Food insecurity and the weak position of smallholders in food value chains are key challenges in many low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to increase food security and make agricultural value chains more inclusive, donors, governments and researchers increasingly stimulate partnerships between multiple actors, in which knowledge exchange, joint learning and knowledge co-creation play a central role in reducing the time lag between research findings and their translation into practical outcomes.
This toolbox has been developed to collate different tools and methods that can be used for food system analysis.
It is specifically based on systems thinking for food system analysis, with the aim to formulate actionable recommendations that can bring about systemic change.It describes both the process of a food system analysis, as well as a set of tools that can be used at different stages.
Little is known about effective ways to operationalize agricultural innovation processes. The authors of this article use the MasAgro program in Mexico (which aims to increase maize and wheat productivity, profitability and sustainability), and the experiences of middle level ‘hub managers’, to understand how innovation processes occur in heterogeneous and changing contexts. Their research shows how a program, that initially had a relatively narrow technology focus, evolved towards an innovation system approach.
The impulse towards a larger introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the agricultural field is currently experiencing its momentum, as digitisation has large potentialities to provide benefits for both producers and consumers; on the other hand, pushing technological solutions into a rural context encounters several challenges.
Sustainable entrepreneurs are key actors in sustainability transitions; they develop needed innovations, create markets, and pressure incumbents. While socio-technical transitions literature is well developed, questions remain in terms of (1) the different roles that sustainable entrepreneurs can play in sustainable transitions, and (2) how best to empower these roles. To explore these challenges, we review literature and construct a framework combining the multilevel perspective and entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective.
With the developing of the agricultural information, it is inevitable trend of the development of agricultural electronic commercial affairs. On the basis of existing study on the development application model of e-commerce, combined with the character of the agricultural information, compared with the developing model from the theory and reality, a new development model electronic commerce of regional agriculture base on the government is put up, and such key issues as problems of the security applications, payment mode, sharing mechanisms, and legal protection are analyzed, etc.
The Routemap to Information Nodes and Gateways (RING) is a CIARD project led by Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). The Routemap consists of a registry of existing information services in agricultural research, innovation and development , indexed and described in a way that makes them more easily "exploitable" for building value-added integrated services.
The publication reviews forty years of development experience and concludes that donors and partner countries alike have tended to look at capacity development as mainly a technical process, or as a transfer of knowledge or institutions from North to South.
Communications and knowledge management are essential activities to help the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) achieve its development outcomes. Strategic and complementary communication helps highlight success stories, support a change in behaviour in next-users while expanding the program’s reach. This in turn will help Flagships and regions follow impact pathways and reach outcomes. This is CCAFS Program Approach to Communication.
This report identifies key obstacles to job creation within the cashew sector and provides insight on how to remove obstacles. It begins with a general description of cashew culture, its characteristics and cultivation practices, and emphasizes the multipurpose uses of cashew, including a range of by-products that could support generation of new and better jobs. The report also presents an overview of the world cashew industry.