This publication provides a collection of papers, commentaries, expert opinions and reflections on state-of-the-art innovation systems thinking and approaches in agriculture. It is the direct output of a CTA and WUR/CoS-SIS collaboration which had its genesis in an expert consultation on ‘Innovation Systems: Towards Effective Strategies in support of Smallholder Farmers’. Practitioners and scholars involved in academic, research, training and development programmes came together to map the diversities and commonalities in applying the concept in agriculture and chart the way forward for informing policy and practice.
Agricultural innovation in low-income tropical countries contributes to a more effective and sustainable use of natural resources and reduces hunger and poverty through economic development in rural areas. Yet, despite numerous recent public and private initiatives to develop capacities for agricultural innovation, such initiatives are often not well aligned with national efforts to revive existing Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). In an effort to improve coordination and responsiveness of Capacity Development (CD) initiatives, the G20 Agriculture Ministers requested the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to lead the development of a Tropical Agricultural Platform (TAP), which is designed to improve coherence and coordination of CD for agricultural innovation in the tropics. This paper presents a summary of the results obtained from three regional needs assessments undertaken by TAP and its partners. The findings reveal a mismatch in all three regions between the external supply of primarily individual CD and the actual demand for institutional CD. The misalignment might be addressed by strengthening south-south and triangular collaboration and by improving the institutional capacities that would render national AIS more demand-oriented and responsive to the needs of smallholders in domestic agriculture.
This research note explains the results of social experiment designed with three primary objectives. These include (1) to mitigate the digital divide concerning the accessibility of forecasted weather information and crop advisories for women farmers in Bangladesh and (2) to assess the potential impact of a digital climate advisory tool on the agricultural practices of climate-smart agriculture facilitated by digital advisory tools for stakeholders in the value chain, such as microfinance institutions offering crop loans in areas facing higher weather-related risks. 'Agvisely' is a farming systems decision support system (DSS) for Bangladesh. It serves as the digital climate advisory tool used in this experiment. The study involved 120 female farmers in Patuakhali district of coastal Bangladesh. We aimed to assess the impact of climate services on the cultivation of mung bean (Vigna radiata) and boro rice (Oryza sativa) during the winter rabi season.
This research delves into the underlying impacts of farmers' innovative entrepreneurship on agricultural and rural economic development in China, adopting a dynamic and spatio-temporal perspective. The study utilizes panel data encompassing 30 provinces (cities and autonomous regions) from 2015 to 2020, with a systematic consideration of diversified spatial weight matrices. The empirical findings reveal that the spatial distribution of rural innovative entrepreneurship demonstrates a characterisitic of low-low agglomeration, accompanied by evident positive spatial spillover effects and radiation-driving effects, especially in regions with similar urbanization levels. Additionally, the study identifies heterogeneous effects across regions with different grain production patterns and household income levels. Ultimately, the research underscores the significance of deeply integrating farmers' innovation and entrepreneurship and provides empirical evidence to support the necessity of adopting differentiated and specialized incentive measures for rural entrepreneurship amid the context of the new economic normal.
The creation of Competitive Research Grants (CRGs) is globally recognized as an institutional innovation for improving the effectiveness of agricultural research. Unlike block grants for research, CRGs are expected to bring in many top-quality proposals from a wide range of actors, selecting the best out of them and thus getting more value for money.
The Government of Bangladesh established the Krishi Gobeshona Foundation (KGF) in 2007 as an agency to administer and promote competitive research grants in agriculture. Beyond this, KGF was also tasked with building partnerships and strengthening research capacities. Over the last 15 years, KGF has funded 10 basic research proposals and 260 Competitive Grant Proposals (CGPs). It has also supported several short-term projects/studies. KGF, over the years, has also promoted pluralism in agricultural research and multi-institutional research functioning. Along the way, it also made several changes in its governance and rules related to grant making as well as management processes.
In this Good Practice Note, Dr Wais Kabir, reflects on the performance of KGF over the years, its success and challenges and he draws several lessons for all those who are trying to initiate and promote CRGs in agriculture.
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) and short organic supply chains have emerged as promising solutions for smallholder farmers to provide organic produce to nearby consumers. PGS is an institutional innovation that builds trust among producers, traders and consumers through a low-cost transparent and participatory certification mechanism. They have particularly gained a foothold among smallholder farmers in middle- income countries, where third-party certification costs are often unaffordable.
In Vietnam, PGS schemes have now been set up in more than seven provinces in Vietnam (Ha Noi, Ha Nam, Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Ben Tre, and Hoi An). With training and coaching by the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association (VOAA), at least five other local governments have expressed their intention to set up organic PGS groups in their respective provinces. Nevertheless, the local organic sector in Vietnam has grown slowly in recent years. PGS-certified vegetable production in Vietnam is generally more profitable and sustainable compared to non-certified production. However, it is constrained by crop productivity challenges and requires higher returns to labour.
In this Good Practice Note, Christian Grovermann, Pham Van Hoi, Pierre Ferrand and Robert Home reflect on the lessons learned from implementing PGS in Vietnam. They highlight the areas that need improvement in organic PGS vegetable production that can be integrated into capacity development interventions to boost the potential of PGS- certified production systems to deliver safe and sustainable produce to local markets.
The Korea National University of Agriculture and Fisheries (KNUAF)'s innovative program is helping South Korea overcome issues relating to its ageing rural population while simultaneously developing elite human resources to establish and promote a highly competent agriculture sector. Since its inception, the KNUAF has been producing young highly competent professionals to manage its high tech agriculture either as entrepreneurs or farm managers.
KNUAF has developed a unique program that selects youth who are willing to take up farming and fisheries, provides them hands on experience with farming, support them in establishing a startup of their choice and provide continued support for another 7-10 years after they graduate. This holds several lessons for countries trying to attract and retain their youth in agriculture, says Dr. Song-sup in this Good Practice Note.
Holding a vision of Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE), and with a target of net-zero carbon emission by 2070, India plans to usher in a green industrial and economic transition through a movement with an environmentally conscious lifestyle. One of the credible options for a continuous, predictable, accessible and cost-free green energy source is solar power. In the agricultural sector, one of the key innovations in promoting solar irrigation was the initiation of the world's first ever Solar Cooperative - Dhundi Solar Energy Producers' Cooperative Society (DSEPCS) - in Gujarat, India. It addressed several key issues challenging the promotion of solar irrigation by creating a conducive environment, attracting investment, providing technical and consulting services, building capabilities among member farmers, connecting to Madhya Gujarat Vidyut Company (MGVCL) to buy back surplus solar energy, and ensuring an additional source of income for farmers in the region. This helped in popularizing and promoting the use of solar water pumps for bringing irrigation efficiency in the region and replacing electric and diesel pump sets. This intervention has the potential to save a significant amount of power subsidies and to provide additional income to the farming community.
In this Good Practice Note, KK Tripathy and SK Wadkar discuss this notable institutional innovation.
In India, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) are considered as the most preferred institutional mechanism for enhancing productivity and income of farmers. This is based on the resounding success of a few farmer collectives that have aggregated their produce to realise better incomes. However, when efforts were made to scale up this interesting model across the country, several challenges emerged. Some of the major challenges for FPOs were lack of sufficient capacities among farmers in managing their collective enterprise and engaging with market actors, and absence of a collective voice to shape the enabling environment. To address these challenges and to strengthen the FPO ecosystem, the different stakeholders in the FPO ecosystem came together in 2017 to set up the National Association for Farmer Producer Organisations (NAFPO). Over the last few years, NAFPO's network has expanded continuously with stakeholders ranging from the entire spectrum of the value chain, including FPOs across the country, state federations, financial partners, market players, technology service providers and academia.
In this Good Practice Note, Aneesha Bali reflects on the performace of NAFPOs and how they contributed to institutional consolidation of FPO mobilization efforts that have resulted in integrating resources specific to the FPO sector and providing end-to-end functioning of FPOs.
This collection of posters from the TAP-AIS project illustrates key achievements of the project towards strengthening national agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in Africa (Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal), Latin America (Colombia), Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan). For each of these nine countries, and for their respective regions, the posters provide: i) thematic focus and context; ii) constraints in the AIS; iii) capacity development interventions; iv) outcomes; v) the way forward. The posters have been developed in occasion of the 10th Partner Assembly of the Tropical Agriculture Platform, held in November 2023.
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About the project: TAP-AIS (short name for "Developing capacities in agricultural innovation systems: scaling up the Tropical Agriculture Platform Framework") is a project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The project supports the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) to strengthen capacities to innovate in national agricultural innovation systems in the context of climate-relevant, productive, and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Pacific. For more information, visit: https://www.fao.org/in-action/tropical-agriculture-platform/projects/tap....
Agrifood value chains of small and medium-sized producers in the Near East and North Africa region have the potential to generate more value through improved access to high-value markets. Limited logistics capacity in the region, coupled with lack of access to continuous cold chain, has resulted in weak supply chain management, high level of food loss, lack of compliance with food quality and safety standards; information asymmetries; and unfair value distribution, affecting income and livelihood of small and medium-sized producers. Improving traceability and transparency along the agrifood value chains can help building consumers' trust by better tracking the origin of food, identifying, detecting and mitigating the impact of food safety and quality issues in a timely manner and enhancing price visibility and information sharing on value distribution in each stage of the value chain.
Digital technologies can play an important role in enhancing traceability and transparency by ensuring the collection of comprehensive, consistent and reliable data along the supply chain, real-time tracking, easy aggregation, integration, analysis and sharing of data. Despite the recognition of game changing potential, few studies have analysed the feasibility of application of these technologies to improve traceability and transparency of value chains, from farm-gate to market, in the region. To fill this gap in knowledge, this study was conducted to understand the digital landscape in the region, examine barriers and incentives for uptake of these technologies and to propose solutions that can improve the adoption rate and sustainability of digital technologies for small and medium-sized producers.
Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is the production of plants, fish, insects, or animals inside structures such as greenhouses, vertical farms, and growth chambers, in which environmental parameters such as humidity, light, temperature and CO2 can be controlled to create optimal growing conditions.
To date, the majority of high-tech CEA installations are concentrated in high-income, industrialized countries, and the term is often associated with fully automated vertical farms in purpose-built buildings or repurposed spaces, such as disused warehouses, underground bomb shelters, office walls and basements, and even barges. Some forms of CEA are, nonetheless, being successfully taken up by entrepreneurs and established farmers in low- and lower-middle income countries, including in Africa and Asia. While the CEA techniques used in these contexts may not be so technologically advances, they show promise for their contribution to sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI).
Present trends of agriculture intensification run counter to the Sustainable Development Agenda (UN, 2015). They seek to meet the food and nutrition needs of a rapidly growing and urbanizing global population by expanding areas under cultivation, and through increased use of chemical fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides that natural resources under tremendous pressure, cause biodiversity loss, degrade water catchments and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, a major driver of climate change (IPCC, 2019).
SAI, on the other hand, is based on methods that are productive, energy-efficient, less-resource intensive, and robust to the effects of natural hazards, pest and diseases. These methods, and the policies, institutions and financial instruments they require, must be geared towards addressing the poverty and inequality that are associated with intractable food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in low- and lower-middle income countries.
For CEA to make a meaningful contribution to SAI in low- and lower-middle income countries, there is a need for investment in research, capacity development, enterprise initiation, scaling, and creation of enabling environments (through policies at national and sub-national levels). To attract investment and justify policy change, more information is needed on the potential contribution of CEA to sustainable development, and where, how, by whom, and for whom various technologies might be best deployed.
The purpose of this report is:
• to identify which CEA technologies merit investment, and under which conditions, to advance SAI in Africa and Asia;
• to make recommendations concerning investment in CEA technologies.
To do this, we conducted a study on the current practice and future potential of CEA in low- and lower- middle income country contexts, consisting of a literature review, document analysis, and in-depth interviews with 12 CEA practitioners in four countries: Kenya, Nigeria, India, and Sri Lanka.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) financed the second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Project (CHARMP2), in areas where poverty is most severe among indigenous peoples in the highlands of the Cordillera Region in northern Philippines. The aim is to reduce poverty and improve the livelihoods of indigenous peoples living in farming communities in the mountainous project area. The indigenous peoples consist of many tribes whose main economic activity is agriculture. The project demonstrated how development can be supported and sustained without adversely affecting the cultural values and practices of the Indigenous communities through community-driven innovations in the area of watershed management, forest conservation and promotion of agroforestry. In this Good Practice Note, Marie-Aude Even and Mary Ann Botengan reflect on the lessons learnt from the successful implementation of the community-driven innovations in Forested Uplands in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). The authors highlight the importance of influencing the enabling environment, the need to forge partnerships, the intensive efforts in capacity development and the community-driven process used for engaging a wide range of stakeholders to achieve sustainable and scalable impacts.
India is witnessing dwindling gains from agriculture for the smallholder farmers because of high cost of inputs, changing climate impacting production, fluctuating market prices of outputs, and weak delivery of services at the last mile. The value share of farmers in the commodity supply chain needs to be increased to ensure that farming remains a remunerative livelihood option. There has to be a wider acceptance of the fact that the country needs partnerships among multiple players with complementary knowledge and expertise for its agricultural development. Transform Rural India Foundation (TRIF) developed and implemented a comprehensive agricultural strategy to address the challenges that smallholder farmers face by bringing together the government, the community and the market under one platform. In this Good Practice Note, the authors elaborate on the solutions designed for aiding the transition of subsistence farmers into prosperous farmers by making farm livelihoods more convenient and profitable so as to attract young men and women. They emphasize the importance of strengthening the rural market ecosystem through local agrientrepreneurs anchored by community institutions for effective last mile service delivery. Further, the rural production system is enhanced by increasing the role of community institutions in planning and designing public investments. Improved market ecosystem and strengthened rural production system drives a behavioral change at community level leading to multi-dimensional changes
The Water Resources Department, Government of Maharashtra, responsible for building infrastructure and delivering water to farmers and other users, has so far created irrigation potential of about 5.3. million hectares and the current utilization is about 76%. About 5000 Water User Associations (WUAs) have been established to manage the water supply within their designated areas. However, the water use efficiency and productivity is adversely impacting the overall water security of the state. 2030 Water Resources Group (WRG), a global partnership program hosted within the Water Global Practice of the World Bank, supports the Government of Maharashtra on a state level through the Maharashtra Water Multi-Stakeholder Platform to address water security in the state. Command area water productivity is one of the four thematic areas of work. Since 2018, 2030 WRG has been successful in forging a few public-private-civil society partnerships, covering about 870 WUAs cultivating about 0.30 million hectares of area. In this Good Practice Note, Jonnalagadda VR Murty, Kavita Sachwani and Ajith Radhakrishnan discuss the importance of multi-stakeholder platforms and specific public-private and civil society partnerships in enhancing water use efficiency and institutionalizing an enabling environment that is critical for forging and nurturing such partnerships.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) financed the second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Project (CHARMP2), in areas where poverty is most severe among indigenous peoples in the highlands of the Cordillera Region in northern Philippines. The aim is to reduce poverty and improve the livelihoods of indigenous peoples living in farming communities in the mountainous project area. The indigenous peoples consist of many tribes whose main economic activity is agriculture. The project demonstrated how development can be supported and sustained without adversely affecting the cultural values and practices of the Indigenous communities through community-driven innovations in the area of watershed management, forest conservation and promotion of agroforestry. In this Good Practice Note, Marie-Aude Even and Mary Ann Botengan reflect on the lessons learnt from the successful implementation of the community-driven innovations in Forested Uplands in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). The authors highlight the importance of influencing the enabling environment, the need to forge partnerships, the intensive efforts in capacity development and the community-driven process used for engaging a wide range of stakeholders to achieve sustainable and scalable impacts.
In order to bring about sustainable transformation and business orientation into the Indian Agriculture sector, there have been schematic interventions to promote unique forms of social capital for farmers, called Farmer Producer organizations (FPOs). Many stakeholders, particularly NGOs, are involved in promoting and handholding these FPOs in a target-driven mode by promoting a large number of such institutions across the country. Although these institutions represent a strong form of social capital, their capacity as smallholder farmer members of FPOs is limited in terms of business acumen, access to credit, human resources, access to technology and markets, and consumer analysis. These institutions can realize their full potential in terms of agribusiness growth through collaboration, convergence and collective action. This calls for an integrated and innovative support system to developed the organizational as well as functional capacities by FPOs by enabling them to progress from the stage of promotion to that of business growth. In this Good Practice note, Hema Yadav, Sagar Wadkar and Anshu Singh discuss the need for a special purpose vehicle to create a win-win proposition for farmers/FPOs, promoting institutions (NGOs), and private players, and thereby co-create a competitive and sustainable business model. The inherent collaboration and partnership can help by providing access to capital, apart from reaping many other benefits such as technology, human resources and access to markets and consumers.
Researchers at the University of Queensland have worked on research projects in the PNG Highlands since 2005. These projects were, and are, applied research to manage soil fertility in sweetpotato-based cropping systems in the Highlands. They were funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Our key collaborator was PNG’s National Agricultural Research Institute. Although the projects were in the field of Soil Science, specifically soil fertility management, our approach has always been multidisciplinary. The timeline of project management has always been a small scoping study type activity to assess research needs before full-length projects commenced. All activities were planned in close collaboration with NARI, NGOs, and the farming community. This allowed us to develop and implement projects in a truly collaborative manner. A key component was regular visits of UQ project staff to review project activities, provide on-the-job training, and plan new project activities. In this Good Practice Note, Gunnar Kirchhof reflects on his experience of doing agricultural research in the PNG Highlands over the last 15 years. It is a personal account of having worked as an Australia-based researcher in the PNG Highlands; it is a narrative of impressions that aims to guide and make research in this region more effective.
Green Extension is an umbrella term used to describe rural advisory services which support the scaling up of sustainable agriculture. This encompasses a range of methods to promote various types of content. What these approaches have in common is a process of socio-ecological learning, i.e., supporting farmers to analyse local problems and opportunities, and test alternative practices under local conditions. Building on three decades of experience in promoting organic agriculture, IPM, SRI and other forms of sustainable agriculture, the concept and practice of Green Extension has been developed and implemented in Lao PDR within the framework of the Lao Upland Rural Advisory Service (LURAS), since 2015. In this Good Practice Note, Souvanthong Namvong and Andrew Bartlett, reflect on the evolution and progress of green extension and draw lessons from the challenges as well as opportunities at hand for influencing the enabling environment, forging partnerships and innovation in capacity development, and how they are strengthening the Agricultural Innovation System in Laos.
Digitalization and internet use are transforming every aspect of our lives. Digital technologies are profoundly changing how we grow food, pack it, transport it and even shop for food. Digitalization and use of digital data, applications, and platforms are opening new possibilities for developing and restructuring the agrifood system. Digital agriculture is turning to digitalizing agrifood, rural economy, and rural societies. This report introduces the FAO Digital Village Initiative, which aims to facilitate through knowledge and information. It approaches countries and communities to develop, accelerate and deploy digital technologies in rural villages and communities. The report introduces the Digital Village Ecosystem approach. It describes an instrument (tool) to gather information and provide a village ecosystem assessment to help generate recommendations for future interventions to deploy beneficial, inclusive, and affordable digital innovations by rural residents. The DVE approach identifies five core attributes: basic infrastructure, demand and needs of digital services (from end-user), enabling services, digital supply possibilities, economic and business sustainability, and finally, local ownership of the proposed or piloted digital village innovations. The DVE approach is currently being implemented in 8 countries covering over 100 digital villages (covering a wide range of digital readiness statuses from emerging up to smart villages). The report provides a summary of a sample of digital village cases under DVE assessment. Results of the DVE assessments and recommended follow-up action by country will be released in future reports.
The publication looks at innovations happening at all stages of the food value chain: from production to manufacturing and retailing. This also includes the extended value chain, for example input supply, financial services and agribusiness support services. Yields are improving and primary production is becoming more resilient as a result of digital technologies such as precision agriculture, agricultural drones, and digital farming services and marketplaces; and novel business models such as plant factories, crowdsourcing for farmers. Data and robotics help lift productivity and food safety in the manufacturing process. Online grocery commerce and food delivery services are revolutionizing the way consumers purchase food. Distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, allows making payments and tracing back food products along the chain in order to increase transparency and trust. New business models are springing up to shorten the chain by removing or shifting stages and to make it fairer and greener, stimulated by enabling technologies and changing customer behaviours. Innovations such as these are discussed and illustrated by almost 200 practical examples from 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, across various types of firms and commodities.
By observing emerging trends and providing concrete examples, the book discusses the nature of these innovations, how they are affecting food systems and value chains, positively or negatively, and how to deal with trade-offs. It concludes with a reflection on the impacts of these innovations, the policy solutions identified, and lessons learned to future-proof the region’s food systems, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accurate and timely crop mapping is crucial for environment assessment, food security and agricultural production. However, for the areas with high landscape heterogeneity and frequent cloudy and rainy weather, the insufficient high-quality satellite images limit the accuracy of crop classification. The recently launched Chinese GF-6 wide field-of-view camera (WFV) with a revisit cycle of 4-day and spatial resolution of 16-meter shows great potential for agricultural monitoring. In this study, Qianjiang City characterized by complex agricultural landscapes was selected as the research area to assess the potential of GF-6 data in identifying crop types. Firstly, the pairwise and global separability were calculated to analyze the effect of different spectral-temporal features of GF-6 images on crop classification. A total of 255 spectral-temporal features derived from 15 GF-6 tiles were then used to perform random forest classification. Furthermore, the classification results were evaluated based on 671 field samples and then compared the accuracy between GF-6 data and Sentinel-2 or Landsat-8 data. In addition, the earliest identifiable time of crop types was also determined by iteratively using all available GF-6 data during each time period. The results suggested that the overall accuracy (OA) of all available GF-6 images was 91.55%, which was significantly higher than that of Landsat-8 data (OA = 85.97%) and was slightly lower than that of Sentinel-2 data (OA = 93.10%). The newly added red-edge bands (0.69 ∼ 0.73 μm, 0.73 ∼ 0.77 μm) and their derivative vegetation indices were important spectral features, and the period from mid-March to early-April was the best temporal window for crop identification in our research area. Moreover, late July was the earliest crop identifiable time with overall accuracy of 90% for the first time of the year. These results indicated the great potential of GF-6 images for classifying crop types in the areas with complex cropping system and fragmented agricultural landscapes, particularly when integrating other satellite data with comparable spatial resolution (e.g. Chinese GF-1 data and Sentinel-2 data).
China will be confronted with many challenges in the years to come, including achieving carbon neutrality, ensuring environmental sustainability, protecting vulnerable people, and ensuring a smooth transition from smallholder to modern agriculture. This policy note discusses how China could further advance its food and agricultural development model, making it greener, more sustainable, and more inclusive.
The increased recognition of the multiplicity of roles played by women in, and their crucial contributions to, the fisheries sector exists in stark contrast with the low presence of women in fisherfolk organizations around the globe, and the lack of access to decision-making positions in many formal fisheries-related organizations. This paper summarizes analyses of a global literature review on women in fisherfolk organizations. The aim of the study was to identify positive examples and lessons learned by pointing to the drivers – as well as the enablers and entities identified in the literature – that have a key role in fostering increased women’s participation and leadership in collective action in fisheries. State institutions, social movements and civil society organizations, development and conservation projects, religious movements, academia, endogenous mobilization, charismatic individuals and coincidences have been identified as the key enablers of women’s participation in collective action. Dwindling resources and the need to secure management roles, modernization, the allocation of fishing rights, economic changes, family welfare and women’s rights, are the main drivers identified by the authors as catalysers of women’s engagement in collective action. Finally, the paper identifies some of the barriers faced by women to gain equal access to organizations and decision-making. Although more research on the topic is required, there seems to be consensus on the positive effects for women arising from their engagement in modes of collective action.
The objective of this case study is to understand the application of ICT technologies for rural groundwater management in China, and it’s impacts on the rural poor. This will help understand the physical and policy context this technology is being applied and expanded, its impact on resource management, and changes in water delivery service to farmers. These understanding will help improve this technology and provide data and information for its replication in other parts of Asia. It will also h elp understand the capabilities of the ICT within the water sector applications.
This publication aims to inform the debate on the status of food security in Arab countries, and provide policy options for enhancing food security in the future, in line with the overarching directions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Given the heterogeneity of the Arab region, both in terms of natural endowment, particularly in water resources, and economic capabilities, the report’s analysis divides the region into four subregions, each consisting of a more homogeneous group of countries. This report provides a broad overview of food security in the Arab region, including the availability, access and utilization of food. Elements of stability come into play in discussing all three of these dimensions. The report also includes in-depth analysis of selected thematic issues, namely agriculture, international food trade, and food loss and waste. Using the Aglink-Cosimo model, a section is devoted to discussing likely future projections, if the region continues on its present course, and the potential impacts of actions to increase crop yields, shift to healthier consumption patterns, or establish and maintain strategic food stocks. On the basis of the report’s analysis, a set of key findings, as well as general and specific policy recommendations, are highlighted in the final section.
This paper discusses how adapting food production systems to respond to consumer demand for healthier diets is a major opportunity to mitigate and adapt to climate change in agro-rural economies. It also addresses how existing technological solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation need to create more balance between the production and consumption tiers of agrifood systems. Policy dialogue includes managing trade-offs between different sector and stakeholder interests and exploring synergies rather than focusing on exclusivity and competition. This requires a new framework that goes beyond sector-specific policy development. Political economy issues compound the outcome of evidence-based policy dialogue results. For example, political motivation for exporting protein-rich foods may lead to negative impacts on local food sovereignty and food production for local markets. In this regard, the use of concrete policy dialogue tools (food-based dietary guidelines, land use planning and discussions on a protein production strategy) can facilitate a more interactive policy process. The document also stresses how specific rural transformation efforts (e.g., adopting territorial approaches for conceiving and implementing policies; targeting specific producer and consumer groups; strengthening resource ownership; and empowering women and young people) are an integral part of agrifood systems transformation.
China is characterized as ‘a large country with many smallholder farmers’ whose participation in modern agriculture is key to the country’s modern agriculture development. Promoting smallholder farmers’ adoption of modern agricultural production technology is one effective way to improve the capabilities of smallholder farmers. This paper aims to explore the impact of Internet use on the adoption of agricultural production technology by smallholder farmers based on a survey of 1 449 smallholders across 14 provinces in China. The results suggest that Internet use can significantly promote technology adoption, with the probability of adopting new crop varieties, water-saving irrigation technology and straw-returning technology increasing by 0.200, 0.157 and 0.155, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of Internet use is found to be heterogeneous with a greater effect on smallholder farmers having low education levels, limited training, and high incomes. To increase agricultural production technology adoption by smallholders, rural Internet infrastructure and Internet use promotion should be the focus for the Chinese government.
This study aims to clarify the Japanese characteristics of the spread of smart agriculture utilizing digital technology, which is expected to spread worldwide, and to provide policy implications for further dissemination of the technology. We conducted a questionnaire survey on actual conditions related to smart agriculture on Japanese farms. We have also proposed creation of a Smart Agricultural Kaizen Level (SAKL) technology map by applying the evaluation method used in management technology theory for the manufacturing industry. Using the results of the questionnaire survey and the proposed SAKL technology map, we analyzed the current pattern of expansion of smart agricultural technologies in Japan. Our results suggest that production efficiency in Japanese agriculture could be improved by raising the data visualization level and introducing smart agricultural technology. We also found that Japanese agriculture efficiency can be improved by introducing smart agricultural technology even if the data visualization level remains low. Smart agricultural technology automatically visualizes information and optimizes conditions without relying on the farmer's information literacy. At Japanese agriculture sites, the current smart agricultural technology introduction rate is less than 50%. To effectively disseminate smart agricultural technologies in the future, a policy should be implemented that promotes the development of a standardized package of smart agricultural technologies that can improve efficiency to some extent through default operation. With such a package, smart agriculture could be expanded without resorting to improving farmers' information literacy. Agricultural sites in Japan are thought to be currently engaged in developing such a standardized package of smart agricultural technologies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the importance of agriculture in the Pacific Islands for food security and economic development. The crisis has underscored the crucial role of domestic food systems to provide resilience to shocks, livelihood options, self-sufficiency, and insurance against food and nutrition insecurity. However, remoteness from international markets, populations dispersed across many small islands, heightened vulnerability to climate change, and natural resource constraints pose significant challenges for adapting food systems to cope with the impacts of COVID-19. As part of the UN response to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on food systems across the Pacific Islands, this report offers a consolidated analysis of pre-COVID food security and nutrition challenges and outlines key actions needed to respond to the current impacts, inform medium- to long-term recovery planning, and better prepare for future crises.These actions include investing in:
Breeding programs for local breeds kept by small farmers in developing countries are a major challenge. Animal recording of pedigree and performance under conditions of subsistence livestock farming is remain difficult or next to impossible. This means that standard genetic evaluations, as well as selection and planning of mating based on estimates of the animals' genotypes, cannot be done at any level in the population of the target breed or genetic group. However, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) partnering with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) has been implemented sheep and goat community-based breeding programs (CBBPs) in Ethiopia since 2010. A total of about 40 CBBPs each with average of 80 household and 1000 flock size in four sheep (Menz, Bonga, Doyogena and Horro) and three goat (Abergelle, konso and Borena) breeds are involved in Ethiopian CBBPs (Haile et al., 2019). Apart from the above mentioned, many CBBPs has been established throughout the countries by different institutions (Research centers, Universities, and Biodiversity Institute); and, many other African (e.g. Tanzania, Sudan, Uganda, Malawi) and Asian countries (e.g Brazil,Iran, Mongolia) are implementing sheep and goat CBBPs (Haile et al., 2019). It means pedigree and performance data recording is being accumulated and an integral component in all the breeding programs.
Genetic improvement on local breeds kept by small farmers in developing countries is challenging. Even though good pedigree and performance recording is crucial and an important component of breeding programs, it remain difficult or next to impossible under conditions of subsistence livestock farming. This means that standard genetic evaluations, as well as selection and planning of mating based on estimates of the animals' genotypes, cannot be done at any level in the population of the target breed or genetic group. However, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) partnering with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) has been implemented sheep and goat community-based breeding programs (CBBPs) in Ethiopia since 2010. Currently, a total of about 40 CBBPs each with average of 80 household and 1000 flock size in four sheep (Menz, Bonga, Doyogena and Horro) and three goat (Abergelle, konso and Borena) breeds are available. Many other CBBPs has also been established throughout the countries by different institutions (Research Centers, Universities, and Biodiversity Institute); and African (e.g. Tanzania, Sudan, Uganda, Malawi) and Asian (e.g Brazil,Iran, Mongolia) countries are implementing sheep and goat CBBPs. It means pedigree and performance data recording is being accumulated and getting larger and larger. Though selection of best sires has been a routine practice in the CBBPs, retaining best animal for breeding challenged by many factors. Sale of animals by owners before selection event for pressing cash need tied with delay in data capture, analysis and giving on time feedback to the community is appeared as main challenge. With the recent advances in computer science, ICT and mobile technology, ICARDA is therefore developed a digital database system called AniCloud which can accelerate the data capture, analysis and feedback system which is crucial to assist the small ruminant breeding program at lower cost, high storage capacity, high fidelity and fast computing speed. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explain the current
Many countries are facing growing levels of food insecurity, reversing years of development gains, and threatening the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Even before COVID-19 reduced incomes and disrupted supply chains, chronic and acute hunger were on the rise due to various factors, including conflict, socio-economic conditions, natural hazards, climate change and pests. The impact of the war in Ukraine adds risk to global food security, with food prices likely to remain high for the foreseeable future and expected to push millions of additional people into acute food insecurity. This brief looks at rising food insecurity and World Bank responses to date.
Feeding the world’s steadily growing population while respecting the planetary boundaries will be a key challenge for humanity in the future. Prevailing production and consumption patterns are leading to a loss of natural resources and destroying ecosystems and their functions. More than 820 million people were affected by malnutrition in 2017. Climate change is exacerbating this development and pushing natural ecosystems to their limits, something that is having far-reaching consequences for the environment, the economy and humanity. Food and land use systems must become more sustainable and climate-resilient to ensure the survival of humankind.
The world’s population is likely to reach 9 billion by the middle of this century. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) believes that 60 per cent more food will be needed by 2050 to sustain all these people. Where possible, this food should be produced where it is needed – in developing countries. These countries will have to increase their production substantially to reach this goal, and this will have implications for the limited natural resources on which farming depends, particularly water for irrigation and livestock farming, land for growing crops and grazing, and limited nutrients, such as phosphate. In many places, soil has already suffered lasting damage while water resources are often overused or polluted by fertilisers and pesticides. Agricultural biodiversity has dwindled as farming has become industrialised. These negative effects have heightened global awareness of the fact that agriculture does more than simply produce food, animal feed and energy. It also has impacts on the climate, human health, and global ecosystems. Against this backdrop, how can we shape future agricultural production so that we guarantee food security for the world’s population without destroying the resource base? The answer is that we need productive yet sustainable agriculture that conserves resources. Growth cannot be at the cost of natural resources and must be made as independent as possible of consumption of resources.
This event, co-organised by the UfM, FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (FAO RNE) and CIHEAM, aims to raise awareness on the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change on agri-food systems, and on the interventions that are needed to address them, build women and girls’ resilience, and unleash their potential to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts.
This event launches a new phase of the JP RWEE that will even further enhance its holistic approach to advancing rural women’s economic empowerment by integrating a climate resilience lens to tackle deep rooted social norms which limit women’s participation and leadership in rural communities including through applying gender transformative approaches.
Livestock have strong empowerment potential, particularly for women. They offer millions of women in the Global South the opportunity to provide protein-rich foods for home consumption and sale. Livestock provide women with income and opportunities to expand their livelihood portfolios and can strengthen women’s decision-making power. Fully realizing livestock’s empowerment potential for women is necessary for sustainable livestock development. It requires, though, that gender-equitable dynamics and norms are supported in rural communities. We draw on 73 village cases from 13 countries to explore women’s experiences with livestock-based livelihoods and technological innovations. Our analysis follows a gender empowerment framework comprised of four interdependent domains—recognition of women as livestock keepers, access to resources, access to opportunities, and decision making as a cross-cutting domain—which must come together if women are to become empowered through livestock. We find improved livestock breeds and associated innovations, such as fodder choppers or training, to provide significant benefits to women who can access these. This, nonetheless, has accentuated women’s double burdens. Another challenge is that even as women may be recognized in their community as livestock keepers, this recognition is much less common among external institutions. We present a case where this institutional recognition is forthcoming and illuminate the synergetic and empowering pathways unleashed by this as well as the barriers that remain.
Gender integration focuses on applying a gender lens to look at how social relations of gender and underlying power dynamics affect men’s and women’s participation in and benefit from development programmes. In Plantwise, gender mainstreaming aimed to (1) understand gender relations and how they affected access to agricultural advisory services and adoption of plant health management practices, and (2) remove gender related barriers to access and adoption and improve gender equity. This study used desk reviews and key informant interviews to understand how the different measures taken by Plantwise countries helped improve women’s participation, as well as, the overall constraints women faced in participating and benefitting from the programme interventions. Findings showed that while efforts were made to mainstream gender in Plantwise, the efforts were not consistent and systematically designed, and there were limits in ensuring that services were delivered equally to women and men farmers. However, innovations and adaptations within the studied countries (Ghana, Uganda, Bolivia, Afghanistan and India) did increase women’s participation and benefit from Plantwise, even if more can be done.
In Nepal, the Plantwise programme, in collaboration with International Development Enterprises (iDE), has established networks of locally owned plant clinics, run by community business facilitators (CBFs) trained as plant doctors, who provide practical plant health advice. This study examines how gender is integrated into this programme in three purposively selected study districts. It presents the experiences of farmers, the challenges they faced in accessing plant health services through a gender and social inclusion lens. It also identifies strategies and lessons for development of gender responsive plant health programmes.
The policy environment for agricultural innovation in Lao PDR has never been better. Agricultural development is high on the agenda at the most senior levels of government, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry recently published a strategy framework that lays out multiple pathways for innovation. Based on the work to date, CDAIS National Innovation Facilitators are well positioned to continue shaping the agricultural innovation process long after the project ends. To show examples of how this has been achieved, conversations are shared from a pig production partnership, one of five innovation niche partnerships where the facilitation process was tailored to cultural contexts and governance structures. What is unique about CDAIS is that ‘success’ is measured by growth in confidence and capacities and not just in terms of positive economic outcomes. This ‘change from within’ pathway has attracted attention from other departments within the ministry, and prospects look good that CDAIS will leave a lasting legacy.
"Many topics in the participatory training were eye openers. I have learned a good number of techniques that will help me not only in project activities but also in my personal life. And I believe that the acquired skills and knowledge will help me support effective collaboration and dynamic stakeholder networks and local agribusiness partnerships and will help to generate new knowledge by fostering collective learning and joint experimentation.”
Flyer on CDAIS in Bangladesh.
Agriculture provides the principle source of livelihood for more than 80% of its 170 million people, and is the backbone of the Bangladesh economy. The government acknowledges this in its strategy to 2041, with investment in research and extension. CDAIS began in 2015. At the outset, however, the need to also invest in strengthening functional capacities was not recognised by those used to the ‘traditional’ technology transfer model. The story of mango producers in Chapai Nawabganj district is offered here as an example, though CDAIS saw success with all three innovation niche partnerships (or ‘clusters’) it worked with. At organisational level, it is clear that the ‘new’ approach has gained some traction in key institutes involved in agricultural innovation, and that CDAIS tools and approaches have opened people’s eyes to a complementary form of long-term capacity development.
Pineapple is one of the most important commercial fruit crops in the world. In Bangladesh, it is ranked third in
terms total production and area farmed, both of which are increasing continually. It is grown in all regions, but especially in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where many marginalised tribal people became involved in pineapple farming and trade, contributing to both rural livelihoods and national gross domestic product (gDP). Here, the ‘giant Kew’ variety, known locally as Bandarban, has proved well adapted to local environmental conditions and to local and export preferences, being larger, juicier and sweeter than those grown in other areas of the country. To reinforce this market advantage, the CDAIS pineapple partnership identified branding of Bandarban pineapples as the priority demand.
But farmers have not benefited as well as they could from their crop. Why? low bargaining power resulting from not being associated with organised pineapple growers associations, and limited market access. other identified issues include the lack of functional capacities for strengthening existing groups, the dominancy of intermediaries, weak marketing channels, lack of central collection areas, storage facilities and marketplaces, high cost of transportation, lack of knowledge on pineapple processing, and limited access to credit.
Bangladesh is the eighth largest mango-producing country in the world. In 2014–2015, 10 million tonnes of fruit was produced, of which 1.5 million tonnes were mangoes. Due to the nutritional value and their popularity, mangoes are considered as a high priority for national food security. They are also an important commodity crop, and production has increased considerably in recent years due to multi-cropping.
Production is concentrated in certain areas, and in the 2015–16 growing season almost half of all production came from just two districts, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj. In the latter, mango is one of the most important cash crops, and in Shibganj sub-district (upazilla), most people are involved in mango production and trade, with 13,500 hectares producing 120,000 tonnes annually. The combination of many varieties means that there is supply throughout the whole season from mid-May to the end of September. Many orchards are more than 100 years old, but farmers had not organised themselves into groups to consider their interests.
The CDAIS approach
CDAIS activities in the area began with the identification of producer organisations and their capabilities, along with other institutions supporting agricultural innovation. Implementation of CDAIS started with the training of national innovation facilitators in the importance of innovation and capacity development, how to use different capacity needs assessment tools and methodologies, and how to develop action plans with producer groups.
The Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Pakistan, aims to increase agricultural productivity and the income of farmers in four sectors (cereals, livestock, vegetables, and horticulture) by increasing the use of modern technology and management practices, improving the performance of value chains, and increasing the capacity of the public and private sectors to support the agricultural production system.
The four evaluation questions focus on various aspects of the program’s effectiveness. Answers to these questions will help program stakeholders such as the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and the AIP implementing partners (IPs) refine implementation. USAID/Pakistan will incorporate lessons learned into ongoing and future Economic Growth and Agriculture (EGA) activities.
1. To what extent has AIP contributed to revitalizing research and innovation in its focus subsectors?
2. To what extent has AIP’s collaboration with the public and private sectors built the capacity of partner institutions in research and development?
3. According to public and private sector partners of AIP, how effective was the implementation of project activities? What can be improved?
4. To what extent did AIP produce any change in knowledge, skills, and attitudes in its trainees?
In early 2020, GFRAS provided support to the Agricultural Extension in South Asia (AESA) Network and the Bangladesh Agricultural Extension Network (BAEN) in order to customize one of the NELK Modules in the context of Bangladesh. The BAEN Executive Committee selected the GFRAS NELK Module 7 on ‘Facilitation for Development’ for customization. AESA and BAEN jointly implemented the development of the customized module for Bangladesh. The process of customization consisted of five phases spread over a span of six months. These were: pre-preparation, introduction to the NELK module, development of customized module, validation, and finalization. We developed this guidance note to share our experiences with customizing this NELK Module to the Bangladeshi context so that it will inspire and inform others who are keen on customizing the varied NELK modules to specific countries.
Mounting evidence points to the fact that climate change is already affecting agriculture and food security, which will therefore make the challenge of ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture even more difficult (FAO 2016). Through Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, the 2030 Agenda calls for strengthened resilience and adaptive capacity in response to natural hazards and climate-related disasters globally. It calls on all countries to establish and operationalize an integrated strategy – one that includes food security and nutrition – to improve their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and to foster climate resilience and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without jeopardizing food production (FAO et al. 2018). Climate Smart Agriculture may help achieve higher production with reduced emissions. This would have been the simple answer to climate change impacts on agriculture, if the issues were simple. But they rarely are. Extension and Advisory Services (EAS)i need to support farmers in addressing some of these concerns, but their capacities need to be significantly enhanced to play these roles. This brief discusses some of these issues and draws significantly on the South Asia Policy Dialogue organized jointly by Agricultural Extension in South Asia (AESA), IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC), the Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy (CRISP) and the Sri Lanka Network of Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (NAEASSL) at Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 5 October 2018. Several policy makers, donors, and key extension professionals engaged in promotion of climate smart agriculture in South Asian countries participated in this dialogue.
During the last six years (2013-2019), the Agricultural Extension in South Asia (AESA) Network has served as a platform for collating the voices, insights, concerns, and experiences of people in the extension sphere of South Asia. Diverse professionals shared their concerns on the present and future of Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) in the form of blog conversations for AESA. Together, all of these individuals who are involved, interested and passionate about EAS, discussed ways to move beyond some of the seemingly intransigent problems that are hindering the professionalization of EAS. Nevertheless, these blogs also take the time to celebrate and salute the signs of promising new beginnings. This publication is an effort on our part to compile 100 such conversations on EAS, which were originally published as AESA blogs, starting in February 2013, into this book. Several of our readers have been asking us to assemble all these reflections into a single document so that these are available as a good reference document for a wide spectrum of actors involved in EAS – scholars, practitioners, trainers, faculty, innovation intermediaries, mentors, leaders and managers – all of whom are involved in driving agricultural and rural transformation.
The new Constitution of Nepal (2015) has initiated federal, provincial, and local governments in Nepal, each bestowed with respective rights, responsibilities, power and authority. While developing the new mechanism of governance, the Constitution has given immense authority as well as responsibility to local governments, which is unprecedented and has never been experienced before in the history of Nepal. Along with the restructuring of the state, the institutional mechanism of the agriculture sector has also been restructured. The agricultural extension service delivery system is currently trying to adjust to the changing institutional and policy context introduced by the new federal structure.
In theory, under the federal structure agricultural extension services can serve communities better as it aims to be client responsive and accountable to its consumers at the village level. However, poor understanding of federalism that has only recently emerged from the persisting centralized and feudal conceptions, limited practices of democratic norms and values primarily due to the lack of understanding of local governance, and limited commitment of political actors and policy makers to federalism, may derail the good intentions behind federalism. The dividends of state restructuring take time to be realized, and state restructuring should be given sufficient time to deliver. Despite some limitations, Nepal’s considerable experience with local governance and decentralization will hopefully facilitate its adaptation to the new federal structure.
This paper reviews the extension curricula currently followed in universities in India at different levels in light of the new challenges faced by farmers, the new capacities needed among extension personnel to address these challenges, new trends in the job market and advances made in the field of extension. Apart from analyzing the existing mechanisms available for curriculum reform in India, the paper also reviews the literature on extension curriculum reforms elsewhere including recent efforts by the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) to develop and promote the New Extensionist Learning Kit (NELK), a collection of learning resources in specific areas where capacities of extension professionals need to be enhanced.
Development is the process of change and facilitation helps in accelerating this process through the change agents‘ or the extension service provider. While working with farmers, agri-traders and processors, facilitation refers to promote group learning, building consensus and enhancing participation in collective actions. A facilitator has multidimensional roles to play. The module has been prepared to assist facilitators/ trainers engaged in training of agricultural extension and advisory services (EAS) staff and other mediators on facilitation for development by enhancing their knowledge on how to facilitate change in individuals, groups and organizations and also to facilitate multi-stakeholder engagements through brokering strategic partnerships and networking. While working through this module the trainers will find the relevance of facilitation for development in the context of agricultural innovation services (AIS).
The study utilized WFP’s Consolidated Livelihood Exercise for Analyzing Resilience (CLEAR) approach which contains a baseline of major livelihood zones all over the country. CLEAR has provided the backbone to build the Philippines’ first livelihood zone maps which aim to provide information for the diversification of economic activities, aimed to ensure that its food systems are secure, peace and hunger are addressed, and the country is on a continuous path to sustainable development. The products of the project are envisioned to provide government and non-government partners with technical input to various development and action plans such as the National and Local Climate Change Action Plans. In addition, the livelihood zone maps that model scenarios in rural and urban settings can assist government and development partners in the targeted mobilization of resources to increase community resilience. Likewise, the crop suitability maps and the climate change impact scenarios are expected to aid in the shaping policies, resource prioritization, and the crafting of sustainable strategies to mitigate and cope with the effects of climate change on food systems.
Equipping agricultural extension and advisory services with nutrition knowledge, competencies and skills is essential to promote nutrition-sensitive agriculture. This report presents the results of an assessment of capacity within agricultural extension and advisory services, undertaken in Telangana State, India, with the global capacity needs assessment (GCNA) methodology developed by FAO and GFRAS. The methodology is available online at https://doi.org/10.4060/cb2069en
The author shares her experience of participating in a training that was organized by the Tropical Agriculture Platform – Agricultural Innovation Systems (TAP-AIS) project, ‘Developing Capacities in Agricultural Innovation Systems: Scaling up the Tropical Agriculture Platform Framework’, implemented by FAO’s Research & Extension Unit, funded by the European Union as a component of the ‘Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA): Towards Climate-relevant Agricultural and Knowledge Innovation Systems’ initiative. The project aims to strengthen AIS by promoting the Common Framework for capacity development of the TAP. The training focused on introducing AIS concepts, the TAP Common Framework for functional capacity development and its approaches and tools for practical use. It also provided a common space for participants to share and learn from their own experiences by guiding them through case studies and group activities.
The Date Palm Innovation Platform is a collaborative work is a platform for research, technology and innovation for the integrated production system of the Date Palm. The platform has been developed by the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The agriculture sectors are the most vulnerable to climate change and climate variability. Through the Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation plans (NAP-Ag) programme, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are supporting eleven countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to plan for adaptation in the agriculture sectors. This video shows what three of these countries, Uganda, Thailand and Colombia, are doing to tackle climate change and integrate agriculture in their planning and budgeting processes.
This brochure gives an overview of the work of of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). It illustrates history, main objectives and medium to long-term plan of JIRCAS for the period 2021-2025. The three main programs of JIRCAS - focused, respectively on Food, Environment and Information - are also presented.
As climate change continues to drive food insecurity, addressing the risks of climate change across the value chain – especially agricultural products that are important to food and nutrition security – will yield significant adaptation benefits to vulnerable small producers and rural communities at large. This will support global efforts to end hunger and poverty, build more effective farming practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and accelerate the ambition of Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement.
As the world gets hotter and rainfall more erratic, the type and availability of ingredients for daily meals are changing. With support from the Government of Canada and the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Countries Fund, the Canada-UNDP Climate Change Adaptation Facility (CCAF) has been supporting six least developed countries and small island developing states (Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Haiti, Mali, Niger and Sudan) to strengthen climate resilience and enhance food security. To better understand and share the experiences from these six countries, and to celebrate some of the successes of the projects in enhancing food security and water access, the CCAF team has worked together to create a cookbook. This 'Appe-teaser' version of the cookbook, a short teaser, offers a recipe from each country. The full cookbook was launched in New York in April 2017. It showcases more delicious recipes and more information on how climate change is impacting specific ingredients and recipes, and how each country's adaptation efforts are making traditional ingredients and cooking methods more sustainable.
Recent studies in the literature examining impact of government seed price intervention on adoption of Bt cotton get different results depending on the specifics of the situation analyzed. According to one study, reduction in seed prices enables farmers to buy seeds at lower prices and this can result in surge of area sown under Bt cotton. The other view holds that seed price interventions have little impact on the adoption rates rather these interventions may adversely affect firms’ incentives to innovate. Which of the two views characterize adoption of Bt cotton in India? Using three variations of dynamic logistic model, this paper analyzes the impact of certain economic factors like seed prices, technological development, and cotton prices on the diffusion of Bt cotton in India. It uses panel data set covering 9 major cotton growing states over the years 2002 to 2008 and finds that although seed prices were significant in impacting the diffusion rates, its impact was limited. The study also sheds light on the significance of technological development in impacting diffusion rates.
Rice is a primary food for more than three billion people worldwide and cultivated on about 12% of the world’s arable land. However, more than 88% production is observed in Asian countries, including Pakistan. Due to higher population growth and recent climate change scenarios, it is crucial to get timely and accurate rice yield estimates and production forecast of the growing season for governments, planners, and decision makers in formulating policies regarding import/export in the event of shortfall and/or surplus. This study aims to quantify the rice yield at various phenological stages from hyper-temporal satellite-derived-vegetation indices computed from time series Sentinel-II images. Different vegetation indices (viz. NDVI, EVI, SAVI, and REP) were used to predict paddy yield. The predicted yield was validated through RMSE and ME statistical techniques. The integration of PLSR and sequential time-stamped vegetation indices accurately predicted rice yield (i.e., maximum R2 = 0.84 and minimum RMSE = 0.12 ton ha−1 equal to 3% of the mean rice yield). Moreover, our results also established that optimal time spans for predicting rice yield are late vegetative and reproductive (flowering) stages. The output would be useful for the farmer and decision makers in addressing food security.
Recent Society 5.0 efforts by the Government of Japan are aimed at establishing a sustainable human-centered society by combining new technologies such as sensor networks, edge computing, Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and robotics. Many research works have been carried out with an increasing emphasis on the fundamentals of wireless sensor networks (WSN) for different applications; namely precision agriculture, environment, medical care, security, and surveillance. In the same vein, almost all of the known authentication techniques rely on the single gateway node, which is unsuitable for the current sensor nodes that are broadly distributed in the real world. Despite technological advances, resource constraints and vulnerability to an attacker physically capturing some sensor nodes have remained an important and challenging research field for developing wireless sensor network user authentication. This work proposes a new authentication scheme for agriculture professionals based on a multi-gateway communication model using a fuzzy extractor algorithm to support the Society 5.0 environment. The scheme provides a secure mutual authentication using the well-established formal method called BAN logic. The formal security verification of the proposed scheme is validated with the AVISPA tool, a powerful validation method for network security applications. In addition, the security of the scheme was informally analyzed to demonstrate that the scheme is secure from different attacks, e.g., sensor capture, replay, and other network and physical attacks. Furthermore, the communication and computation costs of the proposed scheme are evaluated and show better performance than the existing authentication schemes.
In Asia and the Pacific, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is working with member countries to leverage breakthroughs in information and communication technologies (ICT) to fight hunger, improve nutrition and counter the effects of climate change and extreme weather events that can devastate farmers and their crops. In the Philippines, a country prone to typhoons, aerial drones are taking to the sky to map out at-risk areas of agricultural land to mitigate risk. This innovative practice is also able to quickly assess damages when a disaster strikes.
This research examines the transformation of the agro-climatic conditions of the Altai region as a result of climate change. The climate of the Altai region in Russia is sharply continental and characterized by dry air and significant weather variability, both in individual seasons and years. The current study is determined by the lack of detailed area-related analytical generalizations for the territory of the Altai region over the past 30 years. Most of the published data dealing with an integrated analysis of the agro-climatic conditions in the Altai region date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s; in most cases, this data is from climate reference-books based on the generalized data from the first half of the 20th century. To make accurate forecasts and to efficiently manage agricultural production in the Altai region, area-related data on the state and dynamics of agro-climatic changes have been analysed. The results reveal that in the period between 1964 and 2017, significant climatic changes occurred in the territory of the Altai region. These climatic changes affected the growing season length, which increased due to a shift in the dates of the air temperature transition above 10 °C, to earlier dates in spring and to later dates in autumn. Furthermore, the current study also revealed that the foothills of the Altai Mountains are the most moistened parts of the region and the Kulunda lowland is the most arid part. In the Altai region, the accumulated temperatures and amounts of precipitation during the growing season increased significantly, and the values of integrated coefficients and indices that reflect the moisture supply conditions for the territory also changed significantly. Based upon the results, a schematic map of the current precipitation distribution on the Altai region’s territory has been generated. These results and this map may be used to conduct more detailed studies in the field of agro-climatology and to update the current borders of agro-climatic areas and revision of the agro-climatic zonation scheme.
The tools of biotechnology present an opportunity to infuse a new round of technology into Indian agriculture, which has been going through "technology fatigue" in recent period. These technologies follow from the conventional plant breeding techniques and complement them in improving crops to resist biotic and abiotic stresses, break yield barriers, and sustain yields in the face of resource degradation and climatic change. Though India has been making rapid strides in the field of biotechnology, the progress in harnessing agricultural biotechnology is rather slow largely due to the uncertainties created by campaigns by civil society groups based on ideological grounds. However, the commercialization of biotech cotton with a gene from soil bacterium Bacillus thuriengensis is a small step taken in the right direction in 2002. That has brought about a revolution in cotton production and productivity; catapulted India to the second leading position in cotton production in the world and earned foreign exchange worth more than Rs. 60000 crores in the last decade. Most importantly, it has improved the conditions of cotton farmers and accrued additional gains worth more than Rs. 75000 crores. Now is the time to move beyond cotton and replicate the success in other crops by providing the required enabling framework for the private sector, apart from enhanced investments in the public sector and public private partnerships and industry-academia linkages.
Continually increasing food demand from a still–growing human population and the need for environmentally–friendly strategies for sustainable agricultural development require innovation and further enhancement of cropping systems’ factor productivity. The system of rice intensification (SRI) has been proposed as a suitable strategy to improve rice yields with reduced input requirements, most notably water and seed, while enhancing soil and water quality because agrochemical applications can be cut back.
This review examines the performance of SRI methods in China since first introduced in 1999 and considers their implications for further agricultural systems development. A meta–analysis of studies conducted over the past decade in China indicates that SRI methods have been increasing rice yield in comparison trials with current improved practices by more than 10 %. These higher yields are being attained with reduced field requirements for irrigation water and with much–reduced seed rates. This can lower farmers’ costs of production and enhance their net income from rice. Such benefits are accompanied by other advantages reported by various researchers in China and elsewhere, such as greater disease resistance, higher nitrogen use efficiency, enhanced photosynthetic rates, and improved physiological traits.
With appropriate modifications for local conditions, there is increasing evidence that SRI principles and practices can offer an environment–friendly strategy for sustainable agriculture in China and elsewhere. This review considers Chinese and other research on opportunities for improving agricultural production and food security with less strain on environmental resources, and for helping farmers cope with increasing climatic stresses now and in the future.
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) has become the most important oil crop throughout the world. The growing palm oil production was mainly based on the expansion of cultivated area into forest areas, causing serious environmental and social concerns. Increasing yields on existing plantations is a potential pathway to reduce the undesired ecological impacts of oil palm agriculture while enhancing its social benefits. Although oil palm production is still dominated by large private estates, smallholder farmers are increasingly engaging in its cultivation. While there is some evidence that smallholders' palm oil yields show large variations and are often far below plantation standards, empirical studies on their agronomic performance are scarce. Based on crop modeling analysis and farm household survey data from Sumatra, Indonesia, this paper quantifies smallholder yield gaps relative to exploitable yield levels and analyses smallholders' production constraints. Results show that oil palm smallholdings offer a tremendous potential for future yield increases, because they obtain, on average, only around 50% of the cumulative exploitable yield over a 20 year plantation life cycle. In particular, we find yield gaps to be largest during the most productive phase of oil palm. Our results indicate that farmers do not adapt their labor and fertilizer inputs to the higher resource demand of the palm. In general, significant determinants of yield gaps are management practices such as fertilizer dosage, length of harvesting intervals and plant mortality. Supported smallholders perform relatively better compared to independent farmers. In summary, our study shows that there is large potential to increase productivity of smallholder oil palm systems in Sumatra. In order to exploit this opportunity, farmers' awareness about the changing management requirements of oil palm over the plantation life cycle needs to be enhanced.
Boll guard I & II were introduced in 2002 and 2006 by Mahyco Monsanto with Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, Govt. of India. Indian cotton farmers adopted Bt hybrid cotton between 2002-2013 reaching 92% of the cotton area and 95% of the production, replacing conventional hybrids/ varieties of all the species in both rainfed and irrigated conditions. Bt hybrid cotton was presumed to produce record highest average productivities in India and other major cotton growing countries also in 2007 and 2012 with a decline after 2008 due to excess rains. Farmers invested Rs. 1500-1750/- Acre could prevent 24-28% cotton yield losses by consuming 2.3 times more fertilizers, 35% herbicides and 22% growth regulators. Although it was reported three times returns compared to non Bt cotton due to severe inflation pressure farmers profitability got reduced and went unrest in 2011. Seed producers, marketing companies, input dealers and female labourers were major beneficiaries. Bollworms sprays were reduced to zero but sucking pests sprays were almost doubled with low volume more costly insecticides. The pest management cost remain unchanged in this decade. In conclusion, Bt cotton won the confidence of farmers for its bollworm resistance except refugea regultion. Govt. efforts for price control stabilized margin for farmers but eroded due to escalating weed management and hand picking costs after 2008. Yield gap analysis found N, Zn, Mg and B were limiting optimum yields, besides post emergence herbicides, rain water conservation/ supplemental irrigations can break present productivity levels and reduce cost of production. Public sector research agencies should follow Public private partnership model adopted by Gujarat Agriculture University, Surat for conversion Bt Hybrid-6 and 8. They need to meet farmer’s expectations by developing transgenic insect and herbicide resistant cotton varieties and prove in farmers fields. Breeders must meet consumer’s expectations inorder to compete with polyester fibre to get sustainable demand. Bt hybrid cotton impact on economy, input output efficiencies, reducing cost of production, policies affecting farmers profits, R&D efforts and BMPs across globe were reviewed.
This paper attempts to identify the major factors associated with some of the failures and successes of integrated watershed management policies and projects with a particular emphasis on the uplands of mainland Southeast Asia. It argues that many policy measures have been misguided by failing to acknowledge the multi- dimensional facets of sustainable watershed management and putting too much emphasis on command-and-control approaches to resource management and one- size-fits-all conservation models. Attempts to introduce soil and water conservation measures, for instance, have largely failed because they concentrated merely on the technical feasibility and potential ecological effects, while neglecting economic viability and socio-cultural acceptance. The production of agricultural commodities, on the other hand, has mostly been market-driven and often induced boom and bust cycles that compromised the ecological and social dimensions of sustainability. Purely community-based approaches to watershed management, on their part, have often failed to address issues of elite capture and competing interests within and between heterogeneous uplands communities.
Drawing on a review of recent experience and on lessons from initiatives in a long-term collaborative research program in Thailand (The Uplands Program) aimed at bridging the various dimensions of sustainability in the Southeast Asian uplands, this paper discusses how a socially, institutionally and ecologically sustainable mix of agricultural production, ecosystem services and rural livelihood opportunities can be achieved through incentive-based policies and multi-stakeholder partnerships that attempt to overcome the (perceived) antagonism between conservation and development in upland watersheds of Southeast Asia.
Past studies showing that barriers to farmers’ adaptation behaviors are focused on their socio-economic factors and resource availability. Meanwhile, psychological and social considerations are sparingly mentioned, especially for the related studies in developing countries. This study investigates the impact of psychological factors and social appraisal on farmers’ behavioral intention to adopt adaptation measures for the aforementioned reason, due to climate change and not to anthropogenic climate change. Drawing on the protection motivation theory, a threat, coping, social appraisal, maladaptation and behavioral intention to adopt adaptation measures (TCSMBI) model was proposed to predict farmers’ adaptation. A structural equation model was then employed to analyze the relationships between variables in the TCSMBI model with 658 apple farmers in Shaanxi province, China. The empirical results showed that threat appraisal and coping appraisal have positive and significant impacts on behavioral intention to climate change. Moreover, threat appraisal reduces the occurrence of maladaptation, and social appraisal tends to have significantly positive impacts on threat appraisal and coping appraisal.
Agenda:
Introduction to CCAFS and CGIAR: Why food loss and waste? - Lini Wollenberg
The Food Loss and Waste Calculator and how it can be used to mitigate climate change - Jan Broeze
Understanding Smallholder Farmers’ Post-Harvest Behaviors: Evidence from Malawi - Tabitha Nindi
Effects of Amending Soil with Organic Matter on Population Change of Aspergillus flavus and Antagonistic Microbiome: and on Aflatoxin Contamination of Groundnut in Malawi - Norah Machinjiri
Quantifying GHG emissions of agrifood chain and associated food loss and food waste in China - Li Xue
A Stepping-Stone to the evidence base for the mitigation of N2O emission from reduced food loss and waste in China and Myanmar - Xia Liang
Food waste reduction entrepreneurship initiative and associated impacts: a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment - Daniele Matzembacher
Increasing trends of climatic risk pose challenges to the food security and livelihoods of smallholders in vulnerable regions, where farmers often face loss of the entire crop, pushing farmers (mostly men) out of agriculture in destitution, creating a situation of agricultural making agriculture highly feminization and compelling male farmers to out-migrate. Climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) are promoted to cope with climatic risks. This study aims to assess how knowledge related to CSAPs, male out-migration, education and income contribute to the determinants of male out-migration and CSAPs adoption and how they respond to household food security. Design/methodology/approach Sex-disaggregated primary data were collected from adopter and non-adopter farm families. STATA 13.1 was used to perform principle component analysis to construct knowledge, yield and income indices. Findings Yield and income index of adopters was higher for men than women. The probability of out-migration reduced by 21% with adoption of CSAPs. An increase in female literacy by 1 unit reduces log of odds to migrate by 0.37. With every unit increase in knowledge index, increase in log-odds of CSAPs adoption was 1.57. Male:female knowledge gap was less among adopters. Non-adopters tended to reduce food consumption when faced with climatic risks significantly, and the probability of migration increased by 50% with a one-unit fall in the nutrition level, thus compelling women to work more in agriculture. Gender-equitable enhancement of CSAP knowledge is, therefore, key to safeguarding sustainable farming systems and improving livelihoods. Social implications The enhancement of gender equitable knowledge on CSAPs is key to safeguard sustainable farming systems and improved livelihoods. Originality/value This study is based on the robust data sets of 100 each of male and female from 100 households (n = 200) using well-designed and validated survey instrument. From 10 randomly selected climate-smart villages in Samastipur and Vaishali districts of Bihar, India, together with focus group discussions, the primary data were collected by interviewing both men and women from the same household.
The video (in Vietnamese language- English subtitles) tackles how to mainstream Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI in setting up a Climate-Smart Village (CSV). GSI should be integrated in the eight guide steps in establishing a CSV, such as: determining the purpose and scope of CSV; identifying the climate risk in the target area/s; locating the CSV in a small landscape; consulting the stakeholders; evaluating the CSA options; developing portfolio; scaling-up; and monitoring and evaluating uptake and outcome.
This brochure presents FAO ’s work on agricultural innovation. FAO advocates a shift from interventions focusing on single components of agricultural innovation towards a system-approach aimed at strengthening institutions and stakeholders’ networks that better respond to the needs of smallholder farmers. Agricultural innovation is the process whereby individuals or organizations bring new or existing products, processes or ways of organization into use for the first time in a specific context in order to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, resilience to shocks or environmental sustainability and thereby contribute to food security and nutrition, economic development or sustainable natural resource management. Innovation is central to lifting family farmers out of poverty, tackling unemployment for youth and rural women, and helping the world to achieve food security and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The impact of global warming on crop growth periods and yields has been evaluated by using crop models, which need to provide various kinds of input datasets and estimate numerous parameters before simulation. Direct studies on the changes of climatic factors on the observed crop growth and yield could provide a more simple and intuitive way for assessing the impact of climate change on crop production. In this study, four cultivars which were planted over more than 15 years in eight test stations in the Northern Winter Wheat Region of China were selected to investigate the relationships between growth periods, grain yields, yield components and temperatures. It was found that average temperatures and heat degree-days (HDD) during the winter wheat growing seasons tended to increase over time series at most study sites. The length of growth period and growing degree days (GDD) were not fixed for a given cultivar among different years and locations, and the variation on the periods from sowing to jointing was relatively greater than in the other periods. The increasing temperature mainly shortened the periods from sowing to jointing and jointing to anthesis, which led to the decrease in entire growth periods. Positive relationships between spike number, grain number per spike, grain yields and average temperatures were identified in the Northern Winter Wheat Region of China. The grain yield in the study area increased by 406.3 kg ha 1 for each 1 C increase in average temperature. Further, although the positive relationship between grain yield and HDD was found in our study, the heat stress did not lead to the wheat yield decline in the study region. Temperature is a major determinant of wheat growth and development, the average temperature and the frequency of heat stresses are projected to increase in the future, so understanding the effect of temperature on wheat production and adopting appropriate adaptation are required for the implementation of food security policies.
Innovations are fast changing the agricultural landscape driven by the increasing need to shift towards sustainable practices without sacrificing the productivity and profitability of farming. Innovations in technology, institutions, processes, and products have contributed to the growth of agriculture, globally and in developing countries including India and Africa, as observed in the cases of green revolution in cereals; and gene revolution in cotton. More recently, innovations in farm mechanization, micro irrigation, digital technology driven farm and crop management, financial services, energy efficient post-harvest management including LED and solar driven logistics, among others are gaining momentum. These have considerable potential to impact farmers’ livelihood through higher productivity, better returns, more employability and in turn catalysing the shift towards sustainable agricultural practices through optimal utilization of resources. In addition to these, innovations in business models – “uberization” of agri-mechanization, direct firm-farm linkages, aggregation of farmers through producer organizations, etc. that make agricultural technology more affordable and adoptable for smallholder farmers are critical for economic and human development of people who depend on agriculture for their income and livelihood security and in effect impact poverty alleviation. For the developing world, innovations must infuse inclusive growth and deliver maximum benefits to the smallholder farmers.
The present study involves an extensive stocktaking exercise of the types of innovations that have emerged globally and in India in particular, and their increasing impact on the agricultural sector. The stocktaking exercise is based not only on peer-reviewed research from the academic fields, but also draws on recent corporate studies. This is done because we observe an accelerated innovation process in which business and startups (for instance in digital services) play an important role. The important trends and therein the lessons learnt which can be adapted to suit the local conditions in India are captured. The study also looks into the policy and institutional reforms that will catalyze the introduction and adoption of the advanced technology solutions in the context of Indian agriculture.
This report introduces the reader to the concept of agricultural innovation systems (AIS) and the TAP-AIS project being implemented by FAO in nine countries, including Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The results of the AIS assessment for Lao PDR are presented, highlighting key barriers and opportunities for agricultural innovation in the country. The results of the first in a series of TAP-AIS policy dialogue events in Lao PDR, held on October 25, 2021, will also be summarized and a path forward for the policy dialogue process will be outlined, including priority recommendations from the AIS assessment to support agricultural innovation in Lao PDR.
With 20% of the world's population but just 7% of the arable land, China has invested heavily in crop biotechnology to increase agricultural productivity. We examine research on insect-resistant genetically engineered (IRGE) crops in China, including strategies to promote their sustainable use. IRGE cotton, rice, and corn lines have been developed and proven efficacious for controlling lepidopteran crop pests. Ecological impact studies have demonstrated conservation of natural enemies of crop pests and halo suppression of crop-pest populations on a local scale. Economic, social, and human health effects are largely positive and, in the case of Bt cotton, have proven sustainable over 20 years of commercial production. Wider adoption of IRGE crops in China is constrained by relatively limited innovation capacity, public misperception, and regulatory inaction, suggesting the need for further financial investment in innovation and greater scientific engagement with the public. The Chinese experience with Bt cotton might inform adoption of other Bt crops in China and other developing countries.
Although the benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops have been well documented, how do farmers manage the risk of new technology in the early stages of technology adoption has received less attention. We compare the total factor productivity (TFP) of cotton to other major crops (wheat, rice, and corn) in China between 1990 and 2015, showing that the TFP growth of cotton production is significantly different from all other crops. In particular, the TFP of cotton production increased rapidly in the early 1990s then declined slightly around 2000 and rose again. This pattern coincides with the adoption of Bt cotton process in China. To further investigate the decline of TFP in the early stages of Bt cotton adoption, using aggregate provincial-level data, we implement a TFP decomposition and show that the productivity of GM technology is higher, whereas the technical efficiency of GM technology is lower than that of traditional technologies. Especially, Bt cotton exhibited lower technical efficiency because farmers did not reduce the use of pesticide when they first started to adopt Bt cotton. In addition, we illustrate the occurrence of a learning process as GM technology diffuses throughout China: after farmers gain knowledge of Bt cotton, pesticide use declines and technical efficiency improves.
Agricultural research and innovation has been a major source of agricultural growth in developing countries. Unlike most research on agricultural research and innovation which concentrated on the role of government research institutes and the international agricultural research centers of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, this paper focuses on private sector research and innovation. It measures private research and innovation in India where agribusiness is making major investments in research and producing innovations that are extremely important to farmers. It also reviews Indian policies that influence research and innovation. This new data and policy analysis can provide India policy makers with a basis for policies that can strengthen the direction and impact of agricultural research and innovation in the future.
Improved water management offers a range of benefits to people living in the dryland tropics, where water is scarce. Watershed programmes based on active participation of the rural population bear the potential to ensure food security, contribute to economic growth and help conserve natural resources. An ICRISAT programme in India provides an example of a science-led, knowledge-based approach in this field.
In creating a usable Information System (IS), the quality of information is crucial for making the right decisions. Although, many Information Quality (IQ) features have been identified in a broader context, only certain IQ features would become applicable for each domain from the usability perspective. This study focuses on a theoretical analysis to identify the IQ features which would be significant to produce a usable agricultural information system with respect to the developing countries. Accuracy, Credibility, Context-specific, Completeness and Timeliness are identified as the essential features of the IQ for IS in agriculture which was substantiated through the preliminary analysis of user reviews on the agriculture mobile applications.
Rising global demand for vegetable oil during the last few decades has led to a drastic increase in the land area under oil palm. Especially in South- east Asia, the oil palm boom has contributed to economic growth, but it has also spurred criticism about negative environmental and social effects. Here, we discuss palm oil production and consumption trends and review environmental, economic, and social consequences in different parts of the world. The oil palm expansion has contributed to tropical deforestation and associated losses in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Simultaneously, it has increased incomes, generated employment, and reduced poverty among farm and nonfarm households. Around 50% of the worldwide oil palm land is managed by smallholders. Sustainability trade-offs between preserving global public environmental goods and private economic benefits need to be reduced. We discuss policy implications related to productivity growth, rainforest protection, mosaic landscapes, land property rights, sustainability certification, and smallholder inclusion, among others.
Asian agriculture is faced with major new challenges as a result of globalisation, urbanisation and environmental problems such as climate change. To meet these challenges, Asian agriculture needs to become more knowledge intensive and innovation oriented. This article frames the new Asian challenge in terms of innovation theory, emphasising the importance of the co-evolution of technological and institutional change and linkages between actors in open, interactive innovation processes. It studies the performance of agricultural research and technology organisations (RTOs) in four small and medium-sized South and Southeast Asian economies: Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam. A key performance issue is the linkages between actors, which is a key weakness in the agricultural innovation systems of most Asian countries. The need for effective linkages is growing as agricultural production and innovation are becoming increasingly complex due to the impact of the consecutive green, sustainability, biotechnology and supermarket revolutions. Linkages are in short supply, but the demand for them is exploding. As a consequence, traditional public agricultural research organisations in Asia, created at the time of the green revolution, no longer play a central role in agricultural innovation as they did when countries faced only one challenge.
A group of researchers and industry writers have constructed a narrative of technological triumph for Bt cotton in India, based on an empirical record of superior performance compared to conventional seed. Counterclaims of Bt cotton failure are attributed to mutually reinforcing interactions among non-governmental organisations which avoid rigorous comparisons. However, researchers and the biotechnology industry are also engaged in a similar authentication loop for generating, validating, and publicising such facts. With Bt cotton, the convention of routinely ignoring the effects of selection bias and cultivation bias benefits researchers, journals and the industry, but keeps us from drawing meaningful conclusions about the relative performance of the technology. But as poor as the case for isolating the technology impact of Bt cotton in India has been, it is useful in helping us understand the social conventions for creating one's "own facts".
Micronutrient malnutrition is a public health problem in many regions of the developing world. Severe vitamin A and iron deficiencies are of particular concern due to their high prevalence and their serious, multiple health effects on humans. This paper examines dietary patterns and nutrient intakes, as well as their socioeconomic determinants among households in the Philippines. Since promotion of indigenous vegetables is often considered as an avenue to reduce micronutrient malnutrition, special emphasis is placed on analyzing the contribution of this particular food group to household vitamin A and iron intakes. We use a sample consisting of 172 resource-poor households located in peri-urban areas of Laguna Province. A 24-hour food consumption recall allows for detailed, meal-specific examination of diets. Results of the dietary analysis suggest that fish is of major importance for vitamin A and iron intakes. But also vegetables, and especially indigenous vegetables, play an essential role for balanced household diets. In order to determine socioeconomic factors influencing vitamin A and iron intakes, we employ an econometric model, which shows that deficiencies are strongly associated with low household incomes and poverty. Thus, poverty alleviation will help reduce the problem of micronutrient malnutrition in the medium and long run. However, in the interim, more targeted interventions will be needed. Our results suggest that promotion of indigenous vegetables can play a role in this respect, especially among the poor, who can often not afford sufficient amounts of animal products.
Agricultural transformation is one of the important factors of rural planning and sustainable land management. There are natural and man-made reasons of this transformation, which brings both positive and negative impacts on the physical environment, food security, and human livelihoods. This study aims to explore a case of land use conversion from traditional agricultural land to the man-made wetland for fisheries in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The conversion might be a result of purposeful land use and land cover changes to continue agricultural production for the market demands. A hybrid model of logistic regression and water index has been used to investigate the dynamics of LULC (Land Use Land Cover) changes. Moderate-resolution multi-temporal Landsat imageries of 2000, 2010, and 2020 have been used for visual interpretation and quantitative analysis. During the study period of 20 years, wetlands for entrepreneurial pond culture were remarkably increased, while agricultural land and vegetation experienced a decreasing trend. It is predicted that wetlands are going to be further increased by diminishing agricultural land and vegetation until 2030. Despite the fact of suitable data unavailability, this study also shows that the remote sensing approach provides a powerful tool for analysing and monitoring spatiotemporal agricultural transformation. Moreover, the empirical findings of land use modelling might be useful for agricultural planning and decision-making in rural Bangladesh.
Food quality and safety are receiving increasing attention in the food sector nationally and internationally. Emerging private sector regulations are increasingly perceived as market entrance barriers within this development. In this paper, we analyze quality assurance programs (QAPs) in the horticultural sector in Vietnam and their effect on access to international markets. A representative sample of registered fruit and vegetable processing firms provide the basis for our analyses. Results of different logistic regression models show that QAPs are market specific. Processors with already implemented international private QAPs have a higher probability of accessing OECD markets. For exports to non-OECD countries, national QAPs facilitate international market participation. Small firms particularly profit from the adoption of private international QAPs. For this reason, firms have to be encouraged to implement such programs if they want to become internationally competitive. As substantial numbers of laborers in the processing enterprises and the primary producers are closely linked to the success of processors in international markets, our findings have implications for employment and the farm sector within rural development strategies.
Iron deficiency is a widespread nutritional problem in developing countries, causing impaired physical activity and cognitive development, as well as maternal mortality. Although food fortification and supplementation programmes have been effective in some countries, their overall success remains limited. Biofortification, that is, breeding crops for higher micronutrient content, is a relatively new approach. We propose a methodology for ex-ante impact assessment of iron biofortification, which builds on disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and a large household data set. Our analysis of iron-rich rice and wheat in India indicates sizeable potential health benefits. The cost-effectiveness of iron biofortification compares favourably with other interventions.
Agricultural innovation has played a critical role in the economic transformation of developing East Asian countries over the past half century. The Green Revolution—in the form of modern seed varieties, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and modern machinery—has contributed to increased crop yields and farm incomes, and decreased poverty across the region. Although policy makers’ traditional focus on expanding and intensifying agricultural production has brought many benefits, the focus on productivity has come at a rising cost. The environmental sustainability of agricultural production is increasingly under threat. Moreover, as countries in the region have become more urbanized and demand for processed foods has risen, inadequate food safety systems and related food safety hazards have created a new form of food insecurity. As detailed in Agricultural Innovation in Developing East Asia: Productivity, Safety, and Sustainability, a new generation of innovation in agriculture has the potential to address the challenges of productivity, sustainability, and food safety to deliver a “triple win.” To make the most of this promising wave of agricultural innovations, policy makers in the region will need to act to strengthen countries’ agricultural innovation systems. This effort will require a cross-cutting approach, including policy and institutional reforms, improved governance of countries’ agri-food systems, and efforts to build farmers’ and firms’ capacities to adopt new technologies and to innovate.
Oil palm cultivation is a primary income source for millions of rural farm and non-farm households in the tropics but management systems of this tropical crop often vary in space. Understanding this spatial variation and driving factors is crucial in order to design effective and geographically targeted, and optimized interventions that support local farm productivity and sustainability. However, this has been hampered partly due to a shortage of data and methods to examine spatial heterogeneity in smallholder-dominated farming systems systematically. Here, this issue is addressed using primary household data and a structured additive regression model including nonlinear spatial effects—so-called geosplines—to analyze micro-level spatial variation in smallholder oil palm yield, input use, and output prices in Jambi Province, Indonesia. We add several standard covariates in our estimation to help investigate the causes of the spatial variation. We identify distinct spatial variation in oil palm production activities within the different parts of the farm households’ settlements. Our results show that farm characteristics indicating stability (e.g., land titles) and specialization in oil palm production are associated with significantly higher oil palm yields, input use, and output prices. Further, proximity to a market center significantly increases input use and realized output prices. Finally, the estimated geosplines reveal that standard covariates explain only 50-60 percent of the spatial heterogeneity in our dependent variables. Controls for unexplained variation at smaller scales (e.g., village) can help, yet significant spatial patterns remain for input use and output prices. To explain these remaining patterns, a purely quantitative approach might not be sufficient. Thus, a combination of quantitative and qualitative information might be needed to target and optimize agricultural productivity and sustainability interventions geographically.
While several studies have shown that genetically modified Bt cotton can benefit smallholder farmers economically, the sustainability of these effects is still unclear and debated controversially between biotechnology proponents and critics. We use unique panel data of 533 cotton farmers, collected in India between 2002 and 2008, to analyze Bt impacts on cotton yield, profit, and household living standards. Results from fixed effects models show that the adoption of Bt cotton is associated with a net yield gain of 24% and a profit increase of 50%. These benefits per acre were stable over time; there are even indications that they increased. Given rising adoption rates, the aggregate benefits grew substantially. We further show that Bt cotton adoption raised consumption expenditures, our measure of household living standards, by 18% during the 2006-2008 period. We conclude that Bt cotton has created large and sustainable benefits, which contribute to economic development in India.
The 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC 2021) highlights the remarkably high severity and numbers of people in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 55 countries/territories, driven by persistent conflict, pre-existing and COVID-19-related economic shocks, and weather extremes. The number identified in the 2021 edition is the highest in the report’s five-year existence. The report is produced by the Global Network against Food Crises (which includes WFP), an international alliance working to address the root causes of extreme hunger.
Productivity growth in smallholder agriculture is an important driver of rural economic development and poverty reduction. However, smallholder farmers often have limited access to information, which can be a serious constraint for increasing productivity. One potential mechanism to reduce information constraints is the public agricultural extension service, but its effectiveness has often been low in the past. Digital technologies could enhance the effectiveness of extension by reducing outreach costs and helping to better tailor the information to farmers’ individual needs and conditions. Using primary data from India, this study analyses the association between digital extension services and smallholder agricultural performance. The digital extension services that some of the farmers use provide personalized information on the types of crops to grow, the types and quantities of inputs to use, and other methods of cultivation. Problems of selection bias in the impact evaluation are reduced through propensity score matching (PSM) combined with estimates of farmers’ willingness to pay for digital extension. Results show that use of personalized digital extension services is positively and significantly associated with input intensity, production diversity, crop productivity, and crop income.
Labor saving innovations are essential to increase agricultural productivity, but they might also increase inequality through displacing labor. Empirical evidence on such labor displacements is limited. This study uses representative data at local and national scales to analyze labor market effects of the expansion of oil palm among smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Oil palm is labor-saving in the sense that it requires much less labor per unit of land than alternative crops. The labor market effects depend on how oil-palm-adopting farm households reallocate the saved labor time; either to the off-farm sector or to cultivating additional land. If adopters increase their labor supply to the off-farm sector, employment and wages of rural laborers might decrease. This is especially true for female agricultural laborers, who are often employed in alternative crops but less in oil palm, as their labor productivity in this particular crop is lower than that of men. However, our results suggest that oil palm adoption in Indonesia largely led to the cultivation of additional land, entailing higher agricultural labor demand, especially for men. At the same time, the oil palm boom caused broader rural economic development, providing additional employment opportunities also in the non-agricultural sector, thus absorbing some of the female labor released from agriculture. Overall employment rates did not decrease, neither for men nor for women. While this is good news from economic and social perspectives, the cropland expansion contributes to deforestation with adverse environmental effects. Policies to curb deforestation are needed. Forest conservation policies should go hand-in-hand with measures to further improve rural non-agricultural employment opportunities, to avoid negative socioeconomic effects for poor rural laborers, and women in particular.
Weak public infrastructure may contribute to poverty and inequality. Studies have found that roads are a key factor affecting rural incomes in developing countries. Yet, there is relatively scant evidence of the economic impacts of rural roads at the individual household level. This study contributes to the literature by empirically analysing the effects of rural road construction on household income and income inequality in Nepal. Using a quasi-experimental design, a difference-in-difference approach is developed and employed to analyse household (n = 177) data before and after road construction. We find that the new road had a significantly positive impact on mean household income of USD 235 (28%). Contrary to expectations, we do not find an increase in income inequality. Compared to the counterfactual site, it appears that the road has rather contributed to decreasing income inequality. The poorest households gained most from the road construction, making it a pro-poor development intervention.
Despite substantial research on the economic effects of transgenic insect-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton, there is still limited work on this technology’s impacts on human health. Due to the inbuilt insect resistance, Bt cotton requires fewer pesticide sprays than conventional cotton, which is not only advantageous from economic and environmental perspectives, but may also result in health benefits for farmers. Using socioeconomic and biophysical data from Pakistan, we provide the first evidence of a direct association between Bt gene expression in the plant and health benefits. A key feature of this study is that Bt cotton cultivation in Pakistan occurs in a poorly regulated market: farmers are often mistaken in their beliefs about whether they have planted Bt cotton or conventional cotton, which may affect their pesticide-use strategies and thus their pesticide exposure. We employ a cost-of-illness approach and variations in the measurement of Bt adoption to estimate the relationship between Bt cotton and farmers’ health. Bt adoption based on farmers’ beliefs does not reduce the pesticide-induced cost of illness. However, adoption based on measuring Bt gene expression is associated with significant health cost savings. Extrapolating the estimates for true Bt seeds to Pakistan’s entire Bt cotton area results in annual health cost savings of around US$ 7 million. These findings have important implications for the regulation of seed markets in Pakistan and beyond: improved regulations that ensure claimed crop traits are really expressed can increase the benefits for farmers and society at large.
The role of genetically modified (GM) crops for food security is the subject of public controversy. GM crops could contribute to food production increases and higher food availability. There may also be impacts on food quality and nutrient composition. Finally, growing GM crops may influence farmers’ income and thus their economic access to food. Smallholder farmers make up a large proportion of the undernourished people worldwide. Our study focuses on this latter aspect and provides the first ex post analysis of food security impacts of GM crops at the micro level. We use comprehensive panel data collected over several years from farm households in India, where insect-resistant GM cotton has been widely adopted. Controlling for other factors, the adoption of GM cotton has significantly improved calorie consumption and dietary quality, resulting from increased family incomes. This technology has reduced food insecurity by 15–20% among cotton-producing households. GM crops alone will not solve the hunger problem, but they can be an important component in a broader food security strategy.
Recent research has analyzed whether higher levels of farm production diversity contribute to improved diets in smallholder farm households. We add to this literature by using and comparing different indicators, thus helping to better understand some of the underlying linkages. The analysis builds on data from Indonesia, Kenya, and Uganda. On the consumption side, we used 7-day food recall data to calculate various dietary indicators, such as dietary diversity scores, consumed quantities of fruits and vegetables, calories and micronutrients, and measures of nutritional adequacy. On the production side, we used a simple farm species count in addition to looking at the number of different food groups produced. Regression models showed that production diversity measured through simple species count is positively associated with most dietary indicators. However, when measuring production diversity in terms of the number of food groups produced, the association turns insignificant in many cases. Further analysis revealed that diverse subsistence production often contributes less to dietary diversity than cash income generated through market sales. If farm diversification responds to market incentives and builds on comparative advantage, it can contribute to improved income and nutrition. Yet, increasing the number of food groups produced on the farm independent of market incentives may foster subsistence, reduce income, and thus rather worsen dietary quality. The results suggest that improving the functioning of agricultural markets and smallholder market access are key strategies to enhance nutrition.
Structural transformation of agriculture typically involves a gradual increase of mean farm sizes and a reallocation of labor from agriculture to other sectors. Such structural transformation is often fostered through innovations in agriculture and newly emerging opportunities in manufacturing and services. Here, we use panel data from farm households in Indonesia to test and support the hypothesis that the recent oil palm boom contributes to structural transformation. Oil palm is capital-intensive but requires much less labor per hectare than traditional crops. Farmers who adopted oil palm increase their cropping area, meaning that some of the labor saved per hectare is used for expanding the farm. Average farm sizes increased in recent years. In addition, we observe a positive association between oil palm adoption and off-farm income, suggesting that some of the labor saved per hectare is also reallocated to non-agricultural activities. Oil palm adoption significantly increases the likelihood of households pursuing own non-farm businesses. However, oil palm adoption does not increase the likelihood of being employed in manufacturing or services, which is probably due to the limited non-farm labor demand in the local setting. Equitable and sustainable agricultural transformation requires new lucrative non-agricultural employment opportunities in rural areas.
Natural resource management practices, such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), have been proposed to tackle agricultural challenges such as decreasing productivity growth and environmental degradation. Yet, the benefits of system technologies for farmers are often debated. Impacts seem to be context-specific, which is especially relevant in the small farm sector with its large degree of agroecological and socioeconomic heterogeneity. This was not always considered in previous research. We analyze the impacts of SRI adoption on rice yield and household income among smallholder farmers in Timor Leste. Heterogeneity is accounted for in an endogenous switching regression framework. Comparing mean yield and income levels, we find no significant differences between SRI adopters and non-adopters. This is due to negative selection bias; SRI seems to be adopted more on plots and by farmers with less than average yields. Controlling for this bias reveals significant yield and income gains. Poor and non-poor households benefit from SRI adoption; small farms benefit more than larger farms. The results also suggest that SRI may not be beneficial when compared to conventional rice grown under favorable conditions and with best management practices.
There is an emerging body of literature analysing how smallholder farmers in developing countries can benefit from modern supply chains. However, most of the available studies concentrate on export markets and fail to capture spillover effects that modern supply chains may have on local markets. Here, we analyse the case of sweet pepper in Thailand, which was initially introduced as a product innovation in modern supply chains, but which is now widely traded also in more traditional markets. Using survey data from smallholder farmers and econometric techniques, we show that sweet pepper cultivation contributes significantly to higher household incomes. Strikingly, at this stage, participation in modern supply chains does not lead to higher incomes than supplying sweet pepper to traditional markets. However, the results also indicate that missing land titles, weak infrastructure conditions, and limited access to information constituted serious constraints during the early phases of sweet pepper adoption. Such constraints need to be overcome, so that smallholder farmers are better prepared for the prompt reactions needed under rapidly changing market conditions.
Plants are susceptive to various diseases in their growing phases. Early detection of diseases in plants is one of themost challenging problems in agriculture. If the diseases are not identified in the early stages, then they may ad-versely affect the total yield, resulting in a decrease in the farmers' profits. To overcome this problem, many re-searchers have presented different state-of-the-art systems based on Deep Learning and Machine Learningapproaches. However, most of these systems either use millions of training parameters or have low classificationaccuracies. This paper proposes a novel hybrid model based on Convolutional Autoencoder (CAE) network andConvolutional Neural Network (CNN) for automatic plant disease detection. To the best of our knowledge, a hy-brid system based on CAE and CNN to detect plant diseases automatically has not been proposed in any state-of-the-art systems present in the literature. In this work, the proposed hybrid model is applied to detect BacterialSpot disease present in peach plants using their leaf images, however, it can be used for any plant disease detec-tion. The experiments performed in this paper use a publicly available dataset named PlantVillage to get the leafimages of peach plants. The proposed system achieves 99.35% training accuracy and 98.38% testing accuracyusing only 9,914 training parameters. The proposed hybrid model requires lesser number of training parametersas compared to other approaches existing in the literature. This, in turn, significantly decreases the time requiredto train the model for automatic plant disease detection and the time required to identify the disease in plantsusing the trained model.
This article adds to the literature about the impact of social networks on the adoption of modern seed technologies among smallholder farmers in developing countries. The analysis centers on the adoption of hybrid wheat and hybrid pearl millet in India. In the local context, both crops are cultivated mainly on a subsistence basis, and they provide examples of hybrid technologies at very different diffusion stages: while hybrid wheat was commercialized in India only in 2001, hybrid pearl millet was launched in 1965. The analysis is based on surveys of wheat and millet farmers in the state of Maharashtra. Comprehensive data on farmer characteristics and social interactions allow for identifying individual networks, thereby improving upon previous research approaches that employed village-level variables as proxies for network effects. Using econometric models, we find that individual social networks play an important role for technology adoption decisions. While village-level variables may be used as suitable proxies at later diffusion stages, they tend to underestimate the role of individual networks during early phases of adoption.
In the light of ongoing debates about the suitability of proprietary seed technologies for smallholder farmers, this paper analyzes the adoption and impact of hybrid wheat in India. Based on survey data, we show that farmers can benefit significantly from the proprietary technology. Neither farm size nor the subsistence level influences the adoption decision, but access to information and credit does. Moreover, willingness-to-pay analysis reveals that adoption levels would be higher if seed prices were reduced. Given decreasing public support to agricultural research, policies should be targeted at reducing institutional constraints, to ensure that resource-poor farmers are not bypassed by private sector innovations.
In Bangladesh, IFPRI has received support from USAID through its Policy Research and Strategy Support Program in Bangladesh (PRSSP) to work in the geographic areas targeted by Feed the Future interventions (known as the Zone of Influence) to construct this new WEAI4VC module. The qualitative research study, conducted by IFPRI field officers, complements a 1,200 household quantitative survey, looking in greater depth at the individual, household, and community level experiences of men and women to understand the consequences of value chain participation on them as producers, entrepreneurs, and wage workers on women’s empowerment. The quantitative study sampled 400 households for each of the three economic activities of interest – (1) agricultural production, (2) agricultural entrepreneurship, and (3) agriculture sector employment. It was carried out in ten administrative units (upazilas or sub-districts), and five villages in each upazila to total 50 villages.
Women play important roles at different nodes of both agricultural and off-farm value chains, but in many countries their contributions are either underestimated or limited by prevailing societal norms or gender-specific barriers. We use primary data collected in Asia (Bangladesh, Philippines) and Africa (Benin, Malawi) to examine the relationships between women’s empowerment, gender equality, and participation in a variety of local agricultural value chains that comprise the food system. We find that the value chain and the specific node of engagement matter, as do other individual and household characteristics, but in different ways depending on country context. Entrepreneurship—often engaged in by wealthier households with greater ability to take risks—is not necessarily empowering for women; nor is household wealth, as proxied by their asset ownership. Increased involvement in the market is not necessarily correlated with greater gender equality. Education is positively correlated with higher empowerment of both men and women, but the strength of this association varies. Training and extension services are generally positively associated with empowerment but could also exacerbate the inequality in empowerment between men and women in the same household.All in all, culture and context determine whether participation in value chains—and which node of the value chain—is empowering. In designing food systems interventions, care should be taken to consider the social and cultural contexts in which these food systems operate, so that interventions do not exacerbate existing gender inequalities.
The latest turmoil of production and price volatility in the global food sector has put agriculture back to the top of the development agenda. Population growth, changing consumer preferences, bioenergy demand and climate change are some of the huge challenges for agricultural production today and in the future. In the last decades, productivity has been constantly improved through the introduction of improved crop varieties and the greater use of mechanization, irrigation, chemical fertilizer and pesticides. However, such input-intensive strategies do not always correspond to the livelihoods and capacities of millions of smallholders, who contribute substantially to global agricultural output, but are also strongly affected by persistent poverty and growing agro-environmental challenges. Moreover, recently farmers have experienced a downturn of productivity growth which in some cases is associated with environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources. This holds true in particular for rice, one of the world's most important food crops. In the course of growing agricultural challenges, it is widely recognized that innovative strategies are needed to improve human well-being and future food security. Natural resource management (NRM) practices are one stream of innovations that have been proposed to improve the efficiency of cropping systems in a systemic way. Prominent approaches are conservation agriculture, agroforestry and organic farming, which raised considerable attention within the last decades. Such NRM technologies are integrated innovations to improve agricultural productivity and agroecosystem resilience, involving different agronomic and management components with often synergistic relationships. Therefore, the term system technologies is also used here. Studies found that smallholder farmers often face difficulties with the adoption of complex system technologies. Some of the benefits also remain highly debated. In the rice sector, the so-called System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been proposed as a promising technology to increase productivity at affordable costs for resource-poor producers. The principles of SRI focus on neglected potentials to raise yields by changing farmers' agronomic practices towards a more efficient use of natural resources. The innovativeness is based on a set of modified management practices concerning irrigation, plot preparation, transplanting, nursery and fertilization. Even though SRI has been widely promoted in some countries, partial adoption and discontinuance are common and the impacts are often found to be context-specific. However, most of the available literature is based on agronomic studies. There is limited evidence in terms of socioeconomic aspects, which is considered a drawback, as system technologies such as SRI may affect farming systems as a whole. In order to explore opportunities and constraints of technological innovations in smallholder farming, studies have to account for the observed variability of resource endowments and farm management options. This study aims to contribute to this research direction by analyzing the linkages between SRI adoption, rice yields, household income and poverty. Investigating the case of SRI may allow us to draw wider conclusions towards the nature of system technologies in general. The results may help researchers and policy makers to understand socioeconomic constraints to farmer technology adoption and integrate this knowledge into the formulation of rural development strategies. This study uses household and plot level data from small-scale rice farmers in Timor Leste. Assessing the role of improved rice management practices in Timor Leste is highly relevant from a development perspective. First, this young nation state remains one of Asia's poorest countries in terms of income and food security measures. Second, rice is the main staple food for the majority of the population, but domestic production faces severe technical and environmental challenges such as low levels of mechanization, water scarcity and limited access to agricultural technologies. Since 2007, SRI has been introduced by the Second Rural Development Programme (RDPII). Jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Timorese Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), the extension program aims to improve the productivity of rice production systems in the research area. As part of this study, a farm survey was conducted between August and December 2009. Stratified random sampling was used to select 400 households from participants and non-participants of SRI training programs. These households were interviewed. In addition, plot level data from 475 paddy fields owned by these sample households were collected. We begin our analysis by identifying SRI adoption patterns and differences between SRI and non-SRI farmers. We show that adoption patterns vary substantially, and partial adoption is commonplace. Whereas some technology components are widely applied by households in the research area, others lack widespread acceptance. The highest SRI adoption rates are recorded for the group of training participants. However, the descriptive analysis also reveals that land and household characteristics seem to play a role in the adoption decision. For example, owners of larger farms are more likely to adopt SRI. The outcomes point at substantial heterogeneity among and between adopters and non-adopters, which has to be considered in the econometric analysis of adoption determinants and impacts. For the econometric analysis of adoption determinants, different decisions points are identified. A double-hurdle adoption model at the household level shows that variables such as farm size, availability of family labor and participation in extension training determine the initial adoption decision and the share of rice acreage under SRI. However, household level characteristics alone are insufficient to explain adoption. Therefore, an additional double-hurdle model is estimated at the plot level. Several plot level determinants have a significant effect on SRI adoption and the number of technology components used. For example, the availability of an irrigation system, which can be individually controlled by the farmer, is an important determinant for SRI adoption on a particular plot. However, understanding the adoption determinants alone is insufficient to determine whether or not wider adoption is actually desirable. To analyze this, the third part of the analysis explores the impacts of SRI in terms of yields, household income and poverty. In order to account for the differences and variability among household and plot level parameters, the study accounts for differential technology impacts between the adopters and non-adopters of SRI, using an endogenous switching regression approach. Simple comparison of yield and incomes between adopters and non-adopters does not reveal significant differences, however, we find negative selection bias, meaning that SRI is adopted on plots and by farmers that would have below average yields without adoption. Controlling for external factors and selection bias, it is estimated that SRI is increasing yields by 46% against the counterfactual outcome of non-adoption. We also find a small but significant positive household income effect. Both poor and non-poor households benefit from SRI adoption. Especially smaller and more specialized farms realize high returns from adoption due to lower opportunity costs of investment. Moreover, SRI farmers also use lower amounts of inputs such as water, seeds and pesticides. Yet, we also find that the gains from adoption depend on plot and farmer heterogeneity. That is, assuming that the same gains were to occur for the non-adopters would they decide to adopt is too simplistic. To conclude, we have shown that farmers can benefit from the introduction of the system technology SRI. Therefore, SRI adoption presents a potential pathway towards food security, poverty reduction and rural development. However, we have also identified several constraints that hinder the adoption of SRI. Not all farmers can easily implement each component at any given plot, and the gains of adoption depend on the reference system. This is an important outcome with regard to extension services and development agencies highlighting that location-specific factors are relevant with regard to adoption and impacts of system technologies. Moreover, improved rural infrastructure and irrigation systems can further increase adoption rates and adaptation capacity. These challenges need to be overcome, in order to fully harness the potential of promising system technologies in smallholder agriculture.
1. Many coastal communities depend on ecosystems for goods and services that contribute to human well-being. As long-standing interactions between people and nature are modified by global environmental change, dynamic and diversified livelihood strategies that enable seasonal adaptation will be critical for vulnerable coastal communities. However, the success of such strategies depends on a range of poorly understood influences. 2. Gleaning, the hand-based collection of marine organisms from littoral habitats, provides an interesting case study of dynamic change in social-ecological interactions. It is an important coastal livelihood strategy, yet seasonal gleaning dynamics have not been empirically explored in contemporary communities. We examined seasonal gleaning in eight coastal communities on Atauro Island, Timor-Leste, using household surveys and satellite-derived maps of shallow-water benthic habitats. Our analysis explored the factors affecting household decisions to glean in each season, the relationship between gleaning and seafood consumption, and seasonal gleaning pressure on near-shore coastal resources. 3. Dynamic marine harvesting strategies differed among households and gleaning activity was seasonally heterogeneous. Not all gleaning households gleaned during the season characterised by rough sea conditions despite rough season gleaning being associated with greater seafood consumption stability among seasons. Households also gleaned less regularly, and catches were smaller, in the rough season. 4. Differences in seasonal participation in gleaning were explained mostly by type and extent of shallow habitat proximate to a community. In the calm season, household gleaning was positively related to the total area of shallow habitat, and in the rough season the percentage of hard-bottom shallow habitat was also an important predictor of gleaning activity. 5. Our findings illustrate how changes in the biophysical environment mediate human–nature interactions at fine scales through time and space. Consequently, this research highlights the importance of context-specific perspectives for understanding drivers and dynamics in fishing pressure on littoral ecosystems, access to ecosystem benefits and limits to adaptation. Factors influencing when livelihood activities are feasible and desirable are important for evaluating the social impacts of climate change, particularly in the context of rural communities in the Global South.
Good governance of community fish refuge-rice field fishery (CFR-RFF) systems, which are a vital source of nutritious aquatic foods, is integral to the food and nutrition security of rural households in Cambodia. Intentional integration of nutrition and gender activities into CFR management has the potential to further bolster these outcomes. Using qualitative and quantitative data, we aimed to document the impacts of the nutrition and gender activities conducted alongside CFR management activities.
Nutrition and Agriculture are interlinked with each other. Sustainable agricultural development is agricultural development that contributes to improving resource efficiency, strengthening resilience and securing social equity/responsibility of agriculture and food systems in order to ensure food security and nutrition for all, now and in the future. While poverty has always been associated with severe forms of acute under-nutrition, it is fact that poverty affects an individual’s health throughout their lifetime. Low access to food and associated levels of malnutrition reduces an individual’s intellectual capability, leading to lower learning levels and work capacity. Such a vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition ultimately limits an individual’s earning potential throughout a lifetime, increasing vulnerability to serious medical conditions and health inequities. This is one of the vital reasons of farmers’ distress and suicides due to indebtedness. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. One of the biggest challenges of nutritional sensitive agriculture and sustainable development is how to secure and provide plentiful, healthy and nutritious food for all. The present study tries to present an overview of the present status and suggests suitable policy initiatives.
The agro-ecosystem is a system composed of population, natural resources and economic activities related in a dynamic interaction in terms of socio-ecological and socio-economic relations conditioned by endogenous and exogenous factors. With time, the agro-ecosystem undergoes changes. By analysing the agro-ecosystem dynamics over a period of time, we can plan the agro-ecosystem for higher level of production and productivity, achieving higher level of resource use and environmental efficiency and maximise food security as well as livelihood security. Due to the control of forest area by the government, the tribes are largely depending on agriculture. Jhabua district is tribal dominated with almost 86.84 percent tribal population of approximately 14 lakhs by 2001 Census. The geographical area of the district is 6793 sq. km. The net cultivated area is in the district is 64 percent to the total geographical area. The Jhabua district is located in the western part of Madhya Pradesh on the spur of the Vindhyas and along the western boundry of the Malwa plateau. It adjoins by Banswara district of Rajasthan in Northwest, by Panchmahal and Barodra district of Gujrat in the west, Dhulia district of Maharastra and West Nimar district of Madhya Pradesh in south, Dhar district in the east and Rutlam in the west. The Carrying capacity of agricultural ecosystem may be measured by taking production, productivity and socio-ecologic criteria. Food security, production and food availability and population and employment are used as indicators for measuring the carrying capacity of any agro-ecosystem. The carrying capacity measurement is important to check the capacity of the agro-ecosystem to support the population, the productivity changes of the ecosystem and food availability and other measures. In this paper, an attempt is made to analyse the adaptation of tribal population to agriculture and changes taking place in the agro-ecosystem and its productivity. It is necessary to identify population change, its density and spread, changes taking place in habitat in terms of land use changes and population and agro-ecosystem linkages in terms of landholding, population carrying capacity, food security, employment condition etc. Such an analysis would help to undertake agricultural development food security and employment security in the tribal regions with the objectives of eco-restoration, conservation and development.
Science and technology (S&T) are major contributors to food security, poverty reduction, and economic growth, as has been proven in Asia since the early-1970s through the Green Revolution in agriculture. Continuing to secure such gains, however, is becoming an increasingly complex undertaking. More than ever, quantitative data are vital for measuring, monitoring, and benchmarking the performance of agricultural S&T systems, including their inputs and outcomes. This brief reviews major institutional developments and investment and human resource trends in agricultural research and development (R&D) in 11 countries of the Asia–Pacific region. The brief draws on a set of country briefs, reports, and underlying datasets developed by the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative. ASTI worked with regional partners to collect detailed quantitative and qualitative information on research capacity and investment trends within agricultural R&D agencies. These data were then linked with investment and human resource data from the Chinese government and other secondary sources to provide a broader regional and global context.
There is increasing demand for institutional reform in the agricultural sciences. This paper presents lessons from the content and directions in soil science research in India, to make a case for institutional reform in the agricultural sciences. It demonstrates how existing institutional and organizational contexts shape the research content of the soil sciences and its sub-disciplines. These contexts also shape the capacity of the soil sciences to understand and partner with other components of the wider natural resource management (NRM) innovation systems. The professional association has received little attention in the innovation systems literature, even within the nuanced, context specific and historically sensitive accounts of innovation. As a professional association, the Indian Society of Soil Sciences (ISSS) plays a limited role currently, with little engagement with the key professional and social issues that confront the soil sciences. The ISSS is presented here as a potential actor in the NRM innovation systems. The paper argues that with the involvement of the ISSS, the existing discipline-based, commodity oriented, linear and instrumentalist problem solving approach in the soil sciences can be reformed to a learning and partnership based innovation systems approach, enabling professional excellence, field level technology utilization, along with substantial policy and donor support.
In recent years the there has been an increasing recognition of the potential of the innovation systems concept to provide new ways of making more effective use of agricultural research and improve its impact on socially desirable outcomes. This paper documents the experiences of a group of researchers in India who experimented with this framework and tried to operationalise its principles in project design. The paper comments on some of the implications of using this approach and the challenges it presents for implementers of agricultural research projects in developing countries.
Competing models of innovation informing agricultural extension, such as transfer of technology, participatory extension and technology development, and innovation systems have been proposed over the last decades. These approaches are often presented as antagonistic or even mutually exclusive. This article shows how practitioners in a rural innovation system draw on different aspects of all three models, while creating a distinct local practice and discourse. We revisit and deepen the critique of Vietnam’s “model” approach to upland rural development, voiced a decade ago in this journal. Our analysis of interviews with grassroots extension workers and extension managers reveals how they have received government, donor, and academic discourses on participation, user-orientation, and private sector involvement in innovation. Extension workers as well as managers integrate the reform discourses into the still-dominant transfer of technology model. We show how extensionists draw selectively on these diverse discourses to foster interaction with outsiders and clients, and bolster their livelihood strategies. We conclude that the conceptual framework suggested by the innovation systems (IS) approach is broadly appropriate for analyzing the Vietnamese case, but that the IS approach in the contemporary Vietnamese context requires adaptation for taking into account the blurred line between private and state sectors, and recognizing the hegemonic position of state-based networks. Improving extensionists’ ability to mediate between the conflicting principles of farmers’ self-organization and government control is identified as a key challenge for increasing innovative capacity in rural upland Vietnam.
This paper contends that the exclusion of millions of poor from agricultural development gains is inexorably linked to the innovation system features that have evolved over time. An oft repeated lament of the Government of India about the inadequacy of reforms in agricultural research and extension, is used to explore the structure and institutions of agricultural innovation. Three main components of the agricultural innovation system, are the agricultural research and extension actors, the farming communities, and policy making agencies. Analysis of their structure and institutional features reveal limited capacities for interaction, learning and change. These features co-evolve with, generate and consistently maintain certain forms and patterns of exclusion – of the drylands, diverse crops and cropping systems, and marginal and small farms. For innovation to enable inclusive development agricultural research and extension reforms are not enough. Iterative institutional reforms are necessary; within and among several actors in the system, along with capacities to assess how institutional arrangements shape the innovation performance of each of these actors and the innovation system.
Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), or FAW, is an insect native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. In the absence of natural controls or good management, it can cause significant damage to crops. It prefers maize, although it can feed on more than 80 additional species of crops including rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton. FAW was first detected in Central and West Africa in early 2016 (Benin, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo) and further reported and confirmed in the whole of mainland southern Africa (except Lesotho), Madagascar and Seychelles (Island State). In July 2018, it was confirmed in India and Yemen. By early 2019, it had been reported in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and China. Today, in Africa and Asia, maize is the crop most infested with FAW. As a staple crop, farmers and their families are unlikely to abandon maize. However, there are ways of managing FAW in maize, as demonstrated in the Americas. FAO is taking an active role in coordinating partners’ activities, plans and approaches to provide sustainable solutions to the FAW challenge. An integral part of FAO’s sustainable management programme for FAW is the FAW Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS), which consists of a mobile app for data collection and a global platform for managing the current situation.
The future of inclusive forestry in Nepal depends on forestry professionals who can recognise patriarchal roots of gender injustice as they operate in the ideologies and apparatus of forest governance, and who can resist those injustices through their work. This paper uses the notion of knowledge practices to explore the recognition of injustice amongst Nepal’s community forestry professionals, and the relationship between recognition and resistance, highlighting the inherently political nature of all knowledge practices. By drawing on over fifty interviews and ethnographic insights, this paper goes beyond the typically black-boxed and essentialised ‘forestry professional’ and unsettles the false dichotomy between ‘the professional’ and ‘the personal’. Nepal’s community forestry professionals represent a plurality of knowledges, emerging from unique positionalities and personal experiences; however, the demand for quantifiable, short-term project outputs (attributed to funders and donors) shuts down their opportunities to meaningfully practice their knowledges. This paper articulates how, in order to resist injustices within both forest user communities and forestry institutions, professionals are demanding a greater focus on learning—from the lived realities of forest users, from each other as practitioners, from qualitative engagements with complexity and processes of change, from so-called mistakes, and ultimately from greater reflexivity. Through such learning and reflection comes the opportunity to recognise and resist injustices and create socially just community forestry. This paper urges scholars to go beyond black-boxing those in the forestry sector, and instead to offer solidarity and support in promoting knowledge practices that recognise and resist injustices and thus help build socially just forest futures.
We look at the trade-off between smallholder cocoa intensification and the ecosystem in Indonesia and investigate the determinants of environmental efficiency in cocoa production. In our analysis, we apply a distance output function that includes cocoa production and the abundance of native rainforest plants as outputs. Our data set, based on a household and environment survey conducted in 2015, allows us to analyze 208 cocoa producers with both measured and self-reported data. We find that the intensification of cocoa farms results in higher ecosystem degradation. Additionally, the estimations show substantial mean inefficiencies (50 percent). On average, the efficiency scores point to a possible production expansion of 367 kg of cocoa per farm and year, to a possible increase of 43680 rainforest plants per farm, or to a possible acreage reduction of 0.52 hectares per farm. Finally, our results show that agricultural extension services have a substantial role in increasing efficiency.
Agricultural innovation has played a critical role in the economic transformation of developing East Asian countries over the past half century. This transformation began with the diffusion and adoption of high-yielding seed varieties, modern fertilizers, and other agricultural technologies (for example, pesticides, machinery), commonly known as the Green Revolution. A strong focus on increased production and food security, and rapid adoption of modern rice and corn varieties, coupled with investments in irrigation, agricultural extension services, and broad economic reforms, resulted in dramatic increases in crop yields and agricultural productivity across the region (figure ES.1). This higher productivity, in turn, contributed to higher farm incomes and lower poverty in rural areas. Higher agricultural productivity freed rural labor to move into manufacturing and services, and it enabled significant expansion and intensification of export-oriented commodity production. In short, innovations in agriculture helped lay the foundation for the structural transformation that has fueled subsequent growth and development across the region.
The experiences shared in this book of Conversations of Change capture the outcomes of three years’ work conducted by the eight CDAIS country teams from Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos and Rwanda. Collected between January and March 2019, they provide insights and perspectives of different actors engaged in the different capacity strengthening processes, within individuals and innovation niche partnerships, and at organisational and national level. These conversation stories highlight the complementary and cumulative benefits from combining work in all levels concurrently, and present a picture of the increased impacts from an integrated approach to strengthening capacities to innovate in agriculture. Introduction This builds on an earlier collection of Stories of Change from 2018 that showcased three different innovation partnerships in each country, and introduced different CDAIS approaches.
This regional workshop was designed to strengthen the capabilities of representatives of NIFUs for analyzing the situations of their NAIS, and to use their national experiences to identify strengths, weaknesses, and threats/challenges affecting seven key areas influencing development of NAIS, namely: (i) strategy/policy, (ii) institutional aspects, (iii) stakeholders, (iv) content, (v) people, (vi) infrastructure, and (vii) financial aspects. Possible solutions for the key weaknesses and threats /challenges were defined by participants. Finally, the countries’ priorities for early implementation were identified drawing on the list of solutions/ recommendations in their own contexts. The regional workshop was also designed to follow-up on the progress made on the NERAKIN knowledge sharing and collaboration platform, in terms of providing training to the stakeholders in the region.
Participation of actors is essential for achievement of the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With respect to sustainable agriculture the UN has introduced a collaborative framework for food systems transformation encompassing: 1) food system champions identification; 2) food systems assessment; 3) multi-stakeholder dialogue and action facilitation; and, 4) strengthen institutional capacity for food systems governance. The last two actions are the focus of this thesis. Sustainable agriculture involves multiple actors connected horizontally and vertically through agricultural production and supply chain (APSC) networks in which every actors’ decisions and actions are affected by, and affect most, if not, all other actors. This thesis proposes a different approach that focuses on the participation of actors connected horizontally and vertically in APSCs to (by the actors themselves): analyse situations; design initiatives; and take actions (through working together) to pursue sustainable and workable APSCs.
The study was conducted in Thakurgaon sadar Upazila to determine farmers’ perception of the extent and factors of ICTs effectiveness in transferring farming information. A total of 250 people who were already been taken services from different ICT center was selected as sample respondents following a random sampling technique. Primary data were collected using a predesigned interview schedule. Findings revealed that 57.2% of the respondents contacted with Union Digital Center while 38.8% contacted with government own ICT center AICC (Agricultural Information and Communication Center) for their farming-related information. Majority (79.2%) of the respondents opined that they have utilized ICTs moderately to highly whereas three-fourth of the respondents found ICTs moderately to extremely effective in transferring farming technology. Uninterrupted electricity supply, high speed of internet, providing regular training on ICTs, skilled staff and technicians for ICTs and provision for repairing ICT tools are being perceived as significant factors of ICTs effectiveness. Near future, ICT may offer a great opportunity to facilitate the flow of information and technology service delivery to the rural people of Bangladesh.
Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India. It has attained wide success in southern India, especially the southern Indian state of Karnataka where it first evolved. The movement in Karnataka state was born out of collaboration between Mr Subhash Palekar, who put together the ZBNF practices, and the state farmers association Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), a member of La Via Campesina (LVC).
The neoliberalization of the Indian economy led to a deep agrarian crisis that is making small scale farming an unviable vocation. Privatized seeds, inputs, and markets are inaccessible and expensive for peasants. Indian farmers increasingly find themselves in a vicious cycle of debt, because of the high production costs, high interest rates for credit, the volatile market prices of crops, the rising costs of fossil fuel based inputs, and private seeds. Debt is a problem for farmers of all sizes in India. Under such conditions, ‘zero budget’ farming promises to end a reliance on loans and drastically cut production costs, ending the debt cycle for desperate farmers. The word ‘budget’ refers to credit and expenses, thus the phrase 'Zero Budget' means without using any credit, and without spending any money on purchased inputs. 'Natural farming' means farming with Nature and without chemicals.
Due to the increasing gap between input costs and the final prices they receive for their produce, Indian farmers have been increasingly affected by the current agrarian crisis. It is within this context that Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) - a farming method promising low to zero input costs - has been gaining momentum.
The creation of commercialization opportunities for smallholder farmers has taken primacy on the development agenda of many developing countries. Invariably, most of the smallholders are less productive than commercial farmers and continue to lag in commercialization. Apart from the various multifaceted challenges which smallholder farmers face, limited access to extension services stands as the underlying constraint to their sustainability. Across Africa and Asia, public extension is envisioned as a fundamental part of the process of transforming smallholder farmers because it is their major source of agricultural information. Extension continues to be deployed using different approaches which are evolving. For many decades, various authors have reported the importance of the approaches that effectively revitalize extension systems and have attempted to fit them into various typologies. However, there is a widespread concern over the inefficiency of these extension approaches in driving the sustainability of smallholder farming agenda. Further, most of the approaches that attempted to revolutionize extension have been developed and brought into the field in rapid succession, but with little or no impact at the farmer level. This paper explores the theory and application of agricultural extension approaches and argues the potential of transforming them using digital technologies. The adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones and the internet which are envisaged to revolutionize existing extension systems and contribute towards the sustainability of smallholder farming systems is recommended
Evaluation provides effective feedback for development plans and programs. In this respect, it is of utmost importance to ensure that the outputs of agricultural extension and education projects are compatible with the ones expected. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate agricultural extension model sites approach from actors’ perspectives and to analyze their gaps via the context, input, process, and product (CIPP) evaluation model. The study was quantitative, applied, survey-based, and causal-comparative in terms of nature, purpose, methodology, and type of research, respectively. The samples included 150 main and follower farmers from a total number of 40 model sites and 37 subject-matter experts selected using the random and purposive sampling methods, respectively. The results of the gap analysis indicated that the largest negative gap between the views of the experts and the farmers was associated with the input evaluation stage and the smallest gap was related to the site re-engineering. Accordingly, much more attention should be paid to building and maintaining the trust of farmers during the early stages of planning for and implementation of agricultural extension model sites.
This report summarizes studies conducted in a framework of TAP-AIS project implemented by FAO’s Research and Extension Unit, and funded by the European Union as a component of the European Union initiative on “Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture” (DeSIRA).
During the last quarter of 2020, Regional Agricultural Research and Extension Organisations (RREO) in Africa, Asia and Latin America jointly carried out rapid appraisals to map the innovation environment and identify and document initiatives aimed at strengthening Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). The focus was on functional capacity development with a view to exploring ways in which RREO can support the development of these capacities and integrate them with technical capacities. A combination of literature reviews, case studies and stakeholder surveys was used to gather information. The results were documented in three separate reports which are available from the RREO. In the present document, key findings from the regional reports are presented and discussed. There were considerable differences between regions and among countries within the regions with regard to the institutional environment in which innovation takes place. In many countries, in each of the regions, agricultural innovation is framed within structures and institutions which are largely driven by the public sector. Government support to agricultural research and extension agencies continues to be based on linear transfer of technology approaches. However, in some countries AIS thinking is being incorporated into policies and programmes.
The case studies in the reports from the regions illustrate different ways in which multi-actor collaboration is being supported in order to enhance innovation capacity. Innovation platforms and networks have been established to provide spaces for different organisations to interact, share information and knowledge and develop partnerships. Some of these platforms and networks are continuing to operate when external support is withdrawn but the sustainability of these mechanisms is a challenge and further efforts are needed to promote local ownership and resourcing. The case studies highlighted the importance of participatory capacity needs assessments to identify priority capacity needs and design appropriate interventions to address them. There are several initiatives which provide examples of good practice in this area, including the European Union-funded Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project which operated in eight countries across the three regions. Findings from this project and others showed the value of having suitably qualified persons as facilitators in innovation processes. However, there are few people with the skills and expertise required to provide effective support and this was viewed as a major constraint to capacity strengthening efforts in all the three regions. More resources are needed to train facilitators and public agencies should give higher priority to in-house training for staff in functional capacities. viii In addition to capacity needs assessments and effective facilitation, several other success factors for effective capacity strengthening are described. These include adaptive management approaches, strong information and knowledge management processes, and the incorporation of measures to enhance sustainability during programme design. Building on emerging trends and current initiatives, opportunities for strengthening agricultural innovation systems are discussed. Suggestions are made on how RREO can help to address these opportunities; for example, by making use of new information and communication technologies to share knowledge and contribute to training. Based on the findings from the individual and synthesis reports, the RREO are preparing joint action plans to guide their future activities in enhancing innovation capacities in their regions.
The primary aim of this research was to examine the factors influencing behavioral intention of farmers to use ICTs for agricultural risk management. The past research reveals that many researchers had tried to determine factors affecting behavioural intentions of the respondents and TPB has been applied as technology acceptance model in various contexts. However, predicting behavioral intentions to use ICTs for agricultural risk management has not been evaluated from the actual field. Therefore, the data were collected from 360 farmers through multistage cluster sampling technique. Multiple linear regression through SPSS was administered for statistical procedure. The findings confirmed that the theory (TPB) was statistically feasible to predict behavioral intention of farmers to use ICTs for agricultural risk management. The results further reveal that attitude was one of the most influenced of intention, which was followed by perceived behavioral control and lastly the subjective norms. Thus, using TPB in this context would be helpful for other researchers and academia to understand the influence of each construct in the model.
Agricultural production is a crucial and fundamental aspect of a stable society in China that depends heavily on the climate situation. With the desire to achieve future sustainable development, China’s government is taking actions to adapt to climate change and to ensure food self-sufficiency. This paper assesses the scientific literature from both domestic and international journals, and the review policies released by the Chinese government, in order to investigate the adaptive actions being taken in China at the scale of the central government, and at the local administration and individual farmer level. The results demonstrate that China’s government has undertaken a multitude of adaptation programs in order to cope with vulnerability in the agricultural sector, and these include the release of stimulus policies, the support of new technological research, and investments in field facilities to strengthen the building of adaptive capacity. At the farmer household level, we found that people are spontaneously adapting to climate change on their own accord by changing the timing of cultivations, and through the selection of other crop species and cultivars. People are also securing non-land-related jobs when confronted with climate disasters. A summary is presented of the various agricultural adaptation policies and technologies. Although China has made great progress in terms of adapting to climate change, there is still more work that needs to be done. This work entails not just agricultural policy stimulation but also non-structural components, such as raising public awareness and providing adaptive skill training, etc. It can be concluded that agriculture sector could seek advantages and avoid disadvantages from adaptation activities by multiple stakeholders from different perspectives, and reduce the adverse effects of climate change. Climate adaptation strategies and actions are important and indispensable components for agricultural development in China, and more advanced technologies and ideologies are needed for a secure future.
A bilateral project between the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) and the Nepalese government, which ran from 2016 to 2020 and covered 61 municipalities in provinces 1, 3 (Bagmati) and 6 (Karnali), with technical support from the Swiss NGO Helvetas, aimed to promote a multi-stakeholder approach to agricultural services in Nepal.
This study focuses on Smart Farming Innovations (SFI) of the Philippines. It is motivated by the 5th-agenda of the current Philippine President to increase agricultural and rural enterprise productivity. The study presents a strategy to lead research, development, and market of organic foods as medicine and build social entrepreneurs in using SFI. We assume the a) current establish protocols for micropropagation, cryo-preservation, and management of vegetables, vertical farming and hydroponics and monitoring in real-time of the climate, lighting, irrigation through the use of electronics, sensors, and automation in proposing the SFI to map the producers and market of organic foods, and finally build the cluster of social entrepreneurs in using the SFI smart technology’s organic farm system. Specifically, the paper discusses SFI’s creative features, services and describes its business model through value proposition, SWOT analysis, and financial projections. We conclude that scalable technology-driven products and services to alleviate poverty are a must to contribute to humanity. SFI’s organic food production requires a certain radius to be effective and efficient. It must consider setting-up e-commerce, cloud computing, power and security, and utilization of big data analytics to aid in timely decision making to scale up in the future.
Cambodia’s development is strongly influenced by growth in the agriculture sector. In this context, the modernization of agriculture has been highly regarded by the government as a long-term strategy to transform traditional labour-based agriculture into technology-based and with that to effectively enhance the country’s further regional integration within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In support of this strategic vision, a participatory assessment of the Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) was conducted in coordination with the General Department of Agriculture (GDA) and supported by the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA). The AIS assessment aimed at (a) characterizing and taking stock of agricultural innovation systems and providing insights on factors that determine their capacity to enable and promote inclusive and responsible innovations, (b) identifying critical gaps, needs, opportunities, good practices, etc. and (c) formulating actionable recommendations including policies and strategies for reform and integration aiming at strengthening and making AIS more effective. Three multi-stakeholder workshops were organized using a participatory approach with different groups of stakeholders representing national (Phnom Penh) and regional (Takeo and Kampong Cham). In addition to the workshop, key informant interviews were conducted with individuals who have first-hand knowledge about AIS in their own field. The present report summarizes the main findings of the assessment and proposes specific recommendations on: (i) institutional capacity development of key organization within Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) for the strengthening the AIS and enable innovation, and (ii) the formulation of policy on importation tax on agricultural inputs, and agricultural credit with low interest rate, and (iii) the update of the existing Agricultural Extension Policy.
In Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), agricultural innovation has the potential to improve livelihoods of farmers and rural people, improve food and nutrition security, and allow for sustainable management of natural resources. In order to enable innovation, a well-functioning national Agriculture Innovation System (AIS) should encourage better coordination among the different stakeholders, including national organizations and the private sector. The present assessment report provides a comprehensive understanding of the current status of the national AIS in Lao PDR and identifies the main entry points for strengthening capacity of key organizations and stakeholders of the national AIS. A comprehensive methodology was used to analyze the AIS functions, structures, enabling environment, and system capacities. In addition, two case studies - Thong Mang Agricultural Cooperative (TMAC) and the Lao Farmer Network (LFN) were used to understand innovation processes in the Lao agriculture sector and provided a framework to explore partnerships and processes among the government, development partners, private sector actors, farmers and other operators in the agricultural sector. The recommendations based on the assessment results include: (1) making more effort to encourage and support agriculture innovation to make progress in a competitive environment; (2) increasing investment or funding in research and extension to underpin agricultural innovation; (3) enhancing effective management and use of water as well as helping farmers access water for production, particularly for organic vegetables; (4) developing necessary and related capacity with a focus on soft skills to unleash innovations.
The core idea of the article below is the existence of complicated array of deterrent factors that influences innovation activity of agriculture organizations, and subjective, psychological factors among those factors as well. The main goal of this work is to assess the top management and proprietors’ of AIC enterprises readiness to implement the innovations. As a research’ working hypothesis used the decisive role of human factor in answering the question whether to innovate or not. Research hypothesis was tested by representative sample survey formed from AIC enterprises’ top managers, small and medium sized agribusiness enterprises owners. Use of standardized methodic of psychological testing of main innovation readiness components let us to estimate an overall level of innovation readiness as fairly low. The most problematic component appeared to be an organizational readiness, especially in comparison with relatively high results of personal and cognitive readiness. The novelty if idea offered for discussion among scientific community lies in that for AIC organizations innovative activity increasing by state authorities offered more directive approach to these organizations as an object of government regulation and the system of economic incentives for innovative behavior, such as system of standards of innovative activity, which, being unfulfilled, would block the opportunity to access the programs of state support of agriculture for such organizations. Scientific and educational value of author’s proposals is in opportunity to use them in scientific researches in field of innovative activity if agricultural enterprises and in profile universities educational process.
Over the past few decades, some countries in Asia have been more successful than others in addressing poverty and malnutrition. The key question is what policies, strategies, legislation and institutional arrangements have led to a transformed agricultural sector, effectively contributing to poverty alleviation and addressing malnutrition. The great majority of national policymakers within and outside the Asia-Pacific region are keen to understand the causes of agricultural development and transformation in successful countries in Asia. A large number of studies have been conducted and some of them link specific public policies and interventions to successful agricultural transformation. However, there seems to be lack of focus on the policy, legislative and institutional environments that have enabled or impeded agricultural transformation in Asia. National policymakers are likely to benefit significantly from adequate and convincing information on successful and relevant experiences in successful transformation. Countries are interested in what their neighbours and peers have done, and why some have achieved impressive results. The main purpose of this study is to take stock of public sector experiences in facilitating and enabling agricultural transformation in selected countries in Asia. The study focuses on key public sector interventions, in particular policies, legislation and institutional innovations, because these areas have so far not been adequately researched.
This brochure presents the five-year TAP-AIS project (2019-2024) funded by the European Union under the DeSIRA Initiative and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The project has the main objective to strengthen capacities to innovate in national agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in the context of climate-relevant, productive, and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific.
Sustainable food systems are fundamental to ensuring that future generations are food secure and eat healthy diets. To transition towards sustainability, many food system activities must be reconstructed, and myriad actors around the world are starting to act locally. While some changes are easier than others, knowing how to navigate through them to promote sustainable consumption and production practices requires complex skill sets.
This handbook is written for “sustainable food systems innovators” by a group of innovators from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe who are leading initiatives to grow, share, sell and consume more sustainable foods in their local contexts. It includes experiences that are changing the organizational structures of local food systems to make them more sustainable. The handbook is organized as a “choose your own adventure” story where each reader – individually or in a facilitated group – can develop their own personalized learning and action journeys according to their priorities. The topics included in this handbook are arranged into four categories of innovations: engaging consumers, producing sustainably, getting products to market and getting organized.
This book discusses the role of inclusive innovation for development in rural India. It uses the evidence of innovation in the context of skewed or limited livelihood options and multiple knowledge systems to argue that if inclusive innovation is to happen, the actors and the nature of the innovation system need reform. The book presents cases of substantive technological changes and institutional reforms enabling inclusive innovation in rural manufacturing, sustainable agriculture, health services, and the processes of technological learning in traditional informal networks, as well as in formal modern commodity markets. These cases offer lessons to enable learning and change within the state and formal science and technology (S&T) organizations. By focusing on these actors central to development economics and innovation systems framework, the book bridges the widening conceptual gaps between these two parallel knowledge domains, and offers options for action by several actors to enable inclusive innovation systems. The content is thus of value to a wide audience consisting of researchers, policy makers, NGOs and industry observers.
The horticultural sector in Jordan is undergoing a crisis, due to a decline in export. Innovation can improve the performance of the sector. To this end, the government of Jordan should pursue an innovation policy with the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) as object of the governance. Based on a review of the AKIS in Jordan it is proposed that a Living Lab setting be used to gain experience with the management of a number of innovation projects and capacity building projects.
The core idea of the article is the existence of complicated array of deterrent factors that influences innovation activity of agriculture organizations, and subjective, psychological factors among those factors as well. The main goal of this work is to assess the top management and proprietors’ of AIC enterprises readiness to implement the innovations. As a research’ working hypothesis used the decisive role of human factor in answering the question whether to innovate or not. Research hypothesis was tested by representative sample survey formed from AIC enterprises’ top managers, small and medium sized agribusiness enterprises owners. Use of standardized methodic of psychological testing of main innovation readiness components let the study to estimate an overall level of innovation readiness as fairly low. The most problematic component appeared to be an organizational readiness, especially in comparison with relatively high results of personal and cognitive readiness
Local gender norms constitute a critical component of the enabling (ordisabling) environment for improved agricultural livelihoods–alongsidepolicies, markets, and other institutional dimensions. Yet, they havebeen largely ignored in agricultural research for development. Thisviewpoint is based on many years of experience, including a recentmajor comparative research initiative, GENNOVATE, on how gendernorms and agency interact to shape agricultural change at local levels.The evidence suggests that approaches which engage with normativedimensions of agricultural development and challenge underlyingstructures of inequality, are required to generate lasting gender-equitable development in agriculture and natural resource management
Boundary-spanning search for knowledge is an effective way for enterprises to acquire heterogeneous knowledge, and is also an important pre-stage to realize effective knowledge reconstruction. Based on the boundary-spanning search for knowledge theory, this paper studies the relationship between boundary-spanning search for knowledge and the sustainable innovation ability of agricultural enterprises considering the influence of organizational knowledge reconstruction, from a Chinese perspective. A questionnaire survey on agricultural enterprises mainly from Southeast China is conducted, and the hierarchical regression analysis method is utilized to verify five research hypotheses. The results mainly show that (1) boundary-spanning search for technology knowledge (BSSTK) and boundary-spanning search for market knowledge (BSSMK) both have a significant positive impact on the sustainable innovation ability of an agricultural enterprise; (2) organizational knowledge reconstruction plays a partial intermediary role between boundary-spanning search for knowledge (including BSSTK and BSSMK) and the sustainable innovation ability of an agricultural enterprise. From the perspective of boundary-spanning search for knowledge, this paper provides theoretical support for the promotion of sustainable innovation of an agricultural enterprise, which contributes to improving the economic sustainability of agriculture to some extent
This paper aims for several research objectives. It aims to find out the agribusiness sectors developed by Al-Mawaddah Entrepreneurial Pesantren. It also aims to find out the empowerment of agribusiness developed by this pesantren. Last, it also aims to determine the impact of empowering agribusiness developed on improving the economy Al-Mawaddah Entrepreneurial Pesantren’s alumni. This research is a field research. The approach used by researcher is a qualitative descriptive approach with a case study strategy. Research location is at Pesantren Entrepreneur Al-Mawaddah Honggosoco Kudus RT. 06/ RW. 01, Jekulo District, Kudus Regency. Data collection techniques used are observation, interviews, and documentation. The data analysis technique used is descriptive qualitative. The results show that: (1) the agribusiness sector that was developed at Al-Mawaddah Entrepreneurial Pesantren touched only agriculture and educational sectors. It yet touches other agribusiness sectors, such as fisheries or livestock. The agricultural sector developed includes: agricultural food crops, such as: rice, corn, soybeans, vegetables, and cassava, fruit crops, such as: longan, and dragon fruit. They even plant within the premise sugar cane plantation; (2) Agribusiness Empowerment developed by Al-Mawaddah Entrepreneurial Pesantren consists of three stages, namely: input, process, and output; (3) Agribusiness entrepreneurship is better than working under other people (companies) because apart from freedom, the income generated is also higher
The objectives of this study are (1) to analyze the influence of the procurement and distribution subsystems of production facilities for strengthening the Chili-Tobacco Inter-cropping Farmer Group in Bali Province; (2) analyzing the influence of farming subsystems for strengthening the Chili-Tobacco Inter-cropping Farmer Group in Bali Province; (3) analyzing the effect of post-harvest handling and further processing subsystems for strengthening the Chili-Tobacco Inter-cropping Farmer Group in Bali Province; (4) analyze the effect of the yield marketing subsystem to strengthen the Chili-Tobacco Inter-cropping Farmer Group in Bali Province; (5) analyzing the effect of supporting services subsystems for strengthening the Chili-Tobacco Inter-cropping Farmer Group in Bali Province; and (6) designing an agribusiness system development model that is suitable for strengthening the Chili-Tobacco Inter-cropping Farmer Group in the Province of Bali. The methodology uses Smart PLS analysis and the SAST (Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing) method in determining the implementation of activity level needs for farmer groups
The massive influence of globalization raises demands in many ways, including agriculture. This widespread aspect in Indonesia, which is touted as an agrarian country, is related to the production, distribution and processing of agricultural products. The combination of entrepreneurship that manages agriculture is expected to be able to bring Indonesia to become a more developed country and able to rise from adversity. Previously agriculture was only interpreted in a narrow scope. Now that perspective has changed where previously agriculture only produced primary production of plants and plants, but now agriculture also has the potential as a business. A new perspective opens the horizon of natural resource potential as a path of economic growth that is in line with industrialization in the agricultural sector (agro-industrialization). Creativity and innovation in agribusiness is a must so that the products produced always have a place in the eyes of consumers and provide optimal added value for the actors involved in it
In recent years, increasing numbers of smallholders in developing countries such as China have begun to sell agricultural products directly to consumers via online shops using a third-party trade platform. It is increasingly clear that e-commerce has become a new and effective way to help smallholders gain access to the market. The investigation of agricultural e-commerce practices has a significant role in helping to understand the development of the agri-food sector in China. This teaching case provides an example of adopting e-commerce in the interaction and trading activities between participants in the food sector through a typical agricultural products e-commerce company in China, Minyu E-commerce. Particularly, the case analyzes the business model evolution through the ecosystem life cycle at the company. This case can be used to teach graduate/postgraduate students in agricultural business, MBA and executive programmes about the agri-food e-commerce business model.
The overall agricultural development of Bangladesh is rapidly progressing. The advancement in agricultural attainments is not a problem free venture. Various new problems are being faced by the SAAOs (Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers) at present. Thus the purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the problems faced by the SAAOs regarding agricultural extension at field level and to explore the relationships between the selected characteristics of the SAAOs and the faced problems. A number of 46 problems of SAAOs were selected as the focus issue (dependent variable). The study was conducted in Batiaghata and Dumuria upazila under Khulna district
Present research set out the public and private agricultural extension services with the term of human resources practices. Five districts, one from each ecological zone, were taken purposively: namely Kech, Lasbela, Kalat, Killa Saifullah and Sibi. A sample of (250) farmers and (100) public and private Extension Field Staff (EFS) was taken as sample size by using the multi-stage random sampling technique. Null hypothesis was also tested in order to know the variances in the perceptions of the respondents. The results revealed that majority (88.5 percent) of the farmers did not receive any farm visits from public EFS. Majority (87.7 percent) of the farmers receive regular visit by private EFS. Farmer’s ranked field day and seminar 1st and 2nd respectively. Overwhelming majority of the farmers received result demonstration methods (68. 92 percent) by private EFS, which were ranked first. While private EFS provided the HRD practices (70.6 percent). Private extension services have extra strength against to public extension, while public extension services have more flaws as weaknesses and are facing problems in technology transfer process. The study recommended that public EEFS should visit the farmer’s farm and home regularly. Result demonstration and campaign should be organized at union council level as these methods were perceived effective. Private extension services should use holistic tactic plus contact those farmers who have small land holding size
Agriculture is the back bone of Indian economy. Time bound high-quality agro services are essential for the growth of agriculture in our country. The present study was conducted among the beneficiary farmers Agro Service Centres in Kerala, during the year 2018-19. The sample of the study comprised 120 farmers from purposively selected 26 Agro Service Centres. Performance effectiveness of Agro Service Centres was measured in terms of Performance Effectiveness Index (PEI). Based on the analysis of data, it was found that 40 per cent of the farmers placed the ASCs into high category of Performance Effectiveness Index. Most of the farmers had placed the ASCs into high- performance effectiveness category in the dissemination of information and technology
Urban farming is one of the alternatives to eliminate the impacts of the conversion of agricultural land. However, implementing urban farming activities requires various preparations, including the role of agricultural extension workers. The extension worker can make significant contributions to raise public awareness of the importance of urban farming. This study determines the performance level of extension workers in the preparation, implementation, and evaluation of urban farming extension programs in BPP Kramas, Banyumanik district. This research employed a descriptive analysis approach by using a Likert scale. The results indicate that the performance level of extension workers in extension preparation, extension implementation, evaluation, and reporting are in the high category, with an average percentage achievement of 96%. It means that the urban farming program in Kramas Banyumanik district had been done well according to the formulated plan
This research aimed to figure out the attitude and readiness of agriculture extension officers in using the Information and Communication Technology. Data collection was done through a survey with total sample 60 respondents. Data gained were primary data from questionnaire filling by respondents who were all extension officers in Food Security and Extension Implementation Agency. Data analyses used in this research were reliability and validity analysis, Fishbein’s Attitude Model, and regression analysis which continued with F and t test. The results of Validity and Reliability Test gave a valid outcome with rcal >0,3 and reliability value of α >0,6 in all variables. Fishbein’s Attitude Model test in all variables showed an answer from neutral to very positive data. Linear Regression Test resulted in an equation Y = -6,234+ 0,211 X1 + 0,213X2 + 0,550 X3 + 0,119 X4 + 1,252X5 + 0,665X6. The value of determination coefficient (R2 ) was 0,816 which meant that variable variance of Information and Communication Technology acceptance could be explained by data variance of extension officers’ attitude and readiness (farmer readiness, extension officers readiness, infrastructure, management support, culture support) in values of 81,6%. In F test, Fcal was = 44,683 and was significant in p < 0,05, which meant that the effects of extension officers’ attitude and readiness to Information and Communication Technology acceptance
Extension agent is one of the important factors in the agricultural process to deliver technology information and agricultural programs from government to farmers. The good performance of agricultural extension agents will have an impact on improving the performance of farmers to increase agricultural production.In Langkat Regency, the extension agent performance was not still optimal. Factors affecting the performance of the extension agent consist of internal and external factors. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of age, formal education, work experience, distance of work area, and a number of assisted villages against the performance of extension agent in Langkat district. Questionnaires were distributed by sensus method to 49 agricultural extension agent who works in Langkat. The data used consist of primary data and secondary data. Data analysis methods used are multiple regression. The results showed that age, a distance of work area and a number of assisted villages negatively affect against the performance of extension workers; while formal education and work experience have a positive effect against extension agent performance. Age and number of assisted villages had no significant effect on extension agent performance; while formal education, work experience, and distance of the working area have a significant effect against extension agent performance
The advancement of agriculture sector in one region cannot be separated from the role of agricultural extension in the region. To cover the deficiency of agricultural extension agents, self-supporting extension agents are recruited from farmers or private parties. This study aims to analyze the role of self-supporting instructors in improving farmer institutions and analyze factors related to the role of self-supporting extension agents in improving farmer institutions. This research was a qualitative descriptive study, and it was conducted in West Pasaman and Sijunjung Regency with a sample of 38 people. The results showed that self-supporting instructors play a significant role in improving farmer institutions; this is seen from 78% of self-supporting extension agents have a role in increasing farmer institutions. Factors related to the role of self-supporting extension agents in improving farmer institutions are (1) the age of agents, (2) the number of partners from farmer groups, and (3) the frequency of training attended by self-supporting extension agents. To increase the role of self-extension extension agents in the institutional development of farmers, it is recommended that institutions who manage the agricultural extension recruit self-supporting extension agents from the millennial generation and facilitate self-supporting extension agents to be able to participate in training related to farming in the agent's area of work
This study aims to determine the factors that influence group dynamics, and to find out whether there is a relationship between agricultural extension programs to farmer group dynamics. Data analysis method used is a Likert Scale and analyzed descriptively qualitatively. The results showed that the dynamics of the Sri Makmur Farmers Group were categorized as Less Dynamic. This is because the elements of the farmer group dynamics are not going well. Based on the results of a Likert Scale Research with Spearman Rank Correlation obtained a value of 0.221 at a confidence level of 95% (α 0.05). So that the value of 0.221> 0.0, Ho is accepted which means that there is no relationship between the agricultural extension program to the dynamics of rice paddy farmer groups. In the closeness of the relationship between the two variables, the value of correlation coefficient is -0.453, based on the assessment criteria on the closeness of the relationship, the variable value is in a weak closeness position
An extension help farmers in their efforts to increase production and quality of their products in order to improve their welfare. Therefore, the extension has many roles, among others as a mentor farmer extension, organizer, coach technicians and a bridge between family farmers and research institutions in agriculture because of the existence of agricultural extension field is important for farmers. Extension activities in the desa Tanjung Gunung one of which was given to cocoa farmers. The purpose of this study was to determine how the cocoa farmer perception of the role of agricultural extension workers in desa Tanjung Gunung kecamatan Laubaleng kabupaten Karo. The number of respondents in this study as many as 27 people cocoa farmers in the cocoa farmer groups Tanjung Gunung and follows the field school activities
In recent years, the international status of agriculture in the BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—has been continuously improved. In 2018, the gross agricultural production of the BRICS countries accounted for more than 50% of the world’s total. Further strengthening the developing cooperation of the BRICS countries is of great significance for ensuring global food security. Based on the data from FAOSTAT and UN Comtrade Database, this study builds a food self-sufficiency rate and food security cooperation potential index to quantitatively analyze the food security status, cooperation effectiveness, and future trends of the BRICS countries. The study finds that the overall food security of the BRICS countries is generally showing a trend of volatility and growth, with high rates for cereals and relatively low rates for fresh products. In the future, BRICS food security cooperation should be based on their own resource endowment and socioeconomic characteristics. The BRICS countries need to constantly improve the awareness of joint cooperation and action in the future, focusing on scientific and technological cooperation, information sharing, complementary advantages in trade, and improving the global competitiveness of products. With the help of agricultural science and technology, Brazil is growing as a strong export country of food products. Russia needs to increase the introduction of agricultural science and technology and foreign capital to give full play to its resource advantages. India can improve its food self-sufficiency faster by the construction of a BRICS Agricultural Research Platform. China makes full use of BRICS resources, actively promotes agricultural enterprises to go global, and constantly optimizes the food supply structure. South Africa maintains the advantages of fruit and vegetable industry and increases the introduction and promotion of agricultural science and technology to improve the domestic food production capacity
In terms of macroeconomic and geopolitical instability, in order to increase the competitiveness of agro-food complex of the Russian Federation in world food markets, a scientifically based choice of institutional solutions is required to increase innovative activity in the agricultural sector and to ensure the transfer of technologies used in industries related to agriculture. A generalization of Russian and foreign practice of agricultural consulting showed that at the present stage of economic development, this institution should be considered as a center for the innovation spread, stimulating agricultural producers to constant increasing of their competencies in high technology. The comparison of the obtained and expected economic effect of the innovative activities of regional agricultural advisory services revealed that a flexible policy of budget co-financing contributes to an increase in the quality of services, and in the professionalism of consultants and their communication skills. It is concluded that the promising tasks of the Russian agricultural consulting system are the selection of optimal options for technical and technological support of production for small and medium-sized businesses; formation of packages of orders for the most popular applied research; popularization of precision and organic farming methods; participation in the development and implementation of sustainable rural development programs
Farmer group institutions have been being a target group for various innovations in the agricultural development program. Unfortunately, the aspect of their institutional system is getting ignored frequently. This study aimed to know the farmer group institution performance’s determinant factors and its effect on the agricultural innovation implementation sustainability. This was a longitudinal study using a qualitative approach involving ten farmer group institutions (mixed crop-livestock farming) done in Lombok island. The study showed that farmer groups with a good institutional system relatively performed a high level of sustainable innovation implementation in comparison with the group with a poor institutional system. There were four key factors affected the performance and the farmer group institution’s achievement: (1) strong leadership; (2) transparency; (3) regular group meeting; (4) and cash generating factor. The study also showed that farmer group institution which didn’t have those key factors tended to use the farmer group institution only to complete their physical need (impounded cows for security reason). It rarely uses to empower its group members. These conditions slowly could be developed as an individualistic treat on each group member that prevents the sustainable innovation implementation in the future. The agricultural innovation on this type of group usually only implemented in a short amount of time. Therefore, guidance for a good institutional system in a farmer group institution is required to be conducted to achieve a sustainable and comprehensive agricultural innovation implementation. Some strategies could be used to develop the four key factors to form a good institutional system in the farmer group institution
The task of creating a single supranational payment market is to ensure its maximum independence, which correlates with the tasks of the competitive leading economic development of countries - the transition to a digital technological structure. To increase the efficiency of the generation of payment innovations with their subsequent diffusion into the agricultural sector, to strengthen the economy’s resistance to risks, a transfer of innovative institutional, organizational and informational forms of activity is necessary. The strategy of integration of payment markets of interstate economic associations in time and space should be based on the consolidation and symbiosis of innovative technology platforms of sovereign payment systems of the participating countries. For this, a conceptual model of a supranational transfer of digital innovations to the agricultural sector through the transmission mechanisms of payment systems is proposed. The model characterizes the mega-economic system, which provides for the heterarchical and hierarchical interaction of payment systems of donor countries and recipient countries in the framework of economic associations, in which the transfer of forms of innovative development to the agricultural sector is carried out. Digital innovations are transferred to the subjects of the agricultural market horizontally and vertically. The transfer of digital innovation occurs through institutional, organizational and informational communications with the parallel creation of structures for the subsequent evolution of the model
The article emphasizes that for the innovative development of the Russian agricultural industry and ensuring the national food security, it is necessary to create a research and development sector in the field of food production; reform the education system for the innovative development of the agricultural industry; re-equip the agricultural industry; build a system of agricultural advisory support for producers; create an intellectual property protection system; improve legal standards for regulating innovation, research and development; pay attention to the needs of agriculture and agro-business, etc
The article presents indicators of the agricultural industry management system: doing business in a digital and technological transformation from the perspective of an ontological approach. It is important to note that it is impossible to transform under the requirements of the modern world without the introduction of innovation. However, innovation is always marked by financial costs and loss of time, which reduces the innovative activity of organizations in the agricultural sector, and, therefore, determines the diagnosis of innovation and investment policy. Forming an indicative methodology for justifying, measuring and developing the readiness of the agricultural sector’s management system to conduct entrepreneurship in the context of digital and technological transformation from the perspective of an ontological approach is evident as a process of formation and implementation of investment potential to ensure the release of innovative competitive products based on an advanced technology platform
The interaction between the organization and the institutional environment leads to organizational change or innovation. As the basic industry of China’s national economy, agricultural enterprises are transmitted from the institutional environment to the internals of the enterprise and are transformed into innovative behaviors, which ultimately form performance. Based on the research paradigm of “institution-behavior-performance”, it is of great significance to promote the association between formal and informal institutions, technical executive power and agricultural enterprise innovation performance. This article studied a sample of 164 listed agricultural enterprises from 2009 to 2017 and adopted the negative binomial regression to determine the relationship between institutional environment and innovation performance of these enterprises. The results of the studies show that the more perfect the formal system, the better the innovation performance of agricultural enterprises, while the informal system inhibits the innovation performance of enterprises. The technical executives play a positive intermediary role between formal institutions and innovation performance. However, it does not have a significant intermediary effect between informal institutions and innovation performance
In an endeavor to promote agricultural innovation, the Government of India introduced two pieces of legislation: (i) the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001, which provide for the registration of traditional crop varieties as farmers' varieties, and for the sharing of benefits when those varieties are incorporated into new commercial varieties; and (ii) the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999, which provides for the registration of indications to promote the marketing of goods which derive their quality and characteristics from their geographical origin. This article tests the effectiveness of this legislation in promoting agricultural innovation, reporting on a survey of 401 farmers of traditional rice varieties in Kerala, South West India. The study revealed that farmers were either unaware of the legislation, or unaware of its functions. They have not been much involved in the registration of farmers' varieties and have not made any benefit-sharing claims in relation to the varieties which have been registered. They have tended to confuse the registration of geographical indications with the registration of farmers' varieties. This suggests, as a first step, the necessity for awareness raising about the purposes of both pieces of legislation with Indian farmers
Although an agro-based country, the farmers of Bangladesh do not receive significant returns from their products, due to some obstacles blocking the achievement of this ultimate goal. This study tries to identify the major challenges of the agroforestry product supply chains in Bangladesh, and offer an alternative solution through the involvement and experiences of farmer cooperatives within a Japanese cooperative model. The objectives were outfitted by two case studies, and the Bangladesh case clearly showed that the involvement of many intermediaries in agroforestry product supply chains was one of the main obstacles that stunted the outcomes of the agroforestry programs. The intermediaries have maximized their profit by buying the farmer products at low prices and selling them back at higher prices, which resulted in high marketing margins. Meanwhile, the Japanese case study had articulated that the farmer-driven cooperative approach, with its good marketing strategies and service functions, could successfully eliminate the intermediaries’ involvement in farmer products, and make a cooperative a strong economic organization. Despite a few challenges, the farmer-driven Japanese cooperative approach would be a good solution that could tackle the middleman problem, and make agroforestry a sustainable production system in Bangladesh
This blended learning program for facilitators of innovation platforms was developed working with SMEs from ILRI, IITA, ICRAF and Wageningen University and drawing on materials from FARA and CIAT to sequence content and learning experiences so that learners can rapidly acquire and retain the skills and knowledge they need to fill this demanding role. The course design follows a traditional approach to blended learning whereby introductory content knowledge is covered in online modules providing trainers in the subsequent workshop with the opportunity to guide participants towards the application of this knowledge in their individual professional contexts. This report presents the findings of the pilot of a part of what will eventually be a complete learning experience and an important Humidtropics legacy product. The online course materials are accessible through the ILRI learning portal at (https://learning.ilri.org) while the workshop design is included directly in this report
This book summarizes the achievements as well as some of the challenges faced while implementing integrated systems research to support the sustainable development of smallholder farming in the uplands of the Mekong region. It describes how CGIAR centres and national and local partners collaborated to test options to increase farm productivity in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, and how field trials in Xishuangbanna, China; Son La, Viet Nam; and, Luang Prabang, Laos, showed that agroforestry and home-based vegetable gardens, among other interventions, could contribute to reduced land degradation and erosion. Efforts were also made to address the marginalization of ethnic minority farmers from agricultural and rural development. The book also discusses lessons learned in the research, including what did not work and possible reasons for that. Integrated systems research often requires ‘doing things differently’, which can lead to resistance among those involved. Also, implementing multistakeholder processes such as establishing and working together through multistakeholder platforms, was challenging and not always easy. However, some interesting new partnerships have emerged from this experience.
The shrimp sector has been one of the fastest growing agri-food systems in the last decades, but its growth has entailed negative social and environmental impacts. Sustainable intensification will require innovation in multiple elements of the shrimp production system and its value chain. The study focuses on the case of the shrimp sector in the Mekong Delta in Viet nam to explore the constraints inthe transition to sustainable intensification in shrimp farming, using an analytical framework based on innovation systems thinking, i.e., an aquaculture innovation systems framework. Using this framework, the paper conduct a systemic diagnostic ofblocking mechanisms, interrelated sets of constraints within the aquaculture sector that hinder a transition toward sustainable intensification
Applied Research and Innovation Systems in Agriculture (ARISA) was implemented by CSIRO in collaboration with Indonesian partners. This multi-year program seeks to strengthen collaboration between public research organisations and agribusinesses in order to incubate and deliver technology and business solutions appropriate to smallholder farmers. The geographic focus of the program was Eastern Indonesia. The project was funded by the Australian Department for Trade and Foreign Affairs (DFAT) and was part of a wider partnership with the Indonesian government to develop the role of markets and the private sector in delivering products and service to the rural poor
This note presents an outline of the main strands of the innovation systems research associated with the ARISA project. It begins by locating this in the current discourse on concepts and policy perspectives on innovation and capacity building before setting out key areas of research inquiry and research activities
Agricultural innovation is a process that takes a multitude of different forms, and, within this process, agricultural research and expertise are mobilised at different points in time for different purposes. This paper uses two key analytical principles to establish how research is actually put into use. The first, which concerns the configurations of organisations and their relationships associated with innovation, reveals the additional set of resources and expertise that research needs to be married to, and sheds light on the types of arrangements that allow this marriage to take place. The second, which concerns understanding innovation as a path-dependent, contextually shaped trajectory unfolding over time, reveals the changing role of research during the course of events associated with the development and diffusion of products, services and institutional innovations. This paper examines the efforts of the Research Into Use programme funded by the UK Department for International Development that sought to explore the agricultural research-into-use question empirically
This paper reflects on the experience of the Research Into Use (RIU) projects in Asia. It reconfirms much of what has been known for many years about the way innovation takes place and finds that many of the shortcomings of RIU in Asia were precisely because lessons from previous research on agricultural innovation were “not put into use” in the programme’s implementation. However, the experience provides three important lessons for donors and governments to make use of agricultural research: (i) Promoting research into use requires enabling innovation. This goes beyond fostering collaboration, and includes a range of other innovation management tasks (ii) The starting point for making use of research need not necessarily be the promising research products and quite often identifying the promising innovation trajectories is more rewarding (iii) Strengthening the innovation enabling environment of policies and institutions is critical if research use is to lead to long‐term and large‐scale impacts. It is in respect of this third point that RIU Asia missed its target, as it failed to make explicit efforts to address policy and institutional change, despite its innovation systems rhetoric. This severely restricted its ability to achieve wide‐scale social and economic impact that was the original rationale for the programme
This paper aims to map the experience of the RIU Asia projects and draw out the main innovation management tactics being observed while laying the groundwork for further research on this topic. It provides a framework to help analyse the sorts of innovation management tasks that are becoming important. This framework distinguishes four elements of innovation management: (i) Functions (ii) Actions (iii) Toolsand (iv) Organisational Format. The paper’s review of the distribution of innovation management in the Asia projects suggests that it is not technology accessrelated tasks alone that are important, but the bundlingof these with other activities, which include the development of networks,advocacy for policy change, training and other negotiated changes in practice and action. The implication for policy is that ways ofsupporting this wider suite of innovation management tasks would go a long way in helping make better use of agriculturalresearch in rural development
This paper reflects on the experiences of the Applied Research and Innovation Systems in Agriculture (ARISA) project to caralyse agricultural innovation by bringing RIs and private sector (PS) actors together in partnerships. Facilitating partnerships to caralyse innovation requires capacity building of individuals as well as institutional change. This paper examines the approaches to parnering for innovation, successes, challenges and lessons learned
This brief discusses the emergence of Asia as a hotpot of innovation and the implications for Australia's own innovation capacity
The Applied Research and Innovation Systems in Agriculture project (ARISA) started in December 2014 with the aim of increasing net farm income for 10,000 smallholder farming households in eastern Indonesia. The project was designed to address a key challenge in agricultural research for development: how to ensure that proven research outputs1 are available and accessible for use in farming communities. One strategy to overcome this challenge is for research institutes (RIs) and the private sector (PS) to form partnerships and work together to solve technical and institutional challenges to support effective and sustainable rural development. This approach complemented AIP-Rural’s2 over-arching design, which is to engage with the private sector, and use a market systems development pathway to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farming households in eastern Indonesia. At the same time, ARISA designed research activities to support improved understanding of RI-PS partnerships and derive broader lessons for those undertaking similar programs.Using a partnership-based approach, ARISA established eight interventions in East Java which sought to stimulate innovation and support the livelihoods of poor farming households in the region. Partnerships were designed to bring together researchers who had worked on approaches to improving agricultural production with private sector partners, and with an interest in supporting farmers to gain access to this information, while addressing broader systemic barriers and constraints to sustainable change. This report focuses on five RI-PS partnerships. Each partnership was identified through an expression of interest or brokering process, and received modest financial and capacity building support from ARISA to address key production and processing challenges
This paper asks: What have been the impacts of farmer- or community-led (informal) processes of research and development in agriculture and natural resource management in terms of food security, ecological sustainability, economic empowerment, gender relations, local capacity to innovate and influence on formal agricultural research and development institutions? An innovative conceptual framework was applied to a diverse set of farmer-led research initiatives in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to explore approaches, outcomes and impacts of informal agricultural research and development (ARD) facilitated by civil society organisations
'AgTech' is the latest discourse about introducing new technologies to agricultural production. Researchers, corporations, and governments around the world are investing heavily in supporting its development. Abu Dhabi, the largest and wealthiest emirate in the UAE, has been among these supporters, recently announcing a massive scheme to support AgTech companies. Given the extreme temperatures and aridity of the Arabian Peninsula, several new start-ups have focused on 'controlled environment' facilities – hydroponics and aeroponics in various kinds of greenhouses. Despite the narrative of novelty touted by these companies, this is not the UAE's first foray with bringing ultra-modern or 'scientific' greenhouses to the Arabian Peninsula – a large University of Arizona project did so in Abu Dhabi from 1969-1974. Yet that project is largely forgotten today, including among today's new AgTech entrepreneurs. This article investigates why this is the case and, more generally, why the systematic failures of high-modernist, spectacular projects like those to green the desert are so routinely forgotten. In analyzing the story linking AgTech in Arabia 50 years ago and today, I show how 'spectacular forgetting' is related to the technopolitics of spectacle, but also rooted in geopolitical discourses and spatial imaginaries particular to each historical moment
This brochure presents startup profiles, an incubatee coffee table book which captures the brief profile of agriculture startups being incubated at a-IDEA, the Technology Business Incubator of National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (ICAR-NAARM) supported by Department of Science & Technology of India. The incubation centre at NAARM is providing a conducive environment for growth of startups in agriculture. NAARM with its access to the National Agriculture Research System of ICAR encompassing Research Institutions, State Agricultural Universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras is driving force for the growth of these agriculture startups. e National Agriculture Research System has generated several agri based innovations which need to be scaled up by all the Agri stake holders. Since 2014, the incubation centre of NAARM has been fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture in India. is coffee table book is an attempt to capture some of those young vibrant and enthusiastic startups engaged in this pioneering journey
The startups are an exemplar that great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Taking one small step at a time, moving from one problem to another and solving the issues by disruptive innovation is what these startups are trying to achieve. The startups are not only creating new jobs which means more employment but are also leaving a ripple effect on the socio-economic fabric of the demography in which they are operating. The world has become a playfield for these young entrepreneurs as the global startup revolution continues to grow. Underneath this continued growth, fundamental shifts are occurring. The fuel that incited the first and second generation startup revolution have started to decline and a new third wave is taking over the world stage. The era of social apps, digital media and pure internet companies which were part of first and second generation revolution are being taken over by sectors viz. FinTech, CleanTech, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, etc. This change is not only limited to sectors but
is also shaking things geographically too. The dominance of West viz. Silicon Valley and USA is witnessing a decline and the East with leaders like China and India is on the rise. With this rise, India has become the third largest startup ecosystem hub. India is home to highest number of unicorn startups after US and China with 26 unicorns out of 250+ total unicorns globally. At a time where with the increasing population and demand for better quality and higher quantity of food is required, the performance pressure on farms are increasing. Agritech startups are such a relevant solution across the agricultural value chain and they can be in the form of a product, a service or an application. There is a decent growth of startups in the country which needs a strong push if we want the agri sector to flourish. India has already built a strong name for itself in the global startup community. It’s time to make agritech startups successful and propel India forward as a leader in the agri technology sector too
Rapid climatic and socio-economic changes challenge current agricultural R&D capacity. The necessary quantum leap in knowledge generation should build on the innovation capacity of farmers themselves. A novel citizen science methodology, triadic comparisons of technologies or tricot, was implemented in pilot studies in India, East Africa, and Central America. The methodology involves distributing a pool of agricultural technologies in different combinations of three to individual farmers who observe these technologies under farm conditions and compare their performance. Since the combinations of three technologies overlap, statistical methods can piece together the overall performance ranking of the complete pool of technologies. The tricot approach affords wide scaling, as the distribution of trial packages and instruction sessions is relatively easy to execute, farmers do not need to be organized in collaborative groups, and feedback is easy to collect, even by phone
In Vietnam, while glutinous rice farming represents a very small sub-sector of rice production, it plays an important role in the food and cultural security of farming households in many remote areas. This paper examined glutinous rice farming in households, as a food and for cultural security, and the extension services in areas producing glutinous rice. Data were collected from 400 local farmers based on interview schedules and statistical analysis using the percentage, arithmetic mean, and hypothesis testing with logistic regression
An analysis of the impact of simulation modelling in three diverse crop-livestock improvement projects in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) reveals benefits across a range of aspects including identification of objectives, design and implementation of experimental programs, effectiveness of participatory research with smallholder farmers, implementation of system change and scaling-out of results. In planning change, farmers must consider complex interactions within both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects of their crop and animal production activities. For this, whole-farm models that include household models of food, workload and financial requirements have the most utility and impact. The analysis also proposes improvements in design and implementation of AR4D projects to improve the utility of simulation modelling for securing positive agronomic and livestock outcomes and lasting legacies
Building on previous research, the purpose of this study was to describe the needs of the extension agents, in the Riyadh Region of Saudi Arabia, for training on Organic Agriculture (OA). This knowledge will be used to develop organic educational programs for extension agents. The specific objectives were to:
1)Determine the level of formal and informal training that extension agents have already received; 2)To identify extension agents’ current interest in training on OA; 3)Determine the perceived usefulness level for information sources of OA; 4) Determine if the extension agents’ interest in participating in OA training differs across the demographic variables of age, experience in OA, education level, current responsibility for information related to OA, and areas of specialization
In the context of an exponential rise in access to information in the last two decades, this special issue explores when and how information might be harnessed to improve governance and public service delivery in rural areas. Information is a critical component of government and citizens’ decision-making; therefore, improvements in its availability and reliability stand to benefit many dimensions of governance, including service delivery. Service delivery is especially difficult in rural areas which contain the majority of the world’s poor but face unique logistical challenges due to their remoteness. This paper reviews the features of the recent information revolution, including increased access to information due to both technological and institutional innovations. The authors then raise the question of why information often fails to support the goals of improved governance and service delivery
Adoptions of improved technologies and production practices are important drivers of agricultural development in low-income countries like Nepal. Adopting a broad class of such technologies and practices is often critical for meeting the multifaceted goals of efficiency, profitability, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. This study aims to address the knowledge gaps that still exist concerning what determines the adoption of improved technologies and production practices, the factors affecting their diffusion, the impact of interventions on productivity and crops grown, and the variability of impact within a particular country context. In this paper is addressed these questions using data collected as part of the USAID-led Knowledge-Based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture in Nepal (KISAN) project. We adopted a multistage sampling technique and surveyed 988 beneficiary households and 997 non-beneficiary households in KISAN intervention districts and non-intervention districts
The final report outlines key outputs and outcomes of the implemented activities between 7 April 2015 and 6 April 2019 including review of the seed sector in Afghanistan; development of legal, managerial and technical documents for Public-Private-Producers Partnership (PPPP) model in seed sector, revitalization of seed testing laboratories, capacity building of stakeholders and awareness raising among stakeholders. The project was initiated in 2015 with a brainstorming workshop to create awareness about the PPPP concept among stakeholders and document their suggestions. A project inception workshop was conducted to describe objectives, implementation strategy and expected outcomes of the project to the stakeholders. Over 60 representatives of different national and international organizations attended the inception workshop
gricultural innovation is essential for improving the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers in developing countries such as Bangladesh. Within an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategy for agricultural development, social media is considered a means of networking, collaboration and co-learning, and thereby supporting innovation processes. However, it is not known how extension agents of the Department of Agricultural Extension ‒ the largest public sector organisation ‒ have been utilising social media to strengthen agricultural innovation. Data were collected using a survey with 140 extension agents and key informant interviews with 20 extension agents who worked in the eastern region of Bangladesh. The findings indicated that extension agents mostly used social media to learn professional tasks and to some extent technical knowledge. Extension agents considered social media as a means of supporting innovation functions, such as entrepreneurial activities, market formation, resource mobilisation and legitimisation. However, the use of social media did not support second loop learning as well as system interaction
This publication contains twelve modules which cover a selection of major reform measures in agricultural extension being promulgated and implemented internationally, such as linking farmers to markets, making advisory services more demand-driven, promoting pluralistic advisory systems, and enhancing the role of advisory services within agricultural innovation systems. The reform issues consider the changing roles of the various public, private and non-governmental providers, and highlights the collaboration required to create synergies for more efficient and effective high quality services responding to the needs and demands of smallholder farmers. This is a substantially updated version of the 2009 publication of the same title, but with only nine modules. These nine modules were restructured and up-dated, and three modules were added. The layout of the modules changed to allow a better overview for the reader
There is great untapped potential for farm mechanization to support rural development initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. As technology transfer of large machinery from high-income countries was ineffective during the 1980s and 90s, mechanization options were developed appropriate to resource poor farmers cultivating small and scattered plots. More recently, projects that aim to increase the adoption of farm machinery have tended to target service providers rather than individual farmers. This paper uses the Scaling Scan tool to assess three project case studies designed to scale different Mechanization Service Provider Models (MSPMs) in Mexico, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh. It provides a useful framework to assess the gap between international lessons learned on scaling captured in forty tactical questions over ten “scaling ingredients” as perceived by stakeholders involved in the projects, as well as private sector actors and government employees. Although at first sight the case studies seem to successfully reach high numbers of end users, the assessment exposes issues around the sustainable and transformative nature of the interventions
The Farmer Business School (FBS) is a participatory, action learning process focused on product and business development, and like the Farmer Field School, is a complex, multi-dimensional innovation with the potential to benefit large numbers of farming households economically, socially and institutionally. Scaling this approach requires rethinking both innovation and scaling. The paper draws on the insights of recent research which argues that a systems approach to innovation can better address the complexity of scaling processes and provides frameworks that link together processes of innovation and scaling. In examining these frameworks, the paper identifies the key role of partnership dynamics in those processes. Drawing on both the innovation and scaling literature and literature on partnership dynamics, a conceptual framework is developed to analyze how partnership dynamics contribute to and constrain the transition from small-scale ‘niche’ innovation testing led by researchers, to large scale integration of the approach by development partners in agricultural ‘regimes’. Using case studies involving partnerships between a small international agricultural research grant recipient and six large development projects supported by IFAD multilateral loans and managed by government agencies undertaken in four Asian countries between 2011 and 2018, the study analyses the variable dynamics of the partnerships from initial networking to integrated collaboration, in the process of scaling the FBS innovation
Rainfed agriculture with nearly 58% of the cultivated area is home to about 40% of human and 60% of livestock population in India and contributes 40% of the country's food production. Even after full realizing the full irrigation potential of the country, half of the cultivated area will continue to be under rainfed farming which highly dependent on monsoon rainfall. It is widely believed that increasing rainfall variability is likely to affect the livelihoods of millions of small and marginal farmers in the years to come. The National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) was initiated in 2011 to primarily strengthen research to address climate change and to demonstrate proven resilient practices in most climate vulnerable parts of the country. Farmer participatory technology demonstrations are being carried out since 2011-12 in 100 vulnerable districts prone to recurrent drought, floods, and extreme weather events like cyclone, heat and cold wave. This paper aims to collect evidences from these farmer participatory technology demonstrations to combat increasing climate uncertainty in rainfed agriculture in India
This study refines the participatory management (PM) in agricultural extension education (AEE) by adopting a multidimensional approach. PM is a process where extension agent (EA) tries to provide a good situation for AEE and share significant degree of power with their farmers. The data were obtained from samples of 290 Iranian farmers in Torbat Heydarieh, Iran. Methodology was descriptive and correlation. There was directly and a statically significant relation between all of components of PM regarding in effective AEE. The PM is a panacea for improving the AEE. Findings confirm the application of PM for achieving suitable strategy to AEE
This paper presents a case study of a machinery manufacturer in Bangladesh producing 2WT. The study aims were to identify ways to increase machinery manufacturers’ capacity while improving manufacturing operations and workplace safety through equipment selection, workshop layout, and usability. As a locally-owned, small-scale agricultural machinery manufacturer in Bangladesh, Janata Engineering (JE) is representative of many small-scale and emerging machinery manufacturing enterprises in South Asia
To augment youth employment, the Government of India has launched a number of skills training programs. This paper deals with participation in and the impact of one of these programs [Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDUGKY)] located in rural Bihar, one of India’s poorest states. The analysis is based on data collected in mid-2016 and compares trained participants with non-participants who applied for the scheme but eventually did not attend
Participatory action Research In Software Methodology Augmentation (PRISMA) is a software development methodology which has been amalgamated with Participatory Action Research (PAR). This paper justifies the inclusion of PAR in software development, and describes the PRISMA methodology vis-à-vis a case study. Specifically, the case study encompasses the development of eToro, an Indigenous Knowledge Management System for the Penans, a remote and rural community in Malaysian Borneo
This paper presents empirical evidence on the effects of information asymmetry in input markets on the adoption of innovations and agricultural land use in rainfed districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Farmers’ input market integration may contribute to innovation and adoption among farmers, which may in turn positively influence the sustainable use of agricultural land. To examine this hypothesis, was conducted a study with farmers and input providers to assess the potential constraints on quality inputs, prices, and extension information. The authors used a multistage random sampling technique to collect data from 395 respondents. Then was compared the differences among adopters and non-adopters using the Mann-Whitney U test and Mood’s median test
Under the guidance of the agricultural system theory, operational research theory and decision-making support system theory, the regional agricultural development decision support system (RADDSS) was developed in this study ,in which different analysis method and models was integrated. By providing data, right models and analysis methods, RADDSS can assist decision-makers and administrators to solve half-structured and unstructured problems, improving level of management on agriculture. The agriculture in Xuchang has been analyzed using the system constructed in this study. The distribution of local agricultural production elements was rather reasonable, indicating that the district was suitable for agriculture development
With the developing of the agricultural information, it is inevitable trend of the development of agricultural electronic commercial affairs. On the basis of existing study on the development application model of e-commerce, combined with the character of the agricultural information, compared with the developing model from the theory and reality, a new development model electronic commerce of regional agriculture base on the government is put up, and such key issues as problems of the security applications, payment mode, sharing mechanisms, and legal protection are analyzed, etc. The among coordination mechanism of the region is discussed on, it is significance for regulating the development of agricultural e-commerce and promoting the regional economical development
This article focus on studying brand experience under the background of IOT through data selecting and analysis , try to make a service design plan according to the design-driven branding innovation. The study take a local fruit brand as study object named “Taozhiyuan” , not only focus on logo or package but try to establish a co-design platform which all the stakeholders and take part in . This platform is based on the system supported by the Wuxi PeachWell IOT Technology Co. Ltd
Scientific researchers’ increasing demand for knowledge service under the new situation, makes it urgent to embed information service into user research process, ad build an incorporate knowledge platform that integrates knowledge, skills, tools, and services of certain professional field. This paper put forward the technical solution of agricultural domain knowledge service platform based on ontology, including resource organization based on ontology, platform design and development. The construction progress of ontology base and service functions based on ontology are shown by application practice in rice domain
Innovation policies are considered the long-term strategy to overcome the present systemic crisis. But this crisis is questioning such policies, their presuppositions and institutional arrangements. This questioning includes the Triple Helix theory and its impact on research and innovation policies. The goal is to examine how this theory can respond to theoretical and practical challenges, how the theory needs to evolve in order to fit the present context. The criticism focuses on growing worldwide standardization of research and innovation policies and their long-term impact on innovation. Restoring and increasing research diversity is urgent for sustained innovation. One solution is to add ‘society’ as a fourth helix. The problem is to clarify what ‘society’ stands for in this context. The paper studies three different institutional arrangements, France, Germany, and Japan, because these three cases can learn from each other and contribute to progress in the Helix theory itself. Potential reforms are summarized in some policy recommendations
Since agricultural scientific data are valuable resources in the field of agricultural science and technology, it is important to share scientific data in agricultural science. The paper analyses current situation and existing problems on data sharing in China, based on expounding the connotation of agricultural scientific data. Then some countermeasures and suggestions are put forward to promote the level of the agricultural scientific data sharing
China is at a critical stage of transformation from traditional to modern agriculture and its agriculture and rural economic sector faces severe challenges of shortage of natural resources, environmental degradation, agricultural disasters, sluggish income growth of farmers and widening disparity between urban and rural areas. The fundamental solution to these problems lies with the advancement of agricultural science and technology. China’s agricultural and rural informationization has entered the comprehensive development stage, in which informationization is no longer a pure technical but complex systematic matter, involving natural, technological, economic and social issues, with impact on the country’s food security, environmental protection and sustainable development. Based on analysis of agricultural and rural economic development, this paper thoroughly examines the demand for information technology in the drive of new socialist countryside construction and modern agriculture development and tables strategic options for agricultural and rural informationization in China
The general aims of this chapter are to provide an overview of the historical development of rural advisory and knowledge provision in Vietnam, and how legal frameworks have changed over time, demonstrate how more client-centered extension approaches can be translated and utilized at the field level, and focus on examples of novel approaches to knowledge generation and diffusion, those currently evolving due to initiatives driven by state, private and NGO actors, or developed within the framework of the Uplands Program. The final section provides an outlook on where the extension system stands at this point and what still needs to be done, drawing a differentiated but basically positive conclusion about the willingness to reform and the pace of the reform process in Vietnam
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development strategy in Chinese rural areas is an indispensable part of national development strategies. This paper reviews the ICT framework in agriculture and rural areas launched by the Department of Agriculture in China. It compares the rural ICT policies and strategies between China and the European Union (EU). The ICT development strategy framework is analyzed based on the situation in Chinese rural area and the experiences of the EU. Some lessons and suggestions are provided
This paper introduces a practical e-learning system, identified as Knowledge Exchange E-learning System (abbr. KEES), for knowledge distribution in rural areas. Particularly, this paper is about providing a virtual teaching and learning environment for small holders in agriculture in those rural areas. E-learning is increasingly influencing the agricultural education (information and knowledge learning) in all forms and the current e-learning in agricultural education appears in informal and formal methods in many developed countries and some developing areas such as Asian Pacific regions
Agriculture in South Asia is vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, adaptation measures are required to sustain agricultural productivity, to reduce vulnerability, and to enhance the resilience of the agricultural system to climate change. There are many adaptation practices in the production systems that have been proposed and tested for minimizing the effects of climate change. Some socioeconomic and political setup contributes to adaptation, while others may inhibit it. This paper presents a systematic review of the impacts of climate change on crop production and also the major options in the agricultural sector that are available for adaptation to climate change
In this paper, a novel method to collect symptoms of the disease, as observed by the farmers, using a mobile phone application has been presented. A cumulative composite risk index (CCRI) obtained from more than one existing disease forecast models is validated from the actual late blight queries received from the farmers. The main contribution of the paper is a protocol that combines the symptoms based diagnostic approach along with the plant disease forecasting models resulting in detection of Potato late blight with higher accuracy. This in turn reduces the disease risk along with avoiding the unnecessary application of fungicide
This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation
Timely availability of reliable information on weather conditions, agro-advisories, and market information can help to minimize losses in agriculture. This paper presents a scientific and integrated approach to identify areas of high agriculture vulnerability to climate change and availability of ICT services for dissemination of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) information in the vulnerable areas. This study was illustrated for India where the majority of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods, and this sector is highly vulnerable to climate change. The study presents four regions: i) high agriculture vulnerability and low ICT services, ii) high agriculture vulnerability and high ICT services, iii) low agriculture vulnerability and low ICT services, and iv) low agriculture vulnerability and high ICT services. This methodology, which is simple, uses available data, and is easy to apply, can be useful to prioritize locations for climate-smart interventions, mode of CSA information dissemination using ICT services, and increase coverage of agro-ICT services through development of ICT services in the locations where climate change impact is high and ICT services are very low
Global technology education is largely dominated by Western universities. Students from developing countries face an enormous challenge when moving from their local education system into the competitive international education market. Their local knowledge gets lost in a foreign education system where the students are required to acquire a new set of skills. This paper presents a survey among international technology students that highlights the differences. Moreover, the paper explores the situation from the developing country perspective, and brings forth a proposal for strengthening the education capacities in the developing countries particularly in the fields of ICTs and mobile technologies. Strengthening local knowledge building would allow innovations based on local needs and potentials
The paper discusses issues related to Design, User experience Usability involved in designing the interface to be used in rural areas. This study analyses the problems based on tests done on the interface in the villages of Punjab, Pakistan. Rural development is based on economic, social and human development. Whereas, Software Requirement Engineering focuses on how requirements can be gathered to achieve better end product. We aim to discuss software requirement gathering process in rural areas and attempting to elicit requirements from Pakistani rural woman. This could help bridging the technological gaps exist between rural and remote areas
Participatory approaches have been discussed as alternatives to and complementary elements of more conventional research on sustainable land use and rural development in upland areas of Southeast Asia. Following a brief overview of the history of participatory approaches (Sect. 9.1), this chapter discusses the potential and limitations of applying Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools to field research practice in Vietnam (Sect. 9.2) and of involving stakeholders in priority setting, modeling and environmental valuation in the Southeast Asian uplands (Sect. 9.3). Section 9.4 scrutinizes the use of the Payments for Environmental Services (PES) tool, which aims to actively engage smallholder farmers in preserving fragile mountain ecosystems in Southeast Asia by rewarding them in cash or in kind. Section 9.5 provides an example of a successful multi-stakeholder knowledge and innovation partnership in northern Thailand – in the form of a litchi processing and marketing network formed among Hmong villagers, an approach which uses a promising action-research approach towards building sustainable rural livelihoods among ethnic minority groups
Participatory varietal selection (PVS) is a recent approach increasingly being used in developing countries to make the farmers choose the best suited variety for their locality. Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore implemented this participatory approach in M.R.K. Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd., Sethiathope, Tamil Nadu during 2002 to 2006. Participatory rural appraisal and agro-eco system analysis were done with the participation of farmers to assess the situation and identify the needs of sugarcane growers. To start with, an action plan was charted out and implemented with the participation of farmers. Subsequently adaptive trials and multilocation trials were conducted in farmers’ fields and two sugarcane varieties viz., CoV 92102 and Co 86032 were identified for alkaline soils. The paper gives a concrete idea of the feasibility of conducting on — farm research in participatory mode and the success thereof
This study aims to estimate the nutritional and agricultural impacts and cost-effectiveness of (1) an agricultural extension platform of women’s groups viewing and discussing videos on nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) practices, with visits at women’s homes or farms to follow up on adoption of new practices shown in the videos (AGRI), (2) women’s groups viewing and discussing videos on NSA and nutrition-specific practices, also with follow-up visits (AGRI-NUT), and (3) women’s groups viewing and discussing videos on NSA combined with a Participatory Learning and Action(PLA)approach of meetings and nutrition-specific videos, with follow-up visits (AGRI-NUT+PLA)
The paper analyses the linkages that prevail between women’s empowerment, agriculture and household consumption, through a case study of an initiative for empowerment of women farmers, Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), undertaken by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), which became a government-funded national-level programme in 2010.. The paper discusses how structured trainings received by women farmers on nutrition literacy and ‘mixed cropping practices’ motivated them to modify their cropping pattern such that household availability of pulses, millets and vegetables increased. The objectives of the paper are to discuss: the role of women farmers in adopting practices that enhance food availability at the household level; and the implications of crop production diversity on household consumption
This paper investigates multi-stakeholder arrangements initiated by businesses and NGOs from the North that aim to enhance a more sustainable agricultural production at specific localities in Southern countries. The study aims to better understand the search for concerted action in multi-actor arrangements. Therefore, this paper presents a diagnostic framework with three strategic challenges the partnership projects are facing: linking global economic objectives to local needs, values and interests; bridging public and private interests and responsibilities; and seeking trade-offs between social, environmental and economic values. Starting from the partnerships’ Theory of Change, this diagnostic framework is applied to comparative case studies of partnership projects in the cocoa sector in Indonesia, which are part of a Northern-based public–private partnership to improve farmers’ prospective. It is concluded that the economic reality faced by the farmers differs from that of the Northern actors; collaboration with governments is difficult because of different organizational cultures; and the partnership projects underestimate the strength of vested social relations the smallholders are part of. Overall, the initiators of the partnerships seem to work with a too restricted economic interpretation of the local reality
The purpose of this research was designed to investigate the impact of e-Agriculture on farmers of Bangladesh. Empowerment is stratified as economic, family and social, political, knowledge and psychological empowerment. Data were collected in Bhatbour Block of Dhighi union under Sadar Upazila of Minikganj District. Data were collected in two phases from the same group of respondents (in August, 2013 and September, 2015). Two sample t test and step-wise multiple regression method were used for analysis. The results showed that e-Agriculture had significant impact on the empowerment of farmers of Bangladesh
In order to solve the problems of low efficiency and backward methods in the agro-technical extension activities, this paper designed an agro-technical extension information system based on cloud storage technology. This paper studied the key technologies, such as cloud storage service engine, cloud storage management node and cloud storage data node and designed the overall architecture of the agro-technical extension information system based on cloud storage technology. The application results demonstrate that this system has significantly improved the agro-technical extension service levels and cloud storage can greatly improve data storage capacity of the agricultural extension information system
Despite recent improvements in the national average, stunting levels in Afghanistan exceed 70% in some Provinces. Agriculture serves as the main source of livelihood for over half of the population and has the potential to be a strong driver of a reduction in under-nutrition. This article reports research conducted through interviews with stakeholders in agriculture and nutrition in the capital, Kabul, and four provinces of Afghanistan, to gain a better understanding of the institutional and political factors surrounding policy making and the nutrition-sensitivity of agriculture. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 46 stakeholders from central government and four provinces, including staff from international organizations, NGOs and universities
Strengthening the abilities of smallholder farmers in developing countries, particularly women farmers, to produce for both home and the market is currently a development priority. In many contexts, ownership of assets is strongly gendered, reflecting existing gender norms and limiting women’s ability to invest in more profitable livelihood strategies such as market-oriented agriculture. Yet the intersection between women’s asset endowments and their ability to participate in and benefit from agricultural interventions receives minimal attention. This paper explores changes in gender relations and women’s assets in four agricultural interventions that promoted high value agriculture with different degrees of market-orientation
This paper studies the relationship between the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and market orientation of farm production in India. This is the first time that the WEAI has been used in an Indian agricultural context and the first time that it is being associated with market orientation. Was used data on 1920 adults from 960 households in the Chandrapur District of Maharashtra and classified the households into three groups—(1) landless, (2) food-cropping, and (3) cash-cropping—that reflect increasing degrees of market orientation
Accordingly to the authors It is beyond the scope of this chapter to empirically explore the determinants of the commercialization of agriculture and its impact on poverty; so instead, they will present and discuss some empirical evidence on topics that remain hotly debated regarding commercialization and poverty. In Sect. 12.2, it is investigated how smallholder farmers in northern Vietnam have been affected by the recent food price volatility with respect to their income and consumption levels, while in Sect. 12.3 we quantify the level of market integration among those farm households belonging to the Karen ethnic group in northern Thailand, and assess the effects of market integration on gross farm output and net farm income levels. In Sect. 12.4, is showed that risk preferences and discount rates have had an impact upon household credit demand and credit access in northern Vietnam, then in Sect. 12.5 analyze poverty dynamics in the same area between 2007 and 2010, and assess the targeting performance of the poverty reduction and social assistance policies introduced. Section 12.6 concludes with policy implications and recommendations
Most of today’s information services on the web are designed for PC users. There are few services fit to be accessed by mobile devices. In the countryside of China, most of the mobile phone users can not access the Internet. For this reason, was developed a General Agriculture Mobile Service Platform. The Platform is designed to make these information services fit to be accessed by mobile users, and to make those mobile phone users can use these services without Internet connection. To achieve that, a descriptive language is designed to describe the services’ inputs and outputs, used to passing requests and responses between the platform and the mobile client software. With those descriptions, client software can generate user interface on the client mobile device. Using that interface, user can manipulate service. The communication between client side and the platform can be carried by SMS, MMS as well as TCP, so that the devices which don’t have Internet connection can access those services.
Market access determines the income of agricultural households and incentivizes the cultivation of diverse crops. Markets in India are mostly unorganized with limited infrastructure limiting their ability to cater to quality requirements and specifications demanded by urban consumers. Therefore, parallel to traditional markets, direct linkages with farms and alternative markets based on electronic sales platforms, new commodity futures and warehousing systems are needed. In this chapter, the authors discussed the scope of small farms to effectively link to value chains and new marketing platforms. The paper shows that reducing transaction costs, developing and improving market infrastructure and limiting the influence of intermediaries are critical. Also, having producer organizations rectify scale disadvantages will enable better participation of smallholders in different marketing arrangements
Agricultural information is transferred through social interactions; therefore, ties to agricultural informants and network structures within farmers’ local neighborhoods determine their information-gathering abilities. This paper uses a spatial autoregressive model that takes account of spatial autocorrelation to examine such network connections, including friendship networks and advice networks, upon farmers’ knowledge-gathering abilities during formal agricultural training. We found that peer advice networks are important to support knowledge-gathering activities, while friendship networks are not. Further examination of network structures confirms that farmers who occupy a central position in their local neighborhood networks are found to perform better in learning outcomes to some extent, indicating that local network position is positively related to problem-solving ability in an unknown environment outside their locale
Small enterprises are one of the most effective factors in the development of each country’s economic and social systems, having the ability to compete with large industries, so these enterprises are mainly focused by authorities. This study aimed to develop indicators of entrepreneurship in rural small enterprises as well as identifying the effective factors and obstacles to provide strategies of entrepreneurship development. The population of study included small business owners in Fars Province, Iran that initiated business in rural areas through quick-impact enterprises project. Developing entrepreneurship index was conducted using the Delphi method and was tested using survey method. Data were gathered through interviews and questionnaires. According to the results of study, entrepreneurship development index in quick-impact enterprises includes 11 components affected by individuals, organizations and environment. Based on the results, management skills, knowledge management, business environment, self-managed training, and government policies are predictors of changes of entrepreneurship development in quick-impact enterprises
The purpose of this paper is to compare and analyze agricultural transition periods in order to provide a new framework for agricultural development in Iran. Considering the foreseeable future, an innovative or knowledge-based economy will substitute the obsolete economy. In that respect, agriculture sector must adapt to these alternations in order to cope with the posed challenges. Multifunctional agriculture seems to be an enhanced alternative in which entrepreneurship is at the center of it
The development community has shown increasing interest in the potential of innovation systems and value chain development approaches for reducing poverty and stimulating greater gender equity in rural areas. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of systematic knowledge on how such approaches have been implemented in different contexts, the main challenges in their application, and how they can be scaled to enable large numbers of poor people to benefit from participation in value chains. This chapter provides an overview of value chain development and focuses on the International Potato Center’s experiences with the Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA), a flexible approach that brings together smallholder farmers, traders, processors, researchers, and other service providers in a collective process to explore potential business opportunities and develop innovations to exploit them. The PMCA is an exemplary case of South–South knowledge exchange: it was first developed and implemented in the Andes, but has since been introduced, adapted, and applied to different market chains in Africa and Asia, where it has contributed to improved rural livelihoods. The experiences of adjusting and implementing the approach in these different contexts and the outcomes of those interventions, and complementary approaches, are examined in this chapter. Lessons learned from these experiences are shared with a goal of informing the promotion, improvement, and scaling of value chain approaches in the future
Farmer innovation diffusion (FID) in the developing world is not simply the adoption of an innovation made by farmers, but a process of communication and cooperation between farmers, governments, and other stakeholders. While increasing attention has been paid to farmer innovation, little is known about how farmers’ innovations are successfully diffused. To fill this gap, this paper aims to address the following questions: What conditions are necessary for farmers to participate in FID? How is a collaborative network built up between farmers and stakeholders for this purpose? And what roles can government play? The above questions are addressed through analysis of the diffusion of winter greenhouse technology in China. A framework for analyzing a FID system is developed, and the conclusion is drawn that building mutual trust and collaborative networks is crucial for the success of FID. Furthermore, this network building can be broken down into various levels with different scales, speeds and consequences for FID: informal networks among farmers themselves, farmer-led networks, and government-facilitated networks. The success of government intervention depends upon building and enhancing the collaborative networks in which farmer leadership is crucial
Extant research shows that universities do not usually foster an inclusive innovation system. This paper examines an innovation program at Zhejiang University that targeted rural areas in China, and that sought to promote an inclusive innovation system. This case illuminates how universities could play a critical role in configuring inclusive regional innovation systems by means of selection, improvement and diffusion of technology, dissemination and absorption of knowledge, access to science and technology, intermediation between the actors of innovation, training skilled labor, and cultivating talent. The paper underscore how the inclusive innovation program of Zhejiang University allowed this university to help realize the enormous consumption, production, and entrepreneurial potential of low-income households in rural China.
Recent research on agricultural innovation has outlined social networks’ role in diffusing agricultural knowledge; however, so far, it has broadly neglected the socio-spatial dimensions of innovation processes. Against this backdrop, the authors applies a spatially explicit translocal network perspective in order to investigate the role of migration-related translocal networks for adaptive change in a small-scale farming community in Northeast Thailand. By means of formal social network analysis we map the socio-spatial patterns of advice sharing regarding changes in sugarcane and rice farming over a period of five years. The study find that, in translocally connected and mobile rural communities, a substantial share of advice originates from translocal levels. Translocal advice is dominantly provided through weak and formal ties with extension agencies and shared by few highly central larger-scale farmers within sparse local networks. This draws the picture of top-down translocal innovation flows driven by extension agencies and brokered through elite farmers
The objective of this present study is to scrutinize the challenges in implementing PPP by examining the factors that hinder the successful adoption of PPP in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey was used to elicit the perceptions of the public and private sectors concerning the constraints of PPP implementation in Malaysia. A total of 122 usable responses were obtained. The overall results show that ‘lengthy delays in negotiation’, ‘lack of government guidelines and procedures on PPP’, ‘higher charge to direct users’, ‘lengthy delays because of political debate’ and ‘confusion over government objectives and evaluation criteria’ are the top five constraints for adopting PPP in Malaysia
This chapter analyses the access to and adequacy of formal sources in meeting the credit needs, particularly agricultural credit needs, of small farmers in India with the help of banking data, and data on the borrowing profiles of these households collected through the village surveys of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI).Three major institutions provide formal credit in the rural areas of India today: commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), and credit cooperatives. Commercial banks and RRBs – primarily sponsored by public sector commercial banks – together control about three-fourths of total agricultural credit.3 Despite being a late entrant into the field of rural credit, the contribution of commercial banks, after nationalisation, to shaping the history of development of rural and agricultural credit in India has been overwhelming. In course of time they have overtaken credit cooperatives, the oldest serving institution of rural credit, except in a few States where cooperatives continue to predominate even today
While the development commu nity has recently begun the turn toward climate-sensitive program ming, climate-related efforts have focused on big transformations and big polluters. Energy generation and deforestation are easily identified sources of greenhouse gas emissions for which we have data and policy tools, and therefore a certain degree of comfort. Certainly, global emissions are greatly influenced by energy generation, distressing rates of deforestation in what remains of the world's tropical forests, and other large sources of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the future of development's work at the intersection of climate change and human well-being lies not in an exclusive focus on big drivers of change, but in a broader engagement that includes a focus on the ways in which the livelihoods decisions of the rural poor might exacerbate or ameliorate the green house gas emissions that shape climate change. The convergence of two fallacies have led to a lack of focus on the individual and community decisions that affect climate-related development efforts: a fallacy of stationarity, enabled by our lim ited understanding of lives and livelihoods of the rural poor in the developing world, and a fallacy of scale that results from the particular ways in which we have come to our understandings of these live lihoods and their potential impact on climate
Decline farm product prices and the subsequent effect of diminishing farm income become a core factor of sustaining peasant agriculture in developing countries. The small holding agriculture concentrated on paddy and vegetables farming in Sri Lanka also suffered from the issue causing many threats to sustain the industry. Nearly 30 percent of the labour force in Sri Lanka occupied in agriculture and thus deteriorating farm income has become core issue in national development. The paper aimed to review the factors influenced in declining terms of trade of paddy and vegetable farming and assessing its implications on the Sri Lankan economy. The analysis based on the deductive method showed parity ratio between paddy and non-farm items has declined continuously in the recent past with a greater variation. However the effect on the vegetable cultivation was not so significant since frequent price fluctuations offset the farm income. Though the governments of Sri Lanka implemented fixed output price scheme for purchasing paddy and fertilizer subsidy to mitigate the issue, still farmers suffered from the issue badly. The impact was worsen by outward looking policies associated with global economy. Thus, it is a comprehensive issue to be addressed by a broad policy framework
The farming systems followed by farmers in Asia, Africa and Latin America have the potential to deal with the problems thrown up by climate change. This article examines the changing drought ecosystems of poor farmers and also points out that the present paradigm of agricultural development and what it means for small farmers needs to be critically evaluated. Droughts in 2016 affected a quarter of the Indian population (2,55,923 villages in 254 districts in 10 states). Debates over drought preparedness and development priorities have been widespread. Current drought management practices are based on crisis management and are ineffectual. This article attempts to arrive at a better understanding of the changing drought ecosystems of poor farmers. The proposed “ecosystem of drought” framework gives a holistic view of droughts and explores whether living with drought is possible. Lessons from regional traditions raise questions about main-stream agricultural trends
BRAC is a global leader in creating large-scale opportunities for the poor. This chapter describes how small farmer innovations are being developed by BRACAgriculture and Food Security program. In collaboration with the Government and theInternational Agricultural Research Centers, the program aims to achieve food security and reduce hunger and malnutrition through increased environmentally sustainable agricultural production systems. The research focus is on cereal crops (rice andmaize), vegetables and oilseeds. The program is currently implementing severalinnovative projects targeted at small farmers. BRAC is the largest market player,especially in hybrid seed (rice and maize) production and distribution in Bangladesh,and is gradually expanding to other countries, including Liberia, Sierra Leone,Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Haiti
Specific material handling and treatment for speciic agriculture products is required. Enhancing the productivity, competitiveness and eficiency of agriculture value chain is a priority for Indonesia to achieve competitiveness. This chapter discusses the overview of agriculture value chain in Indonesia and provides case studies related to supply chain risk management and logistics cost. Then, the author may propose recommendations to optimize the agricultural value chain. Each agriculture commodity probably has different type of tier, type of supply chain risks, issues and activities which leads to the diferent proportion of logistics and distribution cost in each tier. The results showed diferences in strategy either speculation or postponement for inventory management to improve the value of horticulture along supply chain, while in aquaculture research also shows the same diferences. Moreover, the value chain analysis helps to identify the value created by each stakeholder. In the value chain of catchment fish, ship owner plays the dominant role in the whole income distribution, while in the aquaculture, spreader get the highest proit margin. Trader gives the highest value added during transportation but earns the lowest proit. The value chain analysis of fresh vegetables shows the highest portion of traders in the whole inventory cost
Although many smallholder communities are yet to embark on their journey towards gender empowerment, this report presents best practice examples which demonstrate that significant strides can be achieved in relatively short time periods. Women’s Coffee initiatives are engaging consumers about the role of women in coffee production, and providing additional premiums that fund projects targeted at women, such as the projects implemented by UNICAFEC in Peru and Soppexcca in Nicaragua. Women’s committees are providing a platform for women to receive training, access funding, engage in development of micro-enterprises and have a greater say within producer organisations, such as the CODEMU women’s committee in Pangoa in Peru, which is integrated to the cooperative’s management structure. Quotas for women are also rapidly increasing women’s representation on cooperative boards, as seen in PRODECOOP in Nicaragua
WhatsApp sends real-time messages and is one of the world’s most popular communication applications in the 21st century. The present study highlights and examines the domestication of WhatsApp among farmers. An exhaustive whatsapp user list was prepared from each village and 3 farmers were selected with the help of systematic sampling technique. Thus, 90 farmers from the 3 blocks of the district using whatsapp were purposively selected and grouped for sending the messages of agricultural aspects. The study was conducted at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Neemuch during 2016-17. Results showed how farmers perceive WhatsApp as a ‘convenient’ communication application, problem solving with audio-visuals, on-time, solution at the time of crisis in their agriculture activities. Some of the critical issues arising from the use of WhatsApp included distractions and exposure to unregulated messages or information. Irrespective of its disadvantages, social media has proved to be an important platform for pluralistic extension, bringing together all the actors in Agriculture Information system and making them shareholders in developmet
Agriculture developments have revolutionized the overall agricultural practices however, the small farmers are still suffering as they were not able to cope with the fast-paced changes. Thus, it still poses a threat to their survival. The study has attempted to explore how the environment can motivate a small farmer to adopt the agriculture extension. The study also examined how environment stimulates the intrapreneurship of a small farmer. For this purpose, data was collected from the farmers of Thailand and Smart-PLS was used for data analysis. The results of the study depicted a significant positive association between environmental hostility and agriculture extension. Further results also showed a significant relationship between dynamisms and agriculture extension. More importantly, the study results revealed that intrapreneurship acts as a positive mediator between the relationship of environment and agriculture extension. All the hypotheses are accepted
This book aims to identify the characteristics of innovative farmers and suggests policy strategies to encourage agricultural innovations. The analysis shows that agricultural innovations are taking place in Turkey and various public and private stakeholders contribute to the development and adoption of innovation in agriculture. Agricultural enterprises and cooperatives, clusters of innovation, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, government, and international institutions play an important part in the collaborative effort to create and disseminate innovation. In this context, the right institutional incentives, good governance, and an enabling infrastructure are crucial for the facilitation of innovation. The diffusion of innovations through extension services and experts promotes the active participation of farmers and may also have a positive impact on agricultural trade through increasing global competitiveness. Innovative agricultural products not only generate increasing returns for the existing demand for these products, but can increase competitiveness internationally. Since agriculture is mostly associated with a low-margin commodities business with decreasing returns, the potential of innovation in agriculture in making the rural sector more competitive and at the same time more sustainable has been underestimated
In many countries of the world, technology plays a leading role in the transformation of businesses. This study adopts a survey of literature in agriculture sector and gives certain recommendations which are evolved after descriptive analysis of literature. After systematic review of literature in Chinese, Pakistani and Nigerian context, our paper describes that agricultural policy and agricultural funding are connected to many problems in agriculture field and needs social and strategic steps to be taken particularly in Nigeria. The way observed by the study includes increased budgetary allocation for agriculture, adding a line of technological development, and expansion to social responsiveness in Agricultural Motor Mechanics and Tractors Operators Training Centres (AMMOTRAC). This study has theoretical implications in social, technology and business research and has practical implication regarding liaison and funding cooperation among the Research and Development (R&D) Agencies
This paper is concerned with the multitude of interleaving issues which emerge when engaging multiple stakeholders in decision making. Whilst recognising the intrinsic values of group work (including shared views, wide option selection, public spirited focus, legitimacy of decisions and improved intellectual content) and keeping in mind the numerous issues which confuse and obscure clear findings from group work (including multiple roles for participants, bias due to domination and distortion emerging from uneven group inputs) this paper uses an innovative methodology - the Triple Task - to propose a new framework for organising multi-stakeholder consultations. The Triple Task methodology was applied to test the new framework on multi-stakeholders in the context of education in Abu Dhabi, where various small groups were tasked and assessed using the methodology. The results indicate that moving participants from heterogeneous to homogenous groups results on these groups becoming more focused in their outcomes with greater clarity in the thinking of group members
Women empowerment through increasing the access of resources in local situation is the highlighted issue in the present context. Women involve in different types of activities in agricultural sphere and shoulder the responsibility in playing the roles of different actors in agricultural innovation system. The dimension of agricultural innovation always prefers to go along with the concepts of the dynamics around different activities and roles that poor women communities engaging towards addressing their social and economic needs through agricultural production system. Therefore, the active engagement of women will be imperative to future farming, processing, and marketing systems that can improve livelihoods and agribusiness development. So to make women led agricultural innovation system more efficient, knowledge vibrant, market oriented and sustainable one there is a need to build capacity of each and every actor associated with the innovation systemin local area. Hence, the study makes an attempt to explore types of actor, their role and institutional linkage of a local innovation system dealt by women stakeholders. The study has also analyzed the extent of overall involvement in terms of their physical and decision making involvement in various domains of innovation system. The study has been carried out in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. Total 200 women respondents including women farmers and professionals associated with various institutions at district level were randomly selected for the study
For better efforts in development of the farming community, agricultural extension services have always focused on farmers’ resources, activities and capabilities. And this has proved to be an important standing point in the rice growing state Tripura of North East India for attaining self-sufficiency in food grain and developing the economic condition of the farmers. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been a boon to the rice farmers and also has posed as an example especially in similar other conditions around the world. This paper seeks to understand how the stakeholders involved in the Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) in SRI influence the spread of the technology not only among the farmers but at an organizational level in the Tripura state of India. A descriptive research design was followed to study the position of stakeholders in the SRI Innovation Systems. Modified power/interest matrix of Mandelow was used to study stakeholder positions in the innovation system and social network analysis using UCINET 6 software to understand the flow of information and strength of linkage among the actors
Transforming a centrally planned system of agricultural production to one where individual farmers are accorded choice in crop mix and land use management practices is much more than a structural change. Embedded within this process is a fundamental shift in how knowledge is generated, disseminated and adopted. Upon dissolution of the Soviet Union, one immediate priority was the privatization of state farms and thereby relaxation of policies for collective production. Little attention was accorded to developing systems of innovation, which would be necessary in the provision of services and support to a new generation of pri-vate farmers. This policy brief analyses the rural extension and advisory services in the post-soviet Asia and the emerging opportunities for enhancing national systems of agricultural innovation
The Northern Mountainous Region (NMR) of Vietnam is characterised by great physical, social and cultural diversity. It covers a large geographical area, is home to many ethnic minority populations, has an under-developed infrastructure with low levels of urbanisa-tion, and agricultural production plays a highly important role. Since the 1950s, Vi-etnam’s agricultural sector has had several ups and downs due to being significantly in-fluenced by shifting national policies. In the NMR, a number of agricultural technical and institutional innovations have been introduced in a supply-driven, top-down approach with the aim of modernising and commercialising the region’s agriculture. These attempts to upgrade the NMR’s agriculture were not very successful: agricultural innovations were either adopted only by a small number of farmers or they were abandoned after a brief boom phase and a very short lifespan. The major reasons for the failure of many agricul-tural innovations were their limited appropriateness and their limited adaptability to the agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions of the farmers in the region. Research objectives The main purpose of this study was to analyse innovation processes in the NMR in the second half of the 20th century, identifying the main constraints on the agricultural inno-vation system (AIS)
Participation is connected to technology through the notion of innovation systems. To make the connection work, it is argued, the focus has to shift from a framing of participation in terms of democratic entitlement to a framing in terms of the settlement of issues (i.e. politics from below), The innovation system is an appropriate notion to see where issues are likely to lock on to processes of technological change. Drawing on material from colonial history (the Netherlands Indies) it is shown that much of the (seemingly) technical discussions about the organisation of research and extension, as well as concrete technical alternatives, were attempts to respond to growing economic uncertainty and social unrest among the rural population
Innovation intermediaries are individuals and organisations that enhance connectivity amongst constituencies of national, sectoral, and regional systems of innovation, thereby facilitating knowledge spillover. This paper articulates the whole picture of Indonesia's agricultural innovation system, with a special focus on how different innovation intermediaries play different roles in technology transfer and knowledge dissemination. First, the public sector accounts for more than half of the actors involved in research and extension, but insufficient routes to transfer local needs to the public sector impede efficient feedback. Second, village unit cooperatives are closely associated with extension workers, suggesting the presence of a feedback mechanism, but many of them face serious financial distress. Third, private agricultural research and development and extension are organised and managed efficiently where they involve fewer internal actors working in an environment with minimal bureaucracy. However, a vague regulatory environment makes it difficult for multinational enterprises to hold a positive view towards agricultural research and development and extension from the public sector. Last, the changing governance system and the ensuing shift in political decision-making have introduced uncertainties to the arrangement of actors and resources in the system, which may take some time to resolve
Currently, agricultural extension system in Iran is experiencing a radical change to make extension system more effective in helping farmers to be more productive, profitable and sustainable. Basic principles for reinventing agricultural extension are: 1) Focusing on small farmers and enhancing the access to public and private services in agriculture; 2) Starting from grass root level and people/farmer's needs/issues and their demands; 3) Learning from past experiences and develop our own methodology and model of extension; 4) Benefiting from emerging paradigm, latest theories and experiences to inform our collective action. Iranian agricultural extension system has been formulated 8 master strategies to reinforce the changes in the delivery extension services: 1) Restructuring the extension system; 2) Renovation of all extension sites for optimized exploitation and management of facilities and capacities; 3) Human resource development through promotion of training scales and employment of skilled staff at institutional levels; 4) Reorganization of extension media aiming at reconsideration in their context and connection to the clientele; 5) Networking agricultural knowledge and information system to enjoy information and communication technology and further dissemination in the sector; 6) Restructuring and developing of production cooperatives to identify the bottlenecks and formulate new policies for improvement; 7) Studying and assessing farming systems to discover the ongoing status at all sub-sectors concerned; 8) Reorganizing and expansion of non-governmental institutions in agriculture sector. The most important new programs of extension services are: Integrated Participatory Crop Management (IPCM), Comprehensive Production and Extension Model Sites (CPEM) and Learning Focus Sites (LFS). In all of these activities, extension administration tries to delivery innovation and empowers the small farmer in order to increase the agricultural productivity. Mostly these programs are Local community based, farmers-led and village based, capacity building activities, environmental friendly, multi- stakeholder activities, Integrated Management system, impact assessment, and innovative platform activities
This study was taken up to understand the training gaps and training needs of the agricultural stakeholders such as public, private extension officials and farmers in Tamil Nadu. The data were collected using pre tested well-structured questionnaire from public and private extension officials and using semi-structured interview schedule in case of farmers. The results show that training gaps are relatively higher among public extension officials than private extension officials. Demonstrations, group discussions, field visits, video lessons and SMS are the preferred training methods by the stakeholders
In the remote upland regions of Laos many farming families live in relative poverty, relying on subsistence agriculture. Farmers need effective extension services to provide advice on commercial and technical options to supplement traditional practices and improve their livelihoods. One of these options is small-scale livestock production. However, the quality and quantity of extension staff working in livestock production is limited. Improving the knowledge and skills of extension staff working with upland ethnic minorities is a key goal of the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. This paper presents research findings from an evaluation of capacity building methods being used for extension staff working across a range of livestock projects in Laos. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 Livestock Project Managers and two Provincial Coordinators to find out what capacity building methods they used and the relative effectiveness of each method. In-depth interviews were subsequently held with 10 District Managers and 20 District Extension Officers to gain more local perspectives on capacity building including factors influencing outcomes at the farmer level. Suggestions on how capacity building of livestock extension staff can be strengthened and sustained were elicited from all interviewees
Food security is predicted toface considerable challenges in the upcoming period. This couldbe more profound in developing countries due to rapid societal change and ecological pressure in theseregions. Concerted efforts to deal with these challenges areof great importance, including accelerating th euse of improved agricultural input technology (IAIT) such as high yield varieties of seeds and improved fertilizer formulas. This type of innovation is more suitable to being introduced amongst developing countries farmers in order to increase their productivity. However, in reality the adoption rate of this technology is not as high as expected. Thereby, it is important to investigate factors thataffect IAIT adoption. This research aims to shed light on farmers’perceptions that can influence the acceptance of IAIT in developing countries. The Technology acceptance model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavio r(TPB) are used to develop the predictive model in this study. The primary data was obtained through questionnaires that were distributed to smallholder farmers in Indonesia (N =121). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was conducted using PLS-SEM software to empirically examine the relationship between subjective norm (SN), perceived usefulness (PU), result demonstrability (RD), perceived cost (PC) and behavioral intention (BI)
Increasing on-farm production diversity and improving markets are recognized as ways to improve the dietary diversity of smallholders. Using instrumental variable methods to account for endogeneity, this paper studies the interplay of production diversity, markets and diets in the context of seasonality in Afghanistan. Accordingly to the authors improved crop diversity over the year is positively associated with dietary diversity in the regular season, but not in the lean season. Livestock species diversity remains important for dietary diversity throughout the year, but particularly so in the lean season when the influence of cropping diversity is low. Market aspects become important for dietary diversity specifically in the lean season
This research delves into the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) among seven types of independent smallholders in Rokan Hulu regency, Riau province. The research area consisted of a relative established agricultural area on mineral soils and a relative frontier, mostly on peat. Smallholder types ranged from small local farmers to large farmers who usually reside in urban areas far from their plantation and regard oil palm cultivation as an investment opportunity. The underlying hypothesis is that larger farmers have more capital and therefore implement better agricultural practices than small farmers, who are usually more cash constrained. A wide range of methods was applied, including farmer and farm surveys, remote sensing, tissue analysis and photo interpretation by experts
This study is designed to assess the factors that affect smallholder rice farmer’s participation in market. In addition it also examines the effect of commercialization on the welfare of smallholder farmers. The method of Heckman two-stage model is used to obtain the desired objectives. Random sampling technique is used to collect data from 249 smallholder farmers. Result of the study indicates that gender of the household head, age, number of family member who assist in farming, household size, vocational training, and the farmer being landlord and farm size were the major determinants of market participation. The welfare of the farmer depends whether the farmer participate in the rice output market. The result also indicated that rice output, off-farm income, access to credit, and income from the sale of rice were important factors influencing the welfare of the household. The participation in market can be increased by providing subsidized prices for their production, cold storage houses, vocational training, introducing new technology, increasing contact with extension agent and providing genetically modified seeds
Agricultural communication to mitigate climate change enables information dissemination of both scientific knowledge (SCK) and indigenous knowledge (IDK) for practical farming. This research analyzed knowledge utilization and conducted community-based participatory communication to propose a practical agricultural communication framework for climate mitigation. Based on a qualitative method of data collection in Phichit province, the key findings showed that SCK and IDK can be mutually utilized to enhance the good relationship among the people and for the people with nature. The participatory communication processes consisted of planning, interventions, and monitoring and empowerment
The ultimate aim of this research is to contribute towards a viable theoretical framework of agro-based technology transfer. This study uses case study methodology involving an agro-based government research institution and six private firms in Malaysia. This research reveals that the development of new technology did not lead to technology transfer until business opportunity is properly recognised. The business opportunity must be recognised first; then, the process of technology transfer will follow. The accomplishment of technology transfer from government research institution to private firms requires a well planned and comprehensive, structured process, and the support of the following factors: (a) business opportunity is recognised; (b) the technology generator shared his/her knowledge and know-how fully; (c) both the technology generator and technology recipient are passionate about technology transfer; and (d) both of them are totally involved and committed throughout the technology transfer process
Agriculture is an important type of land use but suffers from drought, especially under global climate change scenarios. Although government is a major actor in helping farmers to adapt to drought, lack of funds has constrained its efforts. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism has been widely applied in urban infrastructure development to raise fund for public goods and services, but very few studies explored its role in rural areas. Based on interview of 139 farming households and open-ended interview of village heads, government officials and company representatives, in the Lujiang Flatland in the Nu River (Upper Salween) Valley, Southwest China, this paper aims to reveal how PPP functions to enhance farmers' adaptation to drought. This study offers referential lessons and valuable insights for agricultural development, especially for mountain communities vulnerable to exceptional and recurrent drought episodes under warming climate
This review paper is based on secondary information. It presents the external (policy, technical assistance, public institutions and the private sector) and internal (institutional structures, objectives/programmes) factors that impact on agriculture development in general in developing countries with special focus on Pakistan. The contents carry the literatures that deal with such factors, starting with discussion on the comprehensive analysis of the role of extension services accompanied by its pros and cons, as well as the meager agricultural services in developing countries. This is followed by concrete discussions and the analysis of different approaches/modes of the extension services adopted/implemented worldwide; such as, Training and Visit Approach, Transfer of Technology (ToT), the Farmer Field School approach, and finally, the roles of agricultural research and extension services in promoting sustainable agriculture development
China has put in place a series of policies to support private companies to engage in biotechnology research. This study uses data from a survey of 103 major agribusiness firms in the agricultural chemical and seed industries in China to evaluate the impact of government policies on private R&D investment in biotechnology. The results show that firms with positive profit expectation, public R&D subsidies, R&D collaboration with universities/research institutes or state-owned enterprises are more likely to embark on biotechnology research activities. Past patenting activity, R&D subsidies and collaboration with public sector research increase firms' biotechnology R&D investment while firms already selling genetically modified products and firms that are state-owned spend less on R&D. The authors findings suggest that government policy does have an important impact on firms' biotechnology R&D investment
The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is a direct, multi-dimensional measure of women's access to resources and decision-making in various domains of agriculture. However, several challenges characterize its use: adaptation of questionnaires to local agricultural contexts, modifications to index construction once underlying activities and adequacy thresholds are modified, and sensitivity analysis. In this paper, the authors address such challenges based on our experience of adapting and using the WEAI across 3600 households in India. In doing so we contribute to the methodological and technical base underlying the index, expand the WEAI evidence base for South Asia, and highlight the importance of tailoring the index to specific agricultural contexts in order to impact public policies in a meaningful way
Mongolia has a comparative advantage in agribusiness, especially downstream industries using livestock products. Yet its share in worldwide exports of agribusiness commodities is insignificant. Enhancing the efficiency of the central economic corridor (CEC) is vital to Mongolia’s effort to improve trade competitiveness and diversify exports. The role of Mongolia’s economic corridors is best understood when seen as an integral part of the country’s supply chain. The report analyzes the performance gap of the CEC through an examination of three sectors: (a) cashmere and wool sector, (b) meat, and (c) leather. These sectors highlight the major challenges that Mongolian producers face in a world where agribusiness depends on a demanding retail sector characterized by tight delivery schedules and high-quality standards, which are more important than tariffs. The report diagnoses the challenges that these industries face, identifies opportunities for the growth of these sectors, leveraging the potential of the CEC, and shares policy recommendations on how to seize these opportunities. The analysis shows that Mongolia’s comparative advantage has been significantly diluted by weaknesses associated with its economic corridors
The purpose of this report is to present the findings from a study on the Economic Empowerment of Women through Resilient Agriculture Supply Chains: A Geospatial and temporal Analysis in Southwestern Bangladesh. Recognizing that a common weakness in transport corridors has been the lack of participation and limited benefits accruing to the communities through which a corridor passes, World Bank investments in transport infrastructure are increasingly complemented by activities that facilitate the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises and economic opportunities for women and other disadvantaged people and integrate gender-responsiveness into trade facilitation and logistics initiatives. This geospatial and temporal value chain analysis in southwestern Bangladesh adopts a five-step methodology which overlays economic and initial enterprise analysis along this transport corridor, analyzes human capital (with particular focus on women) and the labor force along transport corridors, considers risk management in the value chain analysis, evaluates the economic structure of a value chain, and restructures the opportunities and gaps in areas where agglomerated economic activities were identified. The report includes a total of four components: chapter one, Identification and characterization of agricultural products that are representative of women driven, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Chapter two, a geographical diagnosis of the population’s sociodemographic and infrastructure conditions, and identification of constraints and opportunities regarding women-driven SMEs. Chapter three, value chain analysis for three agriculture products (fisheries, floriculture, and dairy) selected from chapter one. Analyses are represented in two formats: a) diagrams, and b) visualizations of spatial distribution. Chapter four, economic agglomeration and barriers for women-driven SME participation
The agriculture systems in Bangladesh face a growing number of climate-related vulnerabilities. Climate has become increasingly variable over the past few decades, with droughts, seasonal and flash flooding, and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently and the sea level rising. Going forward, it will be critical to have an understanding of how best to address the trade-offs and synergies between achieving agricultural and economic goals on one hand and preparing for emerging climate challenges on the other. The use of evidenced-based decision making is a key part of this process. In response, the World Bank is supporting the Government of Bangladesh to integrate climate change considerations into the agriculture policy agenda through a Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Plan (CSAIP). CSAIP is a commitment of the Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice under the IDA18 agenda to support 10 countries to develop national CSA strategies and investment plans
The Malaysian story involves a farsighted leadership that has mobilized the considerable assets of a resource-rich country to translate a long-term vision of nation building into action and transformational results. This report analyzes what Malaysia did to achieve transformative results in agriculture. It focuses on four main areas in which the Malaysian experience is distinctive and which have been critical to its success, as follows: (1) The role of the public sector, encompassing national leadership, vision, and government action; (2) The main drivers of transformation and inclusive growth; (3) The role of value chains; (4) The inclusiveness of Malaysia's agricultural transformation
This study developed a model called the Indonesian Palm Oil Simulation (IPOS). This aims to understand the value chain of the palm oil industry. It provides options for policymakers and decision-makers about possible futures for the Indonesian palm oil industry at the national level. This model can also support communications among different stakeholders to determine a road map of palm oil development in Indonesia. This paper discusses three aspects of the model: (1) the structure of the palm oil industry; (2) the palm oil value chain at the national level; and (3) scenarios related to national-level policies, such as: (a) the moratorium on oil palm expansion as stated in Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2018; (b) peat protection as stated in Government Regulation No. 57 of 2016; (c) agrarian reform; and (d) land and forest fires. This paper aims to contribute to the debate around national oil palm and palm oil policies and their implications for smallholder incomes and carbon emissions.
This paper surveys members of a beef cattle value chain in Vietnam's Central Highlands to examine the translation of value chain actor's resources into positional advantage and financial performance in an emerging country. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the paper estimates a path model to explore how resources are linked to positional advantage and ultimately financial performance. This study attempts to contribute to the literature in two ways. Firstly, there have been few studies employing resource, market orientation, positional advantage and business performance theory in the context of agri-food value chains in a transitional developing country. Secondly, the study contributes to the debate on the relationship between positional advantage and business performance. This paper is structured as follows: firstly, the literature on resource advantage, the capabilities of positional advantage and financial performance is briefly reviewed, and then our theoretical model and hypotheses are presented. The following sections describe the research design including data collection, analysis, and findings. The final two sections discuss our findings and their implications
This study explored the usefulness of market orientation in an agricultural value chain in an emerging economy: Vietnam. Drawing on data from 190 actors in a beef cattle value chain in Vietnam's Central Highlands, the study examined the relationship between market orientation and innovation. The findings indicate that there is no significant relationship between market orientation and performance. However, customer orientation and inter-functional coordination are positively related to innovation, and there is a positive relationship between innovation and financial performance. The findings provide insight into the relationships among market orientation, innovation, and performance in agricultural value chains in emerging economies
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is considered as an ecological conservation technology for crop pests' management; however, the technology adoption is intensely affected by surrounding socio-psychological environment, which is poorly studied, particularly in developing nations. The present study therefore aimed at addressing this gap through application of an extended form of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in order to examine the determinants of Iranian farmers' ecological conservation behavior regarding the use of IPM practices. This research was a descriptive, causal, and correlational study conducted through a cross-sectional survey of 327 tomato growers in Zanjan Province of Iran. The results disclosed that the growers utilize various IPM practices (cultural, mechanical, chemical, and biological); nevertheless, the majority of growers were grouped in relatively low or low level of IPM practices' usage
Most of the existing literature focus on the cultivation of crops and vegetables, and lack relevant research of the Chinese dairy industry. Meanwhile there lacks micro data on adoption of raw milk safety measures by Chinese smallholder dairy farmers in the macro context of changing dairy industry. To fill this gap, a field survey was conducted in Inner Mongolia, which has the largest raw milk production base, dairy enterprises and diversified production types. An objective of this paper is to study key determinants of smallholder dairy farmers’ adoption of selected measures under China GAP. Based on the existing literature and first-hand data, we examined the influencing factors on adoption of raw milk safety measures from internal drives and external requirements. Moreover, considering the significant change in production structure of Chinese dairy industry, a particular focus is placed on the role of changing dairy farming structure, such as dairy farming scale and production types on the adoption of milk safety measures
This paper analyzes smallholder farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the purchase of scale-appropriate farm mechanization in the hill ecologies of Nepal using the case of mini-tiller technology: a small, 5–7 horsepower two-wheel tractor primarily used for agricultural land preparation. Using primary survey data from 628 randomly-selected households, we find that farm size, local wage rates, out-migration, access to credit services, and associations with agricultural cooperatives positively influence the WTP for mini-tillers while the number of draft animals owned negatively influence the WTP for mini-tillers
Existing studies which have examined the impact of group farming on farm productivity have focused predominantly on former socialist regimes, usually comparing production under various types of collectivised/cooperatized farms with farm enterprises that emerged in the post-reform period, or after decollectivisation. Given this specificity, their experience is at best indicative; it cannot provide substantive lessons on the potential outcomes of group farming in today’s developing countries. This paper seeks to do so.
The citrus industry is very important for Pakistan as it is the 4th most important export commodity. There are two product flows in the citrus value chain, one is more traditional with abundant intermediaries, in which contractors, commission agents and wholesalers are the main stakeholders, and the other is export-oriented with processors and exporters (P&Es) as the main stakeholders. It has been noticed that growers are not using ICT extensively at the production stage. Logit analysis has proved that education significantly has influenced ICT use while age has a negative impact on ICT use at the production stage. Mobile usage is quite common at the production stage and intermediary trade; however, the use of the internet is very limited as the majority of intermediaries have lower education. Moreover, both mobile phones and internet are used to a significant extent along the export oriented flow. The results have indicated that there is a vast digital divide among value chain players. Processors and exporters are high ICT users followed by growers and intermediaries. In order to develop an effective information system, all the stakeholders in the chain need to have a certain level of knowledge and expertise of ICT use to improve information use efficiency. This study presents a whole picture of ICT use along the citrus value chain as well as challenges faced by different stakeholders. It also provides suggestions for policymakers to establish an ICT-based information system and enhance ICT adoption at each stage, especially production and intermediary trade, which can further increase growers’ market participation and improve market efficiency
Smallholder rice farming is characterized by low returns and substantial environmental impact. Conversion to organic management and linking farmers to fair trade markets could offer an alternative. Engaging in certified cash-crop value chains could thereby provide an entry path to simultaneously reduce poverty and improve environmental sustainability. Based on comprehensive data from a representative sample of approximately 80 organic and 80 conventional farms in northern India, we compared yield and profitability of the main rotation crops over a period of five years. Contrary to the widespread belief that yields in organic farming are inevitably lower, our study shows that organic farmers achieved the same yields in cereals and pulses as conventional farmers, with considerably lower external inputs. Due to 45% lower production costs and higher sales prices, organic basmati cultivation was 105% more profitable than cultivating ordinary rice under conventional management. However, since holdings are small and the share of agricultural income of total household income is declining, conversion to organic basmati farming alone will not provide households a sufficiently attractive perspective into the future. This article proposes that future efforts to enhance the long-term viability of rice-based organic farming systems in this region focus on diversification involving higher value crops
The rapid expansion of modern food retail encapsulated in the so-called ‘supermarket revolution’ is often portrayed as a pivotal driving force in the modernization of agri-food systems in the Global South. Based on fieldwork conducted on horticulture value chains in West Java and South Sulawesi, this paper explores this phenomenon and the concerted efforts that government and corporate actors undertake with regard to agri-food value chain interventions and market modernization in Indonesia. The paper argues that after more than 15 years of ‘supermarket revolution’ in Indonesia, traditional food retail appears not to be in complete demise, but rather adaptive and resilient to its modern competitors. The analysis of local manifestations of supermarket-led agricultural development suggests that traditional markets can offer certain advantages for farmers over supermarket-driven value chains. The paper further identifies and discusses two areas that have so far been neglected by research and policymaking and which warrant further investigation: (i) the simultaneous transformations in traditional food value chains and their relation to modern markets, and (ii) the social and environmental performances of modern vis-à-vis traditional food value chains
The Global Value Chain (GVC) approach has emerged as a novel methodological device for analysing economic globalization and international trade. The suitability of the chain metaphor and strategies for moving up the ladder of GVCs (“upgrade”) is widely echoed in international development agencies and public agencies in the Global South. Most of the existing GVC studies focus on new forms of firm-to-firm relationships and the role of lead firms and chain governance in defining upgrading opportunities. This paper examines the role of the state and local institutional initiatives in promoting upgrading in agricultural GVCs originating in rural areas of the Global South. The paper draws on research conducted in the South Indian smallholder tea sector. The paper argues that successful forms of state-led chain interventions not only contribute to upgrading of the smallholder-brought leaf factory strand of the GVC originating in the South Indian tea sector, but might also result in increasing bifurcation of smallholders integrated into high-margin markets through prominent bought leaf factories and a mass of “others” outside this tightly coordinated strand of the tea value chain
The sustainability of food value chains is an increasing concern for consumers, food companies and policy-makers. Global food chains are often perceived to be less sustainable than local food chains. Yet, thorough food chain analyses and comparisons of different food chains across sustainability dimensions are rare. In this article it is analyzed the local Belgian and global Peruvian asparagus value chains and explore their sustainability performance. A range of indicators linked to environmental, economic and social impacts is calculated to analyze the contribution of the supply chains to economic development, resource use, labor relations, distribution of added value and governance issues
This study focuses on the accumulated indigenous knowledge of the Yao ethnic minority in Bac Kan Province of Vietnam. Through centuries of observation and experimentation, the Yao people have developed complex farming systems, cultural practices, and a knowledge base well-suited to their environments. Data for this study was collected through surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions to gather indigenous knowledge on native crop varieties and animal breeds, weather forecasting, and the timing and location of cultivation practices. In so doing, this study documents unique examples of how indigenous knowledge is being used alone and blended with scientific knowledge to make accurate decisions and help local communities adapt to climate change. The case of the Yao people in northern Vietnam supports the argument that if indigenous knowledge were better integrated into adaptation planning and policies, its conservation and application would enhance resiliency to climate change in indigenous communities and beyond
Development education, it combines various methodologies of education to promoting knowledge, so that agriculture sector needs development education to revive productivity through agriculture. ICT (Information communication technology) help to provide knowledge to the door step of farmers. It provides information related to weather/climate information, fertilizers consumption, online land registration, pest management and price output in the markets etc. Department of Agriculture & Cooperation has developed more than 80 portals, websites and mobile based applications, with the collaboration with National Informatics Centre. The important portals are, SEEDNET, DACNET, RKVY, ATMA, NHM (National Horticulture Mission), INTRADAC, NFSM (National Food Security Mission) and APY (Acreage, Productivity and Yields). Maximum percentage of inhabitant make livelihood through agriculture. This research has given importance to know about the various projects of ICTs in agriculture development. Special ICTs projects in Odisha and how the government and private organization design programmers to reach the rural farmers
The paper studies the entrepreneurial behavior of large cardamom growers in Lamjung District, Nepal and was conducted from December 2017 to June 2018 in Marshyangdi Rural Municipality of Lamjung district. The Rural Municipality was selected purposely for the study due to the recent establishment of Cardamom Zone under the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project in the Municipality focusing on large cardamom development. Altogether 80 large cardamom growers were selected randomly from 454 large cardamom growers of the study site. Data were collected through household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, personal observations, and other secondary sources. Results showed that a greater proportion of large cardamom growers were found to have medium level of innovativeness (45%), decision-making ability (51.2%),information-seeking ability (48.8%), risk orientation (46.2%), leadership ability (43.8%), achievement motivation (46.2%) and low management orientation (56.3%) which contributed to the overall medium entrepreneurial behavior (47.5%) of large cardamom growers in the study area. About 35 percent of farmers were belonging to the low entrepreneurial behavior and only a few numbers of farmers (17.5%) were under the high entrepreneurial behavior category
Agricultural extension, as an informal educational system, is one of agricultural development tools that lean on human capitals. Inefficiency of public bureaucracy on the one hand, and managerial problems on the other hand, as well as neglecting real needs of beneficiaries in planning, have determined responsible to transfer administrative tasks to the private sector and reduce government's tenure. This survey was conducted in Kerman as the first ranked province of pistachio production in Iran to investigate attitudes about extension private services among pistachio farmers. A questionnaire was used as the research tool for data collection
Extension Education orientations defined as the degree of willingness to accept profession of academician or trainer to develop different types of extension human resources needed to work as an extension workforce. Extension education is the fundamental academic activity to be undertaken in extension to develop necessary human resources to work as extension educationists, extension workers, extension service provider and extension trainer. Till today there was no any tool to measure the orientation of Postgraduate scholars towards Extension education. Keeping this in view a standardized scale has been developed to measure the orientation of the postgraduate scholars towards extension education as one of the important components of extension. A summated (likert) rating scale was been developed. The process started with identifying the dimension, collection of items followed by relevancy and item analysis and checking the reliability and validity for precision and consistency of the results. A total of 22 statements were framed in which finally 10 statements were finally retained which has practical applicability in measuring the attitude of postgraduate scholars towards extension education. The scale contains total ten statements, out of which five are positive and five are negative. The scale developed was found well reliable
The Chinese Government has initiated a series of agricultural reforms since the 1970s to encourage agents to provide more services to farmers. In 2006, a new round of agricultural reforms was extended nationwide; however, the effectiveness of these reforms has not been examined. Based on a comparison of survey data sets before and after the reforms, we found that overall they significantly increased the time agents spend on agricultural extension services, although their effectiveness differs among three major components of the reforms. While the financial assurance reform had little impact on agents’ time allocation, the administrative reform actually reduced the time allocation to agricultural extension. However, this research found strong evidence that the ‘three rights’ management reform (comprising the rights of personnel, financial and asset management) successfully increased agents’ time allocation to agricultural extension services. The research found that institutional incentives and the Government’s investment did not increase the time agents spent on agricultural extension. The lack of incentives is a problem that needs to be addressed in future reforms. The paper founds that professional agents spent more time providing extension services than their non-professional counterparts. We suggest that local Governments should avoid recruiting nonprofessional agents into agricultural extension stations
This chapter demonstrates an experience of implementing an alternative approach, known as participatory communication with strong cultured-centered perspectives. A series of interactive extension or facilitation activities is described. The activities were aimed to conserve rare rice varieties and the unique farming practices in an indigenous community’s areas in the eastern region of Java Island. As a result, the farmers were more aware of the values of, and committed to conserve the endangered seed varieties and the related indigenous knowledge and practices; they were also willing to employ their indigenous institution as medium for information exchange regarding the farming system. Moreover, this project is relevant because the local public administration has been paying close attention to indigenous lifestyles for agro-eco tourism attractions recently. The project results suggest that the approach is appropriate to create social change at various levels. It is expected that our experiences will inspire readers to employ the strategic communication approach to empower marginalized communities as a way to achieve sustainable social change/development
The main objective of this study was to investigate and analyse the farmers’ perceptions on criteria and indicators for sustainable management of indigenous agroforestry systems in Uttarakhand state of India. The present study was conducted to document the traditional knowledge and considered five broad categories including agriculture management, livestock management, forest sustainability, social benefits, and policy inputs along with 16 criteria and 34 indicators were identified. Traditional uses of 48 agroforestry species were documented along an altitudinal gradient from 800 to 1800 m above sea level (m asl). Perceptions and responses of 150 farmers of three village clusters located at different agroclimatic zones viz., Saknidhar, Jakhand and Dagar based on their demographic characteristics were documented towards the possible factors for deterioration and viable options for sustainable management of indigenous agroforestry systems
Food literacy among children and youth is configured by two knowledge domains: an informal community-based knowledge, and a formal curriculum-based knowledge. This paper examines how these two domains contribute to food literacy and strengthen food security among rural youth in Nepal. In consultation with schoolteachers and local farmers, a knowledge test was developed and administered to 226 high school students. Scores were collected on agro-ecological, cultivation and consumption-related knowledge on a locally grown staple crop, as contributor to food literacy
The tank-based irrigated agricultural system in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka is one of the oldest historically evolved agricultural systems in the world. The main component of the system consists of a connected series of man-made tanks constructed in shallow valleys to store, convey and utilize water for paddy cultivation. Up to 10,000 tanks originating from the heydays of ancient kingdoms are still integrated in the current agricultural landscape. During the last two millennia, this indigenous system has undergone many changes in technological, management and socio-cultural norms. This research aimed to analyze the current management practices and existing indigenous aspects of the Dry Zone irrigated agricultural system from the viewpoint of farmers who are the main stakeholders of the system. Altogether, 49 semi-structured interviews were conducted in seven villages in the Anuradhapura district and a detailed survey was conducted in the village of Manewa with a mixed research approach. The basic elements of the indigenous landscape, agricultural practices and management structures based on Farmer Organizations were mapped and examined in detail
Agricultural mechanization in developing countries has taken at least two contested innovation pathways—the “incumbent trajectory” that promotes industrial agriculture, and an “alternative pathway” that supports small-scale mechanization for sustainable development of hillside farming systems. Although both pathways can potentially reduce human and animal drudgery, the body of literature that assesses the sustainability impacts of these mechanization pathways in the local ecological, socio-economic, cultural, and historical contexts of hillside farms is either nonexistent or under-theorized. This paper addresses this missing literature by examining the case of Nepal’s first Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy 2014 (AMPP) using a conceptual framework of what will be defined as “responsible innovation”. The historical context of this assessment involves the incumbent trajectory of mechanization in the country since the late 1960s that neglected smallholder farms located in the hills and mountains and biased mechanization policy for flat areas only. Findings from this study suggest that the AMPP addressed issues for smallholder production, including gender inequality, exclusion of smallholder farmers, and biophysical challenges associated with hillside farming systems, but it remains unclear whether and how the policy promotes small-scale agricultural mechanization for sustainable development of agriculture in the hills and mountains of Nepal
Being the ultimate beneficiary of ecosystem services provided by on-farm agricultural biodiversity, the participation of farmers in its sustainable utilization and conservation is crucial. How much aware they are with the significance and conservation of agricultural biodiversity in order to improve their crop yield remains unclear, especially from the developing courtiers. Pollination is one of such ecosystem services, enormously contributed by the wild bees. In the present study, this paper have investigated the knowledge of farmers about bees and pollination in general in three districts i.e. Multan, Bahawalpur and Khanewal of southern Punjab, Pakistan. Some 300 farmers (100 cucurbit growers in each district using convenient sampling method) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire
Agriculture remains the mainstay of Indian economy and major source of livelihood of rural household, predominantly by small and marginal farmers, and securing the food and nutritional security. This paper describes the reality of small and marginal farmers in India. These farmers face several problems of credit, input supply, proper linkage with market as so on. Women farmers are lagging behind in adopting the drudgery reduction technologies followed by health and nutrition of farm families. Their livelihood can be enhance by utilizing various strategies of information and communication technologies (ICTs), capacity building, combating climate change and increasing food production. A budgetary requirement should also be taken care. Market oriented research and investment should also be increased to save our farmers from glut situation and fetching more income by adopting the concept of FPOs/FPCs in larger context
This paper systematically reviews the evidence on what capacities the state requires to leverage agriculture for nutrition in fragile contexts, maintaining a focus on state in South Asia (especially India). It uses the framework of what the state ought to do (in terms of pathways), can do (in relation to parts of the enabling environment it is able to deliver) and is willing to do (addressing constraints in terms of political choices). The results of the search were sorted into three further themes: capacity of the state to intervene systemically and intersectorally; engage with participatory and locally relevant understandings of agriculture-nutrition linkages, and to create, maintain and engage in formal spaces for dialogue
The rise of new powers in development has generated much debate on the extent to which South–South Cooperation (SSC) constitutes a new paradigm of development more relevant to African needs or a disguise for a new form of imperialism. This paper critically examines the rise of Chinese and Brazilian technical and economic cooperation in African agriculture with two cases drawn from Ghana and Mozambique. Using a historical framework, policy documents, case studies, and an analysis of the political economy of agrarian development, this paper trace the role of agricultural development in the relations of China and Brazil in Africa, and the extents to which recent developments in agribusiness and structural neoliberal reforms of African economies have influenced Brazilian and Chinese contemporary engagements with African agriculture. We examine the extent to which the different policy frameworks, political interests in agriculture, and institutional frameworks influence and impede the outcomes of Chinese and Brazilian development intents
In this paper, introduction presents the problem statement. The second chapter gives a brief description of the Smart Farming system. The third chapter provides an overview of ontologies. The fourth chapter describes implementation of the knowledge base in the Smart Farming system. The fifth chapter presents the main functions of the ontology editor for working with the knowledge base. Conclusions and prospects of further development of knowledge base in crop production are also given
In this paper, the authors describe the adaptation and validation of a project-level WEAI (or pro-WEAI) that agricultural development projects can use to identify key areas of women’s (and men’s) disempowerment, design appropriate strategies to address identified deficiencies, and monitor project outcomes related to women’s empowerment. The 12 pro-WEAI indicators are mapped to three domains: intrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with). A gender parity index compares the empowerment scores of men and women in the same household. The authors describe the development of pro-WEAI, including: (1) pro-WEAI’s distinctiveness from other versions of the WEAI; (2) the process of piloting pro-WEAI in 13 agricultural development projects during the Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project, phase 2 (GAAP2); (3) analysis of quantitative data from the GAAP2 projects, including intrahousehold patterns of empowerment/disempowerment; and (4) a summary of the findings from the qualitative work exploring concepts of women’s empowerment in the project sites. The paper concludes with a discussion of lessons learned from pro-WEAI and possibilities for further development of empowerment metrics
The Government of Pakistan has adopted a policy of providing agricultural extension services to promote agricultural production by disseminating appropriate knowledge and technologies to farmers. Consistent with this national policy, farmers in Balochistan have been provided with extension services by the provincial Department of Agriculture through their extension officials working with the District of Agricultural Extension Department. This study collected information from a questionnaire survey covering 200 date palm farm households, group discussions, and surveys of key informants in the Panjgur District of Balochistan. Contrary to the policy of providing extension following the participatory approach, the extension in the study area was provided through the age-old top-down approach, with particular field-level extension officials not having much knowledge with regard to addressing date palm specific production problems
This study aimed to identify the perceptions of farmer community towards the electronic media and relationship between different demographic characteristics of respondents with the use of electronic communication of TV and radio, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), a province of Pakistan. Random sampling technique was used for selecting 183 respondents. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Chi-square
The present research aimed at investigating the effect of communication channels on the economic success of early profitable and entrepreneur small and medium enterprises in the agricultural sector. It was an applied research in which the descriptive-survey method was used. The research sample included 356 founders of entrepreneur small and medium enterprises (at the time of conducting the research) in the Markazi province, Iran, among which 100 founders were selected according to the Cochran formulation using the stratified random sampling method. A questionnaire was used as the research tool and its validity was confirmed as the face validity by a group of teachers and experts
The purpose of this research was to investigate factors influencing agricultural personnel and consultants’ attitude and behavioral intention to use precision agricultural technologies. The survey research and multistage random sampling were used to collect data from 183 agricultural consultants in Agricultural Engineering and Technical Consulting Services Companies in Iran
The General objective of the present study was to examine the present situation of food security in regard to agricultural production and consumption. Specific objectives are to identify and analyze (1) the modern resource efficient agricultural technologies, (2) their possible contribution in achieving food security with available resources, and (3) the potential contribution of agricultural extension and education for sustainable farming in the Kingdom. The role of extension agents is critical to promote the innovative technologies as well as creating awareness among farming community to implement the guidelines to meet the country dietary needs. This paper suggests substitute expertise and methodologies that can be engaged by Saudi Arabia under prevalent situation, which can be helpful to expand national food fabrication to achieve food security in the Kingdom
Iran faces environmental challenges such as erosion and extreme events, namely droughts and floods. These phenomena have frequently affected the country over the past decades and temperature rise has led to a more challenging situation. Iran started to implement national and provincial policies in the 1950s to cope with these phenomena. To provide an overview of Iran’s efforts to tackle land degradation and climate change, this paper examined through literature since 2000 the stakeholders’ policies, their interventions and obstacles to the mitigation of these environmental challenges. Government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international projects have been the primary actors. Erosion-sensitive soil plantation, drought-resistant seeds, and water-saving irrigation systems were the main interventions of these policies. However, the research stresses the lack of coordination between these stakeholders, and the absence of a comprehensive database that could enable climate change to be tackled better in the future
The study first identified fully efficient farmers and then estimated technical efficiency of inefficient farmers, identifying their determinants by applying a Zero Inefficiency Stochastic Frontier Model (ZISFM) on a sample of 300 rice farmers from central-northern Thailand. Next, the study developed scenarios of potential production increase and resource conservation if technical inefficiency was eliminated. Results revealed that 13% of the sampled farmers were fully efficient, thereby justifying the use of our approach. The estimated mean technical efficiency was 91%, implying that rice production can be increased by 9%, by reallocating resources. Land and labor were the major productivity drivers. Education significantly improved technical efficiency.
Conflicts of interests have been hypothesized when agricultural advisory services are connected to agri-input businesses. However, these have not been examined using large sets of advisory service and grower data. We provide quantitative insights into dependencies between service, crop production, sustainability and the level of agri-input business-linkage of extension workers. This study analyzed 34,000+ prescription forms (recommendations) issued to growers in China, as well as grower interview data. Results revealed some conflicts of interest, but to a small extent and not always as expected
Small millets, a group of highly nutritious food, have taken a back seat in the Indian agriculture landscape in recent years, due to government policies and failings in the value chain. In this commentary, the unusual decline of small millets in comparison to its substitutes, and the repercussions thereof, were first presented as context. Thereafter, based on analysis of data from literature, survey, and stakeholder contributions, a cluster map for the Indian small millets value chain was designed, and its competitive state presented. This information was used to conceptualize an open innovation driven business model, and an ecosystem for the proposed model was discussed. This commentary provides the first cluster map analysis of small millets value chain in India, and a business model-based approach to stimulating its agribusinesses growth through a synthesis of stakeholders’ contributions and market data
The purpose of this study is to develop a robust, rigorous and replicable methodology that is flexible to data limitations and spatially prioritizes the vulnerability of agriculture and rural livelihoods to climate change. The methodology was applied in Vietnam, Uganda and Nicaragua, three contrasting developing countries that are particularly threatened by climate change. We conceptualize vulnerability to climate change following the widely adopted combination of sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity. We used Ecocrop and Maxent ecological models under a high emission climate scenario to assess the sensitivity of the main food security and cash crops to climate change. Using a participatory approach, we identified exposure to natural hazards and the main indicators of adaptive capacity, which were modelled and analysed using geographic information systems. We finally combined the components of vulnerability using equal-weighting to produce a crop specific vulnerability index and a final accumulative score. We have mapped the hotspots of climate change vulnerability and identified the underlying driving indicators
Based on 25 case studies from the global comparative study ‘GENNOVATE: Enabling gender equality in agricultural and environmental innovation’, this paper explores rural young women’s and men’s occupational aspirations and trajectories in India, Mali, Malawi, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The study draw upon qualitative data from 50 sex-segregated focus groups with the youth to show that across the study’s regional contexts, young rural women and men predominantly aspire for formal blue and white-collar jobs
This flyer describes a project that used a market-driven science approach to ensure quick uptake by rural women and succeeded in establishing a self-sustaining value chain, from improved breeding and husbandry practices to production of world-class yarns and appealing products, linked to export markets
This paper provides a review of the agricultural extension system in Jordan, with a focus on strengths and constraints, as well as options for how to improve efficiency in service delivery and efficacy in outcomes. While public extension in Jordan has gone through many reforms and phases over the past three decades, contemporary concerns related to regional conflict and blockages in access to traditional trade routes require a repositioning of extension and advisory services within the Kingdom. This need is further strengthened by persistent pressure on the use of water resources that is well above natural recharge rates. Both international donors supporting the Kingdom in dealing with the mass influx of Syrian refugees, as well as the government itself, will require significant contemplation over how to shift some of these funds towards research and extension activities that seek new markets for a range of products that are competitive internationally given the need for costly air freight. Equally important, and connected to international community demands for employment of Syrian refugees within Jordan is attention to skills training, matching of skills with demands of employers, as well as access to profitable agricultural value chains for both refugees as well as host communities within which refugees are placed. This will require a meaningful change in the manner that agricultural extension and advisory services are delivered, with more attention to aspects of social work and care – an area that receives little attention within agricultural education curriculums – and reform of agricultural education more generally
This Working Paper summarizes the key activities and achievements of the HSAD-Iraq program Harmonized Support for Agriculture Development 2013-2014. It was compiled from reports and technical information documenting project work in sites in Southern, Central and Northern Iraq. The main topics covered by the training courses were: Integrated Pest Management; Water Management; Biotechnology; Information and Communication Technology; Capacity Building; Livestock Management and Tools & Technologies
What are key characteristics of rural innovators? How are their experiences similar for women and men, and how are they different? To examine these questions, this study draw on individual interviews with 336 rural women and men known in their communities for trying out new things in agriculture. The data form part of 84 GENNOVATE community case studies from 19 countries. Building on study participants’ own reflections and experiences with innovation in their agricultural livelihoods, we combine variable-oriented analysis and analysis of specific individuals’ lived experience. Results indicate that factors related to personality and agency are
what most drive women’s and men’s capacity to innovate. Access to resources is not a prerequisite but rather an important enabling aspect. Different types of women have great potential for local innovation, but structural inequalities make men better positioned to access resources and leverage support. Men’s support is important when women challenge the status quo
This paper employs the concepts of gender norms and agency to advance understanding of inclusive agricultural innovation processes and their contributions to empowerment and poverty reduction at the village level. Is presented a community typology informed by normative influences on how people assess conditions and trends for village women and men to make important decisions (or to exercise agency) and for local households to escape poverty. The typology is comprised of three village types -transforming, climbing and churning - with each type depicting a different normative climate and trajectory of change in agency and poverty levels. Across “transforming” villages with significant increases in people’s agency and poverty reduction, we found a highly inclusive normative climate that is fueling gender equality and agricultural innovation, as well as infrastructural improvements, expanded markets, and male labor migration. The research, part of the GENNOVATE initiative, includes a qualitative comparative methodology and dataset of 79 village cases from 17 countries.
Like other developing countries, Pakistan is under severe economic pressure and striving to boost entrepreneurial orientation for achieving growth through minimal depletion of natural resources. In order to facilitate widespread and successful adoption of green entrepreneurial farming, it is crucial to address barriers inhibiting the uptake of green entrepreneurial activities in farming for the sustainability of natural resources as well as food provision. To this end, the present study aimed to investigate barriers in the adoption of green entrepreneurial farming in Pakistan. To fulfill the study objectives, after a comprehensive literature review and field visit, 34 barriers were identified. The results based on ranking analysis identified 20 out of 34 barriers as critical barriers to adoption of green entrepreneurial farming in the country. Furthermore, factor analysis was employed to group underlying 20 critical barriers into six major categories viz. 1) training and development-related barriers, 2) entrepreneurial orientation-related barriers, 3) market orientation-related barriers, 4) customer orientation-related barriers, 5) innovation orientation-related barriers, and 6) green supporting supplies-related barriers. Results showed that most dominant barrier among six groupings was training and development-related barriers and the marginal role of government in the provision of such endeavours. This implies that government needs to play a more active role in the adoption and promotion of green entrepreneurial farming in Punjab, Pakistan
In this paper, is explained how previous waves of innovation in South Asian agricultural and food systems have combined to create the present situation, and we suggest how alternative kinds of innovation may enable South Asian countries to escape from the triple burden of malnutrition. We draw upon recent contributions to the literature on responsible research and innovation (RRI) to argue for a reflexive and accountable approach to shaping the development and application of new technologies within agri-food production, distribution and consumption systems We present a conceptual framework that will help policy makers to think about how innovation pathways might be created and directed towards the goal of improving nutritional outcomes in South Asia. The framework draws attention to the direction of socio-technical change, the distribution of technologies and their risks and benefits, and opening up a diversity of possible innovation pathways . The study illustrates these propositions using examples of innovations and socio-technical changes from the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) research consortium, as well as other documented cases, in the areas of agricultural production, value chain interventions, and policy and institutional reforms
Developing regions' food system has transformed rapidly in the past several decades. The food system is the dendritic cluster of R&D value chains, and the value chains linking input suppliers to farmers, and farmers upstream to wholesalers and processors midstream, to retailers then consumers downstream. This study analyze the transformation in terms of these value chains' structure and conduct, and the effects of changes in those on its performance in terms of impacts on consumers and farmers, as well as the efficiency of and waste in the overall chain. We highlight the role of, and implications for agricultural research, viewed broadly as farm technology as well as research pertaining to all aspects of input and output value chain
This paper provides a snapshot of the agriculture-nutrition nexus in the region, outlines the pathways through which agriculture can influence nutrition outcomes, elaborates on the objectives of the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) research consortium within this context, and highlights the core findings of the six papers that form the body of this Special Issue. The paper ends with five key lessons that have emerged from this research, during this decade
In this paper is presented a novel approach for technology innovation and dissemination to achieve sustainable intensification in the fields of smallholder farmers. The Science and Technology Backyard (STB) is a hub in a rural area that links knowledge with practices to promote technology innovation and exchange. In this study, the framework and functions of STB are introduced, and the key implications for sustainable intensification across millions of smallholder farmers are explicitly stated: (i) develop innovative technology based on stated demands of farmers; (ii) disseminate technology by innovative social service models though combined top-down approaches with bottom-up measures to enable smallholders in rural areas. This paper provides a perspective on transformation of small-scale agriculture toward sustainable intensification in China and useful knowledge applicable to other developing countries
This study examines the effectiveness of mobile as a novel approach for providing targeted and equitable agri-advisory services to farmers at scale. A cross-sectional survey of farmers registered on CABI's Direct2Farm (D2F) user database was undertaken using a combination of telephone interviews, household survey and focus group discussions covering six states in India. Was used mixed method approach that utilized both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The study population comprised farmers from the CABI-D2F Registered User Database of 400,000, from which a representative sample was obtained. Data for the study were collected in two waves; November 2015 – February 2016, and August – September 2016. We used telephone interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and face-to-face interviews for data collection
Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia: Status, Challenges, and Policy Options is based on agricultural extension reforms across five South Asian countries, reflecting past experiences, case studies and experiments. Beginning with an overview of historical trends and recent developments, the book then delves into country-wise reform trajectories and presents several cases testing the effectiveness of different types (public and private) and forms (nutrition extension, livestock extension) of extension systems. Further, the book provides a comprehensive overview of challenges and constraints faced in formulating and implementing reforms, tying the results into a concrete set of lessons and highlighting areas that require further research.
In addition, the book discusses how a major aspect of agricultural development is the productivity increase from the knowledge base of farmers, and how translating research results into a knowledge base for farmers requires designing and implementing well-functioning extension programs
Agricultural professionals play an important role in informing and educating farmers about biofuel through teaching or extension work. One of the questions commonly asked is if they are knowledgeable and possess positive attitude towards renewable energy sources. The aim of this article is to investigate Agricultural professionals' attitude and willingness towards biofuel using a random sample of professionals (n = 180) in a survey conducted in Zanjan province in Iran
This study presents a framework of climate smart agriculture (CSA) priority setting methodology for identifying and developing portfolios of options based on local stakeholders' responses to CSA technologies. The methodology uses a participatory prioritization framework which is widely used in the development sector This study has modified the existing participatory framework to indicator based prioritization of CSA technologies. The modified framework integrates CSA indicators with technology implementation feasibility, potential barriers of technology adoption, incentive mechanisms to promote the selected CSA technologies and role of different organization (government, community and private sector) to facilitate scaling out of CSA technologies. The objectives of this study were to (i) identify CSA interventions based on climatic risks and agricultural production systems; (ii) evaluate implementation feasibility of CSA interventions, (iii) identify barriers associated with adoption and suitable incentive mechanisms to scale out CSA to reach a scale
Agriculture plays an important role in the economy of Pakistan and it is not possible to realize sustainable biological yields without following sustainable agricultural extension. However, these extension activities are not making significant impacts on crop yields and have not been able to help farmers realize sustainable biological yields and elevated rural livelihoods. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the perceptions of the farmers about the extension services. A survey study was conducted in the Peshawar district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province - Northern Pakistan. Twenty villages out of 236 villages were selected randomly and 10% of farmers from the population were drawn by systematic random sampling that comprised a total of 120 wheat growers. Data collected through an interview schedule were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as Frequency Counts, Percentages, Means Standard Deviation and Spearman Correlation Coefficient test
This paper comparatively analyzes the structure of agricultural policy development networks that connect organizations working on agricultural development, climate change and food security in fourteen smallholder farming communities across East Africa, West Africa and South Asia. This paper focuses on the following key objectives: 1) assess the extent to which empirical agricultural development policy networks vary in structure in relation to the modes of network governance theoretical framework; 2) explore which types of organizational actors hold specific network leadership positions; and 3) understand the role INGOs play in the coordination of agricultural development policy networks
This chapter examines the current state of agricultural extension reforms and their linkages to the agricultural research system reforms in India and identifies the policy options and strategic priorities for making it relevant, responsive, and efficient. It explores how the National Agriculture Research Systems (NARS) responded with its own set of reforms that were sought to increase its relevance and its linkages to the extension system reforms. It also provides an assessment of the organizational performance of the major public-sector policy reforms in the agricultural extension—the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) model—using the case studies of seven districts in four Indian states (Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu), located in different agro-ecological zones of the country
Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) is a single-window institutional arrangement for technology and information dissemination at the district level and an attempt was made to assess the dairy extension system in the context of ATMA in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh during 2016. The study revealed that along with organized dairy extension services, ATMA is an important alternative to provide extension services to the dairy sector as animal husbandry sector is an existing allied sector for the ATMA. Performance assessment was measured through the parameters—relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of dairy extension through ATMA in Guntur district. In this district, four cafeterias of activities (demonstrations, trainings, exposure visits, and dairy farm schools) were conducted during the years 2013–14 and 2015–16
The objective of this paper is to show how Value Chain Analysis for Development (VCA4D) applied sustainable development concept for value chain analysis to establish a manageable set of criteria allowing to provide quantitative information, which is desperately lacking in many situations in developing economies, usable by decision makers and in line with policymakers concerns and strategies (the “international development agenda”). The use of researchers to perform the analysis, contributes to the reinforcement of the linkages and mutual understanding between researchers and policy makers
Based on three rounds of panel data (2007, 2009, and 2012) on indigenous households, this study assessed the impacts of Integrated Aquaculture-agriculture value chain participation on the welfare of marginalized poor indigenous rural households in Bangladesh. We also examined the distributional impacts of IAA value chain
participation by examining impacts across different groups of value chain actors by disaggregating production activity participants from up and downstream participants. Given the potential importance of IAA systems in Bangladesh this research mostly focused on rice-fish based IAA and the biophysical and technical feasibility aspects rather than socio-economic aspects
This study aims to analyse three case studies of smallholder dairy farming in Pakistan. The study involved two stages. The first stage involved a scoping study which used a purposive sampling method to identify and sample fresh, unpackaged milk and informal and formal chains in both districts. Twenty-seven producers, eleven small, eight medium and five large Dhodhis, twenty-two retailers, two formal processors and eleven consumers were interviewed personally by the first author, using four different questionnaires. In total twenty-five, informal chains and two formal processor chains werestudied. The questionnaires were developed using a simple value chain analysis framework to identify key functions being performed along the chain
In this paper is described how value chains act as an important catalyst in improving farmers’ income by strengthening the backward and forward linkages of
agriculture. Discuss about several policy interventions that are being made to organize farmers and facilitate their access to markets, finances, inputs and technologies.
Also brings case studies in the Indian context show that farmers who participate in value chains incur fewer transaction costs, face lower market risks and realize more profits. Yet, there remain many weak links in the value chains that need to be addressed for improving their efficiency and inclusiveness
This analysis evaluates a real world complex intervention to study the impacts of an agricultural value chain development program on livelihood outcomes, in hill and mountainous regions of Nepal. The intervention was not designed for the study and no baseline data existed to compare the final outcomes. Data came from a carefully designed household survey administered to 3,028 households (50% beneficiaries and other 50% non-beneficiaries) across seven districts in Western Nepal. Using matching, inverse probability weighting, and regression adjustment methods, we find that improving agricultural value chain by linking smallholder producers with traders and service providers reduces poverty by 8%.
This paper analyzes the status of Pakistan’s agriculture in the world and quantifies the potential of improving productivity and quality of value chain at its different nodes. A great potential of expansion in the value chain of large number of agricultural commodities produced in Pakistan are observed. Just bringing the average crop yield levels at par to the world average yield can generate over US$11 billion additional revenues to the producers. Despite lower yield, majority of commodities have lower prices compared to the world average prices at the farmgate. However, the country lost its comparative advantage as its export-output ratios (EOR) and export prices are lower than the world average for a large number of commodities. Similarly the quality of the produce in domestic market is observed to be low. If Pakistan can improve its EOR and export prices to the world average levels and enhance the quality of 10% its agriculture output in domestic market to the average export quality, it can generate US$8.8 to various stakeholders in the value chain. Cluster-based development approach is suggested to harness the potential in agricultural value chain. Various measures are suggested to improve productivity and quality of agricultural value chain in Pakistan
This paper analyzes the operational constraints experienced by the different actors in the rice value chain in Myanmar. Both primary and secondary data on the rice value chain in Ayeyarwaddy Region, the main rice-growing area in Myanmar, were collected. The actors in the region suffer from constraints in material input, production, financial, distributional, and institutional. This study examines the actors’ profitability, together with their sociodemographic and operational characteristics, to provide proper policy guidelines to address constraints
This paper examines some issues related to the production and marketing of kiwi in Arunachal Pradesh, the largest producer of kiwis in India. It contributes 56.5% of the total 8.5 thousand tons of kiwis produced in the country. India imports 75% of its domestic demand for fresh kiwis and, therefore, there is huge scope to upscale kiwi production in north-eastern states in general and Arunachal Pradesh in particular. However, developing an efficient value chain is a challenge because of several infrastructural and institutional constraints like the non-availability of reliable data on production, lack of research and extension support, lack of organized marketing and post-harvest infrastructure, poor credit support, etc. A few solutions suggested for upscaling the kiwi production are : the formation of ‘Kiwi Producers Groups (KPGs)’, a dedicated research centre for kiwi, and sufficient credit flow to farmers
This paper presents the common framework on CD for AIS developed by TAP and points to the relevance of meta-learning and the importance of “functional capacities”, if higher education institutions and their graduates are to become active players in the agricultural innovation system. The Framework was developed through an inclusive, participatory and multi-stakeholders approach with contributions by TAP Partners, including FARA and the Global Conference on Higher Education and Research in Agriculture. The Common Framework consists of a conceptual background document, a synthesis paper and a guidance note on operationalization of the Framework. In January 2016, TAP partners approved this Common Framework which is now being applied in eight countries in Africa (4), Asia (2) and Central America (2) with support of the EU-funded Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, jointly implemented by AGRINATURA and FAO in collaboration with local partners from 2015 to 2018
Recently, innovation has become a very important issue, as it provides a strategic advantage for organizations to outperform competition and remain agile in the environment. Additionally, knowledge management is considered to be a strong support for innovation. However, few studies examine the role of human resource management in fostering knowledge capability which leads more innovation in the organizations. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of knowledge management components in organizational innovation among agricultural extension experts in Khuzestan Province. The statistical population of this study consisted of all agricultural extension experts in Khuzestan Province (N=328)
The main purpose of this study was to institutionally map nanotechnological innovation system of Iranian agriculture by investigating current state of hard and soft institutions regarding functions of the system. This study consisted of qualitative and quantitative phases. In the qualitative part, a thematic content analysis was used to compare the current and desired states of high level laws and documents. The quantitative phase was a descriptive survey. In the quantitative phase, the statistical population consisted of active researchers in the field of nanotechnology from agricultural national research institutes and centers, agricultural colleges, and knowledge-based companies
This work was presented by the Director General of Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China about the chinese experience in enhance the access of the rural areas to the internet and e-commerce. The presentation is divided in three parts: 1) Development and changes in China's agriculture and rural areas; 2) China's main approach to promoting e-agriculture and e-village; 3) Experience in e-agriculture and e-village of China. The presentation shows the efforts of the public sector in partnership with private sector to enhance the use of Internet, Big Data and IoT in the rural areas of China.
This work was presented in the event: "Digital Innovation Dialogue Session 6: China’s Approaches and Experiences in Digital Agriculture and Digital Rural Area "
Digital Innovation Dialogue was launched in early 2019 by the FAO to serve as a forum to enhance knowledge sharing and mutual learning between multidisciplinary innovation practitioners and FAO staff through open and informal discussions. The aim is to foster an innovation culture and transform small-scale successes into large-scale digital products and services, eventually contributing to achieving SDGs
This work brings data about the use of E-commerce and poverty reduction in rural areas of China and was presented on the Digital Innovation Dialogue Session 6: China’s Approaches and Experiences in Digital Agriculture and Digital Rural Area. The Digital Innovation Dialogue initiative was launched in early 2019 by the FAO and serve as a forum to enhance knowledge sharing and mutual learning between multidisciplinary innovation practitioners and FAO staff through open and informal discussions. The aim is to foster an innovation culture and transform small-scale successes into large-scale digital products and services, eventually contributing to achieving SDGs
The study assesses the relationship of prices of onion at the farm level as well as at wholesale, retail and export level with a view to understand price mechanism involved in the marketing of onion. It and also addresses problems faced by stakeholders in the marketing of their onion
This article highlights the experiences and lessons generated by the project collaborators in enhancing the adaptive capacities of selected upland farming communities in Southeast Asia. The project collaborators employed capability building programs, such as farmers' and technicians' training, local climate change awareness programs, cross-farm visits, demonstration plots showcasing agroforestry technologies as climate change adaptation (CCA) strategies, and linking science with policies
There is a lack of quantitative information about farmers preferences of those activities, which are crucial to refine capacity development activities in the future. This study employs a discrete choice experiment analysing the willingness to pay to determine the preferences of small-scale farmers for agricultural training with respect to the training method, trainer, duration, location and additional offers
The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between trainers’ qualification and learning success and satisfaction of small-scale farmers during training activities in Bihar, India. Moderated mediation analysis is utilized to measure the direct and indirect effects of trainers’ qualification on learning success and satisfaction. Therefore, the psychological constructs of attitude and perceived control from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) operate as mediators, subjective norms act as moderator, and gender and age serve as covariates
This paper has been prepared from a transcript of a presentation at the Crawford Fund 2017. This talk is a synthesis of some of the emerging issues we are seeing in the digital revolution, and how we can overcome the barriers to digitalised agricultural systems in the developing world
This teaching case study is to stimulate readers to think strategically and come up with innovative solutions to the challenges that Songxiaocai faces. The materials used to write this case is drawn from the sources including the semi-structured interviews with managers within Songxiaocai Company, online information, and materials
provided by the company. Section 2 presents the weaknesses of the traditional vegetable supply chain in China. Section 3 illustrates the innovation of Songxiaocai’s demand-driven supply chain. Section 4 elaborates the ICT architecture of Songxiaocai. Section 5 shows the functions of the main departments of the company,
and Section 6 presents the business outlook and the challenges of Songxiaocai. Several important questions are listed in the last closing section for readers to study and discuss
This paper presents a case study of the Honey Bee Network’s decentralized model for collecting, verifying and disseminating grassroots innovations and provides a roadmap for its replication in Africa. The Honey Bee Network brings together governmental and non‐governmental institutions, members of academia, scholars and a large number of volunteers. Through the Network’s activities, locally-designed solutions and traditional knowledge with the potential to be refined and scaled up are scouted and members of the Network work with the innovators to help their ideas reach their commercial or non‐commercial potential. The Network has been involved in the sharing of grassroots technology developed in India with Kenya, notably a food processing machine, seed sowing device, and a small tractor. Through these pilot programs, actors at the grassroots had a chance to collaborate and co‐design solutions adapted to the Kenyan context. This experience revealed a willingness in Kenya to further invest in grassroots innovation initiatives, and Network members identified many conditions that would make Kenya the right choice for an African network hub, such as a rich traditional knowledge system and institutional willingness and recognition of the dynamism of the informal sector
This article analyses spatial innovation dispersion and also level of innovation development across the crop sector. For this, five crude indicators viz. Mechanisation indicator, Vulnerability indicator, Concentration indicator, Stability indicator and Adoption indicator were constructed which determined the direction of innovation. Agricultural Innovation System encompasses both the facets of technology development and technology dissemination. However, much concentration and efforts were exerted on innovation and technology development part while the other part i.e. innovation dissemination system was less attended.
In this paper, we examine the effectiveness of e-tendering system for pigeon pea in Karnataka and explore stakeholders’ perceptions regarding online trading to better understand the challenges in implementation of this innovative agricultural marketing initiative. Rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides background on e-tendering process in Karnataka. Data and methodology are discussed in the third section, fourth section presents the results, and is followed by the section discussing the salient findings and lessons learnt. Conclusions and policy implications are presented in the last section
A Community Innovation Fund (CIF) is a simple kick-start fund to support farmer interest groups who have limited access to formal financial services for implementing climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices. A CIF can be implemented as sole fund or as co-investment to community savings and loans groups. In this publication, a step-by-step guide for facilitating a CIF in a community, based on experiences from My Loi Climate-Smart Village (CSV), was provided. My Loi is one of three CCAFS CSVs in Vietnam, where participatory CSA practices are being tested and adopted. In My Loi, it took about 12 months from the initial CIF introduction before farmers were able to independently regulate their own savings and loans distributions
This report documents those detailed gender dimensions of root and tuber crops (RTC) farming practices, showing how differently men and women engage in them, and it also provides a critical analysis of the gender considerations required for interventions. There are certain commonalities across field sites in the four countries. Firstly, RTCs are very important food crops for poor households, and while men are predominantly in charge of large-scale commercial farming, women have some autonomy for small-scale crop and livestock production, especially in marginal spaces such as homegardens, and for small-scale processing businesses. This suggests that interventions that strengthen small-scale production and/or processing of RTCs are likely to directly support women from poor households in strengthening food resilience
The case studies reported here form part of ‘GENNOVATE: Enabling gender equality through agricultural and environmental innovation’; a qualitative comparative research to examine the gender dimensions of innovations – new agricultural and natural resource management technologies, institutions, and practices. Despite significant historical, socio-political and environmental differences, the five case studies in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and the case from southwest Kyrgyzstan exhibit pronounced and rapid changes in the relationship between people and for forests
This presentation describes the sucessful experiences of capacity development for livestock production carried out in Vietnam and Cambodia. This seminar was presented in the 15th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics in November, 2018. The presentation discuss about transnational research in food safety in low-and middle-inmcome countries (LMIC), the importance of bridging institutions and policies and the reached achivements
This paper evaluated the implementation of an initiative for promoting risk-based approaches to improve food safety management in Vietnam. A Taskforce of Risk Assessment for Food Safety (Taskforce) was formed and consisted of researchers working on risk assessment and food safety, and representatives of the related ministries of Health and of Agriculture. We used the OECD Development Assistance Committee Evaluation Criteria as a framework for assessing the impact of the Taskforce with five evaluation areas – relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. They analysed current food safety policies, identified key constraints and opportunities, and conducted action research and capacity building to address these challenges in food safety. Stakeholder workshops helped determine priority food safety issues and activities. A series of hands-on training based on real-world case studies were organized and risk assessment curricula were developed and taught at universities to promote sustainability. Practical guidelines, text books, a special edition and policy briefs were published. The Taskforce provided technical support to a national food safety assessment commissioned by the World Bank and evidence for development partners. The Taskforce was institutionalized by a national university to have a formal role in implementing its activities. In conclusion, the Taskforce has brought experts in Vietnam to work together on prioritized topics of food safety risk assessment, assisted and informed ministries in implementing risk-based approaches for food safety management. It can be recommended as a way of institutionalising risk-based methods in countries new to the approach
This bcrochure describes the programme ""APRACA: Enhancing access of poor rural people to sustainable financial services through policy dialogue, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing in rural finance" that aimed to: enhanced the capacity of regional financial institutions in valuechain and renewableenergy financing, riskmanagement strategies, and microfinance for agriculture. Enhancing access of poor rural people to sustainable financial services through policy dialogue, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing in rural finance (i) provide avenues for enhanced policy dialogue among stakeholders in the target countries, on thematic areas such as value-chain financing, riskmanagement strategies, renewable-energy financing, and microfinance for agriculture; (ii) promote replication of rural finance best practices by IFADsupported investment projects and selected rural finance institutions (RFIs), while strengthening their capacity to provide sustainable rural financial services; and (iii) enhance knowledge- and experience-sharing among APRACA members, IFAD projects and a wider audience
This brief describes the activities carried out by the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Moldova. Describes the projects that aims to enhance the economical development of the family farms in the country and the IFAD's strategy for reaching this goal
This brief describes the activities carried out by the International Fund for Agricultural Development in order to erradicate poverty in Sri Lanka. Describes the projects that aims to enhance the economical development of the family farms in the country and the IFAD's strategy for reaching this goal
This brief describes the activities carried out by the International Fund for Agricultural Development in order to erradicate poverty in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Describes the projects that aims to enhance the food security and nutrition in the country and the IFAD's strategy for reaching this goal
This brief describes the activities carried out by the International Fund for Agricultural Development in order to erradicate poverty in Cambodia. Describes the projects that aims to enhance the agricultural innovation in the country and the IFAD's strategy for reaching this goal
This brief describes how Women in Business Development Incorporated (WIBDI), a non-profit organisation in Samoa, works with farming families to produce highvalue products for local and global markets. Shifting away from a women-focused approach, WIBDI now uses an approach that involves the whole family, keeping all family members on board. It has also invested in digital applications and resources to increase the efficiency of operations, profile the producers and their products, and facilitate engagement with markets and customers
This bried discuss about the rol of the financial institutions and governments in order to work together to offer innovative financial instruments that enhance access to banking services, especially in the rural areas. Considering inclusivity is a win-win strategy
During the period 2013-2019, the Agricultural Extension in South Asia (AESA) Network has served as a platform for collating the voices, insights, concerns, and experiences of people in the extension sphere of South Asia. Diverse professionals shared their concerns on the present and future of Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) in the form of blog conversations for AESA. Together, all of these individuals who are involved, interested and passionate about EAS, discussed ways to move beyond some of the seemingly intransigent problems that are hindering the professionalization of EAS. Nevertheless, these blogs also take the time to celebrate and salute the signs of promising new beginnings. This publication is an effort to compile 100 such conversations on EAS, which were originally published as AESA blogs, starting in February 2013, into this book. Several readers have been asking the authors to assemble all these reflections into a single document so that these are available as a good reference document for a wide spectrum of actors involved in EAS – scholars, practitioners, trainers, faculty, innovation intermediaries, mentors, leaders and managers – all of whom are involved in driving agricultural and rural transformation.
Capacity building for integrating gender in research and development (R&D) on agricultural innovations often remains with organizing single gender training. Alternatively, it is often limited to hiring a gender specialist to allocate a small amount of her/his time to the project. This has proofed to be ineffective and a heavy burden for gender specialists. This success story presents an innovative approach to capacity development, which successfully changed agricultural researchers’ attitude to gender in Southeast Asia, with a specific focus in Vietnam. This new approach involved various stakeholders, such as male and female farmers in Vietnam, gender specialists from research organizations and NGOs, and agricultural researchers and policymakers from government organizations and universities in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam.
Though Odisha is India’s top sweetpotato-producing state, most farmers grow low-yielding varieties of limited nutritional value. The Odisha Directorate of Horticulture and the International Potato Center (CIP) spent four years promoting improved varieties and good agricultural practices in four districts of Odisha, resulting in a 25 per cent growth in the area dedicated to the crop, a 17 per cent increase in farm productivity, and a 40 per cent increase in farmer incomes within the project areas; as well as the introduction of a nutritious, orange-fleshed sweetpotato variety. The project directly and indirectly benefited approximately 6,000 people, and developed a scalable approach that combines farmer capacity development with demand creation, which has potential for reducing hunger, malnutrition and poverty while boosting farmers’ resilience.
This document is accompanyng the volume Public Agricultural Research in an Era of Transformation: The Challenge of Agri-Food System Innovation (available in TAPipedia here), which provides some of the groundwork in answering the question of how the CGIAR system and other public agricultural research organisations should adapt and respond to an era of transformation framed by the SDGs.
The case studies presented in full in this accompanying document are based on secondary information (journal articles, grey literature, published evaluations). The emphasis in the case studies is the description of events and the presentation of evidence rather than interpretation through any particular conceptual perspective. The preparation of each case study was guided by an outline with the following sections: introduction, challenge or opportunity being tackled, description of the innovation, innovation pathway, impact evidence and consequences.
Case studies:
Participatory forest management is credited for supporting social learning processes and fostering capacity of forest users for collaboration and collective actions. Despite more than a decade of practice, the empirical evidence substantiating the contribution of participatory management for the capacity development of forest users is scarce. This study assesses a participatory forest management program in Madhupur Sal forest, Bangladesh, by comparing the capacity of de-facto groups of participants and nonparticipants and identifies factors that influence the capacity development. Data were collected using a mixed method approach which combines both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Results indicate that participants differed from nonparticipants significantly in terms of various capacity dimensions related to collective actions. Extension services, credit support, trust within society, information and communication influence the level of capacities in tribal population to adapt and respond to changes. The initiatives to manage natural resources are likely to be more successful if the forest management program initiators consider several factors that influence the capacity development of resource users.
This book collects 24 stories of change from the EU-funded CDAIS project. Launched in 2015, the overall objective of CDAIS is to make agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. The stories are about the eight pilot countries - in Africa, Asia and Latin America - in which CDAIS operates. Countries and title of the 24 stories are provided below, with date of last update for each story.
Angola:
01) From farm to agri-business (February 2018)
02) From knowing needs to sowing seeds (March 2018)
03) Growing hope from a new crop (April 2018)
Bangladesh:
04) From green to silver (December 2017)
05) New markets for mangos (November 2017)
06) Pineapples – putting plans into action (September 2018)
Burkina Faso:
07) A marketplace of innovative ideas (September 2018)
08) Organic certification takes root (January 2018)
09) Women lead the way in rural enterprises (June 2018)
Ethiopia:
10) Feed Safety – change through learning (September 2017)
11) The need for seed – subtle changes (December 2017)
12) Innovating with chickpea cluster farming (September 2018)
Guatemala:
13) Better beans mean better nutrition (April 2018)
14) Avocados – from annual to tree crops (June 2018)
15) Moving to modern beekeeping (August 2018)
Honduras:
16) From potato pests to policy processes (April 2018)
17) Improving coffee by collaboration (June 2018)
18) New markets for cacao producers (June 2018)
Laos:
19) Seeds of an organic future (December 2017)
20) Pig farmers building bridges to success (June 2018)
21) Cattle producers blazing new trails (June 2018)
Rwanda:
22) Cooperation in cassava production (September 2018)
23) Challenges in the milk chain (September 2018)
24) Resolving conflicts in water use (September 2018)
“I have seen my income grow since I started farming frogs and fish” says Bounlium Planethavong, “but other farmers need support to adopt the techniques I use.” The CDAIS project identified this innovation that increases and diversifies household income and nutrition by promoting the production of aquatic protein sources. This system is also more agroecologically balanced, re-introducing animals and insects that older farmers remember being once-plentiful in rice paddies… But now, farmers are sharing experiences, making valuable links to service and credit providers, and the first successes are already being seen.
This story of change from Laos is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
Today, entering Trishal, Mymensingh on the road from Dhaka, one sees rows of fish ponds. One after the other, they show a massive diversification from rice to fish cultivation in recent years, and an intensification of production. The tradeoffs between green crops and silver fish appear to be clear, as ever more farmers see the benefits in terms of profits and returns, and make the move into fish farming.
“I was impressed with the innovative approach of CDAIS in bringing together fish farmers and organizations that support us, to find ways to overcome challenges we face in producing quality fish for local and overseas markets” explains Ritish Pandit of Ukilbari, Boilor, Trishal, after attending the capacity needs assessment workshop in February 2017. Mr Pandit started his fish farming and hatchery business in 1982, and thanks to his forward-thinking approach, supported by training and access to credit, he quickly expanded. In 2016-17, he sold almost 50 tonnes of fish, mostly tilapia and pangas (catfish), making a profit of 1.5 million Bangladesh Taka (US$18,500), including sales of fish fry and spawn. “And my business now employs four permanent staff and 16 temporary workers.” added Mr Pandit.
This story of change from Bangladesh is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
“We realized that we need to work together, and are now seeing changes happen” said Omar Ali, President of the newly formed Shibganj Mango Association. Farmers and orchard owners saw the need to change when interest in mango production grew after exports to the EU started in 2015. With technical assistance from several initiatives, the first 12 registered farmers began to follow ‘good agricultural practices’. They formed an association now with more than 50 members, and CDAIS is supporting them to strengthen their organization and to achieve their goals by building functional capacities.”
This story of change from Bangladesh is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
Individual farmers often receive low prices for their harvest, and pineapple producers in Bangladesh are no exception. To help them, CDAIS facilitated a series of meetings and coaching. Starting with a capacity needs assessment workshop in April 2017, a coaching plan was developed to meet capacity gaps identified by the partnership of pineapple producers, complete with an action plan. The partnership also participated in a ‘marketplace’ event in Dhaka, a regional policy dialogue and two phases of capacity-building training. The result? An effective new pineapple growers association with competent and confident leaders and better-off members.
This story of change from Bangladesh is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
“I have seen my income grow since I started farming frogs and fish” says Bounlium Planethavong, “but other farmers need support to adopt the techniques I use.” The CDAIS project identified this innovation that increases and diversifies household income and nutrition by promoting the production of aquatic protein sources. This system is also more agroecologically balanced, re-introducing animals and insects that older farmers remember being once-plentiful in rice paddies… But now, farmers are sharing experiences, making valuable links to service and credit providers, and the first successes are already being seen.
This story of change from Laos is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
“We have changed already since the CDAIS project started working with us” said Mrs Khammone Luanglath. “Because of the project, we have for example divided our responsibilities within the group and our profits have increased.” The CDAIS project is working with a group of organic vegetable growers in Tongmang village in Vientiane province, who produce for local markets. It has helped them to better identify their needs, and is supporting their capacity development so that they can improve their functional skills, to help them to better invest, organise and increase production and sales.
This story of change from Laos is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
Smallholder farmers the world over like to raise cattle if they can and those in Lao PDR are no exception. “Cattle are our savings bank,” says Mr Phokham Keomanivong, a member of the Ban Keun cattle production group. “If you need money for an emergency or a special event like a wedding or a funeral, you can always sell a cow. “As much as they love their traditions, Ban Keun farmers see the need to change their practices, and the CDAIS project is helping them do just that.
This story of change from Laos is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
“Working with the CDAIS project has given us not only knowledge and skills, but also the confidence to make connections with the government and other partners.” says Mrs Dao Sansihalath, member of the Xanakham women’s pig rearing group. “What we have learnt is practical and is helping us grow our business without having to make a lot of costly mistakes.” This has been achieved through support from the CDAIS project since 2016.
This story of change from Laos is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
"I have been to many meetings about policy but never a meeting like this! The CDAIS simulation reflects the way people really work. You can see the real problems" says Mr Vixay Somchalern, head of the Savannakhet Farmers Rice Association.
This story of change from Laos is part of a series of stories occurred under the EU-funded CDAIS project, aimed at making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. CDAIS brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
“Donor funded projects usually work separately from the government,” says Oudong Keomipheth, Deputy Director of the Planning and Cooperation Division, NAFRI and CDAIS project Country Project Manager . “But instead of setting up their own office or partnering with a national NGO, CDAIS has partnered with us, the government.”
The Webinar with Universities on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation - Bringing System-wide Change in Asia-Pacific took place on 16 November 2017, 13:00hrs (CET) under the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) organized and moderated the webinar, with support from FAO, the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA) and Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR).
The Webinar addressed the need to equip agricultural graduates and university staff with soft skills (“functional capacities”) enabling them to facilitate innovation processes to better tackle the complex challenges agriculture is facing today and will face in the future. The Webinar aimed to:
1. Improve understanding of the Common Framework designed under the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project – the different dimensions of capacity development consisting of individuals, organizations and enabling environment, as well as the relationship between these dimensions.
2. Raise interest in integrating the Common Framework principles, approaches and tools in higher education curricula by universities to improve system-wide capacity for change and thereby realize the potential of innovation.
3. Raise awareness of the importance of developing soft skills (“functional capacities”) to unlock the potential for agricultural innovation and the role of higher education in developing the respective capacities.
4. Initiate reflection towards a mindset shift in culture of higher education organizations in the Asia-Pacific region from: (i) considering knowledge generation as a final objective, to using it as a means to achieve change; (ii) understanding of the system components to systematic understanding of the relationships between the components; (iii) consulting beneficiaries to facilitating engagement for interactive learning between innovation actors; (iv) teaching to learning; and (v) focus on individual merit and competition, to promoting teamwork and collaboration between and within organization.
This brochure is on the Virtual Extension and Research Information and Communication Network (VERCON), a conceptual model that any country can use and adapt to improve access to agricultural information and knowledge sharing and to strengthen the linkages between rural institutions and individuals, using information and communication technologies.
This presentation on By-products was held for a training program out of Dhaka, at Natore district, involving 60 participants. A by-product is defined as the secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced. In the context of production, a by-product is the 'output from a joint production process that is minor in quantity and/or net realizable value (NRV) when compared to the main products. Because they are deemed to have no influence on reported financial results, by-products do not receive allocations of joint costs.
The Bangladesh Agro-Processors' Association (BAPA) has lots of activities and involvements with various agencies, organizations, strategic, methodical steps for the proper management and growth. Few major of these are mentioned in this file.
This presentation illustrates the Bangladesh Agro-Processors' Association (BAPA). The presentation' outline is the following: Introduction of BAPA, Objectives, Main Activities , Present Status of BAPA Members, Agriculture Situation in Bangladesh, Present Scenario of BAPA in Agro-Food Industry in Bangladesh, Major Agro-processing Companies with small & medium, Export Picture in Agro-Processing Sector of BAPA Members, Eligible Agro-Processed Products with New and Innovated Products, Export Performance in Agro-Processing, Project Snapshot of BAPA, Expected outputs and results of the Projects, Co-operation from Governmentnt and other Organizations,SWOT analysis of BAPA & recommendations, BAPA foodPro, Prospective Plan and Strategy, Conclusion.
This poster describes the Bangladesh Agro-Processors’ Association (BAPA) and its activities.
The USAID Building Agribusiness Capacity in East Timor (BACET) program was extended for three additional years in September 2008. Land O’Lakes gathered feedback from the Ministry of Agriculture, USAID, teachers and students and immediately initiated enhancements to improve the curriculum previously developed to reinforce practical and market-oriented skills. The program goal has been restated as follows: Prepare graduates to be problem solvers and begin careers in the field of agriculture as agribusiness entrepreneurs, agricultural extensionists and agricultural middle managers to help benefit communities within Timor Leste. Over the course of the recent months, BACET focused on curriculum improvements and related changes to the ways the teachers teach.
The objective of this Guide is to recommend a process and set of steps for an organization to prepare, establish and to develop effective Water Users Associations (WUA) suitable to Tajikistan. It summarizes lessons learned in Tajikistan, by two donor finance projects, which established and trained 97 WUAs. Establishment of WUAs is essential in order to solve existing problems in the irrigation sector and other challenges faced by farmers and other water users3 . The content of the guides shares the experience and provides a pathway to organize a development team who can teach and guide the communities to create their own WUAs, to use an approach that benefits from good democratic practices, to use approaches the maximize community involvement in infrastructure improvement and provide training curriculum for a plan for future WUA training and development.
This report covers the Feed the Future Asia Innovative Farmers Activity for the 2015-16 fiscal year (September 18, 2015-September 30, 2016).
The project has made great progress this year in developing and implementing an innovative, integrated approach that is: building awareness and excitement around the potential for new technologies to solve persistent smallholder agricultural constraints and facilitating a broad-based regional innovation community to bring regional resources and experience together for the benefit of Asian smallholder agriculture; identifying new, cutting edge agricultural technologies from South and South East Asia; facilitating the commercial expansion of new technologies into Feed the Future focal countries.
The Agriculture Technology Program for Turkmenistan (AgTech), funded by USAID and implemented by Weidemann Associates, Inc., aims to increase and develop private enterprises, and improve productivity of private, small and household farms. The project has two key components: the improvement of genetics, education and organization as a means of increasing the incomes of private agribusiness involved in livestock; skills building for private producers, processors and marketers of fruits and vegetables.
To target USAID’s overall objectives, AgTech responds to the needs in Turkmenistan by designing activities that increase agricultural productivity and farmer incomes. The activities include transferring technology and information to the local input providers, farmers, and households, all in support of strengthening the horticulture and livestock sectors. Through these activities, household incomes of producers are increased by 50 percent, yields of crops and livestock produced by private farmers are increased by 3 times, and areas for cultivation of crops other than wheat and cotton are increased by 50 percent.
Poverty in Pakistan is overwhelmingly rural. Some two-thirds of Pakistan's population, and over 60 percent of the country's poor, live in rural areas. In 2005, average per capita expenditures in rural areas were 31 percent lower than in urban areas. This inequality between urban and rural areas is re-enforced by inequality within and between rural areas. Owing to uneven access to land and useable water, most of the increased income that results from agricultural production accrues to higher income farmers-who typically spend a disproportionate amount of their income on urban goods and services. This inequality seriously limits the impacts of agricultural growth on rural poverty, and is a major cause of sustained poverty and low productivity among small farmers and rural nonfarm households. It also points to the importance of effectively targeting the poor in contexts in which resources intended for them are likely to be captured by more privileged groups.
This report presents the impact and lessons learned from the Andhra Pradesh Drought Adaptation Initiative (APDAI). The APDAI was implemented as a package of pilot activities in two dryland districts in Andhra Pradesh (Anantapur and Mahbubnagar) with the aim of developing and testing approaches for natural resource-based economic activities to better respond to current climate variability and long-term consequences of climate change. The report discusses how innovations are being scaled up through integration into regular government programs for greater outreach.
Indonesian agriculture is at a crossroads. Supporting the livelihood of millions of Indonesians, it needs to underpin renewed and robust growth of the economy; and be a key component of the Government's poverty alleviation strategy. The challenge for the future is to reinvigorate productivity gains among rural producers, and provide the foundation for long run sustainability of these productivity gains. Productivity gains are key to farmer income growth, and for this rebuilding the research and extension systems that have seen a marked deterioration in recent years will be critical. The experience of the Indonesian decentralization of its extension system has been mixed, with adverse impact on extension through sharp reductions in funding, and removal of central-level guidance. At the same time, a series of positive debates and experimentation in management have taken place from a shift on top-down to participatory approaches, input and technology dissemination to dissemination of market and upstream information and technology, from centrally managed extension services to decentralized services, and some movement toward privatization of extension. In this context, an assessment of the agricultural extension services, as seen through the lens of the impact evaluation of the Decentralized Agricultural and Forestry Extension Project (DAFEP), was deemed to be timely and relevant. This report thus has the following objectives: i) provide an overview of the institutional changes in agricultural extension in Indonesia; ii) present the results of the impact evaluation of DAFEP; and iii) discuss lessons learned and emerging issues in the new political and institutional context.
This review's objectives were to examine the structure and performance of the agricultural research and extension systems (public and private) at the central and provincial levels, identify successes as well as constraints to improving the system s effectiveness for fostering innovation, and propose options for further policy and institutional development, drawing on lessons from international experience. The review focused principally on nonplantation crops, although its main recommendations apply across the agricultural sector. This synthesis report summarizes the main findings of the review and builds upon them by adding some new elements. The conflict in Sri Lanka is explicitly recognized. Additionally, the implications of changes in the wider agricultural context for agricultural research and extension are explored, and have led to the adoption of an innovation systems perspective to organize the major findings
The agribusiness incubator in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India is the result of a partnership between the Indian government and an international crop-research organization that is a member of CGIAR, a global partnership of organizations seeking a food-secure future. As the incubator has developed, it has become relatively independent of its founders, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Indian government s Department of Science and Technology. From supporting small businesses that can bring new agricultural research and technology to market, ABI has become an incubator of incubators, and is now helping African incubators follow its model.
The paper reports on improving feed and fodder supply for the dzud management in Mongolia study, and aims to identify policy options that could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of dzud emergency management and response. It includes an assessment of the appropriate roles for the private and public sectors, identification of issues, and capacity building requirements. The study will support a policy dialogue and could provide the foundation for a longer-term pilot project in feed and fodder production, storage, and distribution, as part a coherent and effective emergency strategy.
This report analyses the experiences and lessons from three World Bank-Supported watershed development projects in the Indian states of Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.5 The primary reason for the analysis was to guide the development and execution of new watershed programs in India, including new Bank-supported state-level operations in Uttarakhand and Karnataka, and a proposed national project now under preparation. Accordingly, it was important to deepen the knowledge base about large-scale, community-led watershed development in order to share that knowledge with key stakeholders both inside and outside of the World Bank. Another important reason was the immediate and growing concern over water resources and their management in India and the question of how well watershed development programs internalize these concerns. A third impetus was the nexus between rural poverty and rainfed agriculture and the important role that watershed development programs are to fulfill in the development of sustainable rural livelihoods.
This Country Partnership Framework (CPF) covers the five-year period FY16-20. Anchored in the government’s medium-term development plan as outlined in a January 2015 Cabinet of Ministers Program of Action, it also reflects the analysis and recommendations of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) 2015 Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Uzbekistan and the lessons learned from the Completion Report of the previous CPS. The CPF’s objectives and program, which focus on developing the conditions for faster job creation, are consistent with the WBG’s twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The Uzbekistan Systemic Country Diagnostic (SCD) identified ten priority areas that would need to be addressed to eliminate poverty, boost shared prosperity, and enable Uzbekistan to reach upper middle-income status. The government’s strategic objectives are for Uzbekistan to achieve upper middleincome status by 2030, implying income growth averaging 6 percent annually, and in particular to create 500,000 jobs annually. Building country systems for statistical, fiduciary, safeguard, and statistical capacity underlie the foundation of this CPF. The CPF program will remain flexible as circumstances change and new opportunities may arise.
This is the first investment climate assessment (ICA) for Myanmar. The main objectives of this ICA are to: (i) provide an up-to-date and fact-based analysis of the business environment for the government and other stakeholders in Myanmar to help prioritize and contextualize the reform agenda, and (ii) to offer a baseline for future assessments of progress in terms of the investment climate reform agenda. As requested by the government, the Myanmar ICA will directly support the ongoing reform program. The government has requested an analytical foundation for the ongoing reform program, and a means for prioritizing the legal and institutional changes that are currently being initiated. This ICA is based on the 2014 Myanmar enterprise survey (ES). The Myanmar ICA provides a comprehensive analysis of the country's ES. The ES in Myanmar was carried out between February and April 2014, although significant work preceded and followed the survey itself. This ICA report is organized into four chapters. The first chapter provides an introduction into the context of Myanmar's challenges in terms of the overall economy and the investment climate in particular. The second chapter analyzes the main constraints faced by firms operating in Myanmar today, in particular the constrained access to inputs like finance, land, electricity, and skilled workers. The third chapter looks at policies the government has in place for overseeing the economy, such as firm regulations and taxation. The fourth and concluding chapter provides policy recommendations that follow from the analysis, in terms of the process of reform and the specific reform steps needed over the short and medium terms. The annex to this report provides details on the methodology of the ES.
This policy note, Environmental Management for a Sustainable Economic Development Strategy for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, investigates six environmental management topics which will affect the capacity of the province to develop the economy and need to be underpinned by strong environmental and natural resource management. The six topics cover: agriculture, forestry, fisheries, land and water, environmental law and regulations, and spatial planning. Each topic provides the context for and some background on the sector, key issues facing the management of the sector, potential sustainable development opportunities and initiatives and recommendations on actions to improve the development and management of the sector. The policy note includes a framework to develop nine elements of an enabling environment that would support the development of the province's natural resources, as well as a set of specific recommendations and initiatives.
The objective of this study is to develop an integrated basin planning framework for analyzing and prioritizing water resources development options in Afghanistan, and to demonstrate its application in the Kabul River basin. Accordingly, the study focuses on the tasks of: (a) analyzing the medium and long-term options for developing the water resources of the Kabul River basin for multiple purposes, including domestic and industrial water supply, hydropower, mining, irrigated agriculture, and environment; and (b) collating information on the basin, including the existing and potential water resources development options, water uses and demands, in a simple and user-friendly Decision Support System (DSS), so as to enable multisectoral analysis and optimization of development options in the basin by the concerned ministries and development partners. The study, conducted in collaboration with the government of Afghanistan, is expected to help strengthen the adoption of integrated approaches to basin planning and water resources management in the country.
Improved irrigation water pricing sufficient to cover Operation and Maintenance (O&M) and management costs for end-canal irrigation or tertiary facilities is a vital requirement for efficient irrigation service delivery and for sustainability of Water User Associations (WUAs). This study investigates the key aspects of end canal water pricing for irrigation, including the composition of the water fee, water price determination, water fee collection, and water fee management. The aim of the study is to provide specific reference and guidance for policy making on irrigation water pricing and on related strengthening of farmer WUAs for better end-canal O&M. Based on the literature reviewed for China, this is the first study of its kind which is designed to support policy making on end canal water fee reform, and simultaneously to address both end-canal water pricing and WUA development in that context. The study focuses on water fees for end- canal or tertiary water facilities in Chinese Irrigation Districts (IDs).
Economic growth, job creation, and development are central to the decade of transformation (2015-25) and long-term security for the people of Afghanistan. The Bank and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) recognize that agriculture and rural development are a key to inclusive growth, and hence need renewed vigor and strategic long-term investments. Further, the Bank and the GoIRA acknowledge that increases in agricultural productivity and market access for smallholders are critical for rural development, job creation, and food security in Afghanistan. Sections two and three of this report describe the agricultural sector and its current and potential roles in the Afghan economy, and present the rationale for choosing certain areas and subsectors for a selective 'first mover' strategy to achieve early gains. Section four outlines the constraints and potential in each of the three value chains proposed for the selective strategy, irrigated wheat, intensive livestock production, and horticulture. Section five describes cross-cutting constraints and how best to address them, and Section six proposes measures to help the rural poor who will not benefit much from the first-mover strategy. Section seven summarizes the recommendations of the review and their expected results for jobs and incomes.
This report addresses the establishment of a centralized information and communication technology (ICT) platform for the microfinance sector in Nepal. It has been shown from international experience that ICT improves the efficiency, transparency, and outreach of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and reduces operational costs. There is an opportunity in Nepal to implement similar solutions, and this report provides information on these solutions and offers recommendations for implementing them in Nepal. The microfinance sector in Nepal has many players, but these players have shown few real successes. The sector is largely unsustainable, subsidy driven, and fragmented to the extent that it might not meet the real needs of the country. This report presents a new paradigm for introducing ICT in the microfinance sector of Nepal. The centralized technology platform was chosen as opposed to telecom-led platforms due to its ability to resolve most of the pertinent challenges that Nepal's microfinance sector faces. The paradigm can help remove most of the constraints that have limited the growth of MFIs and kept them from becoming sustainable, moving out to remote and rural areas, and providing more loans to those that need them. In the traditional paradigm, MFIs acquire ICT in an ad hoc fashion and are able to use it only partially to automate their operations.
This report summarizes the findings of the study on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa (CCAA). The objective of the CCAA study was to explore the feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and growth in African agriculture through the identification of products and production systems that can underpin rapid development of a competitive commercial agriculture. The CCAA study focused on the agricultural potential of Africa's Guinea Savannah zone, which covers about 600 million hectares in Africa, of which about 400 million hectares can be used for agriculture, and of which less than 10 percent are cropped. The African Guinea Savannah is one of the largest underused agricultural land reserves in the world. In terms of its agro climatic features, the land is similar to that found in the Cerrado region of Brazil and in the Northeast Region of Thailand, with medium-to-high agricultural potential but also significant constraints in the form of infertile soils and variable rainfall. Based on a careful examination of the factors that contributed to the successes achieved in Brazil and Thailand, as well as comparative analysis of evidence obtained through detailed case studies of three African (Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia) countries. This report argues that opportunities abound for farmers in Africa to regain international competitiveness, especially in light of projected stronger demand in world markets for agricultural commodities over the long term.
Revitalizing agriculture is critical for rural Indonesia's economic prosperity. Historically, Indonesia's dramatic poverty reduction was driven by progress in agriculture and agriculture continues to be a potent driver of growth and poverty alleviation. Agricultural sector growth strongly induces non-agricultural sector growth in rural areas, particularly through demand for locally produced and services. Agricultural sector productivity growth (along with price changes) has remained the most important way out of poverty. To shift agriculture along these dimensions, Indonesia needs to transition from its current and ineffective public stance, growing subsidies and selective output protection, to a more aggressive provision of public goods and services that build support systems for farmers to achieve continuous productivity gains. This will require an enabling agriculture policy environment, significant improvement in the delivery of services, agricultural research and extension in particular, and supporting enabling investments, which will encourage small farmers to move to high value agricultural activities. This will boost employment and raise incomes in rural areas while creating a bigger rural market with greater trade and investment opportunities.
This report presents policy, market, and agriculture transition in the Northern Uplands of Lao People's Democratic Republic aims to contribute to such a dialogue by providing: (a) a policy-relevant typology of the structural characteristics and transition patterns of the principal small-holder agriculture systems in the Northern Uplands; and (b) recommendations to strengthen Government's facilitation of a more sustainable and equitable upland transition. The report also provides input into the ongoing dialogue under the umbrella of the joint Government-donor working group on uplands. Chapter two sets out a typology of traditional and emerging agriculture production systems in the Northern Uplands as a starting point of the report. Chapter three summarizes the Government's upland and agriculture development-related policy framework. Chapter four provides an overview of the market impacts currently at work in the Northern Uplands. Chapter five discusses the transition dynamics and pathways of individual agricultural production systems and outcomes. It also includes some considerations on the winners and losers in the upland transition and on the sustainability within the emerging production patterns. Chapter six concludes with recommended options for policy adjustments and support interventions to help facilitate the transition process.
This report seeks to understand the successes, challenges and opportunities of Cambodia’s agricultural transformation over the past decade to derive lessons and insights on how to maintain future agricultural growth, and particularly on the government’s role in facilitating it. It is prepared per the request of the Supreme National Economic Council and the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries and is based on the primary farm data surveys from 2005 and 2013, and the secondary data from various sources. In 2013-2014, the agricultural growth slowed down to 1 percent from its average of 5.3 percent over 2004-2012. Is the country in transition to a slower agricultural growth? Cambodia can ill afford it because agricultural growth will be critical to continued poverty reduction in the country, given its large size in the economy. Market and private investment friendly policies and targeted public sector investments in irrigation, extension, and other ‘public good’ agricultural services, as feasible within the government’s total budget, can help secure continued robust agricultural growth. The remaining report is organized as follows. Chapter two presents key facts about Cambodia’s recent agricultural development using data from national accounts and various reports. Chapter three provides evidence from the field that explains the changes observed in the national accounts. Chapter four illustrates developments in farming systems, farm budgets, and farm incomes compared to nonfarm incomes. Chapter five presents a farm competitiveness analysis. Chapter six discusses the sources of past growth and their limitations and presents an analysis of (likely) future sources of agricultural growth. Chapter seven presents a long-term vision for the sector, while chapter eight simulates policies and the changes in farm incomes needed to realize this vision. Chapter nine discusses the policy agenda, with implementation details based on national and global experiences. Chapter ten concludes with a summary of the report and policy recommendations. Annexes present the methodology of the 2013 farm survey, detailed farm budgets by crop, projections of selected indicators, and results of the policy simulations.
Pakistan's growth strategy for the economy, as outlined in the 2011 framework for economic growth, calls for reinvigorating the industrial sector and increasing exports. The industrial structure of the country has not experienced any significant changes in the past thirty years. Inadequate industrial environmental performance is an important contributor to the weak export performance of Pakistan's industrial sectors. The relationship between Pakistan's goals for industrial expansion and export growth and the environmental performance of Pakistani firms is the central theme of this report, which is framed as follows: Pakistan's industry is outdated and risks losing markets at a time when it may have the opportunity to occupy the space being left by manufacturing giants like China. This report is organized as follows: chapter two sets the stage for the remaining chapters by discussing the relationships between industrial development and environmental degradation in Pakistan. Chapter three summarizes empirically established linkages between environmental performance and export competitiveness, and 14,001 by firms surveyed as part of this Non-Lending Technical Assistance (NLTA). Chapter four analyzes the institutional, regulatory, and firm-level impediments to improved environmental performance, including barriers to cleaner production. Chapter five evaluates the effectiveness of current Cleaner Production (CP) initiatives carried out by Pakistan's cleaner production centers, and Chapter six recommends potential interventions that could be undertaken by the Government of Pakistan to maintain and enhance the competiveness of Pakistan's firms by improving their environmental performance.
The development objective of the Sustainable Management of Agricultural Research and Technology Dissemination Project is to improve the institutional capacity and performance of the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD) to develop and disseminate relevant and demand-driven innovative technologies, meeting the needs of producers and of the agri-food system. There are four components to the project. The first component of the project is human resource development and management. This component aims at strengthening the scientific skills and research capacities of IAARD's professional staff. This objective will be achieved through a number of different programs and activities designed to enhance the academic and technical skills of IAARD staff and meet quantitative targets in terms of trained personnel. The second component of the project is improvement in research infrastructure and facilities. The objective of this component is to rehabilitate, improve and upgrade the physical infrastructure of some of the operational units within IAARD in terms of laboratory equipment, upgrading of experimental farms, and rehabilitation/construction of additional research facilities. The third component of the project is research management and policy support. The objective of this component is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness in the use of research resources through the implementation of improved research management strategies, processes and instruments. The fourth component of the project is project management and monitoring and evaluation. This component includes activities that will facilitate project implementation, provide the necessary administrative support, and carry out monitoring and evaluation activities related to project implementation.
This report is a product ofthe World Bank's Rural Development and Environment (EASRE) Sector Unit ofthe Sustainable Development Department in the East Asia and Pacific Region.
This report assesses the impact of participation in farmer organizations (FOs) on food security of rural households in Cambodia. The study is particularly set out to following: (1) examine FOs’ roles and operation and challenges for improving household’s food security; (2) analyze household’s characteristics that determine participation in FOs; (3) assess the impact of FOs on food security and livelihood of the rural poor; and (4) provide specific recommendations for changes in relevant legal acts and regulatory frameworks associated with FOs. The study concentrates on three types of FOs based on their predominance in Cambodia. Farmer groups (FG) are informal gatherings with 10-30 members. Farmer associations (FA) have more than 30 members and can either be informal or formal if registered at the Ministry of Interior. Agricultural cooperatives (AC) are business oriented, registered at the provincial department of agriculture (PDA) and comprise generally more than 30 members. This report is structured as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two reviews international as well as Cambodia’s experiences in farmer organizations to promote rural livelihoods and agricultural development. Section three details the research methodology employed in this impact assessment. Section four presents the detailed empirical findings. Section five concludes the report with a summary of the policy implications and recommendations.
Climate change threatens to undermine decades of development achievements in China's Huang-Huai-Hai River Basin. Farmers in the 3H Basin have long been plagued by water scarcity and frequent droughts and floods. Development efforts have succeeded in relieving some of these pressures, but the effects of climate change put these achievements in jeopardy. The mainstreaming climate change adaptation in irrigated agriculture project, funded under the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and integrated into the World Bank's Third Irrigated Agriculture Intensification Project, has been building a line of defense against the looming consequences of climate change on agricultural communities in China. The project was recognized as good adaptation practice in the 2011 world resources report as well as the SCCF evaluation of the independent GEF (Global Environment Facility) Evaluation Office. This smart lesson describes how the project created long-term adaptive capacity for affected communities to support sustainable irrigated agriculture in rural China.
The issue of regional differences in development has moved to the center of the development debate in Sri Lanka, partly after the release of regional poverty data. For the past many years, there have been significant and increasing differences between the Western province and the rest of the country in terms of per capita income levels, growth rates of per capita income, poverty rates, and the structure of provincial economies. The structure of the report is as follows: chapter two looks at the poverty/growth/agriculture nexus in the poorest regions of Sri Lanka. It presents data on poverty and growth in the poorest provinces, especially Uva and Sabaragamuwa, and provides an analysis of factors associated with the rural poor. Chapter three provides an overview and brief discussion of the Government's agricultural policies and programs. Chapter four identifies constraints that restrict farmers' incomes in the four poorest provinces. It presents results from extensive stakeholder consultations carried out in these provinces. These results are complemented with findings from the 2005 rural investment climate assessment to identify some of the general constraints in the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka. Chapter five presents the findings of an agricultural resource audit of small-scale farmers in the poorest regions that analyzed production, poverty and market data. The chapter identifies income opportunities, in particular for a few agricultural products with high income potential for poor farmers, whose production could take off with appropriate interventions. This chapter also provides a value chain analysis of these products and identifies product-specific constraints and gaps in the current policy portfolio that could potentially limit the Government's capacity to support the whole range of needed interventions. Drawing on the findings in previous chapters, chapter six presents' recommendations. One set of recommendations is specific to the three products with high income potential and focuses on effective interventions for their production. Another set consists of cross-cutting recommendations that would further improve performance in the targeted areas but also benefit agricultural production more broadly. Chapter seven sums up and concludes.
Smallholder banana farmers are beginning to understand that their old farming methods are contributing to the planet's drying up or suffocating in fields of garbage. They are convinced that they have to change their ways for the good of their farms, their communities, and their children. But what really drives them to adopt new and sustainable practices? What will ensure they continue to do so? International Finance Corporation (IFC) partnered with Unifrutti Philippines in 2008 to work with farmers to enable them to be certified to the international Sustainable Agriculture Network standards of the Rainforest Alliance (RA). With concerted efforts from Unifrutti (the lead firm) and IFC, smallholder farmers were trained to understand the RA standards and auditing processes, buy into the concepts of environment and social sustainability, adopt new sustainable practices, and pass the certification audit all within 12 months. This smart lesson examines the difficult challenges of instituting change, as well as the necessary steps to ensure ongoing sustainability.
In the past 50 years, Indian agriculture has undergone a major transformation, from dependence on food aid to becoming a consistent net food exporter. The gradual reforms in the agricultural sector (following the broader macro-reforms of the early 1990s) spurred some unprecedented innovations and changes in the food sector driven by private investment. These impressive achievements must now be viewed in light of the policy and investment imperatives that lie ahead. Agricultural growth has improved in recent years (averaging about 3.5 percent since 2004-05), but at a long-term trend rate of growth of 3 percent, agriculture has underperformed relative to its potential. The pockets of post-reform dynamism that have emerged evidently have not reached a sufficiently large scale to influence the sector's performance. For the vast population that still derives a living directly or indirectly from agriculture, achieving "faster, more inclusive, and sustainable growth', the objectives at the heart of the Twelfth five year plan, depends critically on simultaneous efforts to improve agriculture's performance and develop new sources of employment for the disproportionately large share of the labor force still on the farm. The scope of this study is broad in the sense that it marshals considerable empirical evidence and analyses to address those issues. Yet the scope is restricted in the sense that the study does not address all of the issues. A wealth of knowledge exists (and continuing analytical work proceeds) on other major strategic issues, water and irrigation management, food grain management, and public expenditures on agriculture, for example, and the findings of this study must be seen in that context. The lack of sufficient quality data, and often the lack of access to such data, also prevents some issues from being explored in greater depth. Finally, some important issues require more focused and dedicated analysis, such as food safety and quality standards, agricultural trade, and food price increases. This relationship between longer-term strategic issues and contemporary concerns, such as water resource management and food prices, are highlighted in this study through the prism of productivity, but they too require further analysis to fully address the underlying issues.
This report presents the outcome of the World Bank's analytical and advisory work to assess the status of water resources development and the key water issues and challenges facing the country. The Bank has also reviewed its history of cooperation with the Government of China in recent decades, and notes the remarkable achievements China has made in developing the water sector. The report proposes solutions for tackling the enormous challenges facing China in the sector. The central priority is to ensure sustainable utilization and management of water, land and related resources at the national, basin, regional and local levels. Despite relatively poor endowments of land and water by international standards, China's economy has developed extremely rapidly over the last three decades, supporting 21 percent of the world's population with 9 percent of the world's arable land and only 6 percent of the world's water while simultaneously lifting some 400 million people out of poverty. It is noted in the national water resources master plan recently completed by the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) that China's water resources are under stress from the combined demands of agriculture, industrialization, urbanization, population increases and improving living standards. The impact is evident in regional falling water tables, inadequate flows to the environment, pollution, and so on.
Over the past quarter century, Vietnam’s agricultural sector has made enormous progress. Vietnam’s performance in terms of agricultural yields, output, and exports, however, has been more impressive than its gains in efficiency, farmer welfare, and product quality. Vietnamese agriculture now sits at a turning point. The agricultural sector now faces growing domestic competition - from cities, industry, and services - for labor, land, and water. Rising labor costs are beginning to inhibit the sector’s ability to compete globally as a low cost producer of bulk undifferentiated commodities. Going forward, Vietnam’s agricultural sector needs to generate more from less. That is, it must generate more economic value - and farmer and consumer welfare - using less natural and human capital and less harmful intermediate inputs. The strategic shift was highlighted in the government’s agricultural restructuring plan (ARP), approved by the Prime Minister in June 2014. The ARP defines sector goals in terms of the triple bottom line of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable development. It lays out expected changes in the roles and spending patterns of the government in the sector and discusses the need to work with other stakeholders, including in the private sector. It calls for an ambitious and ongoing process of learning and experimentation, and several potential directions are offered in this report.
The aim of this discussion paper is to ascertain the government of Lao's (GoL) current practices in negotiating, awarding, and managing land concessions; enhance GoL understanding and commitments to develop national capacities targeting improved land management, that will generate revenues for GoL, and ensure sustainable development as an urgent priority; and provide a basis for dialogue within the government to enable its determination of priorities to better address land development issues in Laos, to enable the achievement of sustainable, responsible economic development. The paper also examines key issues revolving around the sustainable utilization of land, and the mechanisms, through an examination of GoL s policy statements. The findings are provided, and the report advises that GoL pay special attention to four major points: the availability of adequate and accurate information on which to make decisions on concessions; adequate capacity within GoL agencies to determine, award and monitor/oversee the operation of concessions; and governance over land and natural resources. These points of guidance are expected to contribute towards developing sustainable approaches for land administration and management programs in Lao PDR, and enabling GoL to adopt more rigorous oversight of the land and natural resources sector, as well to the political economy aspects of resource management.
This policy note examines the policy and investment framework between 2003 and 2010, resulting sector performance and the priorities for future development. It draws attention to the need to refocus on completing the fundamental reforms and investments on which Kyrgyzstan's early successes were built. These include further development of land market, building rural finance markets, further public investment and institutional development in the irrigation sector, encouraging greater private investment in the seeds sector and machinery services, public-private partnerships for advisory service provision, completion of ongoing reforms in pasture management, development of veterinary services and improving the business environment for private investment in agro-processing. The policy Note discusses the government's approach to achieving greater food security, which centers on food self-sufficiency and discusses why this is not the best route to raising low rural incomes - the root cause of food insecurity. The report discusses some of the policies conceived after the food price crisis, including intervention in output markets, and argues that these are likely to be unaffordable, ineffective and will divert limited resources away from more important reforms. The policy note describes possible approaches to development of the sector, including minimal government intervention in markets, promoting responsibility for management of natural resources with communities, facilitating user contributions to infrastructure investments and the cost of services and provision of public services through private providers. These were the foundation of many of Kyrgyzstan's earlier successes but also respond to the new imperatives brought about by the 2010 political crisis, including the renewed urgency for growth and stability in the agricultural sector to rebuild rural communities, fiscal discipline to address the budget deficit and improved governance to restore confidence in government. The strategic objectives could more usefully emphasize the need to: a) raise rural incomes; b) protect vulnerable consumers from price and supply shocks; c) increase agricultural profitability and reduce risk; d) protect consumers from public health risks; and e) arrest environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity.
This policy note examines the policy and investment framework between 2003 and 2010, resulting sector performance and the priorities for future development. It draws attention to the need to refocus on completing the fundamental reforms and investments on which Kyrgyzstan's early successes were built. These include further development of land market, building rural finance markets, further public investment and institutional development in the irrigation sector, encouraging greater private investment in the seeds sector and machinery services, public-private partnerships for advisory service provision, completion of ongoing reforms in pasture management, development of veterinary services and improving the business environment for private investment in agro-processing. The policy Note discusses the government's approach to achieving greater food security, which centers on food self-sufficiency and discusses why this is not the best route to raising low rural incomes - the root cause of food insecurity. The report discusses some of the policies conceived after the food price crisis, including intervention in output markets, and argues that these are likely to be unaffordable, ineffective and will divert limited resources away from more important reforms. The policy note describes possible approaches to development of the sector, including minimal government intervention in markets, promoting responsibility for management of natural resources with communities, facilitating user contributions to infrastructure investments and the cost of services and provision of public services through private providers. These were the foundation of many of Kyrgyzstan's earlier successes but also respond to the new imperatives brought about by the 2010 political crisis, including the renewed urgency for growth and stability in the agricultural sector to rebuild rural communities, fiscal discipline to address the budget deficit and improved governance to restore confidence in government. The strategic objectives could more usefully emphasize the need to: a) raise rural incomes; b) protect vulnerable consumers from price and supply shocks; c) increase agricultural profitability and reduce risk; d) protect consumers from public health risks; and e) arrest environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity.
The sector review includes seven chapters and one annex. This first chapter is an overview of agriculture, irrigation and the purpose and content of this report. The second chapter provides a review of the Bank s own strategy and priorities for irrigation and drainage within its portfolio of investments, from the time of its 2004 Strategy until the present. It also includes a short summary of key lessons learned in this sector. The third chapter provides a brief situation analysis for irrigation and drainage in Azerbaijan, including a description of key parameters and changes; a description of rising challenges, needs and opportunities; and an overview of the Government s State Program (SP) for Sustainable Development of Amelioration and water management for 2008-2015. The fourth chapter describes the issues of investment and financing of irrigation and drainage priorities for infrastructure development, rehabilitation and modernization, and management. This includes investment priorities for the Government as well as needs for cost recovery by water users for the cost of irrigation and drainage system operations and maintenance. The fifth chapter describes the institutional framework and how it has emerged since independence. It also identifies outstanding issues for further institutional development, both for the Government and for water users associations (WUA). The sixth chapter describes the implications of climate change for the vulnerable irrigation and drainage sector in Azerbaijan. Suggestions are provided for a process to prepare an adaptation strategy for climate change. The seventh chapter identifies ten key priorities for investments in the irrigation and drainage sector in Azerbaijan. These priorities are based on the views of staff of the World Bank, staff of the AIOJSC (Amelioration and Irrigation Open Joint Stock Company), selected consultants and the author.
Agriculture is among the most risk-prone sectors in the economies of Central Asia. Production shocks from weather, pests and diseases and adverse movements in agricultural product and input prices not only impact farmers and agri-business firms, but can also strain government finances. Some of these risks are small and localized and can be managed by producers. Others are the result of more severe, exogenous shocks outside agriculture that require a broader response. Failure to respond adequately to these more severe risks leads to a perpetual cycle of ‘shock-recovery-shock’ which reinforces poverty traps and compromises long-term growth. A broad-based program to improve livestock productivity is recommended to strengthen the resilience of livestock production systems and rangeland use in Kazakhstan. Proposed interventions include measures to: (i) reverse degradation of water, soil and vegetation cover; (ii) safeguard the long-term viability of rangeland ecosystems, while ensuring sustainable access to grazing land; and (iii) strengthen livestock services (veterinary, animal health, feed and fodder supply, destocking, water and grazing access, and weather and market information). These measures will enable farmers to manage their resources better, to respond to climate and market signals and to protect their resource base in times of drought. The recommendations developed under these three solution areas continue the underlying emphasis on mitigation as the foundation for risk management. They also highlight the mutually reinforcing benefits of measures to improve crop and livestock productivity for both risk management and sector growth.
This report is organized into nine chapters. Chapter one provides the introduction to the report. Chapter two presents alternative approaches to agribusiness development and chapter three discusses the role of agribusiness incubators. Chapter four discusses the challenges of agribusiness incubators and chapter five presents a typology of agribusiness incubators. Chapter six elaborates on the evolution of incubators over time. Chapter seven presents the analysis of impact and cost-benefits. Chapter eight summarizes good practices and lessons learned. Chapter nine presents the recommendations.
Community-driven development (CDD) projects seek to empower communities, reduce poverty, and improve economic and social conditions of the poor, typically in rural and remote areas. No less important, CDD also typically addresses two persistent gender gaps: (1) women's lack of voice in public decision making, and (2) their poor access to services and markets. Much of the development community finds CDD to be appealing, and its use is widespread and growing. Nonetheless, the evidence to support the assumption that CDD effectively promotes development and enhances women's opportunities can be strengthened. Although most development projects have monitoring systems, these systems often focus more on outputs and less on outcomes and impacts. Such systems do not provide policymakers, managers, and stakeholders with an understanding of the success or failure of their projects or whether the well-being of the intended beneficiaries has improved.
Several posters have been created on the occasion of the 5th TAP Partners Assembly (Laos, 20-22 September 2017) to show recent activities and achievements in the eight pilot countries of the CDAIS project.
The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
This poster specifically deals with CDAIS achievements and next steps in Laos.
Several posters have been created on the occasion of the 5th TAP Partners Assembly (Laos, 20-22 September 2017) to show recent activities and achievements in the eight pilot countries of the CDAIS project.
The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
This poster specifically deals with the innovation niches in Laos.
Several posters have been created on the occasion of the 5th TAP Partners Assembly (Laos, 20-22 September 2017) to show recent activities and achievements in the eight pilot countries of the CDAIS project.
The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
This poster specifically deals with the CDAIS achievements and next steps in Bangladesh.
Several posters have been created on the occasion of the 5th TAP Partners Assembly (Laos, 20-22 September 2017) to show recent activities and achievements in the eight pilot countries of the CDAIS project.
The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
This poster specifically deals with the partnerships promoted by the CDAIS project in Bangladesh.
The study made a rigorous analysis of the production and export performance of the sector, challenges accompanying vegetables exports, backward and forward supply chain issues and requirements at the export destinations, and an assessment of government policies to address the supply side constraints in the vegetables exports.
Building on this potential, Katalyst’s Women’s Economic Empowement (WEE) sector designed an intervention to provide training in modern prawn cultivation techniques and input and create linkages between feed and aqua-chemical companies with women prawn farmers of the Jessore-Khulna Bagerhat Satkhira Narail belt. Through this intervention, 22,170 women farmers have improved access to quality inputs and relevant know-how. Prawn production cycles have been reduced to nine months and women's profits have almost doubled, which has had a positive impact on their economic empowerment levels.
Inclusive Market Development (IMD) has potential to promote the economic development of the country through the collaborative efforts of different stakeholders (both public and private), by establishing new norms, delivering well-targeted programmes, and providing support to accelerate the pace of change.
Katalyst, one of the leading market development programs in Bangladesh, wanted to investigate the scope for growth of agro-food processing industry in Bangladesh and define the interventions that could facilitate the growth by addressing the key barriers for growth and competitiveness. The study began with identifying prospective subsectors to analyse and understand the subsector-specific and overarching constraints and opportunities. After a rigorous selection process: Tilapia and Pangus (aquatic fish), Mango and Tomato (fruits and vegetables), chili and turmeric (spices), Potato, Mung (Pulses), Maize (grain processing), and mustard (oil seed) were selected and analyzed.
This video campaign shows how the successful Katalyst Market Development Project in Bangladesh is facilitating access to high-value products, services and local sales markets. At the heart of this campaign is a new video featuring the cricket heroine Salma Khatun.
What do cricket stars and smallholder farmers have in common? Everyone has overcome difficult situations in life or achieved a special accomplishment thanks to a “catalyst”. A catalyst is an instrument that inspires us and helps us to realise our full potential. A catalyst can be a single mother who is always there for her children, or a teacher who brings out the best in his students, or even something as abstract as an inspiring book.
In particular, the video tells how Bangladesh’s cricket star Salma Khatun and the fish farmer Shilpi Rani Biswas each found their success in life through a catalyst.
The goal of both of this report is to draw lessons from Katalyst’s experience which could be used more broadly. As the private sector assumes a more significant role in the architecture of development it is important to understand more clearly what benefits companies might get from greater engagement; and also what actions work best to facilitate inclusive market approaches.
Innovation is one of the driving forces in development. However, innovation can be expensive and at times risky, which oſten prevents or delays the emergence of important new ideas. That is why Katalyst project has launched the Innovation Fund initiative, a grant delivery mechanism to spur and encourage innovations in Bangladesh’s agri-business sector that ultimately benefit poor farmers across Bangladesh. Targeted at a broad range of actors such as private sector companies, NGOs, associations, think-tanks and consultancy firms, the Innovation Fund supported new, creative solutions that will help poor farmers to realize their full potential by increasing their economic involvement in the markets.
The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
This flyer is intended as one of a series that will report the many and varied activities of CDAIS in each country, including, for example, policy dialogues, ‘marketplaces’, and specific outcomes.
This flyer specifically covers the CDAIS experience in Laos, that involved the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) of Laos, the Department of Agriculture Extension and Cooperative of Laos, the National University of Laos and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD).
The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
This flyer is intended as one of a series that will report the many and varied activities of CDAIS in each country, including, for example, policy dialogues, ‘marketplaces’, and specific outcomes.
This flyer specifically covers the CDAIS experience in Bangladesh, that involved the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and the National Resources Institute of the University of Greenwhich.
The ‘ICT based Customer Care Solution for Poor Farmers’ is a case study that highlights Katalyst project’s work in developing low cost ICT solutions for farmers by collaborating with various public and private sector partners. The case study specifically focuses on a missed call based agriculture helpline service that was developed in collaboration with leading agriculture input companies. The service provides agriculture information solutions to smallholder farmers for free. Till date, the service has benefitted approximately 160,000 farmers.
The extensive case study on ‘Improving Public Agricultural Extension Services in Bangladesh Using the M4P Approach’ illustrates Katalyst project’s experience in terms of designing interventions in the Local Government Services (LGS) sector, from testing them in small scale towards scaling-up and the accompanying challenges. The case study shows how innovative public-private partnerships create a vast impact on the lives of poor farmers in Bangladesh.
The case studies use a framework developed jointly by Katalyst project and Springfield Centre to capture changes of market systems supported by the project. They describe developments in input markets of vegetable, farmed fish and in the maize production and how they contribute to an inclusive economic growth with benefits for small and poor farmers and for private companies in Bangladesh. They also show that the framework is a useful tool to analyse the wider impacts of a Market System Development Program for programme steering and review.
Often, farmers excessively use chemical pesticides with detrimental effects on environmental and human health.The ‘Commercialising Bio-Pesticides in Bangladesh’ mini case study explains how the Katalyst project and private sector partner Ispahani Agro Ltd. formulated a policy recommendation on the amendment of the 1985 Pesticide Act to make the proper registration and marketing of “Bio-Pesticides” possible, allowing companies to market and distribute IPM products to a mass audience.
The ‘Licensing Fish Brood Import’ mini case study shows how Katalyst facilitated the linkage between local hatcheries and international brood sources and together with the Department of Fisheries established a standard operational procedure for brood import
Earlier high-value Tilapia, Koi and Pangus fry are mostly bought by lead farmers only while small farmers use low-yielding local species. A breakthrough was reached during Phase 2 of the Katalyst project, when hatcheries started marketing high-yielding fish fingerlings to small farmers. The promotion included pond management and cultivation improvements that further increased farmers’ productivity. Since 2014, large fish feed and aqua chemical companies as well as dealers and nurseries along the fish value chain joined in targeting their products to smallholders.
Katalyst project has been facilitating awareness raising on the importance of balanced fertiliser application in Bangladesh since 2006. In the third phase, Katalyst focused heavily on promoting micronutrient fertiliser under its co-facilitation partnership with Innovision Consulting Ltd and facilitated multiple private input companies through sub-facilitation and partnership grants in order to improve capacity of their staff, integrate customer orientated business model by improving their existing manuals, build capacity of retailers on balanced usage of fertiliser and motivate and make farmers aware to use balanced usage of fertiliser in their cultivable lands.
In 2014-2016, Katalyst project and the Bangladesh Crop Protection Association (BCPA) extended their work by training farmers, women, retailers and pesticide spray men on the safe and judicious use of pesticides (SUP). This initiative improved the ability of farmers to select the right types of pesticide, and to use them appropriately with the correct dosage.
Voices of Change brings you stories that are representative of the wide range of Katalyst’s work across Bangladesh. The project uses the market development approach, which is an indirect way of working to change the existing market systems as a means to benefit the poor people. In these stories, the beneficiaries share with you the constraints they faced as well as the solutions they found to bring about radical changes in their lives. This has been possible because they have adopted some of the innovative services and products that Katalyst has introduced to them through local partners such as, where to find quality inputs like seed and how to use them, how to select and apply the right type and apply the correct amount of fertilisers, where and how to access relevant and accurate agriculture related information, how to successfully link to output markets in order to sell their produce on time and for a good price, and so on and so forth. These services or products have given people living in poverty new skills, knowledge, and information that helped them to increase their income and improve their living conditions. These families now eat nutritious food on a regular basis, and can fulfill their dreams of educating their children, build durable homes and live more securer lives.
This publication is providing a glimpse into how Katalyst is realising systemic change by making market systems more inclusive. As a result of the systemic changes, farmers are empowered to increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods, private companies are changing their business models as they recognize the buying power of small farmers and cater to their needs, and the public sector fulfills its role of supporting the poor more effectively by creating conducive enabling environments.
Canvas of Change brings you stories from Phase 3 of the Katalyst and presents the positive impact that this project is achieving. We believe that stories are the best medium to capture that impact, and this booklet expresses, from the perspective of the beneficiaries themselves, how the poor are benefiting from Katalyst’s innovative approach.These beneficiaries describe how Katalyst has brought real change to their lives.This has been possible because they have adopted some of the innovative services and products that Katalyst has introduced to them through local partners: where to find quality inputs like quality seeds and how to use them, how to select the right type and apply the correct amount of fertiliser, where and how to access relevant and accurate agriculture related information, how to successfully link up with output markets in order to sell their produce at the best time and for a good price, and much more. These services and products have given people living in poverty new skills, knowledge and information to increase their income and improve their living conditions. As a result, these families now eat nutritious food on a regular basis, and fulfill their dreams of educating their children, building durable homes, and living more secure lives.
The Agribusiness for Trade Competitiveness Project (ATC-P), branded as Katalyst, is a pioneer market systems development project contributing to sustainable poverty reduction in Bangladesh. It is implemented by Swisscontact under the umbrella of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of Bangladesh. The project has been operating in Bangladesh since 2003 in three phases. Phase 3 of Katalyst (March 2014 - March 2017) is co-funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the UK Government, and the Danish International Development Agency (Danida). In phase 3, under the ‘Capitalisation’ mandate, Katalyst has extracted useful elements and lessons of the project and shared among the relevant institutions. Through ‘the story of Katalyst’, we have made attempts to capture the evolution and share the management experiences of implementing the project which could be useful to others specially those who are implementing similar projects. Since the main focus of this publication is to provide information on the management of the project, partnerships, communication and approaches, it is different from other publications that highlight Katalyst’s success and results against its targets.
Agriculture is crucial for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), involving approximately 50% of the economically active population and contributing an estimated 25% to the gross national product. However, agricultural production has remained low due to soil degradation and pest damage in cabbage and maize (particularly due to lepidopteron pests), amongst other reasons. To help improve productivity and address food security issues, CABI has been working in DPRK since 2002 to introduce integrated pest management (IPM). This is a sustainable approach combining cultural, biological and chemical control methods to provide stable yields and long-term reduction in pesticide use. By integrating IPM into agricultural production, as well as into extension and education in DPRK, higher yields for staple crops, such as maize and cabbage, have been achieved and communities protected from the short- and long-term effects of harmful chemical pesticides. Sustained support and facilitation from CABI to national research institutions has also helped to strengthen capacity, so that further IPM can be developed across the country. Whilst the initiative initially focused on technical interventions, including the introduction of biocontrol - using Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) biopesticides and Trichogramma wasps - CABI’s approach changed over time.
Working with women in the agriculture sector in Pakistan poses a challenge as agricultural extension and development staff are predominantly male and interactions for women with men outside the family are culturally not acceptable. At the same time, women in Pakistan play an equal role in agriculture as well as taking responsibility for household chores, including cooking and taking care of the nutrition of the family. CAB International (CABI), Central and West Asia Office, based in Rawalpindi, has been working with partners in Pakistan to train farmers to improve agricultural production and participate more effectively in commodity value chains. Training courses and workshops have been developed and delivered on livestock management, high-value cropping systems, good agricultural practices (GAP), sanitary and phytosanitary measures, integrated pest and crop management, agricultural innovation systems and business and marketing skills to enable farmers to be more responsive to the market. Although the majority of activities have taken place with men, training has also targeted women, through Farmer Field School (FFS) programmes in Gilgit Baltistan on tomato production and livestock and dairy development, in partnership with Satpara Development Project (SDP). In South Punjab, women have been trained in kitchen gardening (home vegetable production) including seed and stored grain management funded by the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF). This impact assessment research study will assist CABI in learning lessons on the effectiveness of the training programmes, vis-à-vis a gender focus, by evaluating the recipients’ responses in order to analyse the social and economic impact on their lives. The lessons will then be used to plan and design further interventions to improve agricultural productivity of households based on defined gender roles and responsibilities.
Presentation for the AARINENA General Assembly. Damascus. 12-14 October 2008 on enhancing Information and Knowledge Systems for Agricultural Research and Innovation in West Asia and North Africa (WANA). In particular, the presentation outlines the need to enhance Information and Knowledge Systems in WANA, the priority areas for enhancing information and knowledge systems in WANA, the role of GFAR and its members in enhancing information and knowledge systems in WANA.
This PROLINNOVA report to the 3rd GFAR Programme-Committee meeting is composed of two parts.
The past 1 entitles ‘ PROLINNOVA genesis and growth’ describes historical background and
PROLINOVA in general while the part 2 entitles ‘2007 accomplishments’ narrates specific
accomplishments of PROLINNOVA during the period January-November 2007 . Further, the annex 1
lists contact addresses.
This presentation was realized for the Global Conference on Agricultural Research & Development at
Montpellier, France, which was held on March 28-31, 2010. The author presents the topic of Agricultural Extension in India and includes the experience of the Farm Science Centre Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK).
The DURAS Project, which ran from 2004 to 2008, established a truly pioneering means of integrating innovation from science with that from communities themselves. At the heart of DURAS has been its innovative competitive grants system. Following an original selection and evaluation process that placed a premium on multi-stakeholder partnerships, 12 projects were funded in Africa and Asia over a period of three years, each involving an array of disciplines and partners. These programmes allowed research institutions and civil society organizations to work as true partners, each bringing their own knowledge, understanding and ideas to the interface between science and society and breaking through institutionalized barriers to bring a new dimension of engagement and mutual understanding. Each article in this publication was written by the project participants. It is an attempt to capture, in a few pages, the complex, yet mutually enriching experience of partners across a wide range of development contexts. It also presents some key results and lessons learned along the way that will have value to many others working to create more integrated AR4D systems.
This report assesses trends in investments and human resource capacity in agricultural R&D in countries in West Asia and North Africa (WANA), focusing on developments during 2009–2012. The analysis is based on information from a set of country factsheets prepared by the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) program of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), using comprehensive datasets derived from primary surveys targeting over 300 agencies in 11 countries during 2013–2014. Accounting for about two-thirds of the region’s total agricultural gross domestic product (AgGDP), the 11 sample countries do not provide a complete overview of agricultural R&D expenditures and staffing in the region as a whole. Yet, these countries are representative of the region’s diversity in terms of income level, country size, and agroclimatic characteristics. As private-sector data were not available in all sample countries, the data presented in this report only include agricultural R&D performed by government and higher education agencies. Data on the contributions of international agricultural R&D agencies operating in the subregion, such as the centers of the CGIAR Consortium, have also been excluded.
Until recently, little attention has been paid to local innovation capacity as well as management practices and institutions developed by communities and other local actors based on their traditional knowledge. This paper doesn't focus on the results of scientific research into innovation systems, but rather on how local communities, in a network of supportive partnerships, draw knowledge for others, combine it with their own knowledge and then innovate in their local practices. Innovation, as discussed in this article, is the capacity of local stakeholders to play an active role in innovative knowledge creation in order to enhance local health practices and further environmental conservation. In this article, the innovative processes through which this capacity is created and reinforced will be defined as a process of "ethnomedicine capacity". The field study undertaken by the first author took place in India, in the State of Tamil Nadu, over a period of four months in 2007. The data was collected through individual interviews and focus groups and was complemented by participant observations.
With the rapid pace of climate change and its impact on food security and livelihoods, climate-smart agriculture is one strategy aiming to help farmers adopt more sustainable farming practices. This study looked at farmers’ adoption of agricultural innovations and the role of social networks in the process. Through interviews and observations, the authors (1) identified determinants and barriers affecting farmers’ adoption of agricultural innovations in My Loi Climate-Smart Village in northcentral Vietnam, and (2) explored how social learning and social networks contribute to farmers’ knowledge generation during innovation adoption. Results show that determinants and constraints for the adoption of agricultural innovation exist at multiple levels. The study presents evidence of the value of social networks for the adoption of innovation, identifies what constitutes promising social networks, and gives examples of institutional structures that influenced the adoption process. Recommendations for social learning networks and scaling of climate-smart agriculture innovations are provided.
Drawing on studies from Africa, Asia and South America, this book provides empirical evidence and conceptual explorations of the gendered dimensions of food security. It investigates how food security and gender inequity are conceptualized within interventions, assesses the impacts and outcomes of gender-responsive programs on food security and gender equity, and addresses diverse approaches to gender research and practice that range from descriptive and analytical to strategic and transformative. The chapters draw on diverse theoretical perspectives, including transformative learning, feminist theory, deliberative democracy and technology adoption. As a result, they add important conceptual and empirical material to a growing literature on the challenges of gender equity in food production. A unique feature of this book is the integration of both analytic and transformative approaches to understanding gender and food security. The analytic material shows how food security interventions enable women and men to meet the long-term nutritional needs of their households, and to enhance their economic position. The transformative chapters also document efforts to build durable and equitable relationships between men and women, addressing underlying social, cultural and economic causes of gender inequality. Taken together, these combined approaches enable women and men to reflect on gendered divisions of labour and resources related to food, and to reshape these divisions in ways which benefit families and communities.
Accountability pressure to demonstrate how research for development projects will bridge the ‘output - outcome gap’ and achieve impacts ‘at scale’ has increased. Consequently, efforts to develop ‘Theory of Change’ (ToC) and impact pathways that steer programs and projects to outcomes have grown within Australia’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) strategy. In response, the cross agency Food Systems Innovation (FSI) initiative piloted the use of ToC thinking within Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). FSI was invited to engage with the large ACIAR-managed Sustainable and Resilient Farming System Intensification (SRFSI) project running from 2014 to 2018 in the Eastern Gangetic Plains. Reviewers of the SRFSI proposal suggested that the project needed strengthening in terms of achieving institutional change and widespread impact. ToC thinking was introduced to SRFSI’s partners during the FSI Symposium and strategic planning meetings and workshops were held in-country.
Present-day society asks more from agriculture than just the production of food. Agriculture is now required to be concerned with the quality of food, ecosystem services, inclusion of marginalized populations, revitalization of rural territories, energy production, etc. This opening up of the future of agriculture encourages rural actors to experiment with new farming systems, using imagination, creativity and determination to replace dominant models. At the same time, low-cost mass-production systems continue on their way, with promises of a future based on green technologies. In this discussion it is important to consider what kind of sustainable development societies really want. Which innovations will help in achieving these developments? What role can research and public policies play in supporting the emergence of these innovations? This book takes the debate beyond the purely technical options and considers social and institutional innovations as well. It demonstrates that innovation is the result of a confrontation between visions of actors who often have divergent interests. There is no single path towards sustainable development and we must find ways to encourage the emergence and co-existence of different types of agriculture and food systems. The success of transitions will not only depend on our capacity to rethink existing models, but especially on our willingness to embark on a creative learning process from which we will inevitably emerge transformed.
This paper synthesizes Component 2 of the Regoverning Markets Programme. It is based on 38 empirical case studies where small-scale farmers and businesses connected successfully to dynamic markets, doing business with agri-processors and supermarkets. The studies aimed to derive models, strategies and policy principles to guide public and private sector actors in promoting greater participation of small-scale producers in dynamic markets. This publication forms part of the Regoverning Markets project.
This report provides summary findings and conclusions from a set of five case studies examining the scaling up of pro-poor agricultural innovations through commercial pathways in developing countries. The E3 Analytics and Evaluation Project conducted the studies and prepared this synthesis report on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Food Security (USAID/BFS), as part of the Bureau’s efforts to scale up the impact of the Feed the Future initiative. The study’s findings also draw on the results of a one-day workshop at which the Project team presented the case studies and preliminary findings to a group of agriculture and scaling experts. USAID/BFS commissioned this study to produce lessons and, ultimately, guidance for the Agency including its country Missions about what types of innovations and which country contexts are best suited for scaling up through commercial pathways, and to identify the activities, strategies, and support necessary to facilitate successful scaling.
Case Studies:
IFPRI’s flagship report reviews the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2016, and highlights challenges and opportunities for 2017 at the global and regional levels. This year’s report looks at the impact of rapid urban growth on food security and nutrition, and considers how food systems can be reshaped to benefit both urban and rural populations. Drawing on recent research, IFPRI researchers and other distinguished food policy experts consider a range of timely questions:
■ What do we know about the impacts of urbanization on hunger and nutrition?
■ What are our greatest research and data needs for better policy making that will ensure food security and improve diets for growing
urban populations?
■ How can we better connect rural smallholders to urban food consumers to ensure that smallholders benefit from expanding urban food markets?
■ Why do city environments drive a nutrition transition toward poorer diets, and what policies can improve the nutrition environment?
■ How are urban areas reshaping agricultural value chains for staple crops and benefiting small farmers?
■ What role do informal markets play in feeding cities, and how can they be better governed to increase urban food security?
The 2017 Global Food Policy Report also presents data tables and visualizations for several key food policy indicators, including country-
level data on hunger, agricultural spending and research investment, and projections for future agricultural production and consumption. In addition to illustrative figures, tables, and a timeline of food policy events in 2016, the report includes the results of a global opinion poll on urbanization and the current state of food policy.
This paper critically discusses the modification and application of one particular participatory approach to agricultural systems analysis (Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Innovation Systems [RAAIS]) to agricultural adaptation in Southeast Kazakhstan. We consider the overall effectiveness of the method as a research tool, practical issues in the implementation of workshops, definition of and selection of participant groups, as well as the questions of participation and empowerment within the workshops themselves. We find that although RAAIS is adaptable to alternative theoretical frameworks, its implementation in different socio-cultural and political contexts may require more consideration than is apparent in previous discussions. In particular, the appropriate training of workshop organisers is of crucial importance to the success of this methodology. These findings will be useful to those adapting participatory research methods to different research topics and contexts more broadly
According to the authors of this paper, actual methods of scaling are rather empirical and based on the premise of ‘find out what works in one place and do more of the same, in another place’. These methods thus would not sufficiently take into account complex realities beyond the concepts of innovation transfer, dissemination, diffusion and adoption. As a consequence, scaling initiatives often do not produce the desired effect. They may produce undesirable effects in the form of negative spill-overs or unanticipated side effects such as environmental degradation, bad labour conditions of farm workers and loss of control of farming communities over access to genetic resources. Therefore the authors conceptualise scaling processes as an integral part of a systemic approach to innovation, to anticipate on the possible consequences of scaling efforts. The propose a method that connects the heuristic framework of the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions (MLP) to a philosophical ‘modal aspects’ framework, with the objective of elucidating the connectedness between technologies, processes and practices. The resultant framework, the PRactice-Oriented Multi-level perspective on Innovation and Scaling (PROMIS), can inform research and policymakers on the complex dynamics involved in scaling. This is illustrated in relation to three cases in which the framework was applied: scaling agro-ecological practices in Nicaragua, farmer field schools on cocoa cultivation in Cameroon and ‘green rubber’ cultivation in Southwest China.
This paper reviews the experience of the Biodiversity Consortium at the Philippine site in conducting research to develop tools and approaches to improve biodiversity conservation with the active involvement of the communities that live near the Mt. Kitanglad Range Nature Park. The following section discusses the global setting of Integrated Conservation Development Projects (ICDP) , highlights some of the key lessons learned so far, and proposes a theoretical framework. The subsequent sections review the SANREM experience in developing methods for achieving conservation with development in the Manupali watershed. The conclusion summarizes the progress observed and remaining limitations. It discusses future directions for integrated conservation-development in this location, and more.
Afghanistan-ICARDA programs have field tested a range of rural development approaches and practices. Many of these are ripe for scaling-up at national level and can contribute to the EU-Afghanistan National Priority Programs (NPP) 2017-2021. This brief synthesizes those rural development plans of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan which have been supported by ICARDA (the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) since 2002, in areas including: provision of seeds and new crop varieties, improving management of land and water, introducing new agricultural production technologies and farming practices, and enterprise building for rural communities, with a special focus on women’s empowerment.
In this book, the authors assessed the role of biotechnology innovation for sustainable development in emerging and developing economies. This book compiles studies that each illustrate the potential, demonstrated value and challenges of biotechnology applications for sustainable agricultural innovation and/or industrial development in a national, regional and international context. This book was written in the frame of the International Industrial Biotechnology Network (IIBN), a joint initiative between UNIDO and IPBO (International Plant Biotechnology Outreach) supported by the Flemish government (EWI). IIBN coordinated by IPBO fosters the development of sustainable applications of agricultural and industrial biotechnology in developing and emerging economies through international cooperation.
This publication comprises 24 full papers/abstracts presented at the “High Level Policy Dialogue on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific” (Bangkok, 8-9 December 2015). The papers/ abstracts are arranged under five thematic areas: i) Status and Outlook for Investment in Agricultural Research and Innovation; ii) Scoping Investments in Agricultural Research and Innovation - Addressing Current and Emerging Challenges; iii) Scoping Investments in Agricultural Research and Innovation - Climate Smart and Sustainable Agriculture, Knowledge Management for Sustainable Agriculture, Capacity Development for Sustainable Agriculture; iv) Impact Expectations from Investment in Agricultural Research and Innovation; and v) Innovative Funding Mechanisms. The papers include in-depth analyses of the status of investment in agricultural research and innovation by countries in the Asia-Pacific region and also highlight the challenges and opportunities for addressing issues of agricultural productivity and sustainability through wider stakeholder involvement.
The challenges of providing food security for the developing world have perhaps never been so extreme, with the introduction of new technologies being matched by land degradation, water concerns and the often uncertain impacts of a changing climate. In short, we will need to produce more food on less land. Adding to the problem is the distrust and fear around some new technologies – particularly biotechnologies – that have created a divide between scientists and farmers, decision makers and the public. There have been many attempts to bridge these divides, but few success stories. As a result, there is an urgency to put similar scientific rigour into communications about agri-biotechnology that has gone into much of the scientific development of products. This report represents an attempt at providing such a rigour. It uses the collective wisdom of experts representing many countries, who have focussed on solid communication and social science research, and best-practice examples, to provide a new approach to engaging with key stakeholders. By approaching communication problems from many different perspectives, it provides many different solutions, which will hopefully contribute to ensuring that national choices about food futures are based on facts and evidence of benefits. It is an issue we cannot afford to approach with anything but our best.
The importance of agriculture to Mongolia’s economy, and to its rural economy in particular, makes sustainable agricultural development a national priority. The transition from collective socialism to a market economy in the 1990s nearly caused the collapse of the entire agriculture sector. Since privatization, the number of livestock animals, mainly sheep and goats, has increased dramatically, reaching 45.1 million in 2012. This growth in both livestock and crop production was enabled by several factors. Yet investment in research and extension remains very low. Without sufficient government backing for research and development, extension services and veterinarians, information about weather and prices or access to market and credit, agricultural producers found themselves in an increasingly precarious position.
This guide is intended to assist facilitators in conducting a workshop with Extension and Advisory Service (EAS) providers for assessing their capacity needs. This guide has been compiled by the Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy (CRISP) for AESA with the assistance of a research grant from the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS). The purpose of the research grant was to identify capacity gaps at various levels (individual, organizational, and enabling environment levels) among EAS providers in four South Asian countries and develop a facilitator guide for Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA) based on this methodology. This guide builds on the outputs of the four National Workshops on “Capacity Needs Assessment of Extension and Advisory Service (EAS) Providers” held in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal during 2015-2016. This guide can be used as a standalone document / procedure for assessing the capacity needs of the extension and advisory service providers. However, using this guide for CNA has greater value if the outputs of this exercise are linked to a capacity development process. Moreover, this process also needs to be organised periodically to identify new capacity gaps.
Undertaking Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA) is critical for organizing appropriate capacity development interventions. AESA organised four workshops on CNA of EAS in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal with the following objectives.
1. Identify capacity gaps among EAS providers
2. Finalise a methodology for undertaking capacity needs assessment.
This policy brief summarizes the capacity needs identified within this context and presents methods to strengthen capacities beyond training individuals at different levels which has hitherto been the most frequently used method for capacity development.
The Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) in collaboration with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Department of Agriculture (DOA), Thailand, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO RAP), Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), organized a High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific on 8-9 December 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand. The event was also supported by Syngenta and Agricultural Research Technology Institute (ARTI), Chinese Taipei. The technical program was organized into six theme-based plenary and parallel sessions involving resource paper presentations and panel discussions, as follows: Session I: Status and Outlook for Investment in Agricultural Research and Innovation; Session II: Scoping Investments in Agricultural Research and Innovation - Addressing Current and Emerging Challenges; Parallel Session III: Scoping Investments in Agricultural Research and Innovation – (A) Climate Smart and Sustainable Agriculture; (B) Knowledge Management for Sustainable Agriculture; (C) Capacity Development for Sustainable Agriculture; Session IV: Plenary – Scoping Investments (Themes of Sessions II & III); Session V: Impact Expectations from Investment in Agricultural Research and Innovation; and Session VI: Innovative Funding Mechanisms. Outputs and recommendations of xvi each session were further discussed and finalized in the Final Plenary Session VII: Presentation of Reports from Thematic Sessions I, IV, V, & VI.
Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become proactive and to engage with research and extension providers. The systematic review covered three modalities of disbursing these grants to smallholder farmers and their organisations: vouchers, competitive grants and farmer-led innovation support funds. The synthesis covers, among others, innovation grant systems in Malawi (Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme), Latin America (several Challenge Funds for Farmer Groups), Uganda (National Agricultural Advisory Services ), and Colombia (Local Agricultural Research Committees - CIAL). This research was funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The research was commissioned as part of a joint call for systematic reviews with the Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie).
This paper illustrates already practiced models and strategies of high impact innovations around the world with particular respect to India. The shown examples of innovative businesses were selected based on four criteria reflecting their innovative character. Firstly, innovations need to fulfil a value for the life of people which exceeds the mere use of the product. Secondly, it requires good quality products or service for an affordable price even for lower income groups. Thirdly, resources need to be used in an efficient manner and lastly, innovations need to be scalable and easy to replicate in different local conditions. The paper is a collaboration between the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and the MSME Umbrella Programme GIZ India.
Using Nepal as a case, this paper illustrates how farmers and their supporting institutions are evolving and co-producing climate sensitive technologies on demand. Drawing upon the hypothesis of induced innovation, the authors examine the extent to which resource endowments have influenced the evolution of technological and institutional innovations in Nepal’s agricultural research and development. This study reveals that Nepal has developed a novel multilevel institutional partnership, including collaboration with farmers and other non-governmental organizations in recent years. More importantly, by combining conventional technological innovation process with the tacit knowledge of farmers, this new alliance has been instrumental in the innovation of location-specific technologies thereby facilitating the adoption of technologies in a more efficient manner. This alliance has improved knowledge network among institutions, scientists and farmers and enabled them to seek technologies that are responsive to likely changes in climate.
This article starts by describing the evolution of innovation in agricultural research and cooperation for development, including an historical overview of agricultural research for development from green revolution to the re-discover of traditional knowledge. Then the authors analyze participation in innovation processes and make a comparison of innovation systems and platforms targeting the agri-food sector in developing countries. A particular focus is reserved to the European regional networks and to the experience of the USAID Middle East Water and Livelihoods Initiative. Finally, a series of recommendations for the way forward are drawn.
Asterio P. Saliot, National Director of the Agricultural Training Institute (Department of Agriculture, Philippines), presented the RAS context of his country at the 3rd GFRAS Annual Meeting, "The Role of Rural Advisory Services in Agricultural Innovation Systems", 26-28 September 2012, Philippines.
The presentation describes the role of extension, key players and capacities needed within the context of the Philippine Agricultural Innovation System.
This report provides a synthesis of all findings and information generated through a “stocktaking” process that involved a desk study of Prolinnova documents and evaluation reports, a questionnaire to 40 staff members of international organizations in agricultural research and development (ARD), self-assessment by the Country Platforms (CPs) and backstopping visits to five CPs. In 2014, the Prolinnova network saw a need to re-strategise in a changing context, and started this process by reviewing the activities it had undertaken and assessing its own functioning. This process of “stocktaking” generated insights into the network’s accomplishments between 2003 and 2013, seen in relation to the financial resources that were available, at both international and country level. The exercise also helped the CPs to re-strategise their work and partnerships for the coming years and to formulate and share lessons, conclusions and recommendations for strengthening global multistakeholder partnerships in ARD within and beyond the network.
This book represents the proceedings of the FAO international technical conference dedicated to Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries (ABDC-10) that took place in Guadalajara, Mexico on 1-4 March 2010. A major objective of the conference was to take stock of the application of biotechnologies across the different food and agricultural sectors in developing countries, in order to learn from the past and to identify options for the future to face the challenges of food insecurity, climate change and natural resource degradation. The proceedings are organized in two main sections. The first section contains ten chapters with an extensive series of FAO background documents prepared before ABDC-10. They focus on the current status and options for biotechnologies in developing countries in crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries/aquaculture and food processing/safety, as well as on related policy issues and options, in particular about targeting agricultural biotechnologies to the poor; enabling research and development (R&D) for agricultural biotechnologies; and ensuring access to the benefits of R&D. The second section contains five chapters dedicated to the outcomes of ABDC-10, namely the reports from 27 parallel sessions of sectoral, cross-sectoral and regional interest, most of which were organized by different intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and regional fora; keynote presentations; and the conference report adopted by delegates in Guadalajara on the final day.
The ‘Mapping Report’ is the synthesis of the statistical information and the survey results available to describe agrifood research in European countries. The main source of information was the results of a bibliometric analysis (in the EU-33 countries), a web-assisted survey (in the EU-12+2 countries) and the country reports (for the EU-15 countries) prepared in the AgriMapping project frame in 2006 and 2007. When relevant, available complementary statistics were also used.
This report forms part of the deliverables from "EU AGRI MAPPING ", a project which aimed to provide recommendations on the desirable developments in agricultural and food research in Europe. Other documents of the project, available on TAPipedia, are (1) the Country Reports document, (2) the Country Summary document and (3) the Final Report.
This report presents the results of a study that shall contribute to provide information on the national organisation of agricultural research and an overall picture of developments in agricultural research in 33 selected countries (current EU28 plus Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey). The study covers all areas related to agricultural and food research research including research dedicated to emerging challenges of the European agricultural and food sector in 2006/2007.
This report forms part of the deliverables from "EU AGRI MAPPING ", a project which aimed to provide recommendations on the desirable developments in agricultural and food research in Europe. Other documents of the project, available on TAPipedia, are (1) the Country Reports document, (2) the Country Summary document and (3) the Mapping Report
This document provides a review of existing reports regarding the agri-food research landscape in 2006/2007 for 14 EU countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey) and also explores trends and needs in other EU or associated countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom).
The document forms part of the deliverables from "EU AGRI MAPPING ", a project which aimed to provide recommendations on the desirable developments in agricultural and food research in Europe. Other documents of the project, available on TAPipedia, are (1) the Country Reports document, (2) the Mapping Report and (3) the Final Report.
This report compiles country-reports that describe the agri-food research landscape in 2006/2007 in 33 countries associated to the 6th Framework Programme (FP6), which defined the European for the period from 2002 to 2006. Each country-report presents information about the main research players in 2006/2007 and about the current trends and the future needs for research topics and for the organisation of the agri-food research system.
This report forms part of the deliverables from "EU AGRI MAPPING ", a project which aimed to provide recommendations on the desirable developments in agricultural and food research in Europe. Other documents of the project, available on TAPipedia, are the (1) Country Summary document, (2) the Mapping Report and (3) the Final Report.
This study introduces a framework for managing information flow in innovation systems. An organisation's capacity to receive information, to share it with others and to learn from it is assumed to be the key factor that shapes the flow patterns and, hence, the performance of the innovation system concerned. The framework is applied to characterise the information structure underlying the agricultural innovation system of Azerbaijan and to develop an information strategy for the system to accelerate the information flow. The key institutions required to promote and support an effective flow of information in innovation systems are also discussed.
This study describes the evolving context and organisational linkages in the agricultural innovation system of Azerbaijan and suggests ways to promote effective organisational ties for the development, distribution and use of new or improved information and knowledge related to agriculture. Graph-theoretic principles and concepts are employed to assess the existing organisational linkages vital for agricultural innovations. This assessment indicates: (i) the innovation system of Azerbaijan is in the early stages, and significant accomplishments in especially policy-making, research and development, and credit institutions are yet to come; (ii) ample scope exists for intermediary organisations to be more active in facilitating the flow of information and knowledge between the public and the private organisations in the system and (iii) especially in public organisations, flexible management styles should be practised for timely and effective interaction with private organisations.
This paper was prepared to present at the Farmer First Revisited: 20 Years On conference at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK, December, 2007. Its focus is the challenge of strengthening agricultural innovation systems. The paper prefaces this discussion by reflecting on an apparent paradox. While agricultural innovation has never been better studied and understood, many of our ideas about innovation have failed to fundamentally change the institutional and policy setting of public and private investment intended to promote innovation for development. The paper asks “students of innovation” why a virtual spiral of innovation practice and policy learning has not emerged. The paper then locates the current interest in innovation systems in the evolving and contested approaches to agricultural development, noting that this is characterised by a long history of false dichotomies. The contingencies of the emerging agricultural scenario will demand the more networked modes of collective intelligence and innovation that are embodied in the innovation systems concept. The paper argues, however, that the innovation systems idea should be viewed as a metaphor for innovation diversity, rather than another competing innovation narrative. The way forward, it is suggested, is to create a united front of different collective intelligence-based innovation narratives to kick-start the virtuous spiral of innovation practice and policy learning. This is needed to strengthen agricultural innovation systems and thus achieve developmental goals. The paper argues that it is the responsibility of all us “students of innovation” to argue for this space for diversity to flourish and to help consolidate and promote what is known about agricultural innovation. If we are not more successful in stimulating institutional and policy change we will still be debating these issues 20 years hence.
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve this Africa has to define agriculture as a force in economic growth by: advancing scientific and technological research; investing in infrastructure; fostering higher technical training; and creating regional markets. To govern the transformation Africa must foster the emergence of a new crop of entrepreneurial leaders dedicated to the continent's economic improvement. The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 examines the critical linkages between agriculture and economic growth. Chapter 2 reviews the implications of advances in science
and technology for Africa’s agriculture. Chapter 3 provides a conceptual framework for defining agricultural innovation in a systemic context. Chapter 4 outlines the critical linkages between infrastructure and agricultural innovation. The role of education in fostering agricultural innovation is the subject of Chapter 5. Chapter 6 presents the importance of entrepreneurship in agricultural innovation. The final chapter outlines regional approaches for fostering agricultural innovation.
LenCD has prepared a joint statement on results and capacity development (presented in this publication), which stresses that meaningful, sustainable results are premised on proper investments in capacity development and that these results materialize at different levels and at different times, along countries’ development trajectory. To provide evidence in support of this statement, LenCD launched a call for submission of stories. The 15 stories featured in this publication have been selected by a fourmember review panel, through a rigorous appraisal process of over 40 stories, received as a response to the LenCD call. The stories have been contributed by different countries and development partners and cover 14 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America. The stories showcase how endogenous investments in capacity development have led, over time, to produce short, medium and long-term sustainable results.
Various authors have identified the potential relevance of innovation system approaches for inclusive innovation, that is, the means by which new goods and services are developed for and by the poor. However, it is still a question how best to operationalize this. Innovation platforms (IPs) represent an example of putting an inclusive innovation system approach into practice by bringing different types of stakeholders together to address issues of mutual concern and interest with a specific focus on the marginalized poor. This paper explores the formation and functioning of IPs with the aim of providing lessons on the conditions and factors that play a role in making them effective. The study shows the importance of social organization, representation, and incentives to ensure a true participatory innovation process, which is based on demand and embedded in the context. Critical to this is a flexible planning process stimulating incremental change through so-called innovation bundles (i.e. combinations of technological, organizational, and institutional innovations) and reflexive learning (systematically challenging constraining factors). Furthermore, local institutions embedded in norms and values are crucial to understand people's decisions. Due to weak linkages between value chain actors, innovation brokers have a vital role in facilitating the innovation process. Overall, IPs are a promising model for inclusive innovation, but they require a careful assessment of and adjustment to the institutional context.
In order to determine the factors affecting the adoption of agricultural innovations, 169 farmers were reviewed in 7 counties that may represent Erzurum province in terms of social, economic and cultural aspects. The data were analyzed in LIMDEP software using logistic regression method and the results were presented in tables. The innovations examined in the study were adoption of artificial insemination, membership to cooperative, having automatic waterer in stables and making use of incentives for agricultural production.
This paper, using Thailand as a case study, aims at understanding the national innovation system (NIS) in developing countries which are less successful in technological catching-up. In contrast to developed countries, the development level of Thailand’s NIS does not link to its economic structural development level. As Thailand moves from agricultural to an increasingly industrial economy, its NIS remains weak and fragmented. The mismatch between the two affected Thailand’s competitiveness and partially contributed to the recent economic crisis. Studies of NIS in countries like Thailand should focus on factors contributing to the long-running perpetuation of weak and fragmented NIS.
There are divergent views on what capacity development might mean in relation to agricultural biotechnology. The core of this debate is whether this should involve the development of human capital and research infrastructure, or whether it should encompass a wider range of activities which also include developing the capacity to use knowledge productively. This paper uses the innovation systems concept to shed light on this discussion, arguing that it is innovation capacity rather than science and technology capacity that has to be developed. It then presents six examples of different capacity development approaches. It concludes by suggesting that policy needs to take a multidimensional approach to capacity development in line with innovation systems perspective. But it also argues that policy needs to recognise the need to develop the capacity of diversity of innovation systems and that a key part of the capacity development task is to bring about the integration of these different systems at strategic points in time
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of food insecurity as coercive tool or a weapon during conflict, providing a case study on Gaza. The authors aim at proving that Food insecurity in Gaza is not merely a product of conflict, but rather a systematic policy of control. The paper includes the presentation of community-based innovations that were created in the extremely intricate case of Gaza, in order to retain certain economic and political agency over food and farming systems.
The purpose of this paper is to map some elements that can contribute to an IFAD strategy to stimulate and support pro-poor innovations. It is an initial or exploratory document that hopefully will add to an ongoing and necessary debate, and is not intended as a final position paper. The document is organized as follows. After the Introduction (Section 1), the Section 2 presents an outline of the innovation systems framework, adapted to the present discussion on rural development work such as that promoted by IFAD, in contrast to its more frequent use in the context of debates on science and technology. Section 3 discusses some important trends and changes in rural innovation systems, from the perspective of rural poverty reduction and rural development. Section 4 highlights some opportunities for pro-poor innovation, according to a framework that takes into consideration the heterogeneity of rural poverty. Section 5 concludes by asking a number of questions, with the expectation that they may contribute to a debate on what it is that IFAD can do to be more effective in promoting pro-poor rural innovation systems.
This paper draws lessons from selected country experiences of adaptation and innovation in pursuit of food security goals. It reviews three cases of systems of innovation operating in contrasting regional, socio-economic and agro-ecological contexts, in terms of four features of innovation systems more likely to build, sustain or enhance food security in situations of rapid change: (i) recognition of the multifunctionality of agriculture and opportunities to realize multiple benefits; (ii) access to diversity as the basis for flexibility and resilience; (iii) concern for enhancing capacity of decision makers at all levels; and (iv) continuity of effort aimed at securing the well-being of those who depend on agriculture. Finally, implications for policymakers and other stakeholders in agricultural innovation systems are presented.
This paper identifies the stakeholders of System of Rice Intensification (SRI), their roles and actions and the supporting and enabling environment of innovation in the state as the elements of the Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) in SRI in Tripura state of India and studies the relationship matrix among the stakeholders. Methodology: A descriptive research design was followed to study the agricultural innovation system in SRI. Criterion and expert sampling were employed to select the stakeholders and data was collected by a personal interview method with the help of a semi-structured schedule. Actor Linkage Matrix was employed to study the linkage among the stakeholders in the innovation systems.
The Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) is a network of organizations, enterprises and individuals that focuses on bringing new products, processes and forms of organization into economic use, together with the institutions and policies that affect their behaviour and performance. In the small North East Indian state of Tripura, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has grown to develop into an innovation system where various stakeholders have come together to make the state self-sufficient in food grains. The present study was conducted to understand the characteristics of the leading stakeholders of the SRI innovation system in the state, their competence, relationship among each other and the enabling environment. Data was collected through a structured interview schedule and competence scale. Actor Linkage Matrix and descriptive statistical parameters were used to analyse data. The work of the administrative units at grass root levels to disseminate an agricultural technology is unprecedented. In addition, the contact between the research institutes and the farmers’ needs to be improved and so does their exposure to other SRIpracticing parts of the country. The lessons learnt from the SRI innovation systems in Tripura, if applied to other similar crops and other similar parts of the country as well as in the developing world, would definitely prove to be a model for development and prosperity.
The paper describes the existing mechanisms of innovation diffusion particularly focusing on the initial phase to introduce the results of innovative projects into the government system of Uzbekistan. The paper aims to analyze the existing bureaucratic, legal and political matrix for the introduction of ZEF project innovations into practice. The innovations developed by the staff of the ZEF/UNESCO project in Uzbekistan range from their content and purpose of use from technological to institutional ones. The innovations considered in this paper are mainly technological ones. The analysis will be supported by two other examples of innovation diffusion by international projects in Uzbekistan. Based on the theoretical analysis of my empirical datathe author I argues that a functioning innovation system is on the way to be developed to completely function in Uzbekistan. There is rather knowledge ecology to use Foray's term which could further serve as a basis for the future innovation system. This argument is substantiated by empirical study of project innovations and their individual paths to their diffusion detailed in this paper.
This paper, presented at "Food 360°: International Conference-cum-Exhibition on Agribusiness and Food Processing, November 05-06, 2012, Hotel Taj Krishna, Hyderabad", focuses on Indian agriculture, which remains the most important sector for India. However, despite its importance, various indicators from the sector show that all is not well. Across the world, the challenges facing the sector are immense: declining natural resources, smaller landholdings and lesser area for cultivation, erratic monsoons, climate change crisis, energy crisis, loss of biodiversity, weak extension machinery, rising input costs, inadequate storage infrastructure, high post-harvest losses, and lack of access to markets. There is also an urgent need to promote the competitiveness of this sector and gearing up our agricultural systems including technological aspects so as to meet the pressures of consumer demand and international markets.
This paper develops a quantitative, graph-theoretic method for analysing systems of institutions. With an application to the agricultural innovation system of Azerbaijan, the method is illustrated in detail. An assessment of existing institutional linkages in the system suggests that efforts should be placed on the development of intermediary institutions to facilitate quick and effective flow of knowledge between the public and the private components of the system. Furthermore, significant accomplishments are yet to come in policy-making, research and education, and credit institutions.
This publication represents a synthesis of assessments of national agricultural innovation systems in countries of Central Asia, South Caucasus and Turkey. The first chapter gives an introduction of the project “Capacity Development for Analysis and Strengthening of Agricultural Innovation Systems in Central Asia and Turkey”, out of which the current publication reports about one of the project outputs achieved. The second chapter describes the institutional landscape of the agricultural innovation systems, innovation pattern, and processes of innovation based on 14 selected case studies in these countries. It also covers the issue of financing the research and extension systems and the use of information and communication technology in the agricultural innovation systems. The third and last chapter deals with the key constraints of agricultural innovation systems identified and provides recommendations on how to address them. These include recommendations concerning relevant policy issues, innovation management issues, and other issues such as the need of raising awareness on agriculture among young people and of improving the functioning of market systems.
The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach has been very successful and witnessed a strong expansion in many areas beyond crop production. Notwithstanding this success, the adoption of FFS in national extension often remains problematic and FFS activities have often been implemented in the margin of national institutions with strong reliance on donor funding. The creation of an enabling environment for institutional support is essential for expanding the effort, improving quality, and strengthening impact and continuity of the FFSs. This paper aims to analyse opportunities, challenges and implications of institutionalizing FFS at the national level.
This policy brief sets out the conceptual and empirical underpinnings of a learning-orientated monitoring and evaluation approach known as Institutional Learning and Change (ILAC) and discusses options for learning-oriented interventions and policy research.
This paper is based on the 8th GLOBELICS International Conference: Making Innovation Work for Society (1 - 3 November 2010, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). The paper presents three projects of the Research Into Use Program, located in South asia, which are applying three agriculture value chain development oriented knowledge for wider use. Practical aspects of the process and roles played by different types of ageincies in the innovation are discussed. Evidence is provided from the cases that the initial stages of innovation trajectory comprise of social engineering and creation of appropriate arichitecture of actors, after which need for new knowledge arises and favourable conditions develop for putting such knowledge into use. The cases also present how different types of agencies assume lead roles during different stages of innovation trajectory.
The universal application of the T&V model of agricultural extension in more than 50 countries is one of agricultural development’s best known failures. The approach worked well in places where it was originally developed, but proved inappropriate almost everywhere else. In this report Rasheed Sulaiman V. and Andy Hall worry that an apparently successful extension innovation piloted in India is set to suffer a similar fate. Is there an alternative to promoting turnkey, “one-size fits all” approaches in countries as vast as India — where agriculture-related poverty needs urgent solutions? Is extension still a relevant concept?
Recent experiences in participatory video-making raise the question of how best to use this medium for enhancing local seed innovation systems. Embedded in a mini-process of participatory action research, two styles of participatory video—scripted and scriptless—were tested and assessed together with farmers and facilitators in Bogra District, Bangladesh. Data, collected through participant observation, informal interviews, group discussions and workshops, were analysed using a combination of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis.This study raises several critiques about the usefulness of these two major styles of participatory video and argues that both styles have specific usefulness and therefore can be used in combination to enhance local seed innovation systems in Bangladesh, and possibly, elsewhere in South Asia.
This paper is a reflection on a research project that defied the conventional technology transfer approach and adopted an approach based on innovation system principles to address fodder scarcity. Fodder scarcity in the project was conceptualized not as lack of technical capacity, but as lack of innovation capacity. This project tried to enhance innovation capacity by promoting appropriate configurations of stakeholders. However, translating this theory and principles into action was fraught with numerous challenges. In the absence of previously documented experiences, the project course was determined based on continuous and concurrent review and lesson learning. A first-hand account of the project implementation is presented in this paper so that it benefits others who are experimenting with similar approaches.
This training-of-trainers manual is designed to train you to be able to deliver a capacity enhancement workshop (CEW) to rural women on climate change and gender. It has been designed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and is appropriate to the South Asian context.
CABI’s Plantwise programme runs local plant clinics in 24 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America where trained ‘plant doctors’ provide on-the-spot diagnosis and advice for farmers who bring samples to the clinics. A database that records each consultation and shares knowledge across clinics and countries continually builds the ability of the programme to respond to farmers’ needs. The programme embodies key principles of an innovation systems approach. Systems diagnosis, building networks and linkages, balancing supply push with demand pull, strengthening the role of intermediaries, and experimenting and learning are among the features which ensure the programme continually evolves to meet emerging needs and challenges. As well as providing a valuable service to smallholder farmers, enriching their ability to address production constraints, the sharing of lessons among stakeholders is having a positive overall effect on national plant health systems.
This paper presents an overview of current opportunities and challenges facing efforts to increase the impact of rural and agricultural extension. The starting point for this analysis is in recognition that the days when agricultural extension was synonymous with the work of public sector agencies are over. The extension services described here may just as likely consist of an input vendor advising a farmer about what seed to plant, a television station broadcasting a weather forecast, a supermarket advising traders about what standards are required for the vegetables they purchase or a farmer organization lobbying for research that reflects the demands of its members for new technologies. Mobilizing the potential of extension is about enhancing this broad and complex flow of information and advice in the agrifood sector. This paper outlines the potential role of extension in achieving the aims of the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative, which has mobilized a massive international commitment to enhancing food security.
This paper reflects on the experience of the Research Into Use (RIU) projects in Asia. It reconfirms much of what has been known for many years about the way innovation takes place and finds that many of the shortcomings of RIU in Asia were precisely because lessons from previous research on agricultural innovation were “not put into use” in the programme’s implementation. However, the experience provides three important lessons for donors and governments to make use of agricultural research: (i) Promoting research into use requires enabling innovation. This goes beyond fostering collaboration, and includes a range of other innovation management tasks (ii) The starting point for making use of research need not necessarily be the promising research products and quite often identifying the promising innovation trajectories is more rewarding (iii) Strengthening the innovation enabling environment of policies and institutions is critical if research use is to lead to long-term and large-scale impacts. It is in respect of this third point that RIU Asia missed its target, as it failed to make explicit efforts to address policy and institutional change, despite its innovation systems rhetoric. This severely restricted its ability to achieve wide-scale social and economic impact that was the original rationale for the programme.
The question of how agricultural research can best be used for developmental purposes is a topic of some debate in developmental circles. The idea that this is simply a question of better transfer of ideas from research to farmers has been largely discredited. Agricultural innovation is a process that takes a multitude of different forms, and, within this process, agricultural research and expertise are mobilised at different points in time for different purposes. This paper uses two key analytical principles in order to find how research is actually put into use. The first, which concerns the configurations of organisations and their relationships associated with innovation, reveals the additional set of resources and expertise that research needs to be married up to and sheds light on the sorts of arrangements that allow this marriage to take place. The second — which concerns understanding innovation as a path-dependent, contextually shaped trajectory unfolding over time — reveals the changing role of research during the course of events associated with the development and diffusion of products, services and institutional innovations. Using these analytical principles, this paper examines the efforts of the DFID-funded Research Into Use (RIU) programme that sought to explore the agricultural research-into-use question empirically. The paper then uses this analysis to derive implications for public policy and its ongoing efforts to add value to research investments.
This presentation outlines the following topics:a) Changing Context of Agricultural Technology Transfer: Emerging Realities in Asia-PacifiC; b) Technology Transfer within the Agricultural Innovation System; c) Agricultural Extension in Agricultural Innovation System; d) Supply Chain Management Approach and the Role of Extension; e) Major Areas for Mobilizing the Potential of Agricultural Extension/Rural Advisory Services.
The Worldwide Extension Study provides empirical data on the human and financial resources of agricultural extension and advisory systems worldwide, as well as other important information on: the primary extension service providers in each country (e.g.: public, private and/or non-governmental); which types and groups of farmers are the primary target groups (e.g.: large, medium, and/or small-scale farmers, including rural women) for each extension organization; how each organization’s resources are allocated to key extension and advisory service functions; each organization’s information and communication technology resources and capacity; and what role, if any, different categories of farmers play in setting extension’s priorities and/or assessing performance.The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), working in collaboration with the University of Illinois (UIUC), FAO, and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), developed the Worldwide Extension Study database as part of the assessment of the status of agricultural extension and advisory services worldwide between 2009-2013.
This working paper represents work‐in‐progress of the CBFC project (Community‐based Fish Culture in Seasonal Floodplains and Irrigation Systems), a research project supported by the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF), with the aim of increasing productivity of seasonally occurring water bodies through aquaculture.The project has been implemented in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Mali and Vietnam, where technical and institutional options for community based aquaculture have been tested. The project began in 2005 and was completed in March 2010. The paper forms part of a series of documents presenting research findings from the project.
The Andhra Pradesh sorghum coalition illustrates the valued added by working in coalition. By combining different perspectives to give rise to new, synthesised ideas, the member organisations worked at a faster pace and achieved their objectives more successfully and sustainably than they could have done if working separately. The methodology of their research was designed collaboratively. As a result, scientists carried out repeat experiments on poultry, at the request of poultry farmers and feed manufacturers, which greatly increased their confidence in the evidence. It is likely that if the scientists had been working in isolation, the poultry farmers and feed manufacturers would have been dissatisfied and ignored the results. The way the organisations worked – for the first time for all members – offers lessons for both strategic alliances and all institutional partnerships.
This paper aims to map the experience of the RIU Asia projects and draw out the main innovation management tactics being observed while laying the groundwork for further research on this topic. It provides a framework to help analyse the sorts of innovation management tasks that are becoming important. This framework distinguishes four elements of innovation management: (i) Functions (ii) Actions (iii) Tools and (iv) Organisational Format. The paper’s review of the distribution of innovation management in the Asia projects suggests that it is not technology access‐related tasks alone that are important, but the bundling of these with other activities, which include the development of networks, advocacy for policy change, training and other negotiated changes in practice and action. The implication for policy is that ways of supporting this wider suite of innovation management tasks would go a long way in helping make better use of agricultural research in rural development.
This paper, part of the Social Sciences Working Paper Series, presents studies undertaken by nine community-based, natural resource management (CBNRM)-oriented organizations in China, Viet Nam, the Philippines and Mongolia. The partner organizations, representing three broad types: academic, regional network, and community based, were brought together by a 2006 initiative in an informal network to develop and pilot methods for evaluating capacity development in community-based natural resource management. Each of the nine teams produced a comprehensive report on which this working paper is based. In a comparative analysis, the working paper addresses questions across the nine studies such as: what are various stakeholders learning from capacity development, and how can CBNRM capacity development be effectively monitored and evaluated.
This report documents the history of the systems of rice intensification (SRI, for short) in India in the last few years and presents some of the institutional changes and challenges that SRI throws up. The first part looks at the complex and continuing evolution of SRI in India and presents SRI as an innovation in process and not as a completed product. Farmers and other actors are continuously shaping it through their practice. Part II focuses on insights of the innovation systems framework looking closely at the nature and quality of linkages of the various actors. The concluding section highlights the implications for pro-poor innovation.
What can we learn from ongoing initiatives? There has been a lot of interest during the last two decades in employing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for achieving development. While many of these initiatives have benefited rural women by way of access to new information and new employment opportunities, women still face a number of constraints in accessing ICTs. This paper explores the role of ICTs in empowering Indian rural women, through a review of ICT initiatives in India. The paper concludes that, while most of the ICT initiatives are disseminating new information and knowledge useful for rural women, many are not able to make use of it, due to lack of access to complementary sources of support and services. Among the varied tools, the knowledge centres and the community radio were found to have the greatest potential in reaching women with locally relevant content Therefore, strengthening the ICT initiatives of such organizations can go a long way in empowering rural women.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) partnered with the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) in 2011 to conduct a series of policy dialogues on the prioritization of demand-driven agricultural research for development in South Asia. Dialogues were conducted with a wide range of stakeholders in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal in mid-2012 and this report captures feedback from those dialogues.
This paper has been presented at the Fifth International Seminar on Dynamics of Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems: Socio-Institutional, Economic and Technical Context, Kathmandu, Nepal, 25-26 March 2010, organized by Farmer Managed Irrigation System Trust. International Water Management Institute, the then International Irrigation Management Institute (IWMI) began its activities in Nepal since 1986 with a Memorandum of Understanding with His Majesty's Government of Nepal, now the Government of Nepal. The primary objectives were to strengthen the research capability of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat, promote collaborative research in Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS), Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) and Agency Managed Irrigation Systems (AMIS). Pioneering researches in FMIS and AMIS were carried out in Nepal by IWMI and it laid impact on participatory irrigation management through understanding the role of water users association for effective management of irrigation system. The researches in Nepal was also important for its contribution to the water sector management in the developing country through the promotion of science based studies and action research. The main areas of contribution of IWMI research were in policy formulation, methodology development and Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building for irrigation research. Therefore, this paper will try to look into the FMIS, AMIS and other researches that IWMI has undertaken, their importance for water management in Nepal and the lessons learnt is expected to be of interest to policy makers, planners, researchers and the scientific community.
In line with the Watershed Guidelines of 2008 - released by the Government of India - the Indian Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, in partnership with the German International Cooperation (GIZ), has implemented a project called ‘Strengthening Capacity Building for Decentralized Watershed Management’. The objective of the project was to improve the capacities and networking of central and state organizations to implement large public investment for decentralized watershed management programs. The project was piloted and implemented in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. This report documents the lessons learnt and subsequent implications to ensure up-scaling, viability and sustainability of such efforts. The report therefore describes the Consortium approach for capacity building for decentralized watershed management in more details and summarizes the key lessons learnt during the process of building the capacity of the various stakeholders involved in project management.
This Training of Trainers Manual is designed to help build the capacity of trainers in flash flood risk management, who can then disseminate the knowledge to a larger number of practitioners. The manual presents an eight-day course including a three-day field trip. Detailed lesson plans for 21 sessions are followed by resource materials that will enable the trainers to replicate the course in their own work areas. Designed for participants with a basic knowledge of flash flood risk assessment and management, the manual focuses on developing understanding of the types, causes, and impacts of flash floods; flash flood hazards, vulnerability, risk assessment, and management methods; the role of local knowledge and gender perspectives in flash flood risk management; participatory social hazard mapping techniques; concepts and methods for an integrated approach to flash flood risk management; the full range of risk management measures for specific types of flash floods; legal and institutional aspects; and modelling tools. It is hoped that the publication will contribute meaningfully towards reducing disaster risk and providing greater physical security for the people of this vulnerable region.
Since the entry into force of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2003, concerted efforts have focused on mobilizing international assistance to help developing countries build their institutional capacities in biosafety and meet their obligations under the treaty. The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in cooperation with the Government of Thailand, launched “Asian BioNet” – a regional initiative on capacity building in biosafety of genetically modified (GM) crops in Asia. This publication presents the outcome of a workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand from 17 to 20 June 2013 under the auspices of Asian BioNet. The document provides information on the existing status of national policies, guidelines, regulations and administration of biosafety, and the challenges that countries in Asia face in strengthening capacity for expanding the scope of biotechnology research and development.
The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries worldwide. Bicol Region is regularly exposed to a variety of natural hazards including tropical storms, typhoons, droughts, drought spells, flash floods, floods, landslides and volcano eruptions, causing frequent destruction, damage and losses. Agriculture is among the most vulnerable sectors to extreme weather events and changing climate. People depending on agriculture are regularly facing the challenge to protect and maintain their livelihoods. This Disaster Risk Reduction project in Bicol Region aimed at (i) strengthening the institutional and technical capacities, risks related services’ provision and coordination in agriculture to better prepare for and manage climate-related risks, and (ii) enhancing the risk reduction capacities and livelihood resilience of farmers and fisher folks, who are highly vulnerable to risks and extreme climatic events. The project was designed in accordance with FAO’s Disaster Risk Reduction for Food and Nutrition Security Framework Programme which builds on and supports the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015 from the perspective of agriculture and food and nutrition security. This technical summary report presents results and lessons from the project.
The devastation caused in Philippines by Typhoon Reming was the trigger for the Government request to FAO for the project “Strengthening Capacities for Climate Risk Management and Disaster Preparedness in Selected Provinces of the Philippines (Bicol Region)”. This technical project summary report provides a consolidated overview about the specific project activities, the implementation processes, main findings and the establishment of institutional mechanisms that were established to promote ongoing collaboration between farmers, agriculture extension workers, researchers and local government officials.
This report is based on the outputs of a one week Exposure and Exchange Programme (EEP) in India hosted by the Self-employed Women’s Association (SEWA) with African women leaders of producer organizations from West and Central Africa. This report critically evaluates the SEWA model and draws conclusions relevant to African women producers organizations to better meet the challenges of raising Africa’s agricultural potential, improve incomes for small farmers, and ensure greater food security.
As a party to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBO), there is a need for Malaysia to implement its commitment to CBO's objectives on conserving biological diversity, sustainable utilisation of natural resources, and fair and equitable benefit sharing deriving from the use of genetic resources. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK9), the Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment has allocated a special grant to Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) to establish a database on forest related traditional knowledge of the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia. This database focuses on the traditional knowledge of Orang Asli on the utilisation of medicinal and aromatic plants. A relevant Prior Informed Consent (PIC) is obtained from participants in the capacity building workshop as stipulated in Article 15 of CBO and its supportive document, Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising Out of their Utilization. This study focused on two areas, namely, the Semelai community in Iskandar Regroupment Scheme (RPS) in Pahang and Jahai / Temiar community in Banun Regroupment Scheme (RPS) in Perak in collaboration with the Advisory Committee on Traditional Knowledge of Semelai in RPS Iskandar, Tasik Bera, Pahang and Committee for Traditional Knowledge of RPS Banun in Gerik, Perak respectively. The participants for the capacity building workshops comprised of various groups, i.e. youths, women, men and practitioners (bomoh, bidan and puyang). Having signed their PIC, they participated actively in documenting their own traditional knowledge. Both the elders and youths worked closely in documenting their traditional knowledge. The workshops enabled the younger generations to learn from their knowledgeable elders. The participants were very enthusiastic and showed much initiative in gathering specimens and information on the plants used by their communities.
The Sanjiang Plain Wetlands Protection Project (SPWPP) supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), focuses on integrating conservation and development needs in the Sanjiang Plain, Heilongjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China. The project comprises 5 main components: watershed management, wetland nature reserve management, alternative livelihoods, education and capacity building and project management. In addition the Poverty and Environment Action Research Program (PEARP) sub-project contributes to the learning on poverty-environment relationships by collecting and generating new knowledge on effective approaches to environmental management and poverty reduction, through the development and pilot-testing of innovative sustainable livelihood options for the poor households. SPWPP was initiated in 2006 and will be completed by 2012. The PEARP was implemented between 2005 and 2007.
The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has been working in Nepal since 1986 with the objective of undertaking research in water management and to strengthen the research capabilities of concerned government agencies. The research helped to develop appropriate mechanisms for providing support to Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) and the initiation of participatory irrigation management (PIM). The river basin studies helped policy formulation for integrated planning and management of water resources besides the methodological contribution through the development of appropriate tools for water management studies. It also contributed to enhancing the capabilities of agency officials and local researchers through their involvement in research activities.
This is the third volume of the proceedings of the national conference on "Water for Food and Environment", which was held from June 9 -11, 2009 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The volumes 1 and 2 have been produced as separate documents of this report series. In response to a call for abstracts, 81 abstracts were received from government institutes dealing with water resources and agriculture development, universities, other freelance researchers and researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Forty seven of the eighty-one abstracts that were submitted were accepted for compiling full papers. In the past couple of years the sharp increase in food prices worldwide has raised serious concerns about food security, especially in developing countries. To effectively address these concerns a holistic approach is required that encompasses improved agricultural water productivity, adaptation to climate change, targeted and appropriate institutional and financial measures, and a consideration of environmental issues. The main purpose of the conference was to share experiences in these areas and to find opportunities to improve farmers' incomes and food production, and to promote environmentally sustainable practices in Sri Lanka in the face of growing water scarcity and the challenges of climate change.
