Food Security and Agriculture

For a Fundamental Transformation of Agri-Food-Systems

In the position paper, 59 civil society organisations call on the Federal Government to make agroecology the central support concept for poverty reduction and adaptation to the climate crisis and to use it as a basis for reforming EU agricultural policy.

The concept of agroecology is scientifically sound, sufficiently tested in practice and pursues a holistic approach. The paper formulates ten equal elements which the signatories of the paper consider to be core elements of agroecology.

Publikation

For years Nigeria has been repeatedly shaken by bloody clashes between pastoralists and settled farming communities, the so-called "Farmer-Herder" conflicts. Especially in the preelection campaign year 2018, for the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for February, 2019, violent clashes in Nigeria increased. The "Farmer-Herder" conflicts in particular, however, were politically captured by the parties, politicians and other actors in society, including church representatives. Shepherds were stigmatized and the conflicts classified as religiously motivated. Criminal acts of people disguised as herdsmen contributed the rest. The stigmatization of herders was and is fuelled by media coverage and social media. An objective public debate on how to resolve these conflicts and on adapted models of animal husbandry is hardly possible. There is a lack of studies that include all parties involved and shed light on the background and causes. Field studies financed by MISEREOR in 2016-17, aiming to examine the concrete conflicts in Nigeria in 13 zones more closely, have been summarized in the brochure.

Report

Comparative studies from Brazil, India and Senegal show multiple advantages of agroecology for smallholders in semiarid regions. This report relates the study results to the current debate on hunger and malnutrition, climate, biodiversity and policy frameworks and provides recommendations for the transition to ecologically sustainable and socially just food systems.

Research reports on the herder farmer conflict in Nigeria

Research reports by Roger Blench, who carried out several field missions in Nigeria between 2016 and 2018. The project was commissioned by MISEREOR and contributed to identify solutions to the ongoing conflicts between herders and farmers. 

Report of a Participatory Action Research, Kayah State, Myanmar

This report is the result of a participatory action research (PAR) conducted by members of Kwaingan community and KMSS Loikaw in 2016. The report documents Kwaingan’s customary land and natural resource rights and management practices.

for land rights advocates

This resource book is part of a two-volume publication which aims to equip the users with the necessary knowledge, attitude and skills on Community Mapping and Participatory Geographic Information System (PGIS). It focuses on data collection, database management, data processing, and analysis for the production of digital maps useful in advancing the land rights agenda of rural communities, particularly indigenous communities and smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia.

It is intended for land rights defenders, institutions advocating for land rights, development practitioners, and communities to defend their rights to land and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Part two with the focus on the "how to" is in progress.

Transforming Food Systems through Agroecology

Food and Agriculture could work differently, if they had Agroecology, shortened and innovative marketing circuits and participatory forms of shaping the food system as its basic principles. The contributions in this publication show how farmers in the global South and North enhance soil fertility, biodiversity and seed productivity, and how local markets are strengthened.

Report of a Participatory Action Research in Myanmar

This report is the result of a participatory action research (PAR) conducted by members of Khupra community in Kayah State/Myanmar and Karuna Mission Social Solidarity-Loikaw (KMSS-Loikaw) Livelihood Program team between October 2015 to November 2016. In its first field work, the research team was joined by members of the Indigenous Peoples/Ethnic Nationalities (IP/EN) network

A Study on the Carbon Footprint of a Shifting Cultivation Community in Kayah State, Myanmar

The study is part of a participatory action research (PAR) conducted by members of Khupra community together with staff members of Karuna Mission Social Solidarity-Loikaw between October 2015 and July 2016. The PAR is one of the components of the project that supports indigenous communities in Kayah State to document and seek official recognition of their customary land and natural resource rights and management practices.

• Publication of our partner organisation KMSS-Loikaw