This book summarizes the achievements as well as some of the challenges faced while implementing integrated systems research to support the sustainable development of smallholder farming in the uplands of the Mekong region.

This blended learning program for facilitators of innovation platforms was developed working with SMEs from ILRI, IITA, ICRAF and Wageningen University and drawing on materials from FARA and CIAT to sequence content and learning experiences so that learners can rapidly acquire and retain the skills and knowledge they need to fill this demanding role.

Over the past few decades, some countries in Asia have been more successful than others in addressing poverty and malnutrition. The key question is what policies, strategies, legislation and institutional arrangements have led to a transformed agricultural sector, effectively contributing to poverty alleviation and addressing malnutrition. The great majority of national policymakers within and outside the Asia-Pacific region are keen to understand the causes of agricultural development and transformation in successful countries in Asia.

This publication presents the results and lessons learned from the FAO-Sida supported pilot project “Strengthening capacity for climate change adaptation in land and water management” in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. The project proposed an integrated package of approaches that addressed the drivers of vulnerability and targeted climate change impacts. It focused on technologies that improve soil health and facilitate water conservation, the diversification of the sources of livelihood and income, and the strengthening of local institutions.

This study presents a quasi-experimental analysis of the impact of FairTrade certification on the commercial performance of coffee farmers in Tanzania. In doing so the study emphasises the importance of a well-contextualised theory of change as a basis for evaluation design. It also stresses the value of qualitative methods to control for selection bias. Based on a longitudinal (pseudo-panel) dataset comprising both certified and conventional farmers, it shows that FairTrade certification introduced a disincentive to farmers’ commercialisation.

This note is part of the Global Good Practices Initiative, which aims to provide information about extension approaches and methods in easy-to-understand formats. It focuses on Innovation Platforms, examining in particular two case studies: the Ghana Oil Palm platform and the Research Into Use (RIU) programme in Tanzania.

This article studies the impact of innovation platforms in Tanga Region, Tanzania, set up by the MilkIT dairy development project to intensify smallholder production through feed enhancement and value chain approaches. The conceptual framework used builds up from three socio-economic theories. The Structure-Conduct-Performance model of markets contributes its elegant assumption, linking the way markets are organized with how market actors behave, which has an influence on market performance.