In order to realize the potential of agricultural innovation in family farming, national priorities of sustainably increasing food production and productivity, and reducing hunger and poverty, require rural knowledge institutions to be stronger and communication processes to be improved. This brief synthesizes the focus of FAO’s research and extension branch on transforming agricultural innovation systems of member countries.
El Gobierno de Perú está comprometido en mejorar el nivel de la electrificación rural, incrementando la cobertura del servicio eléctrico en áreas rurales de un 55 por ciento estimado para fines de 2010 a un 88 por ciento para el 2020. El presente informe consiste en una evaluación de los usos productivos de la electricidad en Perú dentro del contexto del Proyecto de Electrificación Rural cuyo propósito es ampliar el servicio de electricidad y atraer la participación de la población, los gobiernos locales y las empresas eléctricas de distribución regionales.
À l’occasion de l’année internationale des coopératives, le modèle coopératif est-il trop ou pas assez glorifié ? En pointant le rôle important des coopératives pour le développement social, ses valeurs de solidarité et d’autonomie, l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies a décidé de mettre cette forme de mutualisation à l’honneur en 2012. Mais quels critères permettent de classer les coopératives au-dessus d’autres formes associatives ? Et les manières d’élaborer et de concevoir les coopératives sont-elles identiques au Sud et au Nord ?
Este documento describe y evalua el programa de FIDA en Perú. Este programa involucró un enfoque multidimensional para escalonar con el tiempo, en sectores y a través de sectores, dentro y más allá de áreas geográficas, y con múltiples instituciones. El punto de partida fue el sector agrícola. El Proyecto FEAS (Fomento de la Transferencia de Tecnología a las Comunidades Campesinas en la Sierra) fue el primero de una secuencia de proyectos.
En la región andina está creciendo la necesidad por sistemas de I&D orientados al cliente, que incluyan la participación de los grupos sociales involucrados.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) partnered with the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) in 2011 to conduct a series of policy dialogues on the prioritization of demand-driven agricultural research for development in South Asia. Dialogues were conducted with a wide range of stakeholders in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal in mid-2012 and this report captures feedback from those dialogues.
Seed is the starting point of plant life, and hence the most fundamental input of agriculture. A seed system that assures the availability of the desired quality of seed to the producer at the right time is indispensable for his farming enterprise. In the case of the potato crop, the seed most commonly used is strictly speaking no seed, but a tuber. The constraints and opportunities in seed potato systems in East Africa are of a combined social, economic and technical nature.
Innovation is an important challenge for European agriculture, but little is known about the performance of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS). This report contributes towards this knowledge, as it reports on experiences from different countries and regions. The systems are very different between countries, regions and sectors.
The paper aims to identify barriers to the development of Learning and Innovation Networks for sustainable agriculture (LINSA). In such networks, social learning processes take place, and knowledge about sustainable agriculture is co-produced by connecting between the different frames and social worlds of the stakeholders with the help of boundary objects. Studying such processes at the interface between different knowledge spheres of research, policy and practice requires a specific methodology.
There is renewed attention on the importance of advisory services and extension in rural development processes. This paper, based on the publication ‘Mobilizing the potential of rural and agricultural extension', focuses on five opportunities to mobilise the potential of extension and advisory services. The five areas are: (1) focusing on best-fit approaches; (2) embracing pluralism; (3) using participatory approaches; (4) developing capacity; and (5) ensuring long-term institutional support.