Rwanda has benefited from ‘hard’ agricultural invest ment projects in the past two decades, promoted by a supportive and responsive government in collaboration with various donors and development actors. CDAIS looked to increase the impacts of such investments through strengthening ‘soft’ skills in three innovation niche partnerships surrounding significant public, private or donorfunded infrastructure developments, and linking this to organisational and national levels. Of these, this story focuses on experiences from the Rwangingo– Karangazi catchment partnership, where a dam and irrigation scheme had led to conflicts between different groups of water users and not the immediate benefits expected. CDAIS brought everyone together and, through structured and facilitated dialogue, rapid progress was made, consolidated through meetings and training, and brought local issues to the national level through policy dialogues. The concept of the need for strengthening functional capacities has gained ground and is now increasingly accepted as a crucial component in future agricultural projects.
Ethiopia has more livestock than any other country in Africa. The sales of meat, milk and other animal products from
57 million cattle, 29 million sheep, 29 million goats, 7 million donkeys, 2 million horses, a million camels and...
To ensure food security, farmers must have access to quality seed, in adequate quantities. The government of Ethiopia acknowledges this, and has responded by investing in improving the seed sector. However, as this example shows, not all challenges can be...
The ‘dry corridor’ is a region of guatemala that covers part of the departments of Baja Verapaz, Zacapa, El Progreso, Jalapa, Chiquimula, Jutiapa and Santa Rosa. It is vulnerable to drought and, in some parts, communities lack food security, with...
Angola has so much potential as an agricultural country, with up to 50 million hectares that could be cultivated. But why
is it not being cultivated now? “It is simply a case of lack of will – political will...
Bangladesh is the eighth largest mango-producing country in the world. In 2014–2015, 10 million tonnes of fruit was produced, of which 1.5 million tonnes were mangoes. Due to the nutritional value and their popularity, mangoes are considered as a high priority for...