Conventional approaches to agricultural extension based on top–down technology transfer and information dissemination models are inadequate to help smallholder farmers tackle increasingly complex agroclimatic adversities. Innovative service delivery alternatives, such as field schools, exist but are mostly implemented in isolationistic silos with little effort to integrate them for cost reduction and greater technical effectiveness.
The Water Resources Department, Government of Maharashtra, responsible for building infrastructure and delivering water to farmers and other users, has so far created irrigation potential of about 5.3. million hectares and the current utilization is about 76%. About 5000 Water User Associations (WUAs) have been established to manage the water supply within their designated areas. However, the water use efficiency and productivity is adversely impacting the overall water security of the state.
TAP and its partners carried out regional surveys in Asia, Africa and Central America to assess priorities, capacities and needs in national agricultural innovation systems. This document provides a Regional synthesis report on capacity needs assessment for agricultural innovation in Africa. FARA was selected as Recipient Organization by FAO to facilitate TAP implementation in Africa. This is mainly due to its position as the umbrella organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major regional stakeholders in agricultural research and development.
The innovation system perspective acknowledges the contributions made by all stakeholders involved in knowledge development, dissemination and appropriation. According to the specific agricultural production system, farmers adopt innovations, modify them or innovate on their own. This paper examines the role of farmers' experiments and innovations in Cuba's agricultural innovation system (AIS), identifies knowledge exchange encounters and describes some strategies implemented to institutionalize farmers' experiments and innovations.
More than 25 years after the first implementation of Farmer Field Schools (FFS), there is a rich corpus of evidence that participation in FFS improves farmers’ knowledge, skills, and competencies. On the other hand, several studies converge to show that FFS, by strengthening group action, have the potential to build-up social capital among participants and, thereafter, within local communities.
Este documento trata de escuelas de campo y de cómo ayudan al desarrollo des capacidades.
Se presenta en este documento la metodología de Escuela – Empresa desarrollada por el Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural de Colombia – Programa Oportunidades Rurales- y el Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA) en 2010, como respuesta a los desafíos de fortalecimiento en capacidades de microempresarios rurales en Colombia, con una perspectiva de aplicación circunscrita inicialmente a los temas de comercialización, pero con una proyección de aplicación más allá de esta temática.
Pour parvenir à la sécurité alimentaire et réduire la pauvreté, les emplois décents sont essentiels. Souvent, dans les communautés rurales pauvres du monde entier, les hommes et les femmes sont entièrement tributaires de leur travail, qui est leur seule source de revenu, mais les emplois sont très précaires, peu rémunérés et les conditions de travail, parfois dangereuses. Plus de 85 pour cent des jeunes, soit environ 24 pour cent des travailleurs pauvres, vivent dans des pays en développement.
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) and short organic supply chains have emerged as promising solutions for smallholder farmers to provide organic produce to nearby consumers. PGS is an institutional innovation that builds trust among producers, traders and consumers through a low-cost transparent and participatory certification mechanism. They have particularly gained a foothold among smallholder farmers in middle- income countries, where third-party certification costs are often unaffordable.
Food and Nutritional Security (FNS), understood as the availability and access to quality food, is fundamental for human development. The sustainability and progress of the agricultural sector are essential to maintain a food supply in quantity and quality. In the department of Córdoba, multidimensional poverty is twice as high for rural areas (51.9 percent) as compared to urban areas (23.3 percent). Thus, rural producers' role in boosting the local economy, contributing to generating jobs and FNS is essential.