At the request of the USAID Malawi Mission, the MEAS project (Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services – a USAID funded project) conducted a rapid scoping mission to examine the pluralistic extension system in Malawi and to develop recommendations for strengthening extension and advisory services in the country.
The quality of rural extension and advisory services is a crucial element in fostering innovation and rural development. This article aims to clarify the concept of quality of rural extension and to develop a preliminary theoretical framework. An ample literature review was conducted in search of articles on service quality and quality of rural extension and advisory services. The first part presents the main results of the literature search on quality of extension services. The definition of quality is not universal.
El objetivo de esta investigación fue identificar las causas de la baja apropiación de las tecnologías para la renovación de cafetales en este municipio de Cundinamarca. Desde el punto de vista metodológico se escogió el enfoque sistémico, el método de análisis fue el descriptivo cualitativo y la identificación de información se hizo de fuentes secundarias y primarias mediante observación y entrevistas a extensionistas y caficultores cuyas fincas tuviesen lotes de café tradicional y tecnificado.
Este artículo proporciona una descripción de la fase upstream de la cadena agroindustrial de la palma de aceite. El trabajo caracteriza la funcionalidad y relaciones de eslabones y escalones de la cadena de abastecimiento y de valor de la cadena en Colombia. El trabajo representa un esfuerzo pionero que busca contribuir a mejorar la eficiencia y eficacia del sector palmero colombiano
La innovación es considerada como un factor de supervivencia organizacional y necesita de elementos de gestión que contribuyan a su sustento y vigencia en el tiempo, manteniendo así su objetivo primordial que es la usabilidad y la generación de ganancias.
Given the diversity and context-specificity of innovation systems approaches, in March 2007 the World Bank organized a workshop in which about 80 experts (representing donor agencies, development and related agencies, academia, and the World Bank) took stock of recent experiences with innovation systems in agriculture and reconsidered strategies for their future development. This paper summarizes the workshop findings and uses them to develop and discuss key issues in applying the innovation systems concept. The workshop’s recommendations, including next steps for the wider
In an effort to raise incomes and increase resilience of smallholder farmers and their families in Feed the Future1 (FTF) countries, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded the Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) project. This project is led by Digital Green in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), CARE International (CARE) and multiple resource partners.
The Excellence in Higher Education for Liberian Development (EHELD) project funded by USAID aims to build regionally recognized and competitive academic Centers of Excellence (CoEs) that produce graduates who become leading professionals and entrepreneurs in the fields of agriculture and engineering in Liberia.
A value chain study on sweet potato was conducted in 11 districts of Malawi across all the three regions to analyze and identify bottlenecks and inherent opportunities for possible investments for upgrading and development of the value chain. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect primary data from 94 farmers belonging to 7 farmer groups using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 14 traders and 16 key informants comprising policy makers, NGO representatives and scientists from both local and international research institutions.
The study began with a review of literature on Malawi’s pigeon pea sector. Specifically, the literature review examined secondary material on pigeon pea production, trade (international and export market) and consumption/demand in Malawi. The literature review also included a quick analysis of secondary data on pigeon pea to understand trends in production, productivity, marketing, pricing, processing and consumption/demand.