Farmers are driving innovation to improve sustainability, but to have real impact such innovations need to cover a broader scale.

The blog of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative provides a summary of the World Resources Report which focuses on ‘creating a sustainable food future’. The blog suggests that an integrated landscape approach can help to coordinate innovations on a large scale.

Among the examples of innovative practices led by farmers is the adoption of improved land and water management practices in sub-Saharan Africa to reduce erosion, capture more rainfall, increase soil organic matter and replenish nutrients. The practices include agroforestry, conservation agriculture, rainwater harvesting and integrated soil fertility management. Farmers are seeing increased productivity in the face of drought and land degradation.

In Malawi, farmers who have planted the fertilizer tree, Faidherbia albida have been able to increase their maize yields.

Read the full story: Farmer Innovation: Improving Africa’s Food Security through Land and Water Management

Download the full paper: Improving Land and Water Management: Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Four