This article describes the experience of analyzing groups of Colombian fruit farmers’ capacity to collect information and their interest and ability to take advantage of the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies (ICTs). Three cycles were designed to understand the attitudes, skills, and current practices of fruit growers and to define the necessary conditions for effective information sharing. The three cycles involved individual farmers, farmer groups meeting face to face, and virtual meeting with farmer groups.
This paper shows that the current generation of transgenic crop varieties has significant potential to improve economic welfare in low-income countries. These varieties might increase crop yields in low-income countries in cases when pesticides have not been used. They will reduce negative health effects of chemicals when they replace them. With low transaction costs, appropriate infrastructure, and access to intellectual property, multiple varieties of transgenics will be introduced.
This paper analyses a biotechnology-focused project which aims to promote the development and adoption of tissue culture bananas by small-scale farmers in Kenya. The paper highlights the generation of several important narratives that are used to justify the development and dissemination of this technology. First, a disaster narrative, a series of claims regarding rural livelihoods and banana production in Kenya, is generated. This creates a political and technical space for the creation of a new science that can solve these problems.
This book documents a unique series of 19 case studies where agricultural biotechnologies were used to serve the needs of smallholders in developing countries. They cover different regions, production systems, species and underlying socio-economic conditions in the crop (seven case studies), livestock (seven) and aquaculture/fisheries (five) sectors. Most of the case studies involve a single crop, livestock or fish species and a single biotechnology.
Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become proactive and to engage with research and extension providers. The systematic review covered three modalities of disbursing these grants to smallholder farmers and their organisations: vouchers, competitive grants and farmer-led innovation support funds.
Este boletín presenta información recolectada a través de la "Encuesta Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Sistema Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria" y otras fuentes, con el fin de mostrar un panorama de la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación. Los indicadores discutidos en esta publicación deben apoyar la toma de decisiones a nivel nacional y regional; apoyar la formulación de la política pública; y orientar la investigación, desarollo tecnológico y la innovación (I+D+i) del sector.
Este artículo tiene por propósito comparar las redes de compras públicas para la agricultura campesina y familiar en los programas de alimentación escolar de los municipios de Granada (Antioquia-Colombia) y São Lourenço do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul-Brasil) en los años de 2016 y 2017. Para tal fin, se construyó un abordaje teórico-metodológico desde la perspectiva de las redes de política pública, articulado a dos metodologías, el Análisis de Redes Sociales y la comparación de Sistemas de Máxima Diferencia.
The adoption of adequate technologies is essential to improve the performance of different kinds of companies. Although there is literature related to the adoption of technology in dairy agribusiness in developed countries, information about it is scarce in developing countries. The objective of this study was to explore the factors associated with the adoption of technology by dairy agribusiness. A structural analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the internal variables of Antioquia province farms, Colombia, and their technology adoption process.
La participación de los pequeños productores en procesos de investigación asociados a los sistemas productivos agrícolas ha sido difícil de lograr. Por esto el objeto de la presente investigación fue el de lograr la vinculación de pequeños productores de yuca (Manihot esculenta Crantz) a procesos de investigación en la región caribe de Colombia. Por lo anterior, se implementaron ensayos de campo en los que se empleó un método de investigación participativa a través de modelos integrados de producción.
Under the REGATTA Initiative (Regional Portal for Technology Transfer and Action against Climate Change in Latin America and Caribbean) this project seeks to develop actions towards vulnerability and adaptation to climate change assessment in agriculture and water resources in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.