An analysis of the impact of simulation modelling in three diverse crop-livestock improvement projects in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) reveals benefits across a range of aspects including identification of objectives, design and implementation of experimental programs, effectiveness of participatory research with smallholder farmers, implementation of system change and scaling-out of results. In planning change, farmers must consider complex interactions within both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects of their crop and animal production activities.
This paper asks: What have been the impacts of farmer- or community-led (informal) processes of research and development in agriculture and natural resource management in terms of food security, ecological sustainability, economic empowerment, gender relations, local capacity to innovate and influence on formal agricultural research and development institutions?
Over the last 10 years much has been written about the role of the private sector as part of a more widely-conceived notion of agricultural sector capacity for innovation and development. This paper discusses the emergence of a new class of private enterprise in East Africa that would seem to have an important role in efforts to tackle poverty reduction and food security. These organisations appear to occupy a niche that sits between mainstream for-profit enterprises and the developmental activities of government programmes, NGOs and development projects.
Le programme de la GIZ intitulé « Amélioration des conditions-cadres dans le secteur privé et financier (ProEcon) » vise à promouvoir le développement économique au Zimbabwe. Parmi les projets conçus à cet effet figure la promotion des cycles économiques en milieu rural. Se fondant sur l’agriculture contractuelle comme instrument efficace, le projet ProEcon appuie l’intégration des petits exploitants agricoles dans les chaines de valeur, l’objectif étant d’augmenter leurs possibilités de revenu.
The objective of the assessment is to analyse the agricultural and rural sector of Zimbabwe from a gender perspective at the macro (policy), meso (institutional) and micro (community and household) levels in order to identify gender inequalities in access to critical productive resources, assets, services and opportunities. In particular, the assessment identifies needs and constraints of both women and men in selected FAO areas of competence as well as priorities and gaps. Also, it provides rec ommendations and guidance to promote gender sensitivity of future programming and projects.