The development of future food systems will depend on normative decisions taken at different levels by policymakers and stakeholders. Scenario modeling is an adequate tool for assessing the implications of such decisions, but for an enlightened debate, it is important to make explicit and transparent how such value-based decisions affect modeling results.
This paper explores the potential of the multi-strata design used in edible forest gardens based on studies during the establishment of edible forest gardens (the first four years) in the agricultural settings of a group of participating farms in Sweden. The design and species composition of such gardens, the kind of food they may provide, and how they would best fit into the present landscape are discussed.
Grand societal challenges, such as global warming, can only be adequately dealt with through wide-ranging changes in technology, production and consumption, and ways of life, that is, through innovation. Furthermore, change will involve a variety of sectors or parts of the economy and society, and these change processes must be sufficiently consistent in order to achieve the desired results. This poses huge challenges for policy-making. This paper focus on implications for the governance of innovation policy, i.e., policies influencing a country’s innovation performance.
This study analysed Swedish stakeholders’ views on future developments of organic production and consumption based on Organic 3.0, a strategic initiative by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). Focus group discussions were carried out with actors representing different parts of the organic value chain in Sweden. These identified a number of tensions, four of which represented an unresolved dichotomy in the way forward for the organic movement and its relevance for organic production in most settings.
This paper was synthesized from several scholarly literature and aimed at providing up-to-date information on climate change impacts, adaptation strategies, policies and institutional mechanisms that each agriculture subsector had put in place in dealing with climate change and its related issues in West Africa. For each subsector (crop, fishery and livestock), the current status, climate change impacts, mitigation and adaption strategies have been analyzed
Women play important roles at different nodes of both agricultural and off-farm value chains, but in many countries their contributions are either underestimated or limited by prevailing societal norms or gender-specific barriers. We use primary data collected in Asia (Bangladesh, Philippines) and Africa (Benin, Malawi) to examine the relationships between women’s empowerment, gender equality, and participation in a variety of local agricultural value chains that comprise the food system.
If agro-ecological systems are to realize their potential as sustainable alter- natives to conventional agricultural systems, innovation diffusion needs to be enhanced. We conducted surveys among 214 small-scale vegetable farmers in Benin, a food-deficit country in West Africa, on how they perceived the different attributes of eco-friendly nets (EFNs). The nets act as physical barriers against insects in vegetable production and so reduce pesticide use. Understanding farmer perceptions about new technologies helps reveal farmers’ propensity to adopt them.
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.
La conférence sur « Agriculture écologique : atténuer le changement climatique, assurer la sécurité alimentaire et l’autonomie pour les sources de revenus ruraux en Afrique » s’est tenue à Addis – Abéba (Ethiopie) du 26 au 28 novembre 2008.
Dans le cadre d’un programme financé par l’Union Européenne, les ONG GLOPOLIS, SOS FAIM et VECO et leurs partenaires paysans concernés ont mené plusieurs études sur les filières de production de riz dans 5 pays d’Afrique de l’ouest : le Bénin, le Burkina Faso, le Mali, le Niger et le Sénégal.