Qu’en est-il des « activités non agricoles » ? Peuvent-elles être pensées au-delà d’une perspective de survie ? De la transformation des récoltes à la commercialisation d’artisanat culturel, en passant par le transport routier, la location de téléphone portable ou le conseil en technologies de l’information, les activités non agricoles occupent un éventail très large. Leur utilité est de plus en plus reconnue.
Innovation processes in rural contexts occur in systems that are diverse, coupled with complex challenges. Dealing with complex systems requires an understanding of the social dynamics of actor networks and innovation.This study attempted to provide insights on thecompositional dynamics of actor networks,and how they influenceinteractive learning and innovation among agro-processing enterprises in South Africa. The guiding research questions to help address the study objectives are:What are the structural characteristics of actor networks for innovation in rural contexts?
This study aimed to describe the situation of this local breed based on the perceptions and practices of the actors in the sector (including farmers, traders and service suppliers), and to draw perspectives for its future. From the interviews, the Baladi appeared adapted and more resistant to harsh conditions, especially to extreme warm temperatures, feed shortage periods, and some diseases, in particular foot-and-mouth disease.
This paper explores possible pathways for different types of farmers, considering where they might be in the future, beyond 2030 and the era of the SDGs. It outlines some of the necessary interventions, risks and trade-offs associated with these different pathways, for farmers operating in a variety of agricultural systems globally, including cropping, livestock and tree (silvopasture) systems. It also considers the impacts of different disruption scenarios that could radically alter anticipated pathways and offers a range of possible interventions.
Small-scale farmers' experimental innovations have not generally been considered for on-farm research trials as those in the traditional sector have been perceived as recipients, rather than originators, of technical knowledge and sustainable and viable practices. Yet there is abundant evidence throughout the tropics that small-scale farmers are adaptive and experimental problem solvers, and experts at devising innovative survival strategies. While literature on the topic is rich with accounts from Africa, Asia and Latin America, there is a general dearth of examples from the Caribbean.
The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is a direct, multi-dimensional measure of women's access to resources and decision-making in various domains of agriculture. However, several challenges characterize its use: adaptation of questionnaires to local agricultural contexts, modifications to index construction once underlying activities and adequacy thresholds are modified, and sensitivity analysis. In this paper, the authors address such challenges based on our experience of adapting and using the WEAI across 3600 households in India.
This study examined the trend in climate in Ghana, how smallholder horticultural farmers perceive this changing climate and how they are responding to its perceived effects. A survey of 480 resource-constrained horticultural producers was conducted in two municipalities of Ghana. Descriptive analysis and Weighted Average Index were employed to rank identified adaptation strategies and challenges. The results showed that farmers are already experiencing increasing temperature and declining rainfall patterns consistent with trends of observed climate changing in the last two decades.
The purpose of this article is to investigate effective reformism: strategies that innovation networks deploy to create changes in their environment in order to establish a more conducive context for the realization and durable embedding of their innovation projects. Using a case study approach, effective reformism efforts are analyzed in a technological innovation trajectory related to the implementation of a new poultry husbandry system and an organizational innovation trajectory concerning new ways of co-operation among individual farms to establish economies of scale.
The aim of the present article is to propose a new approach to improve interactions between stakeholders, using traceability and contractualization. Faced with a crisis generated by volatility, collective action, incorporating all stakeholders, including consumers, is needed: but what exactly must be done? The article first describes the SDSC approach which combines three main concepts: Extended Demand, Extended Supply and Demand-Supply Chain (DSC), and then goes on to detail how a collaborativemodeling tool needs to be built up.
In this paper, the authors review the conditions that have been undermining sustainable food and nutrition security in the Caribbean, focusing on issues of history, economy, and innovation. Building on this discussion, we then argue for a different approach to agricultural development in the Small Island Developing States of the CARICOM that draws primarily on socioecological resilience and agricultural innovation systems frameworks.