Roughly one third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted – 1.3 billion tons per year. Even if these estimates are subject to numerous uncertainties, one thing is beyond doubt: every kilogramme of food that is produced but not consumed is one too many. For it embodies valuable, wasted resources such as land, water, agricultural inputs and energy, unnecessary CO2 emissions have been released into the atmosphere, farmers have lost not only income but also a valuable part of their nutrition, and consumers pay the increased prices that result. Our authors analyse the dimensions of these losses and the underlying complex web of causes and show how approaches have to be designed against the background of global challenges such as climate change and food security.

Articles:

• Tackling food losses: New approaches needed
• Who does what in post-harvest loss reduction?
• Post-harvest agriculture in a changing climate
• How losses in maize and manioc value chains impact on the environment
• Tackling post-harvest cereal losses in sub-Saharan Africa
• Better income through improved milk hygiene standards
• Handling fresh vegetable produce from urban gardens
• Technical know-how is only one side of the coin
• New developments in stored product protection
• No chance for aflatoxins

The reliable provision of high-value goods is just one aspect of developing value-added chains. It is equally important to create a stable demand. But consumer preferences first have to be established before marketing strategies can be focused.
 

Article:

• Marketing local rice to African consumers

Young people are the future. And they need employment. For many African countries, creating these employment opportunities is a challenge, and in post-conflict states such as Liberia the hope for a sustainable peace adds an additional dimension to the task.

Articles:
 

• Empowering youth, opening up perspectives

Particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, sound water management is crucial to food security for the population and to preserving natural resources. The most sustainable measures are those involving the locals in planning and implementation.

Articles:

• Water storage: a contribution to climate change adaptation in Africa
• Drought in the Horn of Africa - Not a hopeless case
• Improving livelihoods and resilience through community watersheds

In overcoming hunger and poverty, a special focus must be given to marginalised rural communities –  those people living on the edge of society and having no or limited access to markets or networks to fulfil their basic needs.

Articles:

• Mapping hotspots of marginality for area identification

Since the 1990s, the concept of payments for ecosystem services has been gaining ground internationally. Today’s projects above all focus on achieving an optimal balance between the conservation of valuable ecosystems and poverty alleviation.

Articles:

• Striking a balance between forest, climate, and people?- Some lessons from Ecuador's Socio Bosque Programme

Since the 2007/2008 world food price crisis at the latest, the international community has tirelessly reiterated the key role played by the agricultural sector and rural areas in efforts to combat hunger and poverty. The many years of neglect of the sector in international cooperation – and in many of the policies adopted by the affected countries themselves – is now to be remedied as quickly as possible. Large sums have been pledged and, in the best case, have been deployed. But will those for whom they are intended, namely the smallholders and rural poor, profit from all this investment? What shape must investments take in order that they really reach the target group? And which – desired and undesired – side effects are to be expected? Our authors have explored all these questions and more.

Articles:

• Engaging smallholders in value chains: who benefits under which circumstances?
• Land investment for maximum impact
• Measuring the impact of investments
• Welfare effects of the spread of modern food supply chains
• The supermarket revolution and smallholder farmers
• Large-scale agro-processors in sub-Saharan Africa: A catalyst for pro-poor growth?
• The GIZ partnership farming approach: A future for smallholder farming?
• Contract farming: Some fundamentals to be considered in contract design
• Rural advisory services –  an essential for successful investment

In numerous publications, the FAO and the World Bank have emphasised that a country’s economic development could improve considerably if women were no longer barred access to important resources. However, despite individual success stories, there is still a long way to go.

Articles:

• Owning land means going less hungry
• Rural women in Zambia: Light at the end of the tunnel?

Energy poverty is always a prime component of poverty in developing countries, as the former head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Prof. Klaus Töpfer, never tires of emphasising. However, what form can future energy production take if it is to contribute to poverty reduction but must do so without damaging sensitive ecosystems and accelerating climate change?

Articles:

• A model for entire West Africa
• First-class energy from second-hand turbines

The biogas technology is an alternative energy source for cooking and lighting for the rural farmers. In a lot of ways, the technology is reducing the heavy dependence of rural population on biomass as their main source of energy. In Kenya for instance, wood fuel accounts for about 68 per cent of the total primary energy source. And with only 15 per cent of the Kenyans having access to electricity, this results to heavy depletion of the country's forest reserves and thus serious environmental degradation.

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• Alternative energy gaining root in Kenya

Is organic agriculture, which does not seek output maximisation, able to feed a growing world population, or will it always remain a fine but small niche? Can smallholders in the South achieve stable incomes by converting to organic production? Or is it possibly even grossly negligent to entice them to join the markets – doubtlessly expanding – for organic food as they may never actually be able to enter them due to the high quality standards and entry costs? While our authors do not have simple answers to these questions, they are very instructive.

Articles:

• Organic agriculture in developing countries: Status quo and challenges
• Organic agriculture and food security – not a contradiction
• Changing agriculture in a changing climate
• Standards and certification: means, not ends
• A viable alternative?
• Linking smallholders to  organic supply chains: what is needed?
• Farming with a conscience
• Paving the way for Serbia’s organic agriculture towards the EU
• Challenges and  opportunities for organic research  and extension

Agriculture is a major contributing factor to climate change; at the same time, it is one of the areas most affected by climate change, which is jeopardising global food security. Alternative practices are required both to make agriculture more resilient to and reduce its contribution to climate change.

Articles:

• Climate-smart agriculture:  a strategy for addressing global  food insecurity and climate change

Agroforestry systems bear a considerable potential to reconcile income security in rural regions with the conservation of natural resources – provided that a suitable political framework is in place.

Articles:

• Using and protecting forests – not a contradiction in terms ...

New cultures or cultivation methods can provide higher yields, better income prospects and more sustainable production. However, it is not always easy to convince farmers of the advantages and find first movers.

Articles:

• Acrocomia aculeata – a sustainable oil crop
• SRI – the solution for small farmers in India?

Against the background of a growing world population, finite natural resources and numerous threats such as climate change and political conflict, securing world food supplies remains the challenge that the international community of states faces.

Articles:

• Skyfarming: Staple food for growing cities!?
• Strategies to feed the nine billion mouths

The cooperative model has been sidelined in development cooperation for many years – for various reasons. On the one hand, cooperatives have been completely overestimated as an instrument and expected to solve a whole bunch of problems at one stroke. On the other hand, they were long misused for state purposes and have therefore been regarded with mistrust. The fact that the United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives is a good opportunity to take a closer look at this special form of enterprise. We wish to give you an idea of the range of manifestations that the cooperative model has taken worldwide and of the role that cooperatives can play in overcoming rural poverty.

Articles:

• Cooperatives - the magic bullet of poverty reduction?
• A path of trial and tribulation
• The political dimension
• A significant factor, but not a panacea
• Nicaragua: Cooperatives at the crossroads
• Between organic development and state control
• Community banks: A chance for agri-based African rural communities
• Beyond economic empowerment
• The Raiffeisen idea – a model for sustainable development?

Rice self-sufficiency is an important political objective for many Asian countries. However, factors such as non-sustainable production methods, the rush for farmland or a lack of young peasants to look after the paddies can easily jeopardise self-sufficiency.

Articles:

• The rice paddy revolution

Land is probably the most valuable asset that rural communities possess in the developing world. In this section, we present examples of how conflicts over land tenure and access to land can be solved against the background of different legal frameworks.

Articles:

• Linking secure community land rights to local economic development

New infectious animal diseases that affect public health and have the capacity to cross borders will continue to emerge around the globe. These diseases could potentially develop human-to-human transmissibility; thus they incite public fear. A proactive approach to disease risk management that combines foresight, prevention, impact mitigation, early detection, and swift and effective responses is warranted.

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• Emergency measures or development? – Avian Influenza eradication projects

The benefits that new technologies such as Information and Communication Technologies offer must not obscure the fact that their use often entails negative impacts on the environment.

Articles:

• The real price of rare earths

It is a truism that projects in rural development can reckon with the best prospects for success if the target population is actively involved in them. However, this does not mean that a participatory and integrated approach can be implemented without any problems everywhere.

Articles:

• From technocratic to participatory planning? Water supply and sanitation services development in post-Soviet Moldova

In this section you can find best practice examples, country studies and in-depth reports on German and international development cooperation.

Articles:

• Rural Territorial Development – benefits from German experience?
• Inclusive business models – new prospects for smallholder market integration?

Many countries in the South can (still) boast an unbelievable level of biological diversity. However, awareness of their value is not always there. The best way to protect the valuable plant and animal species is to use them sustainably.

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• Use it or lose it – Agrobiodiversity conservation in China

Often, just a slight impulse is enough to empower people in the countries of the South to take their fate into their own hands and thus promote rural development.

Articles:

• Mutual support groups surge ahead
• Empowering rural traditional sex-workers in Rajasthan

Fragility is a huge challenge for rural development – and a very multifaceted one. Fragile states are lagging especially far behind in achieving the MDGs. In what ways do fragile states inhibit the development of rural regions, and how can these inhibitions be countered? What role can civil society play in overcoming internal or cross-border conflicts?

Articles:

• State fragility as a development policy challenge
• Rural development in high-risk and fragile contexts
• Breaking the silence- Coping with two conflicting parties in Nepal's rural environment
• CEWARN : pioneering African regional co-operation to anticipate and prevent violent conflicts
• Managing rural recovery - Sri Lanka after the war 
• Protecting schools, teachers, and students from attack

The tourism industry has become a major economic sector in many developing and emerging countries. In the context of the sustainability debate, tourism and hotel operators are increasingly expected to satisfy the requirements of sustainable tourism. This includes not only improving their eco-balance and demonstrating a responsible attitude towards the natural environment, but also social responsibility; which means enabling the local population to participate in the economic development of the region. However, political conflicts can quickly nullify any success that has been achieved.

Articles:

• Mali tourism under terrorist threat

Just three years after the 2007/2008 food price crisis, prices for staple foods and agricultural commodities are on the rise again. There is cause for concern about food security. The authors in this issue of Rural 21 have explored the following questions: What are the reasons for the new price increases? How are affected countries and the international community of states responding to the situation? How can future food (price) crises be prevented?

Articles:

• A second food crisis in three years: Food security at risk
• Growing biofuel demand and international food prices
• A mere question of supply and demand
• The relevance of speculation
• Internal factors are prevalent
• Village granaries – insurance against food insecurity
• No uniform picture
• What about small farmers? – The example of Tajikistan