This PROLINNOVA report to the 3rd GFAR Programme-Committee meeting is composed of two parts.
The past 1 entitles ‘ PROLINNOVA genesis and growth’ describes historical background and
PROLINOVA in general while the part 2 entitles ‘2007 accomplishments’ narrates specific
accomplishments of PROLINNOVA during the period January-November 2007 . Further, the annex 1
lists contact addresses.
Mainstream agricultural research has focused primarily on technical and biological aspects and is aimed at controlling or manipulating nature through the use of external inputs, such as
agricultural chemicals or super seed. In developing countries, the results of this research have benefited some resource-rich farmers in well-endowed areas, were suitable to only a limited
extent for poorer farmers in the more favourable areas, and were - in most cases - completely inappropriate for small-scale farmers in marginal areas, e.g. in the mountains or the drylands.
The DURAS Project, which ran from 2004 to 2008, established a truly pioneering means of integrating innovation from science with that from communities themselves. At the heart of DURAS has been its innovative competitive grants system. Following an original selection and evaluation process that placed a premium on multi-stakeholder partnerships, 12 projects were funded in Africa and Asia over a period of three years, each involving an array of disciplines and partners.
El Foro Global de la Investigación Agrícola- GFAR, el Programa Colaborativo de Fitomejoramiento Participativo en Mesoamérica, implementado en comunidades de la Sierra de los Cuchumatanes por la Asociación de Organizaciones de los Cuchumatanes –ASOCUCH, y la Fundación para la Innovación Tecnológica Agropecuaria y Forestal FUNDIT, con financiamiento del Fondo de Desarrollo de Noruega presentan este material de capacitación para las comunidades indígenas y locales agrícolas sobre un tema que tiene gran relevancia en el mundo de hoy: la necesidad e importancia de reconocer e implementar los der
This document (section F2.2. of the report on The state of foresight in food and agriculture and the roads toward improvement) presents one of the GCARD2 F2 session on “Foresight Guiding Research and Innovation” and provides information that was relevant for the discussions during the session, such as on Farming Patterns of the Future, Future land use changes, Linking future production and consumption.
To enhance integrated rainwater management in crop-livestock systems in the Volta basin of Burkina Faso, innovation platforms (IP) comprising of multiple stakeholders were established in the districts of Koubri and Ouahigouya. Quarterly IP meetings were organized to collectively identify and prioritize constraints and opportunities, and to design and implement strategies to address them. IP represents an example of putting the agricultural innovations systems’ perspective into practice.
This paper assesses why participation in markets for small ruminants is relatively low in northern Ghana by analysing the technical and institutional constraints to innovation in smallholder small ruminant production and marketing in Lawra and Nadowli Districts. It is argued in this paper that for the majority of smallholders, market production, which requires high levels of external inputs or intensification of resource use, is not a viable option.
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve this Africa has to define agriculture as a force in economic growth by: advancing scientific and technological research; investing in infrastructure; fostering higher technical training; and creating regional markets.
In this paper the authors provide climate smart agriculture (CSA) planners and implementers at all levels with a generic framework for evaluating and prioritising potential interventions. This entails an iterative process of mapping out recommendation domains, assessing adoption potential and estimating impacts. Through examples, related to livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa, they demonstrate each of the steps and how they are interlinked. The framework is applicable in many different forms, scales and settings.
This study identifies entry points for innovation for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems. An agricultural innovation systems approach is used to provide a holistic image of (relations between) constraints faced by different stakeholder groups, the dimensions and causes of these constraints, and intervention levels, timeframes and types of innovations needed. The authors aim at showing that constraints for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems are mainly of economic and institutional nature.