Small enterprises are one of the most effective factors in the development of each country’s economic and social systems, having the ability to compete with large industries, so these enterprises are mainly focused by authorities. This study aimed to develop indicators of entrepreneurship in rural small enterprises as well as identifying the effective factors and obstacles to provide strategies of entrepreneurship development. The population of study included small business owners in Fars Province, Iran that initiated business in rural areas through quick-impact enterprises project.
To give more attention to the normative character of sustainable development, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality requested for a participatory approach to evaluate Dutch agriculture, which was characterized by stakeholder workshops, dialogue, and learning. This article describes and reflects on this approach, using the Fourth Generation Evaluation framework developed by Guba and Lincoln (Fourth generation evaluation, 1989).
The Mesoamerican Agroenvironmental Program (MAP-Norway) is a multi-dimensional rural development program implemented in Central America since 2009, working with smallholder families, producer organizations, governmental organizations, and regional governance platforms. To monitor, assess, and evaluate the effects of the program on its beneficiaries, MAP-Norway uses a series of indicators that allow project managers and donors to adapt and follow-up on the interventions.
In this paper, it is reported the results of a case study of the Community Engagement (CE) strategies employed by the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (AH) to introduce tissue culture banana (TCB) agricultural practices to small-hold farmers in Kenya, and their impact on the uptake of the TCB, and on the nature of the relationship between AH and the relevant community of farmers and other stakeholders.
Smartphone technology is promising for the future development of agriculture, as it can facilitate and improve many operational procedures and can also be combined with precision agriculture technologies. Yet, existing research on smartphone adoption in agriculture is scarce. Therefore, this paper empirically explores the factors influencing smartphone adoption by German farmers. The relationship between farmers, farm characteristics and smartphone adoption was analysed using a binomial logit model.
To augment youth employment, the Government of India has launched a number of skills training programs. This paper deals with participation in and the impact of one of these programs [Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDUGKY)] located in rural Bihar, one of India’s poorest states. The analysis is based on data collected in mid-2016 and compares trained participants with non-participants who applied for the scheme but eventually did not attend
Recent discourse in the field of participatory agricultural research has focused on how to blend vari- ous forms and intensities of stakeholder participation with quality agricultural science, moving beyond the simple ‘‘farmer-first’’ ideology of the 1980s and early 1990s.
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.
How effective are multi-stakeholder scenarios-building processes to bring diverse actors together and create a policy-making tool to support sustainable development and promote food security in the developing world under climate change? The effectiveness of a participatory scenario development process highlights the importance of “boundary work” that links actors and organizations involved in generating knowledge on the one hand, and practitioners and policymakers who take actions based on that knowledge on the other.
Efficient water allocation for sustainable irrigated agriculture has become a growing concern, especially in transboundary river basins where the competition between upstream and downstream countries is substantially increasing. In this paper, the Diyala basin, one of the most water-stressed basins shared between Iraq and Iran, was used as an example case study. The water-stress situation is projected to get worse in the foreseeable future, as climate change adversely altered runoff at a time when demand for water is witnessing remarkable growth.