Ethiopian agriculture is changing as new actors, relationships, and policies influence the ways in which small-scale, resource-poor farmers access and use information and knowledge in their agricultural production decisions. Although these changes suggest new opportunities for smallholders, too little is known about how changes will ultimately improve the wellbeing of smallholders in Ethiopia. The authors of this paper examine whether these changes are improving the ability of smallholders to innovate and thus improve their own welfare.
This paper explores the use of complex adaptive systems theory in development policy analysis using a case study drawn from recent events in Uganda. It documents the changes that took place in the farming system in Soroti district during an outbreak of African cassava mosaic virus disease (ACMVD) and the subsequent decline in cassava production — the main staple food in the area. Resultant adaptation impacts are analysed across cropping, biological, economic and social systems each of which operate as an interlinked sub-system.
This presentation refers to the Livestock and Fish partner meeting which has been held, under CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish, in Addis Ababa, 5 November 2014, to review and advise on a gender capacity assessment methodology. The partners were the following ones: The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), The WorldFish Center, The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
The present article reviews the results and methodological design of an evaluation at higher education centres in Bolivia, Ghana and India. The ambition of these programmes was to integrate endogenous knowledge and values into education and research programmes. The evaluation provides an example of a mixed methods design that allowed for inclusion and appreciation of perspectives of different stakeholders. An evaluation team has to consider which set of methods is responding to the project context and how the methods complement each other and can be adapted to the case.
The Africa Capacity Indicators 2012 Report (2012A CIR) seeks to address the issues of capacity development on the African continent, building on the dialogue stemming from the inaugural 2011 ACIR and linking this to a very pertinent issue facing Africa today – agricultural transformation and food security. The Report does not only identify the underlying capacity challenges facing Africa. It also attempts to help Africa redefine its post-colonial agricultural landscape and more importantly prescribes policy-relevant solutions and recommendations informed by country-specific ground truths.
Learning Module 4 is the fourth in the FAO capacity development series. It aims to create a basic understanding of OD and system thinking approaches, as even a basic understanding can cultivate a new way of working. It reflects the learning experience, constructive inputs and wealth of exchanges from the OD seminar series which was held in FAO between March and November 2012.
Based on international literature, preliminary experiences in a three-country West African research programme, and on the disappointing impact of agricultural research on African farm innovation, the current paper argues that institutional change demands rethinking the pathways to innovation so as to acknowledge the role of rules, distribution of power and wealth, interaction and positions. The time is opportune: climate change, food insecurity, high food prices and concomitant riots are turning national food production into a political issue also for African leaders.
This editorial illustrates the Knowledge Management for Development Journal Special Issue on "Facilitating multi-stakeholder processes: balancing internal dynamics and institutional politics", explaining that it focuses on the connection between the knowledge function in knowledge management for development (KM4D) and the facilitation function within multi stakeholder processes (MSPs).
This module is the second in the series designed to improve Capacity Development (CD) approaches in projects and programmes of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It includes examples and tools to support endogenous CD processes in the areas of FAO’s mandate. Practitioners also may draw on the other Learning Modules (see box 1) which cover tools from disciplines such as organization analysis and development, learning event planning, facilitation and instructional science.
This is a presentation in occasion of the Forum on How to Feed the World in 2050, FAO, Rome October 2009. It summarizes the homonym paper, in which it is argued that a new paradigm has started to emerge as to how to use agriculture for development, pursuing a broadened development agenda.