African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve this Africa has to define agriculture as a force in economic growth by: advancing scientific and technological research; investing in infrastructure; fostering higher technical training; and creating regional markets.
The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach has been very successful and witnessed a strong expansion in many areas beyond crop production. Notwithstanding this success, the adoption of FFS in national extension often remains problematic and FFS activities have often been implemented in the margin of national institutions with strong reliance on donor funding. The creation of an enabling environment for institutional support is essential for expanding the effort, improving quality, and strengthening impact and continuity of the FFSs.
Public institutions involved in research that aims to strengthen the productivity, profitability and adaptiveness of industries face a multiplicity of challenges when managing for the emergence of cost effective solutions to problems. We reflect upon the learnings of a Government sponsored Visiting Fellow’s programme that we describe as a knowledge management (KM) intervention within Australia’s primary industries Research, Development and Extension (R, D and E) system.
The first phase in the development of the Common Framework on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation systems (CD for AIS) consisted of the review of the existing literature, building up a repository of relevant documentation on agricultural innovation in general and AIS and CD for AIS. This report summarizes this first phase. In particular, Section 1 covers this brief introduction. Sections two and three focus on the review of relevant literature, presenting the methodology used and the structure of the repository itself.
Esta presentación describe la experiencia y lecciones aprendidas en el proyecto de implementación de las Escuelas de Campo en la región de Trifino.
An analysis of the impact of simulation modelling in three diverse crop-livestock improvement projects in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) reveals benefits across a range of aspects including identification of objectives, design and implementation of experimental programs, effectiveness of participatory research with smallholder farmers, implementation of system change and scaling-out of results. In planning change, farmers must consider complex interactions within both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects of their crop and animal production activities.
El presente estudio tiene como propósito identificar y analizar las diferentes actividades que realizan las familias en las ECAS y las estrategias utilizadas por estos proyectos para implementar la ECA en la comunidad de Port-Margot, Acul du Nord y Grande Riviere du Nord y dar recomendaciones para mejorar las acciones en el campo a fin de aportar en la mejora de la calidad de vida de las familias.
El presente material fue elaborado en el marco del proceso de gestión del conocimiento y creación de capacidades para contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, promovidas por MAP, a través de las ECA. Está dirigido a familias rurales presentes en los territorios clave del proyecto: NicaCentral en Nicaragua y Trifinio en la zona Transfronteriza de Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador.
Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) para el Programa de Gestión Rural Empresarial, Sanidad y Ambiente (PROGRESA). El presente documento sistematiza la experiencia del fortalecimiento de los eslabones de la cadena de valor del frijol en el norte de Nicaragua, en busca de mejorar la competitividad del sector a través de la articulación de los diferentes actores. Además, este recuento recopila los aprendizajes de la Comisión Técnica de Frijol integrada por representantes de los socios locales del Programa: ASDENIC, Cáritas Estelí, Cáritas Matagalpa y FIDER
Four FFSs concerning integrated crop–livestock systems were implemented by a R&D project namely “Adaptation to Climate Change in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Marginal Environments through Sustainable Crop and Livestock Diversification (ACC project)” during the summer season 2013 in three villages namely Village 4, Village 7 and Village 1750 in Sinai Peninsula. This study aimed to do the following: (1) assess the learning impacts of farmer field schools of integrated crop–livestock package and (2) explore the factors that affect the respondents’ learning index.