This study analyse how agricultural extension can be made more effective in terms of increasing farmers’ adoption of pro-nutrition technologies, such as biofortified crops. In a randomised controlled trial with farmers in Kenya, the authors implemented several extension treatments and evaluated their effects on the adoption of beans biofortified with iron and zinc. Difference-in-difference estimates show that intensive agricultural training can increase technology adoption considerably.
Se describe un estudio de caso, en la Isla de la Juventud, cuyo objetivo fue desarrollar un esquema de arreglo productivo local como forma de gestión eficiente para la mejora del desempeño de los agentes que se articulan. Se tomó como base una metodología con adaptaciones, se describe entre sus componentes; las barreras, esquema de Arreglo Productivo Local, la identificación de innovaciones y el desempeño de
At present, agricultural policies in Kenya often ignore specific target groups because there is a lack of contextual information on farmers’ specific socio-economic conditions. The aim of this study was to fill this knowledge gap by answering the following research questions: 1. What determines the adaptive capacity of AIV farmers in Kenya? 2. How does access to capital assets differ by farming household characteristics and between the selected areas? 3. What are the AC levels of AIV farmers in the selected zones of Kenya? 4.
Within agricultural innovation systems (AIS), various stakeholder groups inevitably interpret ‘innovation’ from their own vantage point of privilege and power. In rural developing areas where small-scale and subsistence farming systems support livelihoods, dominant policy actors often focus heavily on participatory modernization and commercialization initiatives to enhance productivity, access, and quality. However, existing social hierarchies may undermine the potential of such initiatives to promote inclusive and sustainable farmer-driven innovation.
Smallholder dairy farmers have the challenges of accessing timely and reliable agricultural information, and this limits them from realizing maximum farm output. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a farming extension tool by smallholder farmers has the potential to reverse the scenario and improve farmers’ outputs and incomes leading to increased welfare.
With support from The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), through a call for proposal, Hello Tractor an agriculture technology social enterprise has been selected to implement ICT-enabled smallholder mechanisation services with the objective to create jobs for youth across Nigeria and Kenya over a one-year period. Hello Tractor has a bold vision to create sustainable value for tractor owners and to radically transform how the smallholder agricultural ecosystem interacts with and derives value from technology.
The present study was designed with the following objectives: i) to evaluate selected stress-tolerant maize hybrids developed by CIMMYT in eastern Africa under farmers’ conditions; ii) to identify farmers’ selection criteria in evaluating and selecting maize hybrids; iii) to let farmers evaluate the varieties and score them for the identified criteria and overall.
Literature is scanty on how public agricultural investments can help reducing the impact of future challenges such as climate change and population pressure on national economies. The objective of this study is to assess the medium and long-term effects of alternative agricultural research and development investment scenarios on male and female employment in 14 African countries. The authors first estimate the effects of agricultural investment scenarios on the overall GDP growth of a given country using partial and general equilibrium models.
In the context of an exponential rise in access to information in the last two decades, this special issue explores when and how information might be harnessed to improve governance and public service delivery in rural areas. Information is a critical component of government and citizens’ decision-making; therefore, improvements in its availability and reliability stand to benefit many dimensions of governance, including service delivery.
There is a broad consensus that farmers are not simply recipients of promoted techniques: rather, they are also an important source of agricultural innovations. They invent farm tools and equipment, develop new crop varieties, and add value to externally promoted technologies. When scouting, documenting and promoting such farmer-generated innovations, the thorny issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs) often emerges.