This paper proposes the adoption of small-scale friendly postharvest techniques in the form of small-scale postharvest practices (SSPPs). To justify this proposal, the impact of SSPPs adoption on self-reported losses were investigated in Rivers State Nigeria. The factors influencing plantain farmers and traders intention to use SSPPs were also studied. Multistage and snowball sampling techniques were used to obtain data from farmers and traders, respectively
Digital technologies such as sensors, drones, satellites and blockchain are seen as a promising developments for value chain transparency. These technologies are often envisioned to enable more detailed, objective, and complete information collection, and to create secure, transparent and democratic ways of information sharing. The development of such digitally-enabled modes of information collection and analysis leads to what we term the rise of ‘hyper-transparency’.
The integration of male and female smallholders in high-end value chains (e.g. those for tree crops like cocoa, oil palm, avocado, and mango), has been promoted throughout the global South as a strategy for poverty alleviation, economic growth, employment generation, gender equality, and improved wellbeing. More critical literature, however, questions the inclusiveness of farmers’ value chain engagement. Despite rapid mainstreaming of inclusiveness in policy discourse, remarkably little literature sheds light on the operationalization of the concept. This paper addresses this gap.
The Malaysian story involves a farsighted leadership that has mobilized the considerable assets of a resource-rich country to translate a long-term vision of nation building into action and transformational results. This report analyzes what Malaysia did to achieve transformative results in agriculture.
Enabling the Business of Agriculture 2019 presents indicators that measure the laws, regulations and bureaucratic processes that affect farmers in 101 countries. The study covers eight thematic areas: supplying seed, registering fertilizer, securing water, registering machinery, sustaining livestock, protecting plant health, trading food and accessing finance. The report highlights global best performers and countries that made the most significant regulatory improvements in support of farmers
This technical report covers the rapid assessment of agriculture finance and its recommendations, the findings of the situation and gap analysis of the Uganda Agricultural Insurance Scheme (UAIS), and where appropriate, presents the WBG’s recommendations for strengthening the scheme; it also includes a proposal for two additional insurance programs, one for crop and one for livestock, targeted at small-scale farmers.
The purpose of Working with Smallholders handbook is to enable the development of more sustainable, resilient and productive supply chains for agribusinesses and to illustrate the substantial development impact. Smallholder farmers are both an opportunity and a challenge for food and agribusiness companies. The predominance of smallholders in many frontier and emerging markets makes them an integral part of agribusiness supply chains. Many firms source from smallholders or are actively seeking to source from them. Calls for fairer, more inclusive supply chains will hasten this trend.
The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is a direct, multi-dimensional measure of women's access to resources and decision-making in various domains of agriculture. However, several challenges characterize its use: adaptation of questionnaires to local agricultural contexts, modifications to index construction once underlying activities and adequacy thresholds are modified, and sensitivity analysis. In this paper, the authors address such challenges based on our experience of adapting and using the WEAI across 3600 households in India.
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 mergers of some of the world's largest agribusinesses have led to speculation about what sort of global citizens the new companies will become and whether vulnerable rural populations, especially smallholder men and women farmers, will be negatively impacted. As innovation leaders in the agriculture industry, these new companies will be expected to play key roles in finding solutions for major agricultural challenges facing the world today.