The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative operational framework that couples life cycle assessment (LCA) and a participatory approach to overcome these issues. The first step was to conduct a progressive participatory diagnosis of the socio-ecological structure of the rural territory and to characterise the main cropping systems. The results of the diagnosis and other data were progressively triangulated, validated and consolidated with the stakeholders at the territorial level. The paper discusses the quality and validity of data obtained using a participatory approach.
Learn about the Women’s Empowerment Farmer Business Schools (WE-FBS) implemented in Kenya through FAO’s Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism (FMM). The approach prompts men and women to reflect critically on their roles, resources, and activities in farming, and to develop strategies that are needed to maximize their commercial potential.
The Guide to Effective Collaborative Action is built on the foundation of 10 years' experience in transforming food and agricultural commodity systems by UNDP's Green Commodities Programme. It is broadening the application from support to commodity production to the transformation of food systems. The four building blocks of putting systems change into practice, integrated with backbone support and essential practices for stakeholder actions, provide a framework for Changing Systems through Collaborative Action.
The European small ruminants (i.e. sheep and goats) farming sector (ESRS) provides economic, social and environmental benefits to society, but is also one of the most vulnerable livestock sectors in Europe. This sector has diverse livestock species, breeds, production systems and products, which makes difficult to have a clear vision of its challenges through using conventional analyses. A multi-stakeholder and multi-step approach, including 90 surveys, was used to identify and assess the main challenges for the sustainability of the ESRS to prioritize actions.
This guide is the second in a series of documents designed to support agencies implementing participatory agroenterprise development program operating within defined geographical areas.
This note is a preview on the agricultural innovation systems (AIS) assessment methdology which is being tested in the nine countries of the European Union-funded TAP-AIS DeSIRA project. It presents the rationale, the steps, ethe expected outputs and outcomes.
ICT-driven digital tools to support smallholder farmers are arguably inevitable for agricultural development, and they are gradually evolving with promising outlook. Yet, the development and delivery of these tools to target users are often fraught with non-trivial, and sometimes unanticipated, contextual realities that can make or mar their adoption and sustainability. This article unfolds the experiential learnings from a digital innovation project focusing on surveillance and control of a major banana disease in East Africa which is being piloted in Rwanda.
The Colombian Ministry of Agriculture Colombia, an international research center and a national farmers’ organization developed a data-driven agricultural program that: (i) compiles information from multiple sources; (ii) interprets that data; and (iii) presents the knowledge to farmers through the local advisory services. Data was collected from multiple sources, including small-scale farmers. Machine learning algorithms combined with expert opinion defined how variation in weather, soils and management practices interact and affect maize yield of small-scale farmers.
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.
WhatsApp sends real-time messages and is one of the world’s most popular communication applications in the 21st century. The present study highlights and examines the domestication of WhatsApp among farmers. An exhaustive whatsapp user list was prepared from each village and 3 farmers were selected with the help of systematic sampling technique. Thus, 90 farmers from the 3 blocks of the district using whatsapp were purposively selected and grouped for sending the messages of agricultural aspects. The study was conducted at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Neemuch during 2016-17.