This publication provides a collection of papers, commentaries, expert opinions and reflections on state-of-the-art innovation systems thinking and approaches in agriculture. It is the direct output of a CTA and WUR/CoS-SIS collaboration which had its genesis in an expert consultation on ‘Innovation Systems: Towards Effective Strategies in support of Smallholder Farmers’.
This study aims to assess if AKIS are effectively disseminating integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) knowledge by comparing results from two sites in Kenya and Ghana, which differ in the uptake of ISFM. Social network measures and statistical methods were employed using data from key formal actors and farmers. Their results suggest that the presence of weak knowledge ties is important for the awareness of ISFM at both research sites.
Livelihoods, food security, and development processes in Sub-Saharan Africa are highly dependent on land management practices to generate natural ecosystem goods and services. Out of a total population of about 717 million people, almost 60 percent depend for their livelihood on agriculture, hunting, fishing, or forestry. However, unsustainable land management already is leading to large-scale land degradation trends, which pose a threat to food security and poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change threatens to exacerbate and add to the existing vulnerabilities.
Cet article présente les résultats clés tirés de l’analyse transversale de 13 expériences d’innovation agricole menées au Bénin, au Kenya et en Afrique du Sud. L’évaluation a utilisé un cadre analytique commun inspiré de l’approche systèmes d’innovation pour comprendre comment l’innovation a évolué au fil du temps via les interactions entre différents acteurs et sous l’effet d’éléments déclencheurs et moteurs internes et externes.
Cette publication offre de nombreux exemples concrets détaillant différentes manières de réengager les jeunes dans le secteur agricole. Elle montre à quel point des programmes éducationnels sur mesure peuvent offrir aux jeunes les compétences et la perspicacité nécessaires pour se lancer en agriculture et adopter des méthodes de production respectueuses de l’environnement. Beaucoup des approches ou des initiatives décrites dans cette publication sont issues des jeunes eux-mêmes.
La conférence sur « Agriculture écologique : atténuer le changement climatique, assurer la sécurité alimentaire et l’autonomie pour les sources de revenus ruraux en Afrique » s’est tenue à Addis – Abéba (Ethiopie) du 26 au 28 novembre 2008.
This study investigated how value chain governance influences farmer participation in vegetable markets and food security in Kenya. This study employed exploratory case study design to provide chain architecture, isolate primary actors, their roles, relations, constraints and opportunities for upgrading by smallholders.
This report is the result of a study that was carried out for the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), to make an inventory of experiences with ‘market-oriented agricultural advisory services’ (MOAAS). Lessons learned have been drawn from the cases studied. These lessons are the basis for guidelines formulated for setting up market-oriented agricultural advisory services.
This report brings the experience of an Sharing Evend and Police tour held in eastern africa by FAO and the Rwanda agricultural board. The Field School study tour was organized by FAO Rwanda in collaboration with the Rwanda Agricultural board and involved participants from Kenya and Ethiopia. The participants from Ethiopia were 2 (Government and FAO) and those from Kenya were 9 (FAO, MOALF, University, Research). The tour was focussed on two districts namely Rulindo and Rubavu. On the first day the group visited FS facilitator training in Rulindo and later a visit to FFS facilitator group.
In this paper, the authors describe the adaptation and validation of a project-level WEAI (or pro-WEAI) that agricultural development projects can use to identify key areas of women’s (and men’s) disempowerment, design appropriate strategies to address identified deficiencies, and monitor project outcomes related to women’s empowerment. The 12 pro-WEAI indicators are mapped to three domains: intrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with). A gender parity index compares the empowerment scores of men and women in the same household.