The Fiji Islands, like many small Pacific island nations, are thought to incur high rates of postharvest loss. Little work has been undertaken to quantify the amount of loss within Pacific horticultural value chains, or identify the key determinants. This study sought to quantify postharvest loss within Fijian smallholder tomato value chains and to examine the relative importance of current on-farm practices as possible contributors to this loss.
The concept of technology adoption (along with its companions, diffusion and scaling) is commonly used to design development interventions, to frame impact evaluations and to inform decision-making about new investments in development-oriented agricultural research. However, adoption simplifies and mischaracterises what happens during processes of technological change. In all but the very simplest cases, it is likely to be inadequate to capture the complex reconfiguration of social and technical components of a technological practice or system.
The concept of technology adoption (along with its companions, diffusion and scaling) is commonly used to design development interventions, to frame impact evaluations and to inform decision-making about new investments in development-oriented agricultural research. However, adoption simplifies and mischaracterises what happens during processes of technological change. In all but the very simplest cases, it is likely to be inadequate to capture the complex reconfiguration of social and technical components of a technological practice or system.
Banana and plantain are one of the most important staple food crops and a significant source of income to smallholder farmers in the East African Great Lakes Region. Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) is a devastating bacterial disease that threatens smallholder production and livelihoods. We use a systems approach to describe how gender shapes roles and practices in the household, on the farm and in innovation processes. We draw on a case study in Burundi, where single disease stem removal (SDSR) has been introduced as a labour-saving package to reduce BXW incidence.
Innovation is the process whereby individuals or organizations bring new or existing products, processes or ways of organization into use for the first time in a specific context. Innovation in agriculture cuts across all dimensions of the production cycle along the entire value chain - from crop, forestry, fishery or livestock production to the management of inputs and resources to market access. This book represents the proceedings of the first International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers which FAO organized at its headquarters in Rome, on 21–23 November 2018.
Smallholder farmers’ organizations aim to help farmers to achieve a common goal. A counselor or an agribusiness development can give support through the diagnostic tools, that allow to give a picture of the organizations and to set a working strategy that will be used to address the identified problems of the organizations and assist farmers develop sustainable solutions for these problems.
Este folleto describe brevemente el proyecto "Desarrollo de Capacidades para los Sistemas de Innovación Agrícola en El Salvador", implementado por la FAO en conjunto con el Centro Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria y Forestal “Enrique Álvarez Córdova” (CENTA), del Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (
Este estudio de caso cuenta historias inspiradoras de cambio derivadas del proyecto propuesto por el acuerdo de colaboración entre el CIP y el FIDA y permitió recuperar 171 testimonios en los tres países, de los cuales los propios productores protagonistas priorizaron 24 casos que para ellos reflejaban mejor lo que había significado el proyecto. De estos 24 casos, se seleccionaron cinco historias, de las cuales tres son de Bolivia (sus historias recibieron puntajes más altos), seguidas de una de Perú y otra de Ecuador. Tres de ellas corresponden a mujeres y dos a varones.
This brief describes how Women in Business Development Incorporated (WIBDI), a non-profit organisation in Samoa, works with farming families to produce highvalue products for local and global markets. Shifting away from a women-focused approach, WIBDI now uses an approach that involves the whole family, keeping all family members on board. It has also invested in digital applications and resources to increase the efficiency of operations, profile the producers and their products, and facilitate engagement with markets and customers
Digital as well as other technical and institutional innovations underpin the success of agriculture in developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). Such innovations are encouraging a new generation of young ‘agripreneurs’ to tackle agri-food challenges, explore ways to build resilience to climate change, and improve the incomes and livelihoods of people in agriculture.