The objective of the study was to identify a viable trade-off between low data requirements and useful household-specific prioritizations of advisory messages. At three sites in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania independently, we collected experimental preference rankings from smallholder farmers for receiving information about different agricultural and livelihood practices. At each site, was identified socio-economic household variables that improved model-based predictions of individual farmers’ information preferences.
Smallholder farmers across the Global South increasingly need to adapt their farming activities to fast-paced changes, for example, in climate, policy and markets. In many places, public and private agricultural extension services support technological change through trainings and the dissemination of information. The effectiveness of extant ex-tension (advisory) methodologies is, however, challenged by the difficulty of reaching a large and growing clientele with highly diverse information needs.
Agricultural extension in the Global South can benefit greatly from the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICT). Yet, despite two decades of promising experiences, this potential is not fully realized. Here, it is reviewed the relevant research literature to inform future investments into agricultural information services that harness the full potential of digital media.The study describes a recently emerging innovation agenda that is, in part, a response to the eventualfailure of many new agro-advisory initiatives.
Se trata de un boletín elaborado en el marco del Programa Regional de Investigación e Innovación por Cadenas de Valor Agrícola (PRIICA), el cual detalla información sobre el propio Programa y sus logros en Honduras
Sustainable intensification (SI) is promoted as a rural development paradigm for sub-Saharan Africa. Achieving SI requires smallholder farmers to have access toinformation that is context-specific, increases their decision-making capacities, andadapts to changing environments. Current extension services often struggle toaddress these needs. New mobile phone-based services can help.
This policy brief shows how digital tools can help to ensure that public money for agricul-tural extension is spent wisely. Governments often fund offices, training centers, and the salaries of extension officers, but cannot eas-ily review the impacts of these expenditures. This is because the activities of extension agents are not monitored systematically. Ex-ension services rarely generate quantitative data on the effects of their work.
Rapid climatic and socio-economic changes challenge current agricultural R&D capacity. The necessary quantum leap in knowledge generation should build on the innovation capacity of farmers themselves. A novel citizen science methodology, triadic comparisons of technologies or tricot, was implemented in pilot studies in India, East Africa, and Central America. The methodology involves distributing a pool of agricultural technologies in different combinations of three to individual farmers who observe these technologies under farm conditions and compare their performance.
Este séptimo manual introduce el tema de la gestión asociativa y consta de dos módulos y ocho unidades didácticas que presentan, en primer lugar, el concepto de integración vertical y alternativas para formalizar empresas asociativas. Luego abordan diversos temas relacionados con la gestión del relacionamiento entre actores de una alianza: qué pueden aportar y obtener, los pasos para iniciar una alianza, los roles habituales y algunas metodologías para aumentar el compromiso, reducir los conflictos y monitorear los avances.
Este sexto manual presenta un método para formular un plan de negocios para la agroempresa asociativa orientado a productos de origen agropecuario con valor agregado. Incluye cinco módulos que presentan los distintos capítulos del plan: la descripción del negocio, el plan de mercadeo, el plan de producción, el plan legal y de administración y el plan financiero. En el manual 5 de la serie puede encontrar mayor información para desarrollar el plan de mercadeo.
Este quinto manual desarrolla el tema de la gestión de comercialización e incluye cuatro módulos y doce unidades didácticas que presentan información general sobre cómo funcionan los mercados agrícolas; los modos de generar y validar nuevas ideas de negocio y formas de conocer el mercado y caracterizar y segmentar a los clientes actuales y potenciales. Finaliza con el modo de elaborar un plan de gestión comercial –con sus objetivos y estrategias– y de llevarlo a la práctica y monitorearlo.