Book Description Review Quotes Contents
Book Description

A growing body of evidence shows that agricultural landscapes can be managed not only to produce crops but also to support biodiversity and promote ecosystem health. Innovative farmers and scientists, as well as indigenous land managers, are developing diverse types of “ecoagriculture” landscapes to generate cobenefits for production, biodiversity, and local people.

Farming with Nature offers a synthesis of the state of knowledge of key topics in ecoagriculture. The book is a unique collaboration among renowned agricultural and ecological scientists, leading field conservationists, and farm and community leaders to synthesize knowledge and experience across sectors. The book examines:

  • the knowledge base for ecoagriculture as well as barriers, gaps, and opportunities for developing improved ecoagriculture systems
  • what we have learned about managing landscapes to achieve multiple objectives at a landscape scale
  • existing incentives for farmers, other land managers, and investors to develop and invest in ecoagriculture systems
  • pathways to develop, implement, manage, and scale up successful ecoagriculture

Insights are drawn from around the world, in tropical, Mediterranean, and temperate environments, from farming systems that range from highly commercialized to semi-subsistence. Farming with Nature is an important new work that can serve as a foundation document for planners, farm organizations, researchers, project developers, and policy makers to develop strategies for promoting and sustaining ecoagriculture landscapes. Replete with valuable best practice guidelines, it is a critical resource for both practitioners and researchers in
the field.

Review Quotes

"Accompanied by excellent schematics, charts, aerial photographs, and glossaries, this collection sharpens the focus of the editors' earlier work. It amplifies significantly their view of the institutional and socioeconomic structure needed to support and sustain such environments."
Choice

"Today we need ecoagriculture more than ever. We face fundamental challenges to our continued life on this one and only earth. Biodiversity loss and climate change will reinforce our difficulties. Timely, grounded and well-informed, this book sets the agenda for agriculture in the 21st century."
Camilla Toulmin, Director, International Institute for Environment and Development

"Agriculture does not have to damage the environment in order to produce the food we all need. There are options that work for farmers, consumers and the environment in both industrialised and developing countries. Here they are laid out sufficient detail to begin to persuade key policy makers. A splendid book that will be thoroughly recommended reading."
Jules Pretty, Head of Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex

"Sara Scherr and Jeff McNeely have given us a thoughtful, sensible book about a topic of great importance to the world. There is no food security, no poverty reduction, no environmental sustainability without transforming our agricultural practices. The book …presents well documented cases of best practices from all over the world. It should be required reading for all concerned with agriculture, the environment, food security or just the future of our children."
Ismail Serageldin, Director, Library of Alexandria; Distinguished Professor, Wageningen University

"Farming with nature is the only pathway open to us for enhancing productivity in perpetuity without associated ecological harm. Island Press deserves our gratitude for bringing out this timely publication"
M.S. Swaminathan, President, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

"The real contribution of Farming with Nature may be to bring the practices and benefits of ecoagriculture to the attention of managers, directors of programs, legislators, and policymakers. "
Natural Areas Journal

Contents

Lists of Figures, Tables, and Boxes
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter 1. The Challenge for Ecoagriculture \ Sara J. Scherr and Jeffrey A. McNeely
 
PART I. Agricultural Production in Ecoagriculture Landscapes
-Overview of Section        
Chapter 2. Scientific Assessment of Ecoagriculture Systems \ Louise E. Buck, Thomas A. Gavin, Norman T. Uphoff, and David R. Lee
Chapter 3. Biodiversity in Agroecosystems \ Judith Thompson, Toby Hodgkin, Kwesi Atta-Krah, Devra Jarvis,  Coosje Hoogendoorn, and Stefano Padulosi
Chapter 4. Perennial Grains \  Lee R. DeHaan, Thomas S. Cox, David L. Van Tassel, and Jerry D. Glover
Chapter 5. Domesticating and Marketing Novel Crops \  Roger R.B. Leakey
Chapter 6. Tropical Agroforestry \ Götz Schroth and Maria do Socorro Souza da Mota
Chapter 7. Livestock Systems \ Constance L. Neely and Richard Hatfield
 
PART II. Biodiversity and Ecosystem management in Ecoagriculature Landscrapes
-Overview of Section                                                                    
Chapter 8. Designing Agricultural Landscapes for biodiversity Conservation \ Celia A. Harvey
Chapter 9. Pollinators \ Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Connal Eardley, John Mburu, Wanja Kinuthia, and Dino Martins
Chapter 10. From Integrated Pest Management to Adaptive Ecosystem Management \ Hans Herren, Johann Baumg ärtner and Gianni Gilioli
Chapter 11. Watershed Management \ Meine van Noordwijk, Fahmuddin Agus, Bruno Verbist, Kurniatun Hairiah and Thomas P. Tomich
Chapter 12. Exploiting Ecological Disturbance \ Jan Sendzimir and Zsuzsanna Flachner
Chapter 13. Irrigation \ David Molden, Rebecca Tharme, Iskandar Abdullaev, and Ranjitha Puskur
Chapter 14. Remote Sensing \ Aaron Dushku, Sandra Brown, Tim Pearson, David Shoch, and Bill Howley
 
PART III. Institutional Foundations for Ecoagriculture
-Overview of Section                                                                    
Chapter 15. Community Stewardship of Biodiversity \ Augusta Molnar, Sara Scherr and Arvind Khare
Chapter 16. Community Leadership in Ecoagriculture \ Donato Bumacas, Delia Catacutan, Gladman Chibememe, and Claire Rhodes
Chapter 17. Planning at a Landscape Scale \ William J. Jackson, Stewart Maginnis, and Sandeep Sengupta
Chapter 18. Research Partnerships \ Thomas P. Tomich, Dagmar Timmer, Sandra J. Velarde, Cheryl A. Palm, Meine van Noordwijk and Andrew N. Gillison
Chapter 19: Multistakeholder Partnerships \ Minu Hemmati
Chapter 20: Restructuring the Supply Chain \ Edward Millard
Chapter 21: Paying Farmers for Stewardship