30 4 Nutrition

Experiences in family farming and agroecology 12 | 2014 - 30.
FARMING
MATTERS
Reclaiming
nutrition
Linking family nutrition in city and country

Finding a way out of the maize
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FARMERS IN FOCUS
Nutrition from
diversity
y name is Laxmi Acharya. With help from

my husband and children, I manage
a small family farm in Belepur, in the
Koshi-Harincha municipality of Morang district,
Nepal. Our farm is often mistaken for a miniature
botanical garden, which is no surprise given the
diversity of plants and animals found there. We
needed more food for the family, but we had only
a small parcel of land. So we chose diversity.
Our farm covers only 2000 square metres, and well
managed diversity is the key to its productivity.
Six hundred square metres are occupied by the
house, fruits and vegetables. I keep a pair of
cows, a pair of goats, 10 pairs of pigeons and
10 chickens. I also have a fish pond with about
one hundred mungri catfish. On the remainder of
our land, we grow scented Basmati rice using the
agroecological System of Rice Intensification.
We get the most nutritional value from crop

rotations and from the complementarities between
our plants and animals. For example, during the
rainy season we grow rice, and after harvesting,
we plant potato, mixed with mustard for cooking
oil, and lentils and other vegetables for extra food
and income. In spring, we plant maize which is
used for home consumption as well as for animal
feed. Our cows, goats and poultry, in turn, provide
the manure that has improved and maintains the
structure and fertility of the soil. I am proud to
produce enough to fill the plates of my family with
all the necessary cereals, vegetables, fruits and
animal protein for an adequate and balanced diet,
and even be able to sell our surplus on the market.
Interview by Raj Uprety, student at Tribhuvan University
and Rajendra Uprety, senior agricultural development
officer in Morang district, Nepal.
Farming Matters | December 2014 | 3
CONTENTS
8
12
16
20
4 | Farming Matters | December 2014
Linking family nutrition

in city and country
Narrowing the social distance between processes of
production and consumption helps families consume
healthy, diversified diets wherever they live and whatever they do. In Ecuador, a growing movement of urban families interested in buying fresh vegetables directly from farmers has succeeded in nurturing a growing link between rural and urban families, allowing
both to maintain and even increase the diversity in
their diets.
Nutrition from innovation

and taste from waste
Traditional farming practices lose their importance
when they are perceived as old fashioned. But rural
communities in Nepal are going against this trend and
have begun to revive and renew their home gardens.
Women have taken the lead, and the benefits go beyond cultivating fruits, vegetables and herbs. They are
developing skills and knowledge, linking farm products to markets as well as increasing their participation
and influence in local affairs.
Finding a way out of the

maize
Improving nutrition and building resilience are inextricably linked. And diversifying crops, food and diets is a
case in point. Recurrent drought encouraged farmers in
eastern Kenya to develop their own way to secure
enough nutritious food. Before, there was maize and
more maize. Now they are growing cassava and have
returned to sorghum, millet and cowpea. The benefits
are more nutritional value in the home and on the market, increased incomes, and better risk management.
Guinea pigs small

livestock with big potential
Guinea pig meat is high in protein and low in fat, and
the little animals show great potential in improving the
nutrition and livelihoods not only of farmers, but also
people in towns and cities who are crying out for
cheap, quality protein. Breeding, consuming and selling guinea pig meat has opened doors to improved
nutrition for many families in Bolivia. The resurgence
of guinea pig meat production and consumption
holds promise in and beyond the Andean region.
CALL FOR ARTICLES

3
Farmers in focus
Editorial: Farming for nutrition:

back to the future
Linking family nutrition in city and

country
12 Nutrition from innovation and taste

from waste
16 Finding a way out of the maize
19 Opinion: From biodiversity to
dietary diversity Zayaan Khan
20 Guinea pigs small livestock with
big potential
24 Locally rooted: Ideas and initiatives
from the field
26 Food fairs revive local food and
nutrition
30 Gastronomy is a search for tasty,
local, nutritious food Interview with
Luis Ginocchio
33 Opinion: Will the Green Revolution
really nutritionalise Africa?
Million Belay
34 New in print. New resources on
nutrition
36 Perspectives: Weve had enough of
hunger and malnutrition!
38 Towards stronger family farms.
Recommendations from the
International Year of Family Farming
41 Opinion: This is our year
Joan Brady
42 Globally connected: News from the
AgriCultures Network
Rural-urban linkages
When directly engaging with farmers, citizens play an active
role in shaping the way their food is produced. Involvement
ranges from direct purchase via farm shops and box schemes,
to talking with farmers about what to produce and how, to
providing inputs such as labour, seeds, knowledge or finance.
Many such initiatives are driven by young people. Some are
institutionalised, as in public purchasing programmes or food
policy councils. Chefs also play a role in strengthening these
linkages as they seek fresh, local produce.
As a result, new agroecological practices have developed and
the nutrient cycles are closing, leading to healthier farming
systems and fewer food miles. Food cultures are developing
around territoriality, seasonality, freshness and fair prices.
These emerging ideas are even challenging architects and
city planners to rethink the design of sewerage and recycling
systems, under the concept of urban-rural metabolism.
This trend goes against what many academics and politicians
say are the effects of the industrialisation and globalisation
of agrifood systems. They believe that rural societies will
disappear, both in demographic and cultural terms, and
family farmers will either move out of agriculture, or operate
only as large enterprises. In this view, family farming is
not seen as a social, cultural and political category in its
own right, as a way of life, but merely as a professional
sector that must be integrated into agri-business chains.
But these prophecies remain unconfirmed. Although ruralurban relations have radically altered, what we are seeing
is a reaffirmation of ways of living that are typical of the
countryside and the peasantry. These local responses to
globalisation are based on principles of agroecology and
multifunctionality, rather than the logic of business and
finance. They show that family farmers remain a determining
force in the 21st century, forging promising pathways together
with citizens to tackle the food, environmental and climate
crises.
Issue 31.2 of Farming Matters will focus on relations between
the rural and urban worlds. We are looking for stories on
groundbreaking initiatives on how family farmers and
citizens collaborate. How do family farmers respond to
changing urban consumption patterns? How is knowledge
about food and farming co-created between rural and urban
communities? What is the role of youth and of women? Are
there examples of successful marketing strategies to promote
food from family farms in the cities? What difficulties were
faced and what responses were found? We look forward to
your insightful stories and practical evidence.
Articles for the June 2015 issue of Farming Matters
should be sent to the editors before 1 March 2015.
Email: info@farmingmatters.org
EDITORIAL > BEYOND CALORIES AND VITAMINS
Farming for nutrition:
back to
the future
Nutrition has become one of the buzz words of the year, like resilience, and
landscapes. What they have in common is that they refer to complex situations
with political forces competing over the backs of rural and urban communities.
The nutrition challenge is clear with a billion hungry people on this planet
and another two billion overweight it is time to act. Persistent hunger and
undernutrition are inexcusable in a world of plenty. But the crucial question is:
who should act and how?
Edith van Walsum
n this issue we explore the global and local

context of todays efforts to address hunger and
malnutrition. And we take a fresh look at how
family farmers and consumers take the initiative
in their hands, regenerating food cultures,
revitalising and rejuvenating mixed farming
systems, and using political spaces to call for a
different, rights-based approach to food and nutrition.
We see in these stories from our readers, the trend of
reversing monocultures and towards multifunctional,
climate resilient agroecological systems. Driven by
nutrition and economic concerns, family farmers are
diversifying their crops and seeking local markets
which gives both rural and urban communities a
better variety of food on their plates. A clear example
is the experience in Kenya (page 16). Yields and
on-farm biodiversity increase, as does resilience against
climate shocks and price volatility, and more diversification of employment and income .
Global forces Initiatives to combat hunger
and malnutrition are not new phenomena. Decades

ago there were nutrition education programmes,
school feeding programmes, kitchen garden initiatives,
with some of them well-integrated into agricultural
and rural development and social movements. The
second International Conference on Nutrition has just

ended, while the first one took place 22 years ago
But today, hunger and malnutrition persist.
What has changed drastically are the power dynamics underlying global efforts to address hunger, with
the corporate sector gaining ever more control over
essential resources such as land, water and seeds.
Photo: Sara Quinn
Diversity from field to plate As
explored in Cultivating diversity (Farming Matters

30.1, March 2014), there is a strong link between
agrobiodiversity, varied diets and balanced nutrition.
Though the link appears obvious between the variety
of food produced, that harvested, and better nutrition,
it merits further research. Several articles in this issue
show inspiring examples of local champions, such as
traditional chiefs in northern Ghana (page 26), and a
gastronomic expert in Peru (page 30). All are part of a
growing movement that promotes the use of local
diversity, and connects urban and rural communities,
as seen in Ecuador (page 8). Essential in this new
relationship are the short distances from field to plate,
which also contributes to better nutrition.
Women: drivers of change for

better nutrition It cannot be emphasised
enough: women are the strongest drivers of better

nutrition. It is they who most directly link production
to consumption. They take most of the key decisions
on what to grow or raise and how. They are responsible for cooking and processing food, for sharing it in
the family, and especially for feeding the children
whose adequate nutrition is crucial for their future.
They decide what to take to the market and what to
keep for consumption at home. They teach their
children about what to eat and how to cook, and so
on. A study by IFPRI found that improving womens
education explained 45% of the gains in food security,
compared with increased food availability (26%) and
health advances (19%). Safeguarding womens rights,
including to land and other natural resources is
crucial, as is recognising the essential knowledge
women hold on seeds, food preparation and nutrition.
A couple of articles in this issue, one on breeding
guinea pigs in Bolivia (page 20) and another on
renewing home gardens in Nepal (page 12), show how
women are connecting production with consumption
in their homes.
Nutrition sensitive strategies
Farmers must be central in strategies to improve food

and nutrition security. We need to transform food and
nutrition systems, and not continue with the mistaken
assumption that modern industrial agriculture can
feed the world and fix nutritional deficiencies with
food fortification and genetic modification. The story
of Golden rice is a good example, a genetically
engineered variety developed by industry to combat
vitamin A deficiency. But it has been shown that
Golden rice may pose risks to human and ecological
health, and could compromise food, nutrition and
financial security of rural communities. This type of
single-crop approach does not address underlying
Photo: Martina Thaler
causes of malnutrition and could make (hidden)

malnutrition worse as it encourages rice-based diets
rather than increasing access to a more diverse range
of fruits and vegetables.
Ample evidence, some of it in this issue of Farming
Matters, shows that it is far easier and more cost effective to achieve nutritious diets with local food systems
and short value chains. Accelerating progress towards
the eradication of hunger is less about new technologies and more about putting what is already known
into practice, and providing people with the right to
their resources. Success will hinge on basing all policies, programmes and action plans on evidence and
proposals from the urban and rural grassroots, and on
defining them within a human rights-based framework.
The millions of dollars spent by the corporate and
research worlds on expensive genetically modified
nutrition sensitive crops would be better spent on
empowering family farmers to further develop solutions that are already available and working, such as
diverse, agroecological farming practices. At the recent
International Nutrition Conference, civil society
rightly emphasised the point that nutrition can only
be addressed in the context of vibrant and flourishing
local food systems that are deeply ecologically rooted,
environmentally sound and culturally and socially
appropriate. As this issue of
Farming Matters demonstrates,
there are many ways to develop
such sustainable food systems that
provide long-lasting food and nutrition security.
In this last issue of 2014, let the
message be clear: with family
farmers at the centre, and women
especially, the world can be nourished, sustainably and justly.
Edith van Walsum is director of ILEIA.

Email: e.van.walsum@ileia.org
NUTRITION > FROM FARMS TO TOWNS
Linking
family
nutrition
in city and country

FarmingMatters
Matters| |June
December
88| |Farming
2010 2014
Ecuador is going through a substantial nutritional

transition. This, coupled with the paradox that rural
families that produce food are often those most affected
by undernutrition, shows the ironies of modern food
systems. It also highlights the importance of ruralurban linkages around family nutrition which can help to
address such contradictions. This is what we see among
families living in two rural villages, San Francisco Alto and
Ambuqui, in the north of Ecuador, who through various
strategies have managed to achieve healthy, diversified
and nutritious diets.
Myriam Paredes and Carla Guerrn Montero
n one of our first visits to Marcia and Marcelos

family in San Francisco Alto more than ten years
ago, lunch comprised of a large bowl of boiled
unpeeled potatoes with a hard boiled egg, a
pasta soup with a little bit of milk, and a glass of
lemonade. In 2011, we ate kale soup with carrot,
turnips and oca (an Andean tuber) rice with egg,
tortilla with green vegetables, a cup of barley with
milk, and boiled potatoes as a side dish. How their diet
had become more diverse in a single decade!
Traditional to modern But how did
they get to such an undiversified diet in the first place?

As with many farmers in the area starting in the 1980s,
Marcelos family obtained some farm land following
land reform. This change meant the family needed
cash to pay for the necessary farming inputs and other
emerging needs. Consequently, the family moved
away from their traditional diversified production of
Andean crops, including about a hundred species of
tubers, vegetables and highly nutritious grains such as
quinoa and chocho (the South American lupin,
Lupinus mutabilis). Instead, they turned most of their
land to growing a single, highly marketable variety of
potato, superchola, with a shorter production cycle
than most traditional Andean crops.
In the 1990s, there were large variations in potato
prices. This was accompanied by decreasing yields
due to soil degradation that in turn resulted from
heavy mechanized tillage, and increased pest and
disease attacks tied to monocropping. Over time,
Marcelos family fell into debt. Yet, potatoes continued
to be an important part of the culture and the main
source of food for the family as well as of their income
from sales to the local wholesale market.
Links to the city Through friends in the

capital city, Quito, Marcelo learned about a group of
urban families who were buying fresh vegetables
directly from farmers. This group was part of the El
Carmen (community food baskets) movement,
known in Spanish as the canastas comunitarias or
canastas. Started in the 1980s, the canastas had
become active in every major city in Ecuador. The
canastas purchase food in bulk to decrease costs, and
recently became interested in buying directly from
farmers to allow them to realise more benefits from
their farming activities.
Food baskets linking farmers to urban consumers.
Photo: Myriam Paredes.
Traditional varieties of potato are back on the menu again, each with their own distinctive taste.
Photo: EkoRural
Marcelo contacted Anita, the coordinator of the El

Carmen group, about the possibility to sell his familys clean pesticide-free potato. Anita invited
Marcelo to visit the group and take part in its weekly
collective purchase. Upon his return, Marcelo told us,
This was the first time I felt the handshake of the
people who ate my potatoes! But Marcelo did not
know at the time about all of the changes that such
direct sale would demand. Meanwhile, Anita said:
We decided to find direct producers like Marcelo,
but when we asked for a variety of food crops, they
only could provide us with one or two at the most.
Increasing the variety Motivated by

these requests for diversity from the canasta group,
Marcelo went back to his fathers practices of planting
a mixed variety of potatoes in the same plot. And like
his grandfather, Marcelo started to grow once again
other traditional tuber crops such as mashua, melloco
and oca. And together with Marcia, they started a
pesticide-free vegetable garden. Marcia said, When
the canasta group requested more products, we only
had potatoes, and we realised that it was a shame for
us to buy food that our family used to produce in our
own land.
Regarding the new varieties of products in the
canasta group, Anita has this to say:At first we were
not accustomed to eating all the different vegetables
that we received every week in the basket. For instance, we mainly used to eat chola potato while
Marcelo brought us capira, violeta, ratona and other
varieties we had never heard about and which tasted
differently. We also had to get used to different kinds
of leaves; and we had cooking lessons with nutrition-
ists and elders to learn how to cook with these varieties

and to rescue traditional recipes.
Esperanza and Renato The impor-
tance of building relationships between producer and

consumer step by step is also illustrated with the story
of Renato and Esperanza. Renato has been a farmer
all his life in Ambuqu, in the neighbourhood of San
Clemente, Imbabura. He married Esperanza, a
woman from the community, who had worked in
Ecuadors capital as domestic worker for many years.
When she returned to San Clemente and married
Renato, she had to learn all over again about her
husbands deep connections with the land. With time,
she managed to do so, but never lost the desire to
explore other options beyond farming, for herself and
her family.
With her business skills and ability to interact with
sophisticated consumers from larger urban areas, Esperanza focused on diversifying the family income. In
addition to working the land with agroecological
methods and minimal use of pesticides, she was selected to represent a food cooperative in agroecological fairs. She also began to run the cooperative shop in
the city of Ambuqui. When Esperanza and Renato
had children they needed extra income, and Esperanza rode a horse up the mountain to the town of
Peaherrera to sell their farm produce along with
other items.
After the children left home, the situation changed
again. Esperanza became the person to go to when
the occasional Peace Corps volunteer, intern, or researcher needed a temporary place to stay. Now, when
they have produce to sell, which includes a variety of
legumes, fruits, grains and vegetables, Esperanza visits

her regular clients down in Ambuqu, house by house.
Occasionally, buyers will knock on their door to buy
produce directly. They have fixed clients with special
requests who, unlike most people in Ambuqui Esperanza says do not eat vegetables, only French fries or
boiled potatoes, rice and fried eggs. They say they are
not rabbits or guinea pigs so will not eat grass. Renato
and Esperanza, however, consume a very varied and
nutritious diet, which includes the common staples of
potatoes, rice, and eggs, but also includes a variety of
green vegetables, legumes, grains, tubers, and fruits.
Esperanza is greatly concerned with being able to
provide to her customers the nutrients that she presumes will not be available in other homes in San
Clemente.
When summer comes and production dwindles,
Esperanza sells cosmetic products to clients in distant
villages and cities. Her children are now university
graduates with professional jobs, and while they do not
expect to become farmers, they do find ways to remain
connected to their parents and to their land. One
daughter studies in the United States and sends and
brings seeds that Esperanza grows in her farm with
special care. Two of Esperanzas sisters live in Spain
and return to Ecuador with amusing stories about
Photos: EkoRural
A more varied diet is ensured with mixed baskets.

Photo: EkoRural
their lives in Europe, but still crave the local speciality

of roasted guinea pig with potatoes for lunch.
These are some of the urban-rural linkages that
allow this couple to continue farming the land in spite
of droughts, no subsidies or support from the local
government for production, and a system that seems to
be focussed on guaranteeing economic successes to
middlemen and other market intermediaries.
The importance of direct

connections The rural population in the areas
where these two families live is enduring social and

economic pressure to reduce crop diversity, and
consequently suffers a loss in the knowledge and
ability to consume a diversified diet. Yet, by linking
rural and urban families, various families maintained
or even increased diversity in their diets in rural as
well as in urban areas. This usually happened through
direct interactions between farmers and urban
dwellers or through recipes passed down via secondary
means. And in particular, through direct linkages
between producers and consumers organisations that
learned to value diversity and long-established foods.
Although a high diversity of production does not
necessarily translate into high levels of dietary diversity
or better nutrition, consumers and producers organisations can play a pivotal role in providing experiential
opportunities that help to increase on-farm biodiversity, while also strengthening the knowledge inherent
in such processes and systems. The nutritional effects
also seem very clear. Yet, more such relationships are
needed for such constructive rural-urban linkages to
become commonplace.
Myriam Paredes Chauca works for FLACSO, Ecuador as a
professor and researcher, and Carla Guerrn Montero is a
professor for the University of Delaware in the United
States. Email: mcparedes@flacso.edu.ec and
cguerron@udel.edu
This story builds on two previous articles: Local food systems
(Farming Matters, 29.2: 38-40) and Building an urban-rural
platform (LEISA Magazine, 24.3: 22-24).
NUTRITION > DIVERSIFYING PRODUCTION
Nutrition
from innovation,
and taste
from waste
From a situation of widespread undernutrition, consuming

fresh vegetables all year round has now become a reality
for many Nepali households thanks to their expanding
home gardens. But the stories they tell show that the
benefits of home gardens are not limited to improving
household nutrition. The gardens also help to empower
women and conserve biodiversity, two much needed
conditions for better family and community nutrition on a
broader scale.
Roshan Mehta, Roshan Pudasaini and Jacob Zucker
he World Health Organization reports

that in Nepal, 39% of under-fives are
underweight and 48% have anemia.
The countrys primary nutritional issues
were identified as chronic energy
deficiency in mothers, low infant birth
weights, widespread childhood malnutrition, and
deficiencies in Vitamin A, iron and iodine. Inadequate
micronutrients are especially common in remote rural
communities where dietary diversity is limited, and is
a particular problem with women and children. Lack
of nutritional education and resources for maintaining
long term food and nutritional security contribute to
these problems.
Home gardens Despite these serious

problems, some rural communities have started to
improve their food and nutritional security through
investing in more genetically diverse home gardens.
Various programmes are supporting this move,
including a large project implemented by LI-BIRD
over the past 12 years, a national NGO supported by
the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
and Bioversity International.
Home gardens used to be a cornerstone of traditional Nepalese farming systems, but over time, they
have slowly begun to lose their importance in peoples
eyes as a relic of old-fashioned customs. But now, their
importance is being recognised once again. A home
garden is the area around a homestead where traditional and improved varieties of vegetables, fruits,
fodder, herbs, spices, mushrooms and ornamental
plants are grown, along with livestock, fish and bees.
Production from home gardens is primarily intended
for family consumption though many farmers may
also produce a surplus for sale.
Nutritional calendars were developed with local
people that showed the monthly gaps in nutrition for
each community. Farmers were supported with the
provision of vegetable seeds and fruit saplings. They
also received training on human nutrition, and on low
cost sustainable home garden management techniques. The introduction and integration of goats,
pigs, poultry, mushrooms, fish and bees was also promoted, to complement family nutrition and household income as well as providing agroecological benefits to the farming system as a whole.
How home gardens were developed was decided by
farmer groups within each community. These groups
are village level institutions with a defined legal status
that also abide by national rules and regulations. In
each home garden group, the inclusion and participation of marginalised groups based on ethnicity, gender
or poverty, allowed more equitable access to the opportunities and benefits. The garden groups received
support not only in specific techniques, but also in
organising themselves, thus preparing them long for

continuation of project activities. The farmer groups
built knowledge and skills on governance, accounting
and finance, and building relations with service providers. They also implemented a savings and credit
programme that allows them to overcome unforeseen
financial problems.
Cultivating diversity The tiny home
garden of Surya and Saraswati Adhikari is flourishing.

Situated directly in front of their house in Begnas
village, Kaski district, just a few steps from the kitchen
and storage areas, more than two-dozen different
plants can be found in their eight square metre plot.
Papaya and banana trees stand tall. Below grow many
local vegetable varieties, and climbing beans vines
wrap themselves around edible bamboo stalks. Other
medicinal, cultural, and decorative plants such as
tulsi, barbari, and til, help the family and the community as a whole to preserve traditional knowledge and
practices otherwise at risk of being forgotten.
Chemical contamination and poisoning from unregulated use of industrial pesticides by untrained
farmers is a widespread problem. But Surya and Saraswati use no insecticides, herbicides or fertilizers in
their garden, preferring mulches and compost to
enrich the soil and natural fertilizers to promote plant
growth.
Still, many farmers with home gardens struggle to
maintain vegetable production during the dry season,
especially in hilly areas where the availability of water
is limited. To overcome this, farmers began collecting
waste water in small tanks and using this to irrigate
their gardens. Mr Lok Bahadur explains, I have constructed a water tank of nearly 500 litres in my garden
Grinding spices for the days cooking.

Photo: Jacob Zucker
and I can now grow vegetables even in the dry

summer. This result has been aptly described as producing taste from waste.
Women and nutrition Women know

the importance of home gardens for family nutrition
very well as they typically take responsibility for both.
With respect to which fruits and vegetables to grow,
food preparation and feeding the family, women make
critical decisions that have lasting impacts on the lives
of their children and other family members. A proper
understanding of the relationship between the plants
grown in the family garden and the nutritional
makeup of meals prepared in the kitchen is indispensable for addressing the issue of malnutrition.
Saraswati Adhikari is responsible for the familys
cooking, and is fully aware that creating a proper nutritional balance in each and every dish is a delicate task
of the utmost importance. Most rural families only eat
two main meals a day, with white rice as the staple carbohydrate source. Daal is a typical Nepali dish prepared from lentils or beans, both of which are an important source of dietary iron and protein for rural
communities. On days when it is not served, she prepares a stew of taro leaves or mustard greens that supplements the iron intake. Taro leaves are also a rich
source of vitamins A and C, and when consumed with
vegetable sources of iron and protein, significantly increase their absorption by the body. In the summer,
ripe cucumber is sprinkled with iodized salt as a
cooling afternoon snack, helping the family to avoid
the range of disorders associated with iodine deficiency.
Saraswati and Surya Adhikari in front of their home
garden. Photo: Jacob Zucker
Saraswati carefully crafts each family meal with a

wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables from her
home garden. And the health benefits of such a nutritious diet are being felt. Now able to consume fresh
vegetables all year round, Lok Bahadur explains, I
feel in good health compared to before. Previously I
had to travel to Kathmandu up to four times a year for
medical treatment, but not any more.
Beyond self-sufficiency Home

gardens have also added to household incomes and the
nutrition of others, with surplus produce sold for cash
in local markets. Home gardens have also proven to be
useful testing grounds for some farmers, where they
have experimented with new plants and practices,
learnt, adapted, and then scaled up the successes on
their fields. After learning from their home gardening
experiences, others have increased production to such
an extent that for the first time, they have excess to sell.
Mrs Champa Chaudhary is from the indigenous
Tharu community in western Nepal. Not long ago
she had limited access to resources and used to have
practically no say in household decisions despite her
responsibilities for cooking and household tasks.
Wage-labour was the only source of income, and the
food that she could grow was never sufficient to
support her family for more than four months in any
year. Champa has since improved her gardening skills,
increased and diversified her production portfolio, and
last year she was able to earn 5000 Nepalese Rupees
(around US$50) from selling surplus crops. She
proudly explains, I do not have to spend my husPeeling pumpkin vines for a stew.
Photo: Jacob Zucker
Diversity is key to sustainability. Photo: Roshan Mehta
bands hard earned money any more to buy expensive

vegetables from the market. And now the community
has also started listening to my advice on how to grow
vegetables.
Women step up Champa is not alone in
finding herself having a new social status. The

development of home gardens has brought prosperity
and social development to communities in a number
of ways. Not only have women developed their skills
and knowledge about growing fruits and vegetables,
rearing small livestock and linking farm products to
markets, but they have also, developed leadership
skills and increased their participation and influence
in local affairs.
In addition, saving and credit groups have provided
a platform for women to manage their individual and
family financial resources. They now meet and discuss
various issues at the community level. This increased
and regularized group interaction has thus mobilised
and enhanced rural womens leadership skills.
More than 80 home gardeners have stepped up to
become their local communitys resource home gardener, a role played by one in every 25 home gardeners. With initial technical and material support from
the LI-BIRD project, resource home gardeners have
become focal points for the exchange of local knowledge and seeds. Sita Bhugel, living in Kathjor, Ramechhap, once grew very few vegetables and only
during the wet season. After participating in the home
garden programme, she started to grow many different
crops all year round. She inspired and taught many of
her neighbours and became a local resource contact.
She has become so respected in her community that
she was recently nominated to be vice president of the
village-level Agriculture, Forest and Environment

Committee.
An ideal approach The maintenance and

expansion of genetically diverse home garden systems
is an ideal approach to ensure nutritional security for
farm families in Nepal. A wide range of fruits,
vegetables, medicinal herbs and spices helps to
supplement often limited family diets, and provides a
host of essential micronutrients in the process. As the
vast majority of rural families already maintain home
gardens this undertaking can build on existing local
knowledge and requires minimal financial investment.
The result is widespread implementation and spread
of this grassroots method.
On a broader level, home gardens offer increased
resilience for farming households in the face of risks
brought about by climate change and the migration of
many men who migrate to urban centres in search of
off-farm employment. Women are developing their
capacities to produce food, generate income and take
leadership positions. They are feeding their communities while cultivating and conserving a wealth of local
biodiversity species and varieties that are better able
to resist the vagaries of more frequent and severe
droughts, unpredictable climate changes, and pest and
disease outbreaks.
Roshan Mehta and Roshan Pudasaini work for Local
Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development
(LI-BIRD) in Nepal. Jacob Zucker is a student at Princeton
University and was an intern at Bioversity Internationals
Nepal office. Email roshankmehta@gmail.com or
jzucker@princeton.edu
NUTRITION > RETURNING TO TRADITIONAL CROPS
Finding a way
out of the
maize
Recurring drought and crop failure in many parts of the

world have led to food and nutrition insecurity, and a
dependence on food aid. But recently, some farmers in
Kenya have been developing their own sustainable way
to secure enough nutritious food along with extra income
so that they can send their children to school. Traditional
drought tolerant, nutritious crops such as cassava, sorghum
and millet that were losing popularity due to a surge in
maize production are again becoming commonplace, with
reliable harvests improving diets and income.
Mary Mwendwa
he dryness of the soil in Mutungas farm

shows that it has not rained for a long
time in Mutomo district in eastern
Kenya. The last time I had a good
maize harvest was in 2003, says
Mutunga. He is amongst a growing
group of farmers in the area who are diversifying their
crops as a way of dealing with the changing climate
that is putting their lives at risk. But this has also had
other benefits, including a greater nutritional diversity.
The coming of maize Following

colonialism, maize gradually became a staple in the
Kenyan diet, replacing traditional crops such as
sorghum and millet. Nutritional repercussions from
this dietary shift were significant, as maize alone does
not provide a balanced diet in terms of proteins,
vitamins and minerals. Sorghums and millet are rich
sources of B-complex vitamins, and cassava is a source

of calcium and vitamin C, as well as a major provider
of calories.
People here were used to planting maize, but harvests have failed more and more, and so they have
turned to drought tolerant crops such as sorghum,
millet, cowpeas and cassava, says Benedict Mathitu,
an extensionist. These crops are not new. In fact, they
used to be highly valued but we have forgotten about
them. Neglected by people and science, they are also
sometimes called orphan crops. Musenya Joseph,
one of Mutungas neighbours explains, These crops
were planted by our ancestors a long time ago, but we
abandoned them. Now that things have turned bad on
us in terms of the harsh climate, we are going back to
these crops as they can withstand drought. We have
seen the benefits and no doubt this is our best option
for now.
Kenyan mothers are the key actors in family farming. Photo: Bozena Baluchova
Spreading risk The average annual rainfall
in Mutomo district is 300-600 mm and it is one of the

poorest parts of Kenya. Farmers find it difficult to
invest in planting anything that is not drought
tolerant, and they need to spread their risk and also
plant as many different crops as possible. Intercropping sorghum, millet and cowpea with cassava and
maize is one way of doing this. Cassava is suited to
areas where rainfall is uncertain. A well-established
cassava plant can resist drought by shedding its leaves,
and resuming growth only when the rain starts.
Similarly, sorghum and millet are relatively easy to
maintain. They are less susceptible to pests and
diseases, and when harvested and stored in a dry place,
they can be kept for long periods.
Diversifying crops and diets The
benefits of returning to orphan crops are foremost felt

in farmers bellies. Even though the main motivations
for returning to these traditional or neglected species
was to guarantee a harvest even in drought years,
moving from maize to cassava, sorghum and millet
has had profound implications in terms of nutrition.
Anastancia Musenya, whose farm is dotted with
cassava plants says, Cassava is our saviour in this
hunger-stricken region where we get regular droughts
and famines. Cassava can withstand harsh weather
and its nutrition is really good. Cassava is a good

source of carbohydrate, though there are inconsiderable differences between varieties in their nutritional
content, with some containing cyanide that requires a
lot of cooking to break down. But where Anastancia
lives, cassava has become the new staple crop replacing maize.
But farmers in Mutomo also know that a diverse diet
is more than just the sum of its parts, and is more than
just calories. We dont grow cassava alone, we have
cowpeas, millet and sorghum too, says Musenya.
Sorghum and millet are some of our traditional crops
which we grind to make highly nutritious porridge
flour adds Mutunga. Lactating mothers and babies
feed on it and even during drought everybody is saved
by the porridge.
Orphan crops are regaining popularity as farmers
realize the nutritional wealth that was left behind by
their forefathers, and intercropping is becoming
common as farmers strive to cultivate diversity. Tamarind trees, pigeon pea and green gram are just some of
the traditional legumes that had been forgotten but are
now being grown again. Anastancia says, Tamarind
and pigeon peas were a part of our forefathers diet.
Tamarind is very good for adding to the porridge
which we cook here, for flavour and more protein.
Other complementary crops being more widely grown
Farmers at Mutomo market selling cereals. Photo:

Mary Mwendwa
Wikwatyo wa Kandae farmers being trained by

Martha Mwangi. Photo: Mary Mwendwa
in recent years include mangoes, bananas and other

fruits.
Martha Mwangi works with more than 40 farmer

groups in the region. Her role is to assist them with
training on farming methods that are more suitable for
the current climate. She works closely with KARI and
the Ministry of Agriculture, and facilitates a lot of the
communication between them and the farmers in
Mutomo. She believes that cassava farming has greatly
improved the livelihoods of many farming families in
the area. Extensionists confirm that farmers have really
welcomed the shift to drought tolerant crops after participating in training through their self-help groups.
Support and self-help Although

recurrent drought forced many farmers to start
diversifying their crops, the transition needed community level support to address remaining challenges.
Cultural barriers such as associating cassava with a
poor mans diet, and practical barriers such as pests
and diseases , needed to be overcome. But a large
number of self-help groups became established to
discuss and tackle these challenges, and this enabled
many more farmers to make the change. Mutunga is a
leader of several self-help groups. One of the groups is
wikwatyo wa Kandae, meaning the hope of Kandae,
and organises training on cassava farming for its
members. The group receives a lot of support from the
Ministry of Agriculture and from community based
organizations.
The diversity brings

nutritional value into
the home, onto the
market and at the same
time builds resilience.
Musenya, also a member of the group, says that the
biggest challenge they faced when starting to grow
cassava was getting hold of quality seeds. Two problems were that the cassava mosaic virus and cassava
brown streak virus are common, and that cassava takes
longer to mature meaning that more planning is
needed. Thankfully, Dr. Cyrus Githunguri, a government agronomist and crop physiologist, helped to
develop a disease resistant and quick-maturing variety,
and he calls upon farmers to use such new varieties of
old crops to help fight poverty and poor nutrition in
their homesteads.
New crops, new opportunities
The self-help groups do more than just facilitate

training on growing crops, however, explains Mutunga. We also have a savings scheme where members
contribute money, which is used in times of emergencies like drought, and for providing school fees for our
children. They motivate each other to learn more
about making nutritious and tasty food and support
farmers to sell the surplus from the crops they now
grow, such as millet, sorghum and pigeon pea. The
groups that Martha Mwangi works with own a bakery
which makes bread from a mix of wheat and cassava
flour. Cassava chips, crisps cakes and chapattis are also
made and sold in local markets, with sales estimated to
contribute 300-500 Kenya Shillings (about US$3-5) a
day to each household. This is an important addition
to farm income, and it provides more nutritious foods
for others to consume.
This renewed diversity means that more food is
available from the harvest. The diversity brings nutritional value into the home, onto the market and, at
the same time builds resilience. This is a real boost to
farmers who have up until recently, been suffering
from recurrent drought and relying on food aid. Now
they have rediscovered traditional crops, they spread
their risk, learn together, and pass on the nutritional
benefits to their families and others who buy new processed products from them.
Mary Mwendwa is a freelance science journalist based in

Nairobi, Kenya. Email: mary.mwendwa@yahoo.com
OPINION > DIVERSITY OF DIETS
here used to be natural balance in the world.

Indigenous peoples have always understood how
their lives were part of a bigger picture, and how
dietary diversity allowed for the introduction of as many
sources of nutrition as possible. Coastal people might eat
seaweed, mussels, abalone and urchins as well as fish. This
was the time when what we ate was really what the forest,
mountain or sea had to offer, and which would differ from
week to week and from season to season. Eating was as
diverse as the environments that people found themselves
living in.
Zayaan Khan advocates for agrarian transformation

with the Land NGO Surplus People project. Working
through the Slow Food International network and
the Slow Food Youth Network South Africa, she has
experienced first hand the power of community and
the infinite diversity within the food system.
Email: zayk.first@gmail.com
Twitter: @zaykay
But so much has changed today. Horticultural knowhow, supermarket convenience and even food fashions
dominate our world. These influence our choices when it
comes to what we find on our plates, though the possibility
of bringing back more diversity is ever present. We talk
about conserving biological diversity and agrobiodiversity,
but the crucial next step is surely to incorporate this into
our eating habits. We need to introduce the genes of these
multiple species to our own genes, and so help our bodies
to adapt and evolve within our changing world. We need
dietary diversity.
Last year I attended a meeting in Uganda with Slow Food
International that launched the 10,000 Gardens in Africa
project. We attended training courses in various small
villages where the great Ankhole-Watusi longhorn cattle
roam. Our meals, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, had at
least seven species per plate. Sometimes double that. Each
meal was also accompanied by a local and very bitter variety
of eggplant that aids digestion. And on every plate there
was something to satisfy every taste.
Understanding the health of the individual requires an
understanding of the context of family, community and
culture. How do we view health and how does nutrition
fit into this? Africa is rich in heritage and full of diversity,
of species, cultures, languages and recipes. These instill a
sense of identity within each individual, especially important
during post-colonial confusion. Yet we are now living in a
time where ocean and land grabbing are huge threats,
and corporate control is usurping local knowledge and
giving us only cut and paste solutions to our many current
problems. Our identity should give us cultural pride and
remind us what it is we are fighting for. We are fighting for
diversity, reconnecting with our history, and fostering a new
custodianship with our land.
From
biodiversity
to dietary
diversity
NUTRITION > ANIMAL ALTERNATIVES
Guinea pigs
small livestock
with big potential
The right to food sovereignty is a part of the Plurinational

State of Bolivias constitution, but what does this actually
mean for family farmers? The truth is that many people in
rural areas are far from having access to adequate food
and nutrition, with 37% of children under five reported
to be suffering from stunting caused by malnutrition.
Amongst the institutions and initiatives that aim to
improve food security and sovereignty, the cuy (or guinea
pig) project stands out for the inroads it has made towards
improving food and nutrition at the family level.
Eduardo Lopez Rosse A.
ecuring access to enough nutritious food

is the major concern for most family
farmers in Colomi, central Bolivia, and
the recent rises in food prices have made
things worse. Beef used to be an
important source of animal protein, but
the increasing cost of meat meant that people had to
seek alternatives. In 2011, World Vision started the
cuy project to explore ways of improving the food
security of family farmers by promoting the production and consumption of guinea pigs.
Benefits all round Guinea pig meat is

high in protein and low in fat, and the little animals
show great potential to improve the nutrition and
livelihoods of farmers by providing food and income,
but also in the wider community with more affordable
meat for sale at local markets. In the farming families,
children benefit most from the increased availability
of fresh and nutritious meat from home-produced
guinea pigs.
Consumers too benefit, being happy now to be able
to buy guinea pig meat at local markets, particularly
since the quality and hygiene has improved. Corina, a
housemaid from downtown Cochabamba city said,
two years ago the presentation of guinea pigs at
market was not very appealing, and people like me did
not buy it even though I like the taste a lot. Another
consumer at a local supermarket said enthusiastically
that, it is an innovation to find guinea pig meat at this
supermarket, as it was looked down upon for many
years. And the meat is not only sold in local markets
and supermarkets. Those involved in the project also
sell 350 guinea pigs a week to local restaurants.
Breeding for success For local women,
i.e. those entrusted with the important task of feeding
their families and supporting their childrens growth
and development, the cuy project was an interesting
proposition. It offered a new opportunity to produce
protein-rich meat and to earn additional income.
A total of 38 families from Colomi joined the
project. Each family received between two and four
mating pairs, training in how to raise them, and initial
support for buying cages, roofing material and supplementary feed. The training courses covered various
aspects of animal management including how to separating them by age and gender, breeding and sanitation. Courses were organised as part of regular
weekend meetings when most people were available.
Jorge Ayala, a project coordinator, notes that At the
beginning, only a few people were interested in the
meetings, but two weeks later more people started attending. Over time, the meetings evolved into sessions where farmers would share their different experiences with, and approaches to, guinea pig farming.
Fitting the local context Besides the
increasing demand for improved access to affordable

animal protein, there were a number of other reasons
why the project had such a huge success.
It is no coincidence that guinea pigs are well suited
to the local culture. Guinea pigs, one of the oldest
domesticated animals in the Andean region, have
been part of farmers diets and rituals for centuries. All
of the families were familiar with raising and eating
guinea pigs and a number of families already kept a
few. But breeding and eating guinea pigs still had a
certain stigma attached to it, so much so that it was
difficult to find traditionally knowledge on raising
guinea pigs.
Learning within the project was strongly supported
by the existing social bonds between the participating
families. They were already part of a strong social
network, with most being active members of their
local church group. Others in the community also
became interested and wanted to join. I was interested in the project because I saw my neighbours experience with cuyes, explains Eliana, one of the
newer participants. Learning and experimenting as a
group also made the experience much more manageable for many of them.
Guinea pigs
The guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) is neither from
Guinea nor a member of the pig family. This
rodent, also known as cuy, cobayo and cavy in Latin
America, was domesticated in pre-Columbian
times, and is a well-known source of meat in Peru,
Ecuador, Bolivia and southern Colombia. There are
an estimated 36 million guinea pigs in this region,
where they are an important source of food as well
as having spiritual and medicinal value. They are
also reports of increasing interest in guinea pigs as
a potential source of meat elsewhere in the world.
As herbivores, guinea pigs naturally feed on large
quantities of forage such as grasses, legumes,
weeds and herbs. But they can also be fed on
kitchen scraps and are very good processors of
waste. Adult guinea pigs weigh between 1 and 2
kg and can provide a familys protein needs for a
day, though the meat is enjoyed for its taste as well
as its nutritional value. The meat contains more
than 20% protein, which is higher than in chicken,
beef, lamb or pork. And with only about 8% fat,
it is also leaner than most other common meats.
It is also rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and Vitamin
B, and as such is a healthier as well as cheaper
alternative to other meats.
Compared to raising other livestock, breeding guinea pigs is a relatively easy venture to get off the ground.
Photo: Eduardo Lopez Rosse A
Compared to raising other livestock, breeding

guinea pigs is a relatively easy venture to get off the
ground. It requires little initial investment, and so
most households can afford to make a start, at least
with bas. Not much space is needed and the animals
are docile and easy to handle. Producing guinea pigs
demand little in terms of farm resources, and does not
compete with other farm activities to any extent.
Building pride For decades, farming guinea

pigs was associated with poverty and a low class diet.
Many people still think of them only as rodents,
vermin, eaten only by poor peasant farmers. These
stigmas persist, but experiences in Colomi show that
the tables are turning. In August 2014, a fair was held
in nearby Cochabamba city to promote guinea pig
farming and the consumption of guinea pig meat.
Animals from different regions were exhibited, with a
cookery competition and taste testing between
different guinea pig dishes. More events like this will
help to further demystify the eating of guinea pig
meat.
And from production Some
families built cages, others used empty rooms at home

if they had any, with each family taking their own,
slightly different approach to housing. This was also

the case with feeding, as many families started to
experiment with different types of food.At the
beginning I used to feed my cuyes with kitchen scraps
said Celia, one of the farmers. After I received
training, I began using supplementary feeds which I
mix with the kitchen scraps. This provides my cuyes
with a better meal and it reduces my expenses. All
these and many more different experiences on feeding
and housing were shared during project meetings, and
this really helped with farmer to farmer learning.
Guinea pig farming really is a family affair. Often,
adults in the household feed the guinea pigs early in
the morning before work, leaving other tasks to children and older members of the household. The
number of animals kept depends on the size of the
family as well as the availability of food. The amount
of money that can be generated through the sale of
guinea pigs is also a consideration when deciding how
and where to invest resources into the family farm.
to consumption The link between

production and consumption was strengthened by the
active involvement of women, who made up most of
those involved in the cuy project. Their main tasks
used to be household chores, so breeding guinea pigs
Guinea pig dishes prepared for a local tasting

competition in Cochabamba.
Photo: Eduardo Lopez Rosse A
presented a huge opportunity for these women to

produce meat for the family and earn extra money too.
Eliana is from from Sipe Sipe. Two years after the
project started, she now has 110 guinea pigs, most of
which she keeps for family consumption. Isabel Laime
similarly divides her guinea pigs, every three months,
60 new cuyes are born. I prepare 40 for family dinners
and sell 20 at Sipe Sipe market.
And increasing demand Local
families in Colomi are enjoying the increased access

to nutritious animal protein and an additional source
of income. But the positive impacts resulting from the
cuy project are also being felt well beyond the initial
project area, with guinea pig farming improving the
nutrition of non-producing families.
Meat quality has improved 100%, says Jorge Ayala,
involved in coordination of the project. Consumers
are realising this and demand for guinea pig meat has
begun to exceed supply, causing the prices to rise.
Three years ago a 0.8 kg guinea pig was selling for
US$1.15 on the local market, but today, an animal of
the same weight will sell for as much as US$3.17.
Local supermarkets are also selling around 3000
guinea pigs per week now, and which is expected to
increase further in the future.
Nutritional impact Nutritional improvements in Colomi resulted from the convergence of a

local need and an initiative which was very well
adapted to the local context. Also, the women who
took up guinea pig farming facilitated the nutritional

impact, as they were in a position to control the allocation of resources between food on their familys plates
and income for the household. The resulting resurgence of guinea pig meat production and consumption in Bolivia also holds promise for realising the
potential of guinea pig production beyond the Andean
region.
Eduardo Lopez Rosse A. is a PhD candidate at CIDESUMSA and a technician at the Department of Consumer
Defense at Gobierno Autonomo Municipal de Cochabamba, Bolivia. Email: elopez@catie.ac.cr
LOCALLY ROOTED > IDEAS AND INITIATIVES FROM THE FIELD
Improving family nutrition is the primary goal of family farmers, though

how they strive to do so varies considerably. As we see here, increasing
crop diversity on their farms and growing more traditional varieties are
two ways, but increasing livestock production is another that can also
have huge impacts.
India
The rich diversity of forest foods
t is a massive crisis, a crisis that is not

of our making. I fear our whole life,
livelihood and culture may be lost
forever if we do not start educating our
children and future generations to conserve nature,
live harmoniously with the seasons, and revive our
traditional and biodiverse nutritional security.
This poignant lament of a tribal woman sums up
the motivation behind the
Tribal Food Festival held
in February 2014 at Bissam
Cuttack in Odisha, India. The
festival showcased traditional
food culture and age-old
agricultural practices of the
Adivasi communities. Over
600 Adivasis, mostly women
from more than 200 tribal
villages from all over eastern
and central India, came to
celebrate the rich diversity of their traditional food

culture. More than 1500 foods and dishes were on
display, with 900 from wild forest plants. The festival
was a vibrant celebration of food and culture, Debjeet
Sarangi of Living Farms, one of the organisers
explains. A wealth of living knowledge yet exists in
our indigenous communities regarding their forest
bio-resources. If such practices are nurtured and
improved, they would provide
far better food and nutrition
security than the current public
distribution system, and also help
the communities and the forests
protect each other.
For more information, contact

Bharat Mansata, writer and editor
affiliated with Earthcare Books
(bharatmansata@yahoo.com).
The
Gambia
I
Collective milk and manure
n 1997, falling groundnut yields and prices led
60 families in the Upper River Region of the
Gambia to start the Misera Livestock Farmers
Association (MLFA). Seeking to increase their
incomes, they began to collectively manage a farm,
supported by the Womens Bureau, the Department
of Livestock Services, and the Livestock and
Horticulture Development Project. Membership has
grown to 100 families and besides farming together,
a communal spirit is thriving thanks to social and
religious gatherings. Their focus on local breeds of
sheep and goats has also led to other benefits. This
initiative not only improves our income, it is also
improving the quality of our diets, says Tida Danso.
Income is generated from live animal sales, while up
to two litres of milk per day became available for the
children. The collective is now increasing the number

of breeding animals, and planting more fodder trees
such as Leuceana leucocephala and Moringa oleifera.
The manure has also doubled vegetable yields, so
much more cabbage, sorrel, onion, okra, pepper and
tomatoes now ends up on family plates and are not
just for market, leading to a huge increase in dietary
diversity. The groups focus on nutrition is expanding,
now involved in a project focusing on infant nutrition.
For more information, contact Olawale Olaniyan
(ofolaniyan@hotmail.com) and
Fafa Cham (foc1972@gmail.com).
Afghanistan
Female farmer poultry schools
n Afghanistan, imports of meat, poultry, eggs,

cereals and even fruit and vegetables have
become the order of the day. This has exacerbated
poor nutrition experienced by vulnerable rural
households. Empowered women producing local
food are a strong link between increased production
and nutritional improvements. Starting in 2010, a
backyard poultry development project, funded by
International Fund for Agriculture Development
(IFAD) through the Rural Microfinance and Livestock

Support Program of the Ministry of Agriculture,
Irrigation and Livestock, highlights this critical
link. The project was built upon a participatory
approach to training through female farmer poultry
schools (FFPS). Women were empowered to take
the necessary decisions to begin rearing poultry.
These poultry schools also ensured that practical
and affordable solutions to challenges with housing
and feeding were developed. Some examples are
halving winter feeding costs with hydroponic barley,
wheat and sprouted pulse forages, and using readily
available resources like mud and old plastic cans to
make nests and coops. Today, 6000 village women are
each producing and selling up to 2500 eggs every day,
translating into income and food for their families as
well as visible nutritional gains especially for young
children.
For more information, contact Mohammad Jafar
Emal, national poultry advisor at the Ministry of
Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Afghanistan
(jafar.emal@hotmail.com).
East Timor
Healthy poultry make for healthy people
ne egg can provide nearly half the

recommended daily protein needs for
children under three, and undernutrition
is reduced more efficiently with access
to optimal combinations of food from both animal
and plant sources. Francisca Jos, a farmer from
Aileu District explained that If we dont have
money, we sell chickens to buy food and school
materials. If we had more and healthier chickens,
we could sell some and eat some. We eat chicken
only once a month but with more we can have
more eggs and eat meat more often. But there is
a problem diseases causing high levels of chicken
mortality, and especially Newcastle disease can kill
virtually all the birds in a whole village. Farmers then
keep many eggs to replace dead birds. Poultry are
often owned and managed by women so training in
vaccination and management was planned with this
in mind, with more female extension agents from the
Ministry of Agriculture, encouraging gender balance
in community vaccinators, and village-level training
reducing the need for child care. Improved poultry

production strengthens household food and nutrition
security, reduces poverty, and benefits are also felt in
urban communities when farmers can sell more birds
and eggs.
For more information, contact Robyn Alders at the
University of Sydney (robyn.alders@sydney.edu.au).
NUTRITION > PROMOTING TRADITIONAL FOOD
Food
fairs
revive local food
and improve nutrition
Food fairs are an important tool and space to promote

food sovereignty as they take place in local public spaces
and within peoples own socio-cultural settings. One
excellent example was a food fair in Ghana, organised by
the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational
Development (CIKOD). Women farmers exhibited
traditional crops and foods, emphasising their importance
for local and national food and nutrition security. The fair
reminded community and political leaders of the value
of neglected traditional foods. Some years later, it can
be seen how this and subsequent food fairs helped to
ensure the improved integration of traditional foods and
agroecological farming into national food security plans.
Bern Guri and Patricia Dianon
n Ghana as in many other countries, government policies tend to give far greater support to
the production of cash crops for export, than to
local food crops that play a vital role for good
nutrition and food security. This is especially
marked in the more arid northern regions of
Ghana that are most affected by climate change and
declining soil fertility. This has led to the paradoxical
situation where the country is experiencing increasing
economic growth generated by agriculture, based on
export crops such as cocoa, pineapples and bananas,
while at the same time food and nutrition insecurity in
rural households in the drier regions of the north are
also on the rise.
To advocate for the production of more food to feed
the family, to diversify crops to include local foods for
nutrition, and to reduce risks caused by climate
change, CIKOD organised a traditional food fair in
June 2011 in the district of Lawra in Upper West
Region. More than three hundred women farmers, led
by their traditional female leaders and hundreds of
men and children from the Lawra and Nandom areas,
participated in an exhibition of indigenous foods and
seeds.
songsoli and yams, grown with local knowledge passed

from generation to generation, provide families with a
balanced nutrition. Another advantage is that such
crops often produce at least some yield even in dry
years. Thus, traditional crops contribute to nutrition
not only through diversified diets, but also by reducing
the risks associated with uncertain rainfall, and ensure
food security even in drought years. They are adapted
to local conditions and so require fewer, if any, of the
costly external inputs that are needed to grow rice,
maize or specialised export crops.
Women from the Rural Women Farmers Association
of Ghana (RUWFAG) carried out a successful awareness raising campaign at market places throughout the
district about the adverse health effects of eating vegetables that had been sprayed with toxic pesticides.
Based on their traditional knowledge, and armed with
data about local cases of sickness and even death
caused by the use of toxic chemicals in agriculture,
RUWFAG had all the ingredients necessary for an effective information campaign at their food fair, in
order to promote traditional, climate resilient and
diverse foods that increase nutrition and build food
sovereignty.
Traditional food and crops To
All walks of life The food fair was a special
improve access to local foods and diversify family diets

for better nutrition in rural communities, it is essential
to learn from traditional food production practices.
There are very many more traditional or indigenous
crops as compared to the handful of staple crops that
have become widely promoted in the name of the
Green Revolution where the focus is only on short
term productivity gains. Furthermore, a diet consisting
of traditional crops provides a far richer level of
nutrition than these now dominant staple crop plants.
In northern Ghana, traditional cereals, legumes,
roots and tubers, such as sorghum, millet, groundnut,
Singing and dancing at the food fair.

Photo: Groundswell International
occasion where local farmers, traditional leaders and

political leaders came together in the same place to
chew over the same issues. But each group used their
own way to express themselves in relation to local
foods.
The regional minister and the Paramount Chief
both recalled memories of the way they used to eat
traditional foods and the meaning these foods used to
have. However, both noted that such local foods have
become rarer over the years. The coordinator of
RUWFAG, Madam Rebecca Sebri, described in detail
the negative impacts of genetically modified crops,
pesticides and chemical fertilizers on the health of
rural families. This was corroborated by the representative of the Ministry of Health, Madam Doris Ziekah.
Performing arts by local people played a major role
in the fair. Women from different villages took turns to
perform songs that described the lack of adequate
amounts of healthy food, and the negative effects of
industrial farming methods. These songs, some of
which were spontaneous, also conveyed strong messages on the value of traditional foods. All such songs
were accompanied by dancing.
This was followed by an official tasting session of
more than 50 traditional foods by the dignitaries and
the general public. The local foods tasted included
tuo, beng saab, tubani, perkpage, gbulyang, bir-neme,
nyusaab, piereh, and many other dishes. It was especially significant that traditional leaders ate these foods
in front of other people. Although this went against
Proudly displaying nutritious traditional dishes at the food fair. Photo: Groundswell International
community customs, the traditional leaders decided to

do this to show the importance they gave to the
message of promoting nutritious local foods.
A new surge in popularity As a

result of the fair, traditional foods, once looked down
upon particularly by the youth, have now become
much more popular. Importantly, this heightened
cultivation and consumption of local crops has been
matched with the increased recognition of traditional
foods and the role of women at the political level.
The Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture extended an invitation to the women of RUWFAG
to provide an exhibit of local foods at the upcoming
District Farmers Day celebration. They accepted, and
were subsequently awarded a prize for their contribution to food security in the district. The Director later
invited the leaders of RUWFAG to his office, where
they discussed how the ministry could accommodate
their ideas into district planning and priorities.
Youth in Tanchara took a cue from the success of
the traditional food fair and organised a quiz on traditional crops and foods. This was a novel means of educating themselves and their friends. Soon afterwards,
traditional women leaders decided to organise similar
fairs in Ko and Tanchara districts.
The food fair also motivated women farmers in the
Lawra and Nandom areas to invest in increasing the
production of traditional crops on their fields. They
started a mutual savings and loan support programme
to provide access to credit to women members to buy
seeds, and for engaging labour to increase the areas
grown with traditional crops. The subsequent season

saw a doubling in the production of such crops, including kpur-womeh, piereh and songsogli.
A little while after the fair, an organisation of midwives approached CIKOD with a request for developing a recipe book of traditional dishes using local
crops. This recipe book proved a great success. It continues to be distributed to all the pregnant women
they support.
Factors of success The active engage-
ment of political and traditional leaders was one of the

keys to the impacts of the food fair. The CIKOD team
followed the appropriate protocols in inviting the chief
pognaa (the womens traditional leader) and the
District Chief Executive. They did this well in
advance, so building trust and the basis for a longstanding relationship with the traditional authorities.
Their participation was essential, because the public
tasting of traditional foods by the political and traditional leaders, especially the chiefs, helped to convince the general public of the value of traditional
foods. As the saying goes, what the eyes see, the heart
desires. Tasting the food convinced people of the importance of traditional crops, and brought back many
memories. The pognaa of Lawra, Pognaa Karbo
lamented that, When I was a young girl, bengvaar
and groundnut soup with kaziong-saab was what was
prepared to feed the young men that came to help on
my fathers farm. This traditional diet gave them
strength and vitality for the hard work. This has now
been replaced by rice.
The socio-cultural setting of the fair was also important. The local tradition of having a fair, being familiar
to the many farmers who attended, made people feel
comfortable. The fair was based on local knowledge
and local resources which added to a sense of ownership by the men and women farmers who attended.
Morale at the fair was boosted by the wide publicity
provided through radio, television and print media.
This was possible because of CIKODs good relationships with journalists. Various publications all had
positive captions encouraging everyone to patronise
traditional crops and food.
The bigger picture This fair and the
promotion of traditional crops and foods directly

confront the dominant food system based on Green
Revolution technologies and thinking, which has
permeated most of Ghana. Food fairs are part of a
broader range of activities that promote agroecological
farming, and together are important in challenging
this increasingly entrenched farming system.
This experience has shown how food fairs, if organised to create a common space for farmers, traditional
and political leaders, can have huge potential for

further strengthening the role of traditional foods and
crops, while also strengthening agroecological practices. In many West African communities there are
thanksgiving festivals after harvests. These local festivals are also wonderful opportunities for holding traditional food fairs that demonstrate the value of traditional food crops as a means of increasing food sovereignty and nutrition security.
Bern Guri is the Director of CIKOD, and Chair of the

Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, and Patricia
Dianon is a farmer, and a leader of the Rural Women
Farmers Association of Ghana.
Email: patdianon@yahoo.com and guribern@gmail.com
The authors would like to thank Daniel Bunuoku, Elham
Mumuni, and Julia Toboyee from CIKOD and Mary Assumpta
Mwinsigten and Rebecca A Sabri from RUWFAG for their
contributions to this article, which was originally written as part of
a systematisation process facilitated by ILEIA and Groundswell
International.
Women celebrate the benefits of agroecology and healthy food. Photo: Groundswell International
INTERVIEW > LUIS GINOCCHIO
Gastronomy
is a search for tasty, local,
nutritious food
Promoting the holistic nature of nutrition and its links
with gastronomy is Luis Ginocchios bread and butter
as the expression goes. For Perus former minister of
Agriculture, who also authored the book Small farming
and food, it is an overriding interest. Gastronomy
is defined as the practice of choosing, cooking, and
eating good food, or the cookery of a particular region.
Ginocchio links it directly to nutrition and local food
production systems.
Interview: Teobaldo Pinzs
ow can gastronomy address the link

between family farmers and nutrition?
I work with the Peruvian Gastronomy Society (APEGA), and we are
currently helping to articulate the
views and needs of small scale family farmers and
small business in our cities food markets, and improving their business management tools. We have been
working with a group of farmers for more than a year
now, shortening marketing chains with a new Sunday
market in Magdalena district near the centre of Lima.
Limas markets are key public areas to strengthen the
prosperity of family farmers as well as the nutrition of
urban families. We also hope to improve how these
markets are managed and run. A third component we
are working on is an information system that will
include not only the prices of the main crops at the
market that are produced by family farmers, but also
the territories that the various products come from,
and how the producers are organised. These will all
help consumers to recognise the origin of the food
they buy, while also increasing the income of family
farmers.
What are the main challenges

for your initiatives? Family farmers face
a number of challenges in order to be able to market

their produce, such as long distances from the farm to
asphalted roads, especially in mountainous areas,
being far from markets in larger cities. They are also
struggling against the growing popularity of other,
illegal crops. We also feel that gastronomy faces a
double challenge in Peru. This first is to make family
farming viable, considering it produces the largest
amount of food in the country. The second is to fight
against nutritional deficiencies, expressed in high rates
of chronic child malnutrition, reaching levels of 40%
and more in some parts of country. This highlights a
great paradox: Peru, a country that has such a great
agricultural biodiversity, such an abundance of
species, such a huge variability of flavors and nutritional content in the food that it produces, originating
from amazingly varied ecosystems, still has such very
high rates of child malnutrition.
What is your strategy for

reducing malnutrition? We are
working on another project that we have called the

Peruvian diet, through which we aim to promote a
healthy, nutritious and tasty style of eating that will
increase the well-being of Peruvians, especially
children. We are going to launch the Peruvian diet at
the end of 2014 in a food fair . The Peruvian diet will
promote the consumption of many nutritious Peruvian
dishes and the produce of small rural agricultural
enterprises, many of which have been replaced by

other products brought in by globalisation. Therefore,
what the Peruvian diet aims is to persuade consumers
that we need to recover what we have lost, in other
words the consumption of traditional products with a
positive effect on our nutrition. We are going to do this
with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, and we
hope that the Ministry of Health will also participate,
as well as the Ministry of Development and Social
Inclusion, which through its school breakfast programme, plays a very important role in the development of local food supply. It is essential, for example,
that this programme should purchase local produce.
The slogan proposed by APEGA for the Peruvian diet
project is Eat tasty, eat healthy, eat Peruvian. In
other words, we must revalue what we have, in order
to innovate, recover our best culinary traditions, and
use the immense pantry provided by our biodiversity
to win the fight against the scourge of hunger and
chronic malnutrition, especially in children.
Eat those products

that are near you, the
products produced
in your region, and
recover the eating habits
of your parents and
grandparents.
What is your message? The message
to the general public is eat those products that are
near you, the products produced in your region, and
recover the eating habits of your parents and grandparents. The Peruvian diet calls on governmental
organisations to take ownership of and promote this
initiative, especially in the regions with the highest
rates of malnutrition
Is this about going back or
looking forward? The revaluation of
locally produced food does not mean a denial of

modernity, it means recovering what made us strong,
what gave us vigour in earlier generations. We have no
qualms about saying that globalization is positive for
the world. But to improve our nutrition we need our
family farmers and our local retail food markets. In
Lima alone there are an estimated 2000 markets,
including street markets, open markets and groups of
stalls where good food is sold, as well as countless
containing wisdom on which we have to continue

building.
How can this help family

farmers? Some people think that family
Andean grain quinoa. Photo: APEGA
neighbourhood grocery stores where fresh produce

can be found. At the same time there is a change in
the food paradigm worldwide. Not long ago I was
reading about a global hamburger chain that has seen
its sales go down consistently over the last two quarters
because consumers are opting for local food, as these
people now want to recover their local cultural
expression. Gastronomy is a cultural industry; it is an
expression of our people. The search for healthy food
is also a search for tasty food a gastronomic search.
Every year we hold a Gastronomy Fair called Mistura.
This year a chef and a farmer cooked side by side,
providing a wonderful image of how we work together
to tackle the challenge for healthy food.
What about obesity? Malnutrition is

also about inadequate eating, which generates
another public health problem, obesity. Eating well is
also about the combination and the volume of what
we are eating. At the Mistura Gastronomy Fair this
year, it was said eat tasty, eat healthy, eat Peruvian
and eat little. This is a message that needs to be
disseminated, and APEGA is collaborating with the
Ministry of Health, NGOs and diverse local organisations around campaigns to promote better eating.
This means that we must balance, combine and
measure our rations.
Is Peru alone in its efforts? No.
The Public Health Ministry of Brazil has recently

published an update of its guide on nutrition, a
document that provides guidance to the countrys
consumers. Our sisters and brothers in neighbouring
countries are also making efforts to promote good
health and nutrition by bringing old traditions back to
life, recovering ingredients and products that are not
or only rarely consumed today. To innovate means to
apply knowledge in new places, but we must no deny
the origin of this knowledge. Our knowledge about
food comes from far back in time, our history,
farming cannot ensure the adequate nutrition of a

growing population. They insist on the idea of
incentivizing large-scale ownership of agricultural
land and the application of conventional or industrial
farming, with the intensive use of synthetic fertilizers,
pesticides and even genetically modified seeds. So this
defines our pending agenda how to make family
farming a viable enterprise. But very importantly, we
have to face the challenge of how to make the
countryside attractive to a younger generation,
because most farmers today are more than 50 years
old. This is related to the promotion of effective
producer associations and to the need to increase
productivity.
Where do we go from here? We
are trying to create a change in market demands, so

that more people will buy the products of family
farmers. But family farmers must also produce foods
that meet market requirements. At APEGA, we have
just undertaken analysis that found that the current
cost of labour in Peru makes it difficult for family
farming on terraces to be viable. The conclusion is
that recovering the terraces requires mechanisation. It
is paradoxical that in a country that needs to generate
employment we have to recur to mechanisation, but
without it there will be no production and the terraces
will be abandoned. Cultivating terraces is a pre-Hispanic technique that enables us to increase the area of
agricultural land, and Peru is a country with very little
actual agricultural land per capita.
We are a country where

people can come and
learn how to eat
We are not a country with great expanses of land in
which to sow genetically modified crops, as other
countries do, especially in South America. To the contrary, we are a country that can produce a great variety
of crops, with very diverse tastes, scents, colours that
can excite the palate, to supply our gastronomy, and
our nutrition. We are a country where people can
come to learn how to eat. APEGA is conscious that
this is a very ambitious goal, but we are working
towards it day in and day out, so that nutrition
becomes one of the great components of gastronomy
to the benefit of everyone in our country, and beyond.
OPINION
eff. We all grew up loving it. We are still mad about

it. But years back, we were taught that all it contained
of any nutritional value was iron. As when straw is
mixed with mud to make houses, it was a common joke that
when you eat teff you plaster your gut. The failure of our
national football team was even blamed on eating teff. So
I was shocked when some 15 years ago, I was told that it is
better than wheat, barley and even quinoa in its nutritional
content.
We have a lot of varieties of teff in Ethiopia. Some estimate
more than 60. I remember asking a group of students in
2002 about the value of having all this diversity. They
came back the next day and said that they are needed
for different soil types and altitudes, and the crop is also
valued for cultural ceremonies and especially by women as
it is very nutritious and important for children. Asked about
the current situation, they said their parents told them that
many varieties are being lost.
This raises a lot of questions. Why was teff not valued
nutritionally by the educated before, and what would
have happened if we had lost this diversity forever? How
many nutritional food plants are out there that we do not
yet know about? The world has lost over 93 per cent of its
seed varieties and is relying on a dwindling reserve. Are the
new hybrid seeds, the central components of large scale
agriculture, as nutritious as grains like teff? Research has
shown that the food grown organically by smallscale farmers
is much more nutritious than food from industrial processes.
A persistent worry for me is the loss of knowledge related
to these nutritious crops. The story of the students shows
how the youth are not learning from their parents. How
then can we transfer this wisdom to the next generation?
What will happen if that knowledge is lost? One of the
biggest conferences on Green Revolution technologies was
recently held in Ethiopia. The main outcome was that high
input agriculture was needed to boost food production in
Africa. What then will be the fate of the many unknown,
undervalued and potentially nutritious crops if and when
they succeed?
Million Belay is the director of the Movement

for Ecological Learning and Community Action
(MELCA), Ethiopia, and the coordinator of the
Africa Food Sovereignty Alliance. He has been our
regular columnist during 2014, and we thank him for
his insights throughout the year.
Email: millionbelay@gmail.com
Twitter: @million_belay
Will the
Green
Revolution
really
nutritionalise
Africa?
NEW IN PRINT > NEW BOOKS ON NUTRITION

Agroecology: What it is and what it has to offer
L. Silici, 2014. IIED Issue Paper. International Institute for Environment and Development
(IIED), London, UK, 28 pages.
This paper provides a concise overview of agroecology, what it offers, barriers

preventing it becoming more widespread, and what needs to be done. The scene
is set with how agroecology has evolved as a scientific discipline, set of practices
and a social movement, and an analysis of the growing body of evidence on what
it can offer. Despite evidence that agroecology offers sustainability, productivity
and food sovereignty, promotion of agroecology in public agricultural policies,
research and extension is still limited. The report concludes by looking forward,
with suggestions on how to remedy this. The author calls for continued consolidation of the evidence base to support agroecology and to build constructive complementarities between agroecology and so called conventional farming. Lastly,
we are reminded that a fundamental cultural and philosophical shift in how we
define productive and efficient agriculture is needed.
The State of Food and Agriculture: Innovation in Family

Farming
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2014. FAO, Rome, Italy.
140 pages.
This annual collection of thoughts and figures on agriculture and agricultural production by the worlds leading organization devoted to food-related issues, is this
year dedicated to family farming. The annex tables are as informative as ever,
providing an overview of key information regarding trends in land holdings and
labour. But the meat is in the text. The pivotal role family farmers play in ensuring
that humanity is able to feed itself is clearly expressed. A very thorough review of
all recent and relevant literature tries to find out what strategy should be taken
towards small family farms? The findings stress the importance of recognizing
their diversity and the need to improve supplementary or alternative employment
and income. However, FAO continue to promote the possibility of sustainable
productivity growth for poverty reduction and improved food security. To achieve
this, it argues for two interrelated pathways: development and application of new
technologies and practices via farmer-led and formal research; and application
and adaptation of existing technologies and processes alongside traditional integrated farming systems. All in all it provides hope that we are beginning to see
the light, but ensuring that this light burns brightly and continuously is another
matter.
Global Nutrition Report 2014: Actions and Accountability

to Accelerate the Worlds Progress on Nutrition.
International Food Policy Research Institute, 2014. IFPRI, Washington DC, USA. 100 pages.
This excellent publication is full of essential reading and valuable figures on nutrition-related issues. It is aimed at nutrition champions and their allies. The authors
propose three types of complementary strategies to address challenges underlying malnutrition and hunger: nutrition-specific, nutrition sensitive, and enabling
environmental investments. The report concludes that these strategies can have
high human and economic returns. But the report fails to highlight the vital role of
family farmers, especially women, in combating hunger and malnutrition, a
notable omissionin a document that appears in the International Year of Family
Farming. Thereby, it overlooks the tremendous actual and potential contribution
of 500 million family farmers to local and global food and nutrition security.
Deep Roots
J. Griffiths (ed.), 2014. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
Rome, Italy, and Tudor Rose, UK. 256 pages.
To celebrate the International Year of family Farming, FAO produced this extensive tome dedicated to stories surrounding the actual and potential future benefits of family farming. Deep Roots contains some 70 specially commissioned articles on diverse aspects of family farming from around the world, including regional overview papers that summarise the current situation and recent developments in each. ILEIA also contributed with an agroecological perspective in Unlocking the potential of family farmers with agroecology (pages 42-45), followed
by articles on gender and youth. FAOS Director General Jose Graziano da Silva
tells us that out of 570 million farms in the world, 500 million are family owned,
making the well-being of farm families inextricably woven into the overall wellbeing of societies, with tremendous implications for food production and sustainability. He also confirms the organisations commitment to supporting FAO
member states in shaping enabling policies and the knowledge environment for
family farming in the years to come. Many photos in the book, including the cover
photo, are entries in the AgriCultures Networks Family Farming Photo Competition.
Smallholder Agricultures Contribution to Better

Nutrition
S. Wiggins and S. Keats, 2013. Overseas Development Institute, London, UK. 96 pages.
For most of the last 50 years, food production has increased ahead of population
growth, with much of this coming from small scale family farms. Why then are such
households still disproportionately vulnerable to undernutrition? The report does
not address this question, as the real answer would indicate that more extreme
actions are needed than the general recommendations put forward. These are
that smallholder agricultural development can be an excellent way to reduce
poverty and tackle hunger, that patterns of agricultural development need steering towards more diversified food production, and that smallholder agricultural
programmes need backing up with primary health care, clean water and sanitation, female empowerment and other interventions. No-one may disagree with
any of these, but it appears that much more is required, and that would involve a
radical change in mindset regarding a rebalancing of power between family farms
and local food systems, and the farming for profit agri-business model that currently dominates.
Corporate Influence through the G8 New Alliance for

Food Security and Nutrition in Africa
W. Obenland, 2014. Bischfliches Hilfswerk MISEREOR e.V., Brot fr die Welt, and the Global Policy Forum, Germany. 23 pages.
The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (G8NA), was inaugurated in
2012 as a commitment by the governments of the G8, African countries and corporate sector partners to lift 50 million people out of poverty in ten years by unleashing the power of the private sector. Ten African countries have signed cooperation agreements and several domestic and international companies have
pledged to invest in areas relevant to food security and nutrition, amounting to
more than US$7 billion. The G8NA has been heavily criticized, however, and this
report adds to the discussion. Core problems with the initiative are highlighted,
including governance of the alliance, the dominance of large corporate actors,
and that it is poorly integrated into existing international processes and agreements. It concludes with a call halting the G8NA altogether unless radical changes
are implemented, such as greater transparency, more civil society participation,
and framing options within Committee on World Food Security principles and
guidelines.
PERSPECTIVES >
Weve had enough of
hunger
and
malnutrition!
epresentatives from small scale farming,

fishing and pastoralist communities,
consumers and the urban poor, women,
youth, indigenous peoples and agricultural and food workers gathered. These
social movements joined civil society
organisations to share their values and their aspirations. We joined forces to agree on a common vision
on how to eradicate malnutrition in all its forms, and
to hold governments and intergovernmental organisations to account regarding their obligations and
commitments.
Our joint declaration presented to world governments started by stating that: It is unacceptable that
in a world of plenty more than 800 million of our brothers and sisters go to bed hungry every night and over
half a billion are obese.(...) The injustice of malnutrition has meant that several thousand of our children
have died since this discussion started. These problems
should have been tackled a long time ago.
The conclusion of the official ICN2 negotiations is
a welcome step, in particular its focus on malnutrition
in all its forms, on the life-cycle approach and on the
need to revisit the food system. We broadly welcomed
the conclusions, but found them inadequate to face
the magnitude of the malnutrition challenge. In particular, the concluding documents did not give due
attention to the root causes of malnutrition.
Peoples movements and

civil society organisations
have sent a powerful
message to governments
around the world during
the Second International
Conference on Nutrition
(ICN2) held in Rome on
19-21 November. For
three days prior to the
conference, close to 200
representatives from all
walks of life met to prepare
a civil society joint position
that was presented to
the final plenary of the
conference. And this is
what we said and what
happened.
Flavio Luiz Valente
Vital issues ignored Some of these root
causes were only marginally dealt with, or were even

effectively swept under the proverbial carpet. One of
the vital issues is the increasingly negative impact of
predatory initiatives by the private sector and especially transnational corporations, through land
grabbing, and also the grabbing of oceans and lakes,
seeds and native genetic resources, as well as cultural
and social goods.
Another ignored issue is related to the severe negative impacts of the dominant agro-industrial food
systems that erode and contaminate our soil and water,
acidify the ocean, destroy biodiversity and dietary diversity, and add to the worlds climate change challenge. The aggressive marketing of heavily processed
PERSPECTIVES > CIVIL SOCIETY SPEAKS

foods is the main cause of the obesity epidemics and
similarly, the marketing of breast milk substitutes is
undermining all the known health benefits of breastfeeding. Finally, in the conclusions no mention was
made of the need to stop violence against women and
violations of womens rights, including child marriage
and unwanted adolescent pregnancy, which continue
to be one of the most important causes of infant and
woman malnutrition.
Taking this into account Our joint
declaration notes these issues by stating that nutrition

can only be addressed in the context of vibrant and
flourishing local food systems that are deeply ecologically rooted, environmentally sound and culturally and
socially appropriate. We are convinced that food
sovereignty is a fundamental pre-condition to ensure
food security and guarantee the human right to
adequate food and nutrition.
In this context, it is necessary to reaffirm the centrality of small-scale and family food producers as the key
actors and drivers of local food systems and the main
investors in agriculture. Their secure access to, and
control over, resources such as land, water and aquatic
resources, adequate mobility routes, local seeds, breeds
and all other genetic resources, technical and financial
resources, as well as social protection, particularly for
women, are all essential factors to ensure diversified
diets and adequate nutrition.
The declaration also reaffirms our understanding of
food being inseparable from nutrition: Food is the expression of values, cultures, social relations and peoples
self-determination, and the act of feeding oneself and
others embodies our sovereignty, ownership and empowerment. When nourishing ourselves and eating with our
family, friends, and community, we reaffirm our cultural
identities, interdependence with nature, control of our life
course and human dignity. Understanding the challenge
of malnutrition in all its forms therefore requires a holistic and multidisciplinary analysis, one that combines the
political and technical perspectives.
Rights and wrongs At the same time, we

demanded that all policies, programmes and action
plans on food, nutrition and related issues, must be
framed within an unambiguous understanding that
the right to adequate food and nutrition and the right
to health and water, are fundamental human rights.
We also called for a clause to forbid the use of food as
a political and economic weapon in the official ICN2
declaration.
However, it was not easy to get this accepted. Some
powerful governments stalled the discussions, and attempted to eliminate any reference to the human right
to adequate food and nutrition. They were able to significantly weaken the ICN2 declaration and frame-
work for action, but a few Latin American, Asian and

African governments together with some European
governments managed to salvage part of it. Effectively,
these governments guaranteed that the human right to
adequate food is mentioned at least in one paragraph,
but not as the framework in which nutrition must be
dealt with, and the present agricultural model was recognized as one of the main problems.
Some governments wanted to keep the global governance of food security and nutrition separate from
the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), all
though this is currently the most inclusive intergovernmental platform. Their intention to launch a separate
UN nutrition governance network a few days before
ICN2 was put in the open by civil society, and consequently aborted under pressure from member states.
In corridors in Rome, we heard that several governments from all continents are defending the food and
nutrition governance mechanism proposed by us as
civil society. Our proposal actually puts the Committee
on World Food Security at the centre of promoting coherent food and nutrition policies with the realisation of
human rights for all. We also called upon members
states to request the Human Rights Council to ensure
that the follow up to this ICN2 conference is coherent
with respect to protection and fulfilment of the right to
adequate food and nutrition, and related rights.
Flavio Luiz Valente is Secretary General of FIAN
International , an international organisation that advocates
for the right to food.. Email: Valente@fian.org
22 years an entire generation have passed

since the first International Conference on
Nutrition. It is unacceptable that millions of people
continue suffer from and die of preventable causes
of malnutrition in all its forms. This violence must
stop immediately. We call upon Member States
to make clear and firm commitments at both
national and international levels to ensure the full
realisation of the human right to adequate food
and nutrition and related rights. We will not watch
idly as another 22 years pass by. We stand ready
to play our part and take up our responsibilities.
We demand that Member States and the UN
system live up to their obligations. We hereby
declare a worldwide Peoples Decade of Action
on Nutrition. The time for action is now!
From the Public Interest Civil Society Organizations
and Social Movements Forum Declaration
presented at ICN2, Rome, 21 November 2014.
For the full declaration see: www.fian.org
REFLECTIONS > A
T THE CLOSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL
YEAR OF FAMILY FARMING
Towards
stronger
family farms
Recommendations from the

International Year of Family Farming
Photo: Somenath Mukhopadhyay
Improving the situation of family farmers is a burning

need. And as they produce an estimated 70% of the
worlds food, it is an issue that affects us all. The 2014
International Year of Family Farming aimed to create
a better understanding of family farming and support
the development of pro-family farming policies. This
article highlights some of the key proposals made
during the year.
Janneke Bruil
hen 2014 was proclaimed the

International Year of Family
Farming (IYFF), the United
Nations shone a spotlight on
the essential contributions of
family farmers to food
security, community well being, the economy,
conservation, biodiversity, sustainable resource use,
and climate resilience.
However, the trend in recent decades has been for
governments to focus on agricultural commodities and
free markets, while the majority of the worlds 500
million farming families lack the investments and policies that would allow them to grow. Family farmers
and their organisations are often excluded from decision making processes, and they are finding it increasingly difficult to access land to farm and the resources
to be able to so, including local seeds and breeds.
Combined with climate change, this leads to increased rural poverty, chronic hunger, resource degradation, and an unprecedented outflow of people to
urban area, especially the young.
Throughout the International Year of Family
Farming, specific policy recommendations and best
practices were proposed, collated from many rich
debates into nine highlighted areas that indicate the
major issues affecting family farmers.
1. Cross-sectoral approaches
Discussions on family farming should also address urbanisation, rural infrastructure, traditional and indigenous knowledge and culture, education and support
services, and youth development. A cross-sectoral and
territorial approach was emphasised, such as in integrated rural development programmes. Diversified
agroecological practices that use local knowledge
should be promoted as the basis for climate resilience,
and the importance of expanding income opportunities in rural areas were also highlighted, including off
farm income and agritourism.
2. Agrarian reform
Repeated demands were made for genuine agrarian,

aquatic, forestry and pastureland reform, to reduce
urban migration and incorporate the right of access to
land, water and irrigation, infrastructure, education,
health and marketing, including for women. This included the exemption of small scale family farmers
from policies designed for larger industrial farms. FAO
was requested to ensure that the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment protect the rights of
small food producers because of their central role in
food production and because together, they invest
more in agricultural development than any multinational. Promoting food sovereignty was raised as a
means to strengthen family farming and eradicate
hunger and poverty, and FAO was asked to promote a
broad, inclusive and dynamic analysis of the concept

of food sovereignty.
3. Access to natural resources

and implementation of the
Voluntary Guidelines
Improving access to land and water should be prioritised through special land use and water management
programmes. The right of farmers to produce, reproduce, exchange and sell their seeds must be protected,
because without land, water and seeds, no peasant
family farming is possible. Land grabbing was condemned, and there was a call for a moratorium on
industrial agrofuel production. Overwhelming worldwide support was expressed for governments to implement the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests, considered as the best way to guarantee access to natural
resources for small scale family farmers, especially
women, youth and indigenous peoples.
4. Improving trade and

building markets
Trade agreements and trade policies should be reformed or reconsidered, in order to better serve family
farmers. Governments and other actors must guarantee the human, economic, social and cultural rights of
small scale family farmers and food workers, and
strengthen their access to markets and ensure fair
prices, for example through the promotion of local
markets, public purchasing from family farmers, and
improved storage and transport. The value of food
from family farming can be enhanced by establishing
rules of origin, creating specific family farming labels,
and providing information on its nutritional and
health value.
5. Access to credit and finance
All regions recommended improving access of family

farmers to reliable and stable financing, such as simplified lending procedures, insurance facilities to
reduce risks, and the development of farmer-centred
financial institutions.
Photo: Puranjit Gangopadhyay
The generation and gender gaps are the biggest threats to family farming. Photos: Claudia Calder.
6. Gender equity
Specific programmes are needed to empower women

farmers, facilitating their participation in decision
making and their equitable participation in flexible
rural labour markets. Positive discrimination for
women is essential, especially regarding access to
natural resources and capital.
7. Stronger farmer
organisations
The importance of producer organisations was emphasised, to balance the economic and political power of
other actors, and to consolidate the voice of family
farmers in policy making processes. Key areas were the
need for governments to include farmer organisations
in dialogue and decision making, capacity building
programmes that are family farmer-centred, owned and
led, climate change adaptation and value addition.
Proposed activities included education and training
A synthesis of
recommendations
Throughout 2014, regional dialogues, civil society
consultations, regional conferences and other
events explored issues related to family farming.
Many of these were (co-)organised by the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, the lead agency for the International Year
of Family Farming. Across the regions,
a set of key, common building blocks
were identified to better support family
farmers, raised by representatives of
farmer organisations, governments,
academia, international institutions
and NGOs, amongst others. These
are summarised in this article,
adapted from the publication
Towards stronger family farms.
Voices in the International Year of
Family Farming (ILEIA/FAO, October 2014). It is
available in three languages at www.ileia.org.
programmes, and sharing experiences between organisations.
8. Farmer-led research and

extension
Innovative research and extension must put farmers at

the centre and strengthen their own efforts, particularly as they are being most affected by, and are actively adapting to, impacts of climate change
9. Attracting youth
The participation of youth in agriculture should be

enhanced in all possible ways, as the generation and
gender gaps are the biggest threats to family farming.
Vocational training should be better geared towards
agriculture and the needs of rural youth. Policies
could support youth access to productive resources,
especially land and finance. A holistic view of young
peoples needs is required, and policies must ensure
the right of young people to live their lives in their
own territory.
and after the International

Year of Family Farming? It is clear
that the visibility and recognition of family farmers has

taken a leap forward this year, including many signs of
greater political commitment to support family
farmers and to create pro-family farming policies. The
farmers themselves, women, men and youth, have
been able to articulate their perspectives and their
aspirations, but there remain areas of great concern, so
these empowering processes must continue.
We can only truly celebrate the power of family
farmers when we can also guarantee their rights, and
when the political, economic and cultural space is
created for them to use their strength and choose their
own development pathways. For this, the IYFF has
generated many solid, proven approaches. As stated in
one civil society declaration: the IYFF should be the
beginning of a longer process that strengthens non-patriarchal, indigenous and peasant family farming. We
are part of the solution.
Janneke Bruil is Learning and Advocacy Coordinator at
ILEIA. Email: j.bruil@ileia.org
OPINION > WOMEN AND YOUTH IN FARMING
am a family farmer. I know my soil, my climate and how

to make things grow: plants, animals and soil fertility. I
know how to harvest and prepare for market. I know how
to feed my family.
I am a family farmer. I know my community and I help to feed
it. I advocate and give a voice to those who dont have an
opportunity to speak or be heard. I take part in community
planning and celebration, and in debates on what is best
for our collective future. During the International Year of
Family Farming I became concerned about definitions
of family farming that highlighted only labour, a purely
economic designation, and not the social and environmental
attributes. We family farmers live where we work, and we are
embedded in our communities. We work where we live, and
so have a high stake in assuring a healthy environment.
Joan Brady is a family farmer in Ontario, Canada

(far left on photo). Email: jbrady@hay.net
I am a family farmer. I work hard to represent the interests

of family farmers, which differ very much from those of
multinationals. I am a member of La Via Campesina and the
National Farmers Union of Canada and it is my mandate to
ensure the full participation of women in our organisation. I
also support and champion our young farmers because they
are our future. They revitalise us, hold us accountable, and
teach us alternative approaches to investment, production
and market development. We do not tell the youth what they
need or how to farm. They tell us, and we learn together.
When we look at the family farm within the community at
large, we understand much better the role of women and
youth. Youth and women must have equal access to land and
resources, including seeds, financing and markets. If they
do not play an active part in our conversations and actions,
in leadership and knowledge transfer, we must examine
the situation and remove the barriers before it is too late.
Above all, we must prevent violence, inequity and power
imbalances that so often limit their participation. That is my
message for policy makers during the International Year of
Family Farming.
This is
our year
I am a family farmer and this is our year. After thirty years of

farming, I understand some of the problems that farmers
of the world face, and over time I have found answers that
work for me. We can feed the world if we empower farming
families to drive the solutions. And as farmers, we will deliver
answers from our passions, our expertise and our resilience.
This is adapted from a speech Joan Brady gave on 28 October 2014 at
the Global Dialogue on Family Farming held at the Food and Agriculture
Organizations headquarters in Rome.
GLOBALLY CONNECTED > NEWS FROM THE AGRICULTURES NETWORK
Members of the AgriCultures Network (AN) are working

together to advance family farming and agroecology,
drawing lessons from farmers fields, sharing knowledge,
and working with social movements for policy change.
Read our latest news.
The cement in our
work
The Kleine Aarde (Little Earth),

created by a Dutch grassroots sustainability movement, was the
setting for the AgriCultures Networks annual meeting in November
2014. Members from Peru, Brazil,
China, India, Senegal and the Netherlands met alongside new associates
from Ethiopia and allies from
Groundswell International, to reflect
on the past years experiences and
plan for the future. Lively discussions surrounded the presentation of
our activities promoting agroecological farming, some of which are reported on these very pages. The role
of our regional and global magazines, as tools to systematically share
grounded experiences and as vehicles to build political strength were
dissected. Paulo Petersen from
AS-PTA, Brazil summed it up well
when he said, The magazine is the
cement in our work. We open up new
possibilities by showing concrete ex-
Groundbreaking
Agroecology
Symposium
periences from family farmers that

have force, including political force.
Whether they are directly handed to
a policy maker at an international
meeting or broadcast on a regional
radio station, local agroecological
experiences are generating change
on the ground and permeating
policy making spaces. With new
energy from the meeting, we remain
firmly focused on connecting grassroots experiences with regional, national and global discourses driving
policy and practice.
Agroecology can find a shelter

under the FAO said Jos Graziano
da Silva, Director General of the
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations in Rome in
September, as he addressed 400
participants at the first International
Symposium on Agroecology for
Food Security and Nutrition. Scientists, government officials, and representatives from social movements
presented grounded experiences
showing how agroecology works in
practice. Irene Maria Cardoso,
member of the ILEIA board and
president of the Brazilian Association of Agroecology, spoke about the
important role that social movements have played in integrating
agroecology into national policy in
Brazil. Stephen Gliessman, University of Santa Cruz, explained that
the challenge today is to strengthen
links between agroecology and citi-
zens so it can contribute to healthier food systems. Pablo Tittonell,

Wageningen University, showed
how farmers knowledge and local
innovations have influenced science
and stressed that agroecological
principles are not recipes, but rather
guidelines to develop locally relevant
options. This was also the basis of a
poster presented by the AgriCultures Network. The governments of
France, Nigeria, Japan, Senegal,
Costa Rica, Brazil, and the EU,
were amongst those who expressed
support for agroecology. That the
FAO organised this symposium is a
promising political step in its own
right, but there is still a long way to
go when it comes to transforming
institutions and policies to effectively support agroecology.
Promoting climate
resilience in West
Africa
Kicking off a multi-country initiative

to promote resilience in semi-arid
economies, IED Afrique organised a
major video conference about
climate change in October 2014.
Representatives of producer organisations and NGOs in Senegal and
Burkina Faso discussed how to
better capitalise on existing policies
to address climate change, and to
identify gaps in research. This was
part of a 5-year initiative involves
organisations in East Africa and in

Asia. They will focus on five central
themes: climate risks management;
the link between climate risk and
markets; governance, finance and
institutions; the impact of climate
change on human capital, especially on youth and women; and the
impact on access to natural capital,
especially forest and water. Major
activities in all participating countries will include action research,
case studies, and advocacy to
improve climate related policies and
regulations to enhance the resilience of semi-arid economies.
And the winners

are
From more than 1300 photos that

were submitted to the Family
Farming photo competition, an internationally renowned jury made
their verdict, and at the same time,
thousands of people voted online for
their favourites. The Jurys Choices
and the Public Choices were announced at the Global Dialogue on
Family Farming which took place at
the end of October. The winning
photo (above) was taken by Danilo
Victoriano Jr from the Philippines.
Have a look at all the winning
photos at www.agriculturesnetwork.
org. Most of the winning photos are
also included in the 2015 Family
farming calendar (see page 2).
Landscapes in Lima
With a lively Forest and Farming

Families Living Landscape Lounge,
ETC Andes and ILEIA were present
at the Global Landscapes Forum,
held in Lima early December 2014,
coinciding with the UNFCCC
climate negotiations. Cases were
presented that demonstrate how
farmers shape their landscapes and
advocate for greater political voice
for farmers. The landscape-themed
issues of the Networks magazines
went like hot cakes. ETC Andes also
participated in the Peoples Summit
that was held in parallel. They joined
social movements in Peru in issuing
a powerful declaration calling for
support to sustainable production,
local economies, and stronger farmer
organisations in order to adequately
address climate change, and presented this as an alternative to the
extractivist approach of the Peruvian
government and many international
organisations.
More news can be found on
www.agriculturesnetwork.org
COLOPHON
Farming Matters
Address
P.O. Box 90, 6700 AB,
Wageningen, the Netherlands
Farming Matters is
published quarterly by
ILEIA
Visitors address
Lawickse Allee 11, 6701 AN
Wageningen, the Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)317 760 010
E-mail: ileia@ileia.org
www.ileia.org
Experiences in family
farming and agroecology
Online subscriptions are free.

Subscribe at
The AgriCultures Network

ILEIA is a member of the
AgriCultures Network; six
organisations that provide
information on agroecology
and family farming worldwide,
and that publish: LEISA revista
de agroecologa (Latin America
Editorial team
in Spanish), LEISA India (in
This issue has been compiled
by Nick Pasiecznik, Madeleine English, Kannada, Tamil,
Hindi, Telugu and Oriya),
Florin, Janneke Bruil, Edith
van Walsum, and Leonardo van AGRIDAPE (West Africa, in
French), Agriculturas,
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Layout
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Culemborg,
the Netherlands
Printing
Koninklijke BDU Grafisch
Bedrijf B.V., Barneveld,
the Netherlands.
Funding
ILEIA is grateful for the
support of Sida, the Swedish
International Development
Cooperation Agency.
Cover photo
Taken in Guatemala by
Roberto Luna.
Farming Matters | April 2013 | 43
The editors have taken

every care to ensure that the
contents of this magazine
are as accurate as possible.
The authors have ultimate
responsibility, however, for the
content of individual articles.
Volume 30.4
ISSN: 2210-6499
ILEIA uses the AttributionNoncommercial-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported Creative
Commons Licence.
For details please see
www.creativecommons.org.
When nourishing
ourselves and
eating with our
family, friends,
and community,
we reaffirm our
cultural identities,
interdependence
with nature, control
of our life course and
human dignity.
Civil society declaration to the ICN2 Nutrition
Conference, Rome, 21 November 2014, page 36
I FEAR OUR WHOLE

LIFE, LIVELIHOOD
AND CULTURE MAY BE
LOST IF WE DO NOT
START EDUCATING
OUR CHILDREN TO
CONSERVE NATURE,
LIVE HARMONIOUSLY
WITH THE SEASONS,
AND REVIVE OUR
TRADITIONAL
AND BIODIVERSE
NUTRITIONAL SECURITY.
Tribal woman at a food festival in India, page 24
WITH OUR TRADITIONAL CROPS

SORGHUM AND MILLET WE MAKE HIGHLY
NUTRITIOUS PORRIDGE FLOUR. EVEN
DURING DROUGHT EVERYBODY IS SAVED
BY THE PORRIDGE.
Mutunga, a farmer in Mutomo district, Kenya, page 16
We talk about conserving

biological diversity and
agrobiodiversity, but the
crucial next step is surely
to incorporate this into
our eating habits.
Zayaan Khan, page 19
Farming Matters is published by ILEIA, the Centre for Learning on Sustainable Agriculture.
ILEIA is a member of AgriCultures, a global network of organisations that share knowledge
and provide information on small scale, sustainable agriculture worldwide.

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Experiences in family farming and agroecology 12 | 2014 - 30.

Linking family nutrition in city and country

Receive a 2015 calendar for free!

Subscribe yourself or a friend to the print

Farming Matters is the global magazine produced by the

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Access useful (local) contacts

Market your products

Discuss (policy) issues

Highlight your innovations

Photo: Neil Palmer (CIAT)

y name is Laxmi Acharya. With help from

We get the most nutritional value from crop

Farming Matters | December 2014 | 3

Linking family nutrition

Nutrition from innovation

Finding a way out of the

Guinea pigs small

CALL FOR ARTICLES

Editorial: Farming for nutrition:

Linking family nutrition in city and

12 Nutrition from innovation and taste

Farming Matters | December 2014 | 5

EDITORIAL > BEYOND CALORIES AND VITAMINS

Farming for nutrition:

n this issue we explore the global and local

Global forces Initiatives to combat hunger

and malnutrition are not new phenomena. Decades

6 | Farming Matters | December 2014

second International Conference on Nutrition has just

Photo: Sara Quinn

Diversity from field to plate As

explored in Cultivating diversity (Farming Matters

Women: drivers of change for

enough: women are the strongest drivers of better

Nutrition sensitive strategies

Farmers must be central in strategies to improve food

Photo: Martina Thaler

causes of malnutrition and could make (hidden)

Edith van Walsum is director of ILEIA.

Farming Matters | December 2014 | 7

NUTRITION > FROM FARMS TO TOWNS

in city and country

Ecuador is going through a substantial nutritional

n one of our first visits to Marcia and Marcelos

Traditional to modern But how did

they get to such an undiversified diet in the first place?

Links to the city Through friends in the

Farming Matters | December 2014 | 9

Marcelo contacted Anita, the coordinator of the El

Increasing the variety Motivated by

10 | Farming Matters | December 2014

ists and elders to learn how to cook with these varieties

Esperanza and Renato The impor-

tance of building relationships between producer and

legumes, fruits, grains and vegetables, Esperanza visits

A more varied diet is ensured with mixed baskets.

their lives in Europe, but still crave the local speciality

The importance of direct

where these two families live is enduring social and