The central question posed for this Breakout Sub-Session at the GCARD Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (Punta Del Este, Uruguay, 29 October – 1 November 2012) is "What role smallholder farmers now play and could play in meeting the future needs in food and nutrition security, poverty alleviation and sustainable management of natural resources?".
This document is about a session of the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2), which was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 2012. The session focused on how to strengthen institutional capacities as well as multi-disciplinary and multi-organizational networking, including through improved policies, management practices, structures and incentives, so that institutions become more adaptive and responsive, as well as more effective in linking farmers, research, education, extension and development actors.
Most agencies supporting agricultural research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) provide funds for discrete projects over specific periods of time, usually a maximum of three years. Research topics identified for calls for proposals are not always well aligned with users’ needs. In particular, research topics may not reflect the priorities of organizations - such as farmer organizations and private agribusinesses, with interests in the research outcomes; they are not generally supported to play a significant role as project partners.
The United Nations predicts that we need to increase food production globally by 70 percent to feed 9.6 billion people by 2050. But at the same time, given the climate crisis, we need to significantly reduce the use of energy, water, and land needed to produce food and lower its carbon footprint. In other words, we must figure out how to produce and distribute more food using fewer resources and emissions. We must learn to do farming better with less.
For most development organisations and funders, innovation remains a sprawling collection of activities, often energetic, but largely uncoordinated. To a dregree, this has also been the case for Iceland's development co-operation. Iceland, a comparatively small but energetic player in the international development co-operation system, provided the equivalent of 0.28% (roughly 67 million Euro) of it 2021 gross national income towards Official Development Assistance.
This paper argues that impact assessment research has not made more of a difference because the measurement of the economic impact has poor diagnostic power. In particular it fails to provide research managers with critical institutional lessons concerning ways of improving research and innovation as a process. Paper's contention is that the linear input-output assumptions of economic assessment need to be complemented by an analytical framework that recognizes systems of reflexive, learning interactions and their location in, and relationship with, their institutional context.
The article provides a conceptual framework and discusses research methods for analyzing pluralistic agricultural advisory services. The framework can also assist policy-makers in identifying reform options. It addresses the following question: Which forms of providing and financing agricultural advisory services work best in which situation? The framework ‘disentangles’ agricultural advisory services by distinguishing between (1) governance structures, (2) capacity, (3) management, and (4) advisory methods.
This volume presents a state-of-the-art overview of the rapidly evolving field of agribusiness, highlighting the most current issues, concepts, trends and themes in research, practice and policy. With a particular emphasis on technology, product and process innovation, the authors cover a wide array of topics relating to such issues as research and development, technology transfer and patents and licensing, with particular respect to the roles of academic institutions, private organizations and public agencies in generating and disseminating knowledge.
L’eau d’irrigation est une ressource cruciale pour le développement économique et social en Tunisie. Dans un contexte de décentralisation et de délégation du rôle de l’État, une part importante de la gestion de cette eau d’irrigation a été confiée aux groupements de développement agricole (GDA). Ces groupements souffrent cependant d’un manque de reconnaissance de la part des usagers, qui se manifeste essentiellement par un faible consentement de leur part à payer les redevances.
The Chinese Government has initiated a series of agricultural reforms since the 1970s to encourage agents to provide more services to farmers. In 2006, a new round of agricultural reforms was extended nationwide; however, the effectiveness of these reforms has not been examined. Based on a comparison of survey data sets before and after the reforms, we found that overall they significantly increased the time agents spend on agricultural extension services, although their effectiveness differs among three major components of the reforms.