La dégradation accrue de la qualité des aliments est l'une des conséquences de l'industrialisation du secteur agricole et de l'agroalimentaire, processus qui a été intensifié par la globalisation et la conséquente ouverture des marchés aux produits étrangers concurrençant et fragilisant les entreprises et les petites fermes agricoles locales. Cet état de fait préoccupe aussi bien les agriculteurs que les consommateurs et n'a pas laissé indifférents les acteurs locaux qui s'investissent désormais pour des produits alimentaires de qualité et de proximité.
There have been clear changes in Guatemala and, according to those involved, outcomes exceeded expectations. These have resulted from the strengthening of functional capacities across individual, partnership, organisational and national levels, using processes that have evolved since the CDAIS project began in 2015. Of the four selected innovation niche partnerships in the country, the conversations here explore the experiences of avocado producers in Sololá, led by AIDA, the Association for the Integral Development of the Altiplano.
The CDAIS project has been an accelerator of processes, with results that have spread from community to governmental levels. Those who have been involved consider that CDAIS was a key reason for these changes, having arrived as a springboard in 2015. Of the four partnerships in Honduras, these conversations explore the experiences of potato producers in La Esperanza, Intibucá, home to almost 70% of national potato production. Since 2015, much has changed for them: from a small group of growers, eight associations have become consolidated organisations.
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.