This article presents programmatic lessons on scaling up research for development innovations that were implemented through the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF). Co-funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC), CIFSRF was a nine-year, two-phased program (2009–2018) that supported applied research to develop, test and scale proven food and nutrition security innovations. The outline of this paper is as follows.
This study examines the effectiveness of mobile as a novel approach for providing targeted and equitable agri-advisory services to farmers at scale. A cross-sectional survey of farmers registered on CABI's Direct2Farm (D2F) user database was undertaken using a combination of telephone interviews, household survey and focus group discussions covering six states in India. Was used mixed method approach that utilized both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods.
Dairy extension specialists must adapt to meet the challenges of a dairy industry that is increasingly adopting technology to assist with daily management activities as well as to make long-term decisions. Specialists typically work with youth programs to provide educational opportunities for young people that will attract new people into the dairy industry.
This paper presents the results of an exploratory case-study analysis of a corn stover value-chain development process in two regions: Ontario (Canada) and Flanders (Belgium). Applying an integrated analytical framework and comparing the results with literature, we identified a number of barriers for novel value-chain development and state seven concrete actions that value-chain actors can take to overcome these barriers.
Situate within new institutionalism literature, this paper builds a complex system model of institutional analysis for adaptive governance. This model combines Young’s institutional environmental analysis method, elements of subsequent environmental governance projects models, and ideas of multiple institutional levels and drivers. By applying the model, policy instruments are identified that build agricultural producer livelihoods improving their adaptive capacity to respond to climate change and drought.
This study aims to describe and characterize the state of understanding about RSBs, and to fill knowledge gaps about their role and potential impact. The article will explore the historic and possible future trajectories of the RSBs at the country- and global-levels, by responding to three closely-related research questions: 1. What are the governance structures of the roundtables for sustainable beef? 2. What actions have been taken by, or are planned or likely to be taken by, the roundtables for sustainable beef, that are intended to enhance the sustainability of beef supply chains? 3.
This study examines whether agroecological farming practices, when employed by highly vulnerable households in sub-Saharan Africa, can improve food security and dietary diversity. The research involved a four-year study with 425 smallholder households, selected purposively based on high levels of food insecurity and/or positive HIV status. The households carried out agroecological experiments of their own choosing over a four-year period.
Local extension agents can benefit from the simple procedures in developing irrigation calendars for other irrigated crops. This study gives important lesson for local and regional decision makers, on their endeavour to increase the productivity of small scale irrigated agriculture. This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the study area, practical irrigation schedule development method, alternative irrigation schedules and data collection and analysis methods. Section 3 presents the results.
The present rise of pork demand in Benin calls for an assessment of the swine value chain (VC) to envision its development. A participatory approach is here proposed to join this assessment to a stimulation of innovation among stakeholders.
While a number of works question the alterity of alternative food chains, little has been said about the social processes under which new economic models are, or may be, developed within the broader movement around ‘short food supply chains’ (SFCs) in Europe. Considering SFCs as economic organisations, we propose an analytical framework based on New Economic Sociology and Convention Theory, enriched by Social and Solidarity Economics, to capture the social construction of new economic models in such chains.