This book documents a unique series of 19 case studies where agricultural biotechnologies were used to serve the needs of smallholders in developing countries. They cover different regions, production systems, species and underlying socio-economic conditions in the crop (seven case studies), livestock (seven) and aquaculture/fisheries (five) sectors. Most of the case studies involve a single crop, livestock or fish species and a single biotechnology.
This presentation, prepared for the Workshop "Policies to Enhance Agricultural Innovation and Productivity: Focus on China" - held in Beijing (24 October 2013), illustrates the multiple benefits of agriculture innovation, the importance of the policy environment, the research and development main features and trends and the ways for fostering national AIS.
The aim of this document is to produce a state-of-the-art of the academic literature in order to identify theories and concepts available for: a) describing the structure, the dynamics and the functioning of agricultural advisory services; b) understanding how these services are embedded into national Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), and into various agricultural and rural policies across the European Union (EU) countries; c) providing some conceptual elements to support the methodology for an inventory of agricultural advisory services in EU 27 countries (WP3 of the PR
The report specifically analyses the NIS in Peru and Colombia in the coffee and dairy sectors due to their economic importance for both countries and the large percentage of small producers in these sectors. In order to analyse the NIS, we have utilised an innovations systems approach to form the analytical framework. This framework focuses on four main areas – understanding the actors in the NIS, their roles and attitudes, the patterns of interaction of these actors, and the enabling environment with a focus on small producer inclusion.
This report describes the 2012 NAIS Assessment was piloted in 4 countries: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire, open-ended interview questions, and data mining of secondary sources. A team led by a national coordinator took charge of data collection from various partner organizations in each country.
To respond to threats of climate change, Benin has joined the international community in the development and implementation of climate policies.
This document aims at capitalizing lessons drawn from the training experience of a consortium made up of various stakeholders involved in the potato seed sector in Burundi. At the initial stages of its formation, this consortium was supported by the PAEPARD programme, as part of the tender process defined above. The experience related here should provide lessons on the factors which encourage the formation of multi-stakeholder partnerships which are balanced and suited to the demand of producers.
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.
Mark Holderness, GFAR Executive Secretary, was invited as a moderator for the Network development meeting of the Eurasian Centre for Food Security (ECFS) in Moscow, Russian Federation, from 18 to 20 November 2013. Dr Holderness gave a keynote presentation titled "Shaping the future together: Transforming agricultural research, education, extension and enterprise for development" summarizing the rationale for the changes agreed in the GCARD Road Map and then taken up by the wide range of stakeholders delivering the GFAR Medium Term Plan.
Hacia el fin de la primera década del siglo xxi se han producido en el mundo alimentos más que suficientes para alimentar a una población mundial de cerca de siete mil millones de habitantes. Sin embargo, en los países en desarrollo alrededor de una de cada seis personas todavía padece hambre crónica, lo cual plantea una situación tan terrible, que de ninguna manera puede aceptarse.