Despite the rapid international development of biotechnology, we still lack knowledge and information about how low- and middle-income countries can best access this promising technology. Nor are the socioeconomic repercussions of applying biotechnology in these countries’ agricultural sectors well understood. This study seeks to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge by analyzing a biotechnology transfer project that provided proprietary recombinant potato technology to Mexico.
According to the literature on regime transition, niches are sources of innovation that may lead to the transformation of the dominant regime, if processes at other level of the system – the landscape and the mainstream regime - are supportive. A focus on actors involved in the transition process and the analysis of their specific role in knowledge networks can help assessing the robustness of a specific niche and its growth potential. Knowledge systems, and in particular the dynamics of local and expert knowledge, have in fact a key role in innovation models.
The paper is structured as follows. First, definitions and conceptualisations of trust are considered, before moving on review the literature on trust in rural network models of business support. Next, the empirical study design is described, which consisted of case studies of business advice programmes offered to artisanal food enterprises in Northern Ireland and displaying varying degrees of trust. The results of the empirical study are reported and then discussed, with reflections on how trust evolved in each case, and the ways in which trust was lost
L’objectif de cet article est de décrire et de comprendre les comportements à innover des coopératives agricoles. Il mobilise le cadre théorique de l’économie de l’innovation. Exploitant une enquête postale sur la région Midi-Pyrénées, la typologie des comportements à innover obtenue après analyse statistique permet d’identifier cinq classes d’entreprises coopératives. Du fait de leur importance à l’amont des filières et des territoires, les coopératives apparaissent comme des intermédiaires incontournables pour répercuter les contraintes de l’aval auprès des exploitants agricoles.
Au sud-est de la commune de Djougou, les eaux de surface à usage pastoral se raréfient depuis les années 1990. Pour en comprendre l’ampleur et les raisons, nous avons développé un outil permettant une analyse socio-spatiale et socio-environnementale, à l’échelle du finage de deux villages, des dynamiques des ressources, de leurs usages et des stratégies d’accès développées par les populations : un SIG « à dires d’acteurs » associant sur le même support une cartographie classique (réseau hydrographique, forêts, voies de communication, villages, etc.) et l’expertise des populations locales.
El presente artículo se propone analizar el mo - delo de educación en alternancia que proponen las Escuelas de Familia Agrícola (EFA). Este tipo de instituciones planifican su estrategia educativa planteando una serie de aspectos innovadores vinculados a una concepción integral sobre la educación, con la mirada centrada en los estudiantes y su realidad.
At present, agricultural policies in Kenya often ignore specific target groups because there is a lack of contextual information on farmers’ specific socio-economic conditions. The aim of this study was to fill this knowledge gap by answering the following research questions: 1. What determines the adaptive capacity of AIV farmers in Kenya? 2. How does access to capital assets differ by farming household characteristics and between the selected areas? 3. What are the AC levels of AIV farmers in the selected zones of Kenya? 4.
In response to population growth, rising income and urbanisation, the demand for livestock products, such as milk, meat and eggs is growing in Ethiopia. The growing demand for milk products offers opportunities for smallholders to realize better livelihoods. Whereas the growing demand for milk products in Ethiopia is widely recognised, the dairy sector has not been able to produce adequate milk to satisfy this demand, mainly due to low productivity of dairy animals.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is considered as an ecological conservation technology for crop pests' management; however, the technology adoption is intensely affected by surrounding socio-psychological environment, which is poorly studied, particularly in developing nations. The present study therefore aimed at addressing this gap through application of an extended form of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in order to examine the determinants of Iranian farmers' ecological conservation behavior regarding the use of IPM practices.
Banana and plantain are one of the most important staple food crops and a significant source of income to smallholder farmers in the East African Great Lakes Region. Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) is a devastating bacterial disease that threatens smallholder production and livelihoods. We use a systems approach to describe how gender shapes roles and practices in the household, on the farm and in innovation processes. We draw on a case study in Burundi, where single disease stem removal (SDSR) has been introduced as a labour-saving package to reduce BXW incidence.