Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become proactive and to engage with research and extension providers. The systematic review covered three modalities of disbursing these grants to smallholder farmers and their organisations: vouchers, competitive grants and farmer-led innovation support funds.
This paper examines the role of postsecondary agricultural education and training (AET) in sub-Saharan Africa in the context of the region’s agricultural innovation systems. Specifically, the paper looks at how AET in sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to agricultural development by strengthening innovative capacity, or the ability of individuals and organisations to introduce new products and processes that are socially or economically relevant, particularly with respect to smallholder farmers who represent the largest group of agricultural producers in the region.
This report is part of the AFRHINET project under the ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Science and Technology (S&T II). The overall aims of the project are to enhance options for sustainable integration of rainwater harvesting for irrigation through understanding adoption constraints and developing networks for capacity building and technology transfer. The African partners are Addis Ababa University and WaterAid-Ethiopia in Ethiopia, University of Nairobi and ICRAF-Searnet in Kenya, Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, and University of Zimbabwe and ICRISAT-Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe.
This brief summarizes the main activities carried out by the 15 international agricultural research centers of the global research partnership for a food secure future CGIAR and their affiliated institutions develop innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture
The purpose of this paper is to summarize the challenges and the practical successes that a selected number of countries are experiencing in moving towards 'climate-smart' agriculture while also meeting the food requirements of a growing population, broader economic development and green growth objectives. It complements papers prepared in 2010 on technologies and policy instruments, research, and farmers' perspectives.
The purposes of this course are to review the major reforms being considered internationally that aim to change the policy and institutional structure and operations of public sector agricultural extension systems, and to examine the advantages and disadvantages of each of these reforms as illustrated by the selected case studies. Aside from the introductory chapter, the course is organized into nine modules, which are conceived as part of a larger framework.
This report assesses trends in investments, human resource capacity, and research outputs in agricultural R&D -excluding the private (for-profit) sector- in LAC. It is an update of Stads and Beintema (2009), covering a more complete set of countries and focusing primarily on developments during 2006-2012/2013.
En este artículo se procura identificar, describir y comparar la concepción de extensión rural que guía a nivel subjetivo las prácticas de extensión de técnicos que trabajan en diez diferentes países latinoamericanos, para luego comparar estas concepciones con los modelos y lineamientos de extensión propuestos por la bibliografía. Para esto, primero se describen distintas concepciones de extensión que han tenido importancia en América Latina a lo largo de la historia, luego se presenta la metodología de investigación utilizada, presentándose por último los resultados a los que arribó
En este artículo se presentan dos líneas de trabajo. Primero tiene como objetivo contribuir a la identificación de los problemas a los que se enfrentan los extensionistas rurales que trabajan en los territorios; y, segundo, aportar a la reconstrucción y a la comprensión de las concepciones de extensión rural (ER con las que ellos enmarcan y ordenan sus prácticas cotidianas, analizando esto en el contexto de la institucionalidad del sistema de ER en Uruguay
Los artículos reunidos en este volumen se basan en las ponencias presentadas por los expertos que participaron en el seminario internacional “Políticas para la agricultura en América Latina y el Caribe: competitividad, sostenibilidad e inclusión social”, realizado en la sede de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) en Santiago los días 6 y 7 de diciembre de 2011.