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.
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.
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.
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.
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 governme
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.
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.
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 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 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.