The demand for food is rapidly increasing. Central to this expanding demand is a global population predicted to grow from seven billion to more than nine billion by 2050. Increasing farm productivity, especially for smallholders must also be achieved sustainably, by minimizing negative impacts on air, water, soils, biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Food production and biodiversity conservation need to go hand in hand for sustainable development and we need to look at agriculture on a larger scale, at the level of landscapes. In this issue of LEISA India we have included initiatives of family farmers, pastoralists and forest communities in shaping resilient and living landscapes.
6 Reclaiming denuded landscapes: Tribal farmers take up the challenge
Vidhya Das
9 Green Warriors: Conserving local biodiversity through community conservation initiatives in Orissa
Sweta Mishra
13 Pastoralists protect forest landscapes
Aman Singh
15 Agro ecological landscapes: Conserving indigenous rice in Coastal Sundarbans
Dipayan Dey
18 Interview : Jeff Campbell Listening and trust – the basis for working with forest and farm producers
Herman Savenije and Nick Pasiecznik
21 Collective action to reduce land degradation
Foundation for Ecological Security
24 Family farmer: The healer of the land
Panduranga Hegde
26 Green Energy or livelihoods?
Farukh Riaz, Anita Sood, Saroj Bhayana and Alpna Sharma
28 Urban home gardens – changing city landscapes
K V S Prasad
29 Asia-Pacific countries reach consensus for greater support for millions of small-holder family farms Zero Hunger Challenge gains momentum in countries of Asia and the Pacific
33 Emerging waterscapes: When the land is not enough
Nazmul Choudhury and Nirmal Bepary