This study examines whether agroecological farming practices, when employed by highly vulnerable households in sub-Saharan Africa, can improve food security and dietary diversity. The research involved a four-year study with 425 smallholder households, selected purposively based on high levels of food insecurity and/or positive HIV status. The households carried out agroecological experiments of their own choosing over a four-year period.
Local extension agents can benefit from the simple procedures in developing irrigation calendars for other irrigated crops. This study gives important lesson for local and regional decision makers, on their endeavour to increase the productivity of small scale irrigated agriculture. This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the study area, practical irrigation schedule development method, alternative irrigation schedules and data collection and analysis methods. Section 3 presents the results.
The present rise of pork demand in Benin calls for an assessment of the swine value chain (VC) to envision its development. A participatory approach is here proposed to join this assessment to a stimulation of innovation among stakeholders.
The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative operational framework that couples life cycle assessment (LCA) and a participatory approach to overcome these issues. The first step was to conduct a progressive participatory diagnosis of the socio-ecological structure of the rural territory and to characterise the main cropping systems. The results of the diagnosis and other data were progressively triangulated, validated and consolidated with the stakeholders at the territorial level. The paper discusses the quality and validity of data obtained using a participatory approach.
This study was part of a larger project that applied an integrated framework for combined nutritional, food safety and value chain analysis to assess the dairy value chain in two regions of Tanzania, namely Morogoro and Tanga. Here, we report on the use of participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) with producers and consumers to investigate seasonality, constraints and opportunities in cow milk production and consumption in ten villages in Tanzania and describe attitudes and practices surrounding milk quality and safety.
Using a combination of an ordered logit and Heckman selection models and a case study from an out-scaling program for a barley technology package in Ethiopia, this study provided evidence that a newly introduced farmer-to-farmer extension approach offers a viable option for tackling this development challenge. Model results showed that unlike the conventional approach, the new extension approach was effective in creating better access to seeds of the improved varieties and positively influencing farmers’ perceptions, ultimately leading to favorable adoption decisions.
This study aims to characterize buffalo veal supply chain in 5 villages around Cairo. Value chain approach was applied to analyze veal supply chain using the data of 82 farmers, 4 traders and 4 butchers. Economic analysis was applied to different scenarios of raising calves using buffalo milk, cow milk or milk replacer. Survey analysis showed that 65% of farmers sold veal as early as possible. However, 61% of farmers sold their calves for economic reasons, 14 % for technical reasons and 25 % for both economic and technical reasons.
Agriculture remains a key and sensitive economic sector in Egypt. Given contemporary geo-political concerns that limit access to international markets, it continues to remain responsible for the production of food and
fiber needed for a growing population. Efficacy in agricultural Extension Services (AES), within the broader scope of an agricultural innovation system, has the potential to assist in the government’s mandate, and
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.
The purpose of this study is to develop a robust, rigorous and replicable methodology that is flexible to data limitations and spatially prioritizes the vulnerability of agriculture and rural livelihoods to climate change. The methodology was applied in Vietnam, Uganda and Nicaragua, three contrasting developing countries that are particularly threatened by climate change. We conceptualize vulnerability to climate change following the widely adopted combination of sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity.