‘Food sovereignty’ must necessarily encompass ‘seed sovereignty’. Corporate appropriation of plant genetic resources, development of transgenic crops and the global imposition of intellectual property rights are now widely recognized as serious constraints on the free exchange of seeds and the development of new cultivars by farmers, public breeders and small seed companies. In response, an Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) has been launched in the United States to apply legal mechanisms drawn from the open source software movement to plant breeding.

In recent years, the concept of ‘food sovereignty’ has gained increasing ground among grassroots groups, taking the form of a global movement. But there is no uniform conceptualization of what food sovereignty constitutes. Indeed, the definition has been expanding over time. It has moved from its initial focus on national self-sufficiency in food production (‘the right of nations’) to local self-sufficiency (‘the rights of peoples’). There is also a growing emphasis on the rights of women and other disadvantaged groups, and on consensus building and democratic choice.

In Bangladesh, extensive common pool fisheries exist in the wet season on private lands in the floodplains. This study investigated the trend in year-round enclosure of these seasonal commons for private aquaculture and the impacts of this practice. The floodplain area enclosed for aquaculture was found to be growing at 30–100% a year. Enclosures are organised by individual landowners, informal groups or companies that lease in land. Aquaculture in enclosures produces more fish than capture fisheries, but input costs are high.

Rural areas in densely populated regions face increasing competition for land. Consequently, land use planning processes must attempt to balance the goals of diverse stakeholders and the process of reaching consensus becomes more complicated. By investigating the perception of the actors involved in rural planning, this research contributes to the knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of such processes. We have focused on the case of rural planning processes in Flanders in which proponents of nature and agriculture are competing for land.

Agricultural non-point source pollution (ANSP) is considered a major contributor to local water degradation in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) of China. The Xiangxi River, which is a first level anabranch of the Yangtze River, was selected for investigation of the effectiveness of selected best management measures (BMPs) to alleviate water pollution through analysis of several scenarios by SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool).

Although protected areas have become the primary mechanism for biodiversity conservation, their establishment can have long-term impacts on land use, land cover, and livelihoods of people living near them. Where land use and resource extraction is severely limited, local people turn to resource pools outside parks. Kibale National Park in western Uganda is a remnant of a previously larger, mid-altitude forest region surrounded by dense agricultural settlement.

Hanfets is a popular mixture of wheat and barley grown in the highlands of Eritrea and Tigray (Northern Ethiopia). In this study, we tested 16 experimental hanfets constituting all possible combinations of four barley landraces and four wheat (two landraces and two varieties) at three locations in Eritrea for 3 years during which farmers (both men and women) made selections of suitable hanfets. Across locations and years, the grain yield of hanfets on average was similar to that of the pure barley but significantly higher than that of wheat.

The design of public policy related to irrigation sectors in North Africa was often based on the state view. Local farmers' organizations, made up of family farms, did not contribute to building the legal framework, which was in turn unable to propose specific solutions for family farming. Legal reforms currently underway in Morocco and Algeria show how difficult it is to integrate field realities. Access to land and water resources is often obtained through informal local coordination modes.

Terrace soils are distinctive features of the agricultural landscape in Europe. Due to their historical and aesthetic significance, they are a resource for agriculture and tourism: however they are also a challenge for land conservation and management. Nevertheless, the fundamental role of terrace soils for agricultural quality and natural hazard prevention has not been fully investigated. In the past, terraced slopes became ideal sites for human settlement and agricultural activities.

In the year 2000 the government of Zimbabwe launched the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) as part of its on-going land reform and resettlement programme. The main premise of the programme is to address the racially skewed land distribution pattern inherited at independence in 1980. While the programme has been accompanied by an overall reduction in agricultural production which has created widespread food insecurity throughout the country, empirical research on the impact of the programme on the agricultural productivity of its beneficiaries has been limited.

Optimum crop yield is greatly affected by proper planting and sowing times. The objective of this research was to develop an algorithm that uses the heat unit concept to determine the most suitable planting times for vegetable crops. The developed algorithm was programmed in a database environment with sample climatic data for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The model was tested by validation (comparison to experts’ estimations), verification (statistical comparison to formal published data), and evaluation (by professionals, landowners, and farmers).

Amazonia became a target area for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) initiatives in deforestation. We analysed the implementation of a PES scheme in Acre (Brazil) by taking into account land use heterogeneity in an agricultural frontier. Justified by the modernisation of deforestation control policies, the programme promotes agricultural intensification through fire-free practices. In this way, the PES tends to focus on long-established settlements, where farmers are wealthier and the landscape is dominated by pasture. Agricultural intensification may be adapted to foster reforestation.