Long embraced by corporations who are driven only by the desire for profit, industrial agriculture wastes precious resources and spews millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year, exacerbating climate change and threatening the very earth and water on which we depend. However, this dominant system, from which Americans obtain most of their food, is being slowly supplanted by a new paradigm. The Emergent Agriculture is a collection of fourteen thematic essays on sustainability viewed through the lens of farming.
A complex systems approach to innovation provides rich insights into the drivers, barriers, and key elements for innovation in rural systems. Through a case study of dry direct seeding (DDS) in smallholder systems in Laos, this article reveals a “perfect storm” of challenges and opportunities resulting in rapid adoption. Labour shortage, climate variability, and machinery availability are key factors.
he purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to take stock of the current state of knowledge about inclusive value-chain development (VCD) in the context of international agricultural research; and second, to draw out the implications for future research and action.
This paper is based on a review of recent research papers authored by professionals affiliated with international agricultural research centers and their partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Though Odisha is India’s top sweetpotato-producing state, most farmers grow low-yielding varieties of limited nutritional value. The Odisha Directorate of Horticulture and the International Potato Center (CIP) spent four years promoting improved varieties and good agricultural practices in four districts of Odisha, resulting in a 25 per cent growth in the area dedicated to the crop, a 17 per cent increase in farm productivity, and a 40 per cent increase in farmer incomes within the project areas; as well as the introduction of a nutritious, orange-fleshed sweetpotato variety.
A network of women farmers’ leaders is set to drive widespread adoption of innovations and technologies across India. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), together with the Department of Biotechnology of India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, are training women farmer leaders on advanced rice production and soft skills to help boost food security in India.
This paper addresses the question how public-private partnerships (PPPs) function as systemic innovation policy instruments within agricultural innovation systems. Public-private partnerships are a popular government tool to promote innovations. However, the wide ranging nature of PPPs make it difficult to assess their effects beyond the direct impacts they generate for the partners.
Innovation is the process whereby individuals or organizations bring new or existing products, processes or ways of organization into use for the first time in a specific context. Innovation in agriculture cuts across all dimensions of the production cycle along the entire value chain - from crop, forestry, fishery or livestock production to the management of inputs and resources to market access. This book represents the proceedings of the first International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers which FAO organized at its headquarters in Rome, on 21–23 November 2018.
Esta tesis presenta el desarrollo del Proyecto de Diagnóstico Comunicacional Estratégico para el programa ProHuerta en la Provincia de Córdoba. Integran el marco conceptual y metodológico, las nociones de complejidad, como paradigma superador de las visiones segmenteadas y disciplinares de hacer ciencia, al enfoque estratégico como superador de la visión de la comunicación reducida a su dimensión informacional, y las nociones de situado y fluido para interpelar las dinámicas propias de la promoción de la seguridad alimentaria.
La investigación consistió en caracterizar las unidades productivas en función de su nivel de innovación o cambios que han realizado y su influencia con la pobreza, seguridad alimentaria familiar, nutrición de niños menores a 2.5 años y con la diversidad de ingresos de la familia. Se encontraron cuatro grupos de familia según su nivel de innovación, en donde las variables con mayor peso en la formación de los grupos fueron el número de cabras, número de especies vegetales para consumo humano, tamaño familiar y venta de mano de obra como fuente de ingresos.
Este documento describe el análisis de situación de una organización enfocada en seguridad alimentataria. Fue realizado un diagnóstico previo que analiza la situación actual de la organización. El diagnóstico se realizó mediante una herramienta que permite calificar siete capitales o recursos de la organización mediante un conjunto de criterios o preguntas. La información para completar la herramienta fue obtenida mediante entrevistas y grupos focales realizados con el personal de la organización.