April 30, 2010 - World Association of Soil and Water Conservation

focusing on different sustainability issues. The interim versions of Modules 1 (Sustainable small-scale farming)and 2 (Soil and water systems) are now ready. The modules can be downloaded here. Mail us ateducators@ileia.org with your feedback.Renew your subscription!Do you want to continue receiving Farming Matters for free? If so, you MUST let us know! Farming Matters issupported by development funds. We need to make sure that those who subscribe to the magazine for freecontinue to read it and still want to receive it. Therefore we urgently ask you to renew your subscription beforethe end of April. People who do not renew their subscription, will be removed from our mailing list. You canrenew here.On our blogOur blog is on the list of ‘50 Best Farm and Agriculture Blogs’, as compiled by Onlinedegrees.net. So it isdefinitely worth a visit. Read, for example, the full report on our jubilee conference here, or an interview with dr.Hijaba Ykhanbai, of the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, on a new approach in Mongoliaaiming to strengthen the governance of pastoralist systems.Meet our editors in...From April 26 to April 29, two editors of Farming Matters, Jorge Chavez-Tafur and Petra Rooijakkers, will bepresent at the World Congress of IAALD, the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists, inMontpellier, France. Jorge will deliver a paper on how to document agriculture experiences, and Petra willpromote the new Farming Matters. Are you also going and would you like to meet them? Send an e-mail toj.chavez-tafur@ileia.org.On May 11 and 12, ileia will be present at the third Conference on Sustainable Agriculture, the Art ofFarming, in Brussels. If you wish to contact us about this conference, please send an e-mail top.rooijakkers@ileia.org.Our next issue: Financing sustainable farmingOur September issue will cover issues related to financing of sustainable family farming. It will feature, amongothers, articles on topics such as micro-insurance, contract farming and a certification scheme for banks to helpthem decide whether farmers are credit-worthy or not. Apart from financing, there will be columns, interviews,practical examples from around the world, and news – on how the different regions in the world look atdevelopments regarding genetically engineered crops, for example.News from the AgriCultures NetworkLEISA India has come out, for the second time, with special editions of the magazine, in Hindi and Kannada. Theeditions are specifically aimed at farmers and farmers' groups.One of the editors of LEISA India, KSV Prasad, attended a meeting in Delhi organized by the World RuralForum, which is campaigning worldwide to get the United Nations to declare an International Year of FamilyFarming. For information about this meeting, and the campaign, see our blog.Two editors of LEISA China visited an international workshop on sustainable food and agriculture in Beijing.Reports on the conference are not yet available, but the site of IATP China (Institute for Agriculture and TradePolicy) offers the agenda, and an interview that’s worth viewing, on the role of agriculture in China, and thefunction of rural China. Our Peruvian partners have introduced a new section to their LEISA revista deagroecología at the beginning of the year: Pautas para políticas (Policy Guidelines). The pages point out topolicy makers the relevance of biodiversity in maintaining a sustainable environment.In Indonesia, our partners have completely renewed their magazine, formerly known as SALAM. It is now calledPETANI Magazine, and offers, apart from articles, features, an advocacy section, a section on information andtechnology, a Question and Answer section, Tips, and Voice of Farmers.18