Publications

Food production and consumption patterns have changed significantly in recent decades. Food supply chains have become ever more integrated and globalized. This has imposed additional constraints on the majority of small-holder farmers. The required shift from subsistence farming to more commercially-oriented farming is a slow process and often hampered by several challenges: weak management and business skills, limited ability to manage risks, the quality and quantity of production, poorly organized producers, lack of capital, poorly developed markets, and high costs of intermediaries and transactions. The publication shows how pluralistic actors in extension and advisory service (EAS) systems can support rural ...read more

Human nutrition is vital for agriculture. Many smallholder farmers are food-insecure and suffer chronic or acute forms of malnutrition. This can permanently harm the physical and cognitive growth of children, while reducing productivity as household members are less able to carry out agricultural work. To this end, we must build the capacities of farmers, agriculture extensionists, consumers and others, encourage innovation, investments and enabling policies, and address gender issues. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) uses a food-based approach to agricultural development to make the global food system produce better nutritional outcomes.

Why the need to coordinate? Since the 1980s, investments in public sector extension have declined, while new challenges and opportunities faced by producers have dramatically increased the need for diversified services, around topics such as sustainable production, climate change adaptation, links to markets and entrepreneurship, community mobilization, nutrition-sensitive agriculture and much more.

Why must we enhance linkages between research, extension and producers? Closing agricultural production gaps between smallholder producers’ actuals and the potential created by scientific research results and advancements is a vital if we are to address global challenges such as food insecurity, environmental degradation and climate changes. The gap is particularly large in developing countries where smallholder farming dominates the agricultural sectors. One of the many factors and constraints is the fact that researchers in universities and research institutions have no incentive or motivation to serve rural producers. This is due either to the systematic separation of research, extension and actual ...read more

Case study on science and technology backyard