

Date published: May 2009

A global partnership to end hunger

The first Millennium Development Goal to halve hunger and poverty by 2015 is on course to fail. A global partnership is being established to take decisive, corrective action.

Date published: March 2009

Healthy, wealthy and wise - medicinal plants in DRC

A public-private partnership is helping DRC establish a fledgling medicinal plants industry, producing to international standards. As well as having the potential to lift rural communities out of poverty, could DRC soon become a player in the world's burgeoning health food market?

Date published: March 2009

No longer in a pickle in Madagascar

A collapse of wild sea cucumber stocks has had a severe impact on incomes and food security in coastal areas of Madagascar. But a project to introduce sea cucumber farming is showing early signs of success.

Date published: March 2009

Less water, fewer plants, more rice - the SRI revolution

Thanks to the efforts of Malian rice farmers, a new wave of rice technology has begun to ripple across the region. It has the potential to more than double yields, while raising the productivity of land, water, labour and capital.

Date published: March 2009