In Sub-Sahara Africa, adoption rates of improved crop varieties remain relatively low, which is partly due to farmers’ limited access to information. In smallholder settings, information often spreads through informal networks. Better understanding of such networks could potentially help to spur innovation and farmers’ exposure to new technologies. This study uses survey data from Tanzania to analyze social networks and their role for the spread of information about improved varieties of maize and sorghum.
Labor saving innovations are essential to increase agricultural productivity, but they might also increase inequality through displacing labor. Empirical evidence on such labor displacements is limited. This study uses representative data at local and national scales to analyze labor market effects of the expansion of oil palm among smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Oil palm is labor-saving in the sense that it requires much less labor per unit of land than alternative crops.
This working paper summarizes the findings of a portfolio review conducted to explore the gender and youth responsiveness of climate-smart agriculture technologies tested across climate-smart villages. The innovative and integrative aspect of the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) approach can provide useful insights into how to decrease the gender gap in the context of climate change.
Participatory action research (PAR) has been around for years, and can add significant value to agriculture research for development projects. The use of PAR in climate-smart villages (CSVs) is no different. This review aimed to assess the impact that PAR approaches had on the adoption of CSA practices and technologies, with an emphasis on gender and social inclusion. Through a portfolio review, interviews with regional CSV teams, and surveys sent to local partners, this report demonstrates the benefit of PAR use in the implementation of the CSV approach.
This publication, consisting of several modules, includes participatory research approaches for examining a wide range of questions regarding if and how farming practices are being modified to deal with a changing environment, and the constraints and opportunities these changes pose for both men and women.
This manual is a resource and toolbox for NGO practitioners and programme designers interested in diagnostic and action research for gender sensitive and socially inclusive climate change programmes in the rural development context. It is meant to be an easy to use manual, increasing the research capacity, skills and knowledge of its users. Integrating gender and social differentiation frameworks should ideally begin from the start of the programme cycle and be coordinated throughout research, design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation phases.
This training-of-trainers manual is designed to train you to be able to deliver a capacity enhancement workshop (CEW) to rural women on climate change and gender. It has been designed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and is appropriate to the South Asian context.
Este manual presenta una diversa gama de herramientas y estrategias participativas que guíen la implementación de la agricultura climáticamente inteligente y las iniciativas para lograr la seguridad alimentaria en las comunidades rurales. El público meta de esta obra son los profesionales de ONG y diseñadores de programas interesados en el diagnóstico y la investigación-acción sobre programas relacionados con el cambio climático socialmente incluyentes y sensibles al género.
The latest turmoil of production and price volatility in the global food sector has put agriculture back to the top of the development agenda. Population growth, changing consumer preferences, bioenergy demand and climate change are some of the huge challenges for agricultural production today and in the future. In the last decades, productivity has been constantly improved through the introduction of improved crop varieties and the greater use of mechanization, irrigation, chemical fertilizer and pesticides.
Mobile phone based money services have spread rapidly in many developing countries. We analyze micro level impacts using panel data from smallholder farmers in Kenya. Mobile money use has a large positive net impact on household income. One important pathway is through remittances, which contribute to income directly but also help to reduce risk and liquidity constraints, thus promoting agricultural commercialization. Mobile money users apply more purchased inputs, market a larger proportion of their output, and have higher farm profits.