This paper presents some experiences with e-learning tools in middle and low income countries, outlines opportunities for enhanced adoption of e-learning and identifies some gaps and questions that still need to be addressed to facilitate e-learning
There is a lack of quantitative information about farmers preferences of those activities, which are crucial to refine capacity development activities in the future. This study employs a discrete choice experiment analysing the willingness to pay to determine the preferences of small-scale farmers for agricultural training with respect to the training method, trainer, duration, location and additional offers
This paper shows there is a fundamental significance of Social Learning to agricultural innovation, which can be operationalized by framing agricultural innovation as changes in understanding, practices and relationships. The use of Social Learning as a design framework supports the emergence of agricultural innovations that bring equitable benefits, are sustainable and are innovated in context.
This paper is aimed at raising the discussion on frameworks and practices to analyse and support of innovation processes of operational groups in rural development policy. The analysis highlights an increasing interest of the current evaluation and research practices on interactive innovation processes, collaborative learning and capacity development both at individual, collective and systems levels. Particularly, transformative-oriented frameworks have been developed in view of supporting capacity development in innovation systems
The farmer-inventors mostly use tacit knowledge and practical skills to create their inventions with the objective of increasing efficiency as a means to improving family farm viability. Farmer-inventors with entrepreneurial intentions were less inclined to share their ideas freely and described financial and temporal constraints in commercialising their inventions. The Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) concept was used to frame an analysis of farmer-inventors’ interactions with innovation support organisations from the perspective of the farmers themselves.
The study relies on the activities performed within EU funded Horizon 2020 project, AgriSpin (www.agrispin.eu), specifically for the case of Cilento Bio-district in Campania region, Italy. The methodology is centred on the “cross-visit method” developed within the AgriSpin Project, based on direct observation, interviews with relevant actors and analysis of grey literature.
This paper examines innovations for bridging gender gaps in agricultural value chains in Africa. It focuses on innovative platforms for addressing gender gaps, considering women contribute up to 40 percent of labor in agricultural production. Women remain at the bottom of value chains and face gender-specific constraints attributable to gender and social norms, discriminatory beliefs and practices, gender-blind designs and delivery of technologies and innovations which impede women s participation in value chains.
Changes in the structure of value chains have opened up lucrative opportunities for smallholder producers to increase income as a means to improve their livelihoods. Yet, recent literature argues that smallholder producers are better off in their current markets than when integrated in high value chains on disadvantageous terms. This article studies the terms of integration of smallholder producers in high value chains from a marketing systems perspective
This study analyzed the determinants of ICT usage in agricultural value chains among rural youth in Busia County, Kenya. A total of 213 young farmers were randomly selected and interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and Poisson regression model were applied in data analysis. Findings showed youth participation using ICTs was concentrated at the marketing level of the agricultural chain activities.
Agricultural innovation is an essential component in achieving the SDG and accelerating the transition to more sustainable and resilient farming systems across the world. Innovations generally emerge from collective intelligence and action, which requires effective agricultural innovation systems (AIS). An AIS perspective has been widely adopted, but the analysis of AIS, especially at country level, remains a challenge. The need for and potential of a diagnostic tool for AIS analysis is currently receiving attention in the global agricultural policy debate.