Partnership brokering is needed to work out new ways of organising food systems that treat agricultural smallholders as a resource and opportunity rather than a problem or distraction. This is because food systems are demanding innovation in the way they are organised. This is a matter of transforming stakeholders into partners in order to reconfigure food systems to operate differently, rather than just operate more efficiently. Fundamental systemic changes are needed as our contemporary food system is failing to deliver the food we increasingly demand.
The promotion of land, soil and water conservation measures has been a widespread development in sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to tackle degradation and improve productivity. As a result, several governments have launched various campaigns on soil, land and water conservation measures. The aim of this study is to determine some of the factors that influence farmers’ awareness (knowledge) and adoption of land, soil and water conservation practices. Data for this study was collected from 312 households using a questionnaire survey in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa.
En las economías basadas en la exportación de materias primas, el desarrollo de capacidades de innovación es un fenómeno reciente que presiona a las empresas a introducir cambios en sus procesos industriales. Con el objetivo de caracterizar las dinámicas particulares del proceso de innovación en la industria primaria de la madera, se aplicó una encuesta presencial a treinta empresas del sector
Ante la poca oferta de textos que, aplicando los conceptos de marketing al área de los Agronegocios, indiquen cómo detectar oportunidades de mercado, se presenta una propuesta sobre cómo ayudar al estudiante en estos aspectos. La enseñanza que se entrega a los estudiantes incluye los conceptos de mercado, en que se les propone y recomienda partir de las necesidades del consumidor, generar ideas y luego evaluarlas, lo que está muy bien, siempre que se conozcan dichas necesidades.
En este artículo se hace un análisis histórico del funcionamiento de la cadena de valor láctea en Chile entre 1975 y 2005. Para ello se ha utilizado información procedente de distintas fuentes estadísticas, así como estudios e informes de la época considerada. El objetivo es demostrar que la generación de un sector competitivo, abierto a la competencia internacional, e incluso exportador, no es el resultado de la actuación de las fuerzas libres del mercado, sino de una política pública aplicada de una forma que a la vez resulta flexible y persistente en el tiempo.
This paper draws lessons from selected country experiences of adaptation and innovation in pursuit of food security goals.
After years of neglect, there is a renewed interest in agricultural mechanization in Africa. Since government initiatives to promote mechanization are confronted with major governance challenges, private-sector initiatives may offer a promising alternative. However, given limited scientific studies on such private-sector options such approaches are often viewed skeptically. One concern is that multi-national agribusiness companies take advantage of smallholder farmers. Another concern is that mechanization causes rural unemployment.
While livestock constitute a strategic sector to reduce poverty and enhance growth in developing countries, decision makers often lack data reflecting the diversity of livestock functions and systems. The authors therefore mobilised the Livestock Sector Investment Policy Toolkit to assess the economic contributions of livestock in Zambia. Valuing their plural contributions by system, we found that mixed rainfed systems were the main contributors to added value, even if specialised intensive systems provided around 45% of meat and milk production.
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.
In eastern Zambia, population growth has reduced per-capita land availability to such an extent that traditional bush fallows can no longer be practiced, and low soil fertility is a major constraint to crop production. Improved fallows (IF) based on leguminous trees are a low cash-input agroforestry practice to restore soil fertility. The objective of the study reported here was to assess the adoption of IF by farmers who tested the technology, including the extent to which the technology is practiced relative to its potential scale.