What is LEISA farming?

Question

is it only a magazine dedicated to farming? Or is it more?

Answer 1

What is ILEIA?

ILEIA, the Centre for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture promotes exchange of information for small scale farmers in the South through identifying promising technologies involving no or only marginal external inputs, but building on local knowledge and traditional technologies and the involvement of the farmers themselves in development. Information about these technologies is exchanged mainly through the LEISA Magazine... Read more.

Who are we?

Do you want to know more about the people working for ILEIA? Read more.

Contact ILEIA

PO Box 2067

3800 CB Amersfoort

The Netherlands

Tel: [phone]     Email: ileia (at) ileia.nl

Fax:[phone]  

Where to find us?

ILEIA is located in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Click here if you want to know where to find us. Read more.

Worldwide LEISA Network

ILEIA supports Southern partners in their efforts to build up knowledge on LEISA and exchange experiences in several languages. Collaboration with ILEIA benefits Southern partners by ensuring increased access to and exchange of relevant information from all parts of the world, thereby providing a global perspective. For ILEIA, collaboration ensures the local relevance of the information collected and disseminated, and makes more information available at a global level. ILEIA has formal partnerships with the following organisations... Read more.

What is LEISA?

LEISA is the abbreviation of 'Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture'. LEISA refers to viable small scale farming, which is a major part of rural livelihoods and thus contributes significantly to developing economies. LEISA is about finding technical and social options open to farmers who seek to improve productivity and income in an ecologically sound way. LEISA is about optimal use of local resources and natural processes and, if necessary, safe and efficient use of external inputs. Read more.

ILEIA Governance

ILEIA is governed by a board of development professionals. Read more.

© 2004-2008 ILEIA. For comments, please mail our webmaster.

Answer 2

LEISA is obviously a concept, an idea that is tagged with a catch word to market it as is everything these days. Low input management strategies, LIMS... There now I have created a catch word, but it is all the same concept. In the world of supply and demand when cost goes up and the producer makes less in a world where more is needed, where all the middlemen (middlepeople) want to exact their pound of flesh from a system, in a world where so many are hungry, we need to minimize the input to maximize the harvest and money made from it just to live quality lives. What you see is just one catchword for the concept. My hat is off to those who have been on the front lines of developing low input management strategies as they have been driven there out of dire need. It is the reason I take such great interest in the farmers and researchers of India and countries like her.

Answer 3

http://www.leisa.info/

In a way, organic farming is an example of LEISA.

But the objectives of leisa are to make low external input farming viable rather than certification that nothing outside the farm came in.

Clearly, organic farming may use just a lot of machinery and fuels to avoid need for a herbicide, while LEISA will acknowledge that a herbicide might cut the need for inputs. so long as use of the herbicide does not lead to increasing use year after year.

Strategies to reduce external input NEEDS  are different from a dogmatic position against certain usages, but in many cases the same strategies for Organic will also fit within LEISA.