This paper analyses intermediary organisations in developing economy agricultural clusters. The paper critically engages with a growing narrative in studies of intermediaries that have stressed the ownership structure of intermediaries as a key driver for enabling knowledge transfer, inter-firm learning and upgrading of small producers in clusters. Two case studies of Latin American clusters are presented and discussed.
The agrarian system Analysis and Diagnosis is used for this study, the goal of which was to provide a corpus of basic knowledge and elements of reflection necessary for the understanding the Niayes farming systems dynamics in Senegal, West Africa. Such holistic work has never been done before for this small region that provides the majority of vegetables in the area, thanks to its microclimate and access to fresh water in an arid country.
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.
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.
Innovation is considered as one of the key drivers for a competitive and sustainable agriculture and the European Commission highlights the importance of tailoring innovation support to farmers’ needs, especially in European Rural Development Policy (reg EU 1305/2013). The scientific literature offers a wide panorama of tools and methods for the analysis of innovation in agriculture but the lack of data on the state of innovation in the farms hampers such studies. A possibility to partially overcome this limit is the use of data collected by the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN).
Farmers Training Center (FTC)-based farmer training is an emerging extension strategy geared towards human capital development through need-based, hands-on practical training in order to facilitate agricultural transformation and rural livelihood improvement. Although FTCs were established and made functional in the Tigray National Regional State and Alamata Woreda no systematic assessment of the relevance and effectiveness of the training were made.
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
A value chain study on sweet potato was conducted in 11 districts of Malawi across all the three regions to analyze and identify bottlenecks and inherent opportunities for possible investments for upgrading and development of the value chain. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect primary data from 94 farmers belonging to 7 farmer groups using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 14 traders and 16 key informants comprising policy makers, NGO representatives and scientists from both local and international research institutions.
“When I first heard about the CDAIS project two years ago, I knew immediately that it was just what our group of farmers was looking for” explains Edgar Somacumbi. “We have land, seeds, tractors and all the equipment we want, and a processing plant. But moving from being farmer to agro-entrepreneurs is a complex process and requires new skills. And this is where we needed help.” CDAIS is now supporting a group of farmers to improve how they organise themselves and to help them find solutions to their problems.
Ce guide s’adresse aux professionnels du monde rural, et au-delà, aux professionnels du développement (ONG d’appui, groupements, organisations paysannes, etc.) qui mettent en place et animent des services d’information. Le rôle de l'information est déterminant dans la pratique professionnelle. Elle est nécessaire au renforcement des connaissances et des compétences des acteurs, comme aide à l'action, à l'innovation et à la résolution des problèmes. Pour cela, elle doit être opérationnelle, pratique et directement utilisable.