The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a participatory method to delineate distinct agricultural landscapes and map the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in data-limited contexts, (2) apply the method systematically to understand the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in three Central American countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras), and (3) use the information generated to understand the variation in adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers across farming systems and regions
Rapid climatic and socio-economic changes challenge current agricultural R&D capacity. The necessary quantum leap in knowledge generation should build on the innovation capacity of farmers themselves. A novel citizen science methodology, triadic comparisons of technologies or tricot, was implemented in pilot studies in India, East Africa, and Central America. The methodology involves distributing a pool of agricultural technologies in different combinations of three to individual farmers who observe these technologies under farm conditions and compare their performance.
A fin de analizar el potencial de un programa multisectorial en América Central, en el marco del proyecto de Integración Económica Regional Centroamericana (INTEC), que cuenta con financiación de la Comisión Europea y el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de los Países Bajos, el Centro para la Promoción de Importaciones desde países en desarrollo (CBI) encargó a ProFound – Advisers In Development y al Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) la realización de un análisis de las cadenas de valor (ACV) para cinco sectores predeterminados de seis países: Guatemala, El Salv
Las cadenas de valor juegan un papel importante en la economía global. Sin duda alguna, el análisis de cadenas de valor se ha concentrado en cadenas globales y nacionales más que en cadenas regionales de valor. Sin embargo, en muchos casos estas últimas constituyen la base principal de acceso y articulación con los mercados internacionales. Las cadenas globales de valor tienen su base en los grandes núcleos regionales de crecimiento económico e integración: América del Norte, Asia y Europa.
En este libro se sintetiza la experiencia de la CEPAL en los procesos de diagnóstico y formulación de estrategias orientadas al fortalecimiento de ocho cadenas de valor rurales en México, varios países de Centroamérica y la República Dominicana. El apoyo a estas cadenas fue posible gracias al financiamiento del Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA), en el marco del proyecto conjunto de la CEPAL y el FIDA denominado “Crecimiento inclusivo, política industrial rural y cadenas de valor participativas en América Latina y el Caribe”.
Las proyecciones de aumento en el consumo de chocolate, principal elaborado del cacao, hacen que este cultivo represente una oportunidad para el forta-lecimiento de toda la cadena de valor, en especial de los agricultores; sin em-bargo, los países productores de cacao en ALC deben superar retos en el ámbito productivo, económico, social y ambiental.
Given the diversity and context-specificity of innovation systems approaches, in March 2007 the World Bank organized a workshop in which about 80 experts (representing donor agencies, development and related agencies, academia, and the World Bank) took stock of recent experiences with innovation systems in agriculture and reconsidered strategies for their future development. This paper summarizes the workshop findings and uses them to develop and discuss key issues in applying the innovation systems concept. The workshop’s recommendations, including next steps for the wider
Seed is the starting point of plant life, and hence the most fundamental input of agriculture. A seed system that assures the availability of the desired quality of seed to the producer at the right time is indispensable for his farming enterprise. In the case of the potato crop, the seed most commonly used is strictly speaking no seed, but a tuber. The constraints and opportunities in seed potato systems in East Africa are of a combined social, economic and technical nature.
This research refers to the application of a innovation framework to sustainable livestock development research projects in Africa and Asia. The focus of these projects ranged from pastoral systems to poverty and ecosystems services mapping to market access by the poor to fodder and natural resource management to livestock parasite drug resistance.
Ethiopian agriculture is changing as new actors, relationships, and policies influence the ways in which small-scale, resource-poor farmers access and use information and knowledge in their agricultural production decisions. Although these changes suggest new opportunities for smallholders, too little is known about how changes will ultimately improve the wellbeing of smallholders in Ethiopia. The authors of this paper examine whether these changes are improving the ability of smallholders to innovate and thus improve their own welfare.