International Fund for Agricultural Development

A cache of documentaries produced by this unpretentious UN group is available here. This is an amazing resource... they also have a knowledge base which has an unbelievable amount of information for rural poor farmers and the organizations trying to help them. And! They just signed a loan agreement to provide support to farmers in the northern highlands of Peru. Right on. I think I will be reading this site for the next month. Here is a recent interview of the president of the organization in the Financial Times where they discuss how rich countries are realizing in order to guarantee food security they are going to have to support agriculture in other, poorer countries... we live in interesting times.

Africa!

I have just read on US Food Policy the absolute most exciting news! The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says that Africa is better off if they focus on organic agriculture. Many people have said it before (even within the UN), and many people will say it again, but each time we hear it I think it gets a little more real.

Organic agriculture is a "good option for food security in Africa", UNCTAD says, citing a 116% rise in productivity on 114 African farms that converted to organic or near-organic production.

Truly, truly thrilling, and I especially love this line in the recommendations for government section: Fund research on sustainable agriculture, building on indigenous knowledge in response and in partnership with farmers. EXACTLY what needs to happen in Peru as well (and what our friends at Cusichaca were doing last I heard).