The research programme URBAL (Urban-driven Innovations for Sustainable Food Systems) (2018–2020), funded by Agropolis Fondation (France), Fondation Daniel & Nina Carasso (France/Spain), and Fundazione Cariplo (Italy), and coordinated by CIRAD (France) and the Laurier Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada), seeks to build and test a participatory methodology to identify and map the impact pathways of urban-driven innovations on all the dimensions of food systems sustainability.
Participatory Research (PR) at the International Potato Center (CIP) included seven major experiences. (1) Farmer-back-to-farmer in the 1970s pioneered the idea of working with farmers to identify their needs, propose solutions, and explain the underlying scientific concepts. The ideas were of great influence at CIP and beyond. (2) With integrated pest management (IPM) pilot areas in the early 1990s, entomologists and social scientists developed technologies with farmers in Peru and other countries to control insect pests.
Tool 9 provides general information and examples on the latest developments, uses and applications in the area of food biotechnology, and it focuses on genome (or gene) editing. It also provides examples that could help users of this toolkit to explain genome editing, the difference between genetic modification and genome editing and the potential benefits of these new technologies. In addition, it supports users to highlight possible research and development activities ongoing in their own country.
This book highlights the important links between agriculture and nutrition, both direct and indirect, both theoretical and practical. It explores these relationships through various frameworks, such as value chains, programmes and policies, as well as through diverse perspectives, such as gender. It assesses the impacts of various agricultural interventions and policies on nutrition and profiles the up-and-down journeys of countries such as Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, and Malawi in integrating nutrition into agricultural policies and programmes.
Partout dans le monde, de plus en plus de jeunes se détournent de l’agriculture. Avec ses travaux manuels pénibles et ses faibles salaires, l’agriculture traditionnelle n’attire pas les nouvelles générations qui préfèrent généralement tenter leur chance à la ville pour trouver un emploi. L’agriculture est pourtant le secteur qui offre le plus de potentiel pour réduire la pauvreté, par exemple en Afrique subsaharienne où plus de soixante pour cent de la population, estimée à 1,2 milliard d’habitants, est âgée de moins de 25 ans.
This policy paper provides a macro-level picture of youth’s inability to access agriculture finance, and provides six major recommendations to policy makers: 1) promote financial literacy for youth 2) enhance the capability of financial institutions to assess agricultural sector opportunities; 3) African governments should produce and share reliable statistics on youth employment in agriculture and their financial inclusion; 4) policy makers should encourage special finance packages for young agripreneurs that do not require fixed collateral, e.g.
Various indications that research and development efforts are escalating in developing countries indicate the slight shift of such countries from just being end markets to being developers. The aggregate adoption of biotech crops in developing countries is clearly approaching that in developed countries. The next generation biotech crops with superior traits, with improved properties and quality traits will likely be created and deployed in developing countries, particularly in Asia, where half of the world’s population dwells.
Dans un contexte de rareté de l'eau, les pays de l’Afrique du Nord Ouest (NWA) consomment 70% de leurs ressources en eau renouvelables. La surexploitation des eaux souterraines, estimée à près de 50%, est devenue un défi majeur pour la conception et la mise en oeuvre de politiques durables d'allocation et de gestion de l'eau dans la région. Cette situation menace l'avenir de l'irrigation, où la contribution des eaux souterraines est déterminante : 100 % en Libye, 68 % en Tunisie, 54 % en Algérie.
This book chapter reviews the literature on agricultural innovation, with the threefold goal of (1) sketching the evolution of systemic approaches to agricultural innovation and unravelling the different interpretations; (2) assessing key factors for innovation system performance and demonstrating the use of system thinking in the facilitation of processes of agricultural innovation by means of innovation brokers and reflexive process monitoring; and (3) formulating an agenda for future research.
This thematic note discusses the role of innovation brokers in bridging communication gaps between various actors of innovation systems. On the basis of recent experience in the Netherlands, it outlines the success of brokers in finding solutions adapted to the needs of farmers and industry, and thus their positive impact on innovation adoption. This section also examines some issues on how brokers function, particularly with regard to balancing interests, funding their activities, and the role of government.