Research & Extension

Publications

Jul 2017
Dec 2015
While the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative provides data and analysis of domestic public and private spending on agricultural research and development for a wide range of developing countries, the literature pays little attention, if any, to foreign assistance to agricultural, fishing and forestry research and agricultural extension. The objective of the present study is to fill this gap and offer a comprehensive analysis of 2002 to 2012 OECD data on foreign assistance to research and extension in agriculture, forestry and fishing.

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Nov 2015
This report establishes the concept of the capacity to innovate, which depends not only on hard technical capacities, but also softer functional capacities across the individual, organizational, and enabling environment scales. It argues that developing country-level innovation capacity requires an iterative capacity development process based around assessment. After reviewing the relevant assessment methods and tools, a general framework for assessing the capacity to innovate is proposed and applicable tools are suggested that explore key areas that influence the capacity to innovate.

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Jan 2015
This paper provides a summary of the results obtained from three regional needs assessments of Capacity Development (CD) initiatives undertaken by the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) and its partners. The surveyed tropical regions were Southeast Asia, Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings reveal a mismatch in all three regions between the external supply of primarily individual CD and the actual demand for institutional CD.

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Jan 2015
This publication represents a synthesis of assessments of national agricultural innovation systems in countries of Central Asia, South Caucasus and Turkey.

Publication available in: English
Nov 2014
The Research and Extension Unit provided key inputs in the researching and writing of the State of Food and Agriculture 2014. The report analyses family farms and the role of innovation in ensuring global food security, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. It argues that family farms must be supported to innovate in ways that promote sustainable intensification of production and improvement in rural livelihoods.

Publication available in: English
Jul 2014
The aim of this study is to understand the local innovation processes in South Tyrol and specifically to try to understand the constraints and opportunities for the Learning and Innovation Network for Sustainable Agriculture (LINSA), a highly sophisticated and adaptive network comprising the various stakeholders involved in apple production and marketing in the region. The last 50 years of the LINSA’s history are scrutinized, highlighting the enabling environment, the support provided by the Agriculture Knowledge and Information System (AKIS), as well as the drivers and triggers for innovation.

Publication available in: English
Aug 2013
In 2010, a study was carried out to assist the Research and Extension Branch in FAO to position itself strategically in meeting needs and demands that arise as a consequence of climate change. The goal of the study was also to assist other global and national agencies meet these needs. The results of the study formed the basis for the report “Facing the challenges of climate change and food security: the role of research, extension and communication institutions”.

Publication available in: English
Nov 2012
This brochure aims to share with institutions, organizations and possible donors the activities that FAO’s Research and Extension Branch (OEKR) is developing in the field of agricultural innovation systems in family farming. It is designed as a folder with a general description of OEKR work and definitions of agricultural innovation systems and family farming.

Publication available in: English
May 2009
As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus was a major food producer, particularly of meat and dairy products. However, since gaining independence in 1991, it hardly instituted any structural reforms in the agricultural sector, largely retaining the former system of subsidised collective and state farms. Agricultural production generally declined following independence, but over the last six years, yields have stabilised and even increased in some instances. Private smallholdings contribute significantly to agricultural production. Following the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986, a sizeable area of the productive agricultural land and forest remains contaminated with radioactive fallout.

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