Biodiversity and peasant agriculture - While the rapid decline of agrobiodiversity is cause for great concern, there is also cause for hope. Many initiatives to conserve and manage agrobiodiversity have been set up world wide. This issue of LEISA Revista de Agroecologia looks at the value of biodiversity within farming systems and highlights the important roles peasant farmers play to maintain and manage biodiversity on their farms and within their communities.
This issue provides a clear explanation on how biodiversity serves as a ‘cushion’ against environmental fluctuations and some of the ways in which peasant farmers’ nurture this diversity. As well, a number of articles pay particular attention to the importance of social mobilisation to support farmers’ knowledge and practice.
