The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of food insecurity as coercive tool or a weapon during conflict, providing a case study on Gaza. The authors aim at proving that Food insecurity in Gaza is not merely a product of conflict, but rather a systematic policy of control. The paper includes the presentation of community-based innovations that were created in the extremely intricate case of Gaza, in order to retain certain economic and political agency over food and farming systems.
The history of agricultural research and development (R&D) has never been static. Its philosophies, concepts and principles continue to change and to impact on present-day practices. It is imperative to understand and draw lessons from the old and new perspectives, which inform agricultural R&D processes and policy formulation in developing countries. The interest of this paper is, therefore, to draw relevant lessons that can explain the dynamics,of the innovation systems at the grassroots in sub-Saharan Africa in particular.
This paper investigates Innovation Systems Concepts and Principles starting with an historical perspective. Then it analyzes their application to Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) and makes a comparison between the traditional Research and Development Systems Approaches and the Innovation Systems Approach.
A growing variety of public and private agricultural advisory services are available today, leading to increasingly ‘pluralistic service systems’ (PSS) where advisory services are provided by different actors and funded from different sources. This is generally regarded as an important step forward, as it steers away from relying on purely state-led or privatised service systems. PSS hold the potential to overcome constraints related to funding, staffing and expertise, and to make advisory services more demand-driven.
The aim of this discussion paper is to ascertain the government of Lao's (GoL) current practices in negotiating, awarding, and managing land concessions; enhance GoL understanding and commitments to develop national capacities targeting improved land management, that will generate revenues for GoL, and ensure sustainable development as an urgent priority; and provide a basis for dialogue within the government to enable its determination of priorities to better address land development issues in Laos, to enable the achievement of sustainable, responsible economic development.
Although Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the worst nutrition indicators in the world, nutrition remains a low priority on the policy agendas of many African governments. This despite the fact that proven interventions are known and available and that investment in them is considered a cost-effective strategy for poverty reduction. This case study is one in a series seeking to understand (1) what keeps African governments from committing fully to reducing malnutrition, and (2) what is required for full commitment.
Land tenure security is crucial for women's empowerment and a prerequisite for building secure and resilient communities. Tenure is affected by many and often contradictory sets of rules, laws, customs, traditions, and perceptions. For most rural women, land tenure is complicated, with access and ownership often layered with barriers present in their daily realities: discriminatory social dynamics and strata, unresponsive legal systems, lack of economic opportunities, and lack of voice in decision making.
Whereas Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a major staple food in many countries, it is one of the priority value chain crops under the Rwanda’s Crop Intensification Program (CIP). The crop is more important in the northern and northwestern than other parts of Rwanda. After plantain and cassava, potato is the third most important staple cultivated by 52.9% of the households in Rwanda.
Les populations africaines font partie des plus vulnérables face au changement climatique, du fait de leurs situations géographiques et économiques. Dans certaines régions du continent, où la variabilité climatique actuelle limite déjà la production agricole, le changement climatique pourrait l’inhiber complètement en l’absence de mesures pour adapter les systèmes agraires existants aux nouveaux contextes. Les paysans, qui représentent 70 à 80 % des agriculteurs en Afrique, seront très certainement les plus vulnérables face au changement climatique.
Nouvel instrument communautaire mobilisant la politique de recherche et la PAC, le PEI entend susciter des partenariats entre les acteurs du développement, de l’enseignement agricole, les agriculteurs, les chercheurs et les entreprises. En cela, il reflète l’évolution récente du cadre de pensée des institutions internationales, qui voient dans l’innovation agricole moins le produit de la recherche et du transfert de connaissances que le résultat d’interactions entre acteurs au sein de réseaux plus ou moins formels.