Innovation plays a key role in spurring the transformation of the agriculture sector to meet and enhance food security and nutrition, resilience and livelihoods of millions of family farmers. However, in low-income and lower-middle income countries, the capacities to harness the potential of innovation are very limited, owing to, among other things, poor and underperforming agricultural innovation systems (AIS). AIS approaches represent a paradigm shift from linear and top-down model of technology transfer towards a system approach to agricultural innovation. Capacity-development (CD) interventions for strengthening AIS are seldom top-down, implemented in isolation, too small in scale and narrow in scope, focus solely on individual capacities, and neglect institutional, organizational and enabling environment dimensions.
Against this background, Agrinatura and FAO partnered with funding from EU to strengthen capacities in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Rwanda through this project. The expected outcome was “agricultural innovation systems are efficient and sustainable in meeting demands of farmers, agribusiness and consumers”. Its specific objective was to establish “a global partnership on capacity development in agricultural innovation systems on a sustainable footing, with needs assessed and approaches validated in eight pilot countries”.
With almost 70 percent of the global sheep and goat population at risk of Pestedes PetitsRuminants (PPR) -Sheep and Goat Plague, significant efforts are needed to consolidate the livelihoods, nutrition and food security of millions of livestock holders, in particular in Asia and Africa. In this context, the project contributed to filling gaps in existing strategies for control of the disease and supported the formulation of new ones in West Africa, Central Africa, North Africa and Central Asia. It also reviewed and updated the subregionalstrategy for Southeast Asia.
The Horn of Africa (HoA) region faces serious challenges in stimulating agricultural growth and investment. With a population of over 230 million people, much of the land is arid or semi-arid. Despite significant recent economic growth, many areas are hampered by recurring droughts and civil strife, leading to youth migration, serious food insecurity and malnutrition, among other challenges. This project aimed to support the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in promoting agricultural growth and food and nutrition security through increased investments in sustainable agriculture, inter-regional trade in the HoA region and trade with the Arabian Peninsula.
Despite generous endowments of natural resources and highly suitable land for growing a wide variety of crops and livestock, Zimbabwe faces food insecurity and has experienced decades of economic decline. Livestock is a main agricultural activity in Zimbabwe and plays an important role in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, especially in rural areas. The livestock sector has enormous potential for growth and could contribute to overall rural development, sustained growth and poverty reduction, but it is hindered by low productivity, high disease morbidity and mortality. This project aimed to create a more productive smallholder livestock sector by improving livestock health and production and targeting disease control in two districts, Lupane and Nkayi.
The agriculture sector in the Gaza Strip faces a number of systemic issues; most prominent is the depletion of its coastal aquifer, which is the only source of freshwater. The aquifer is also extremely polluted; and high groundwater salinity leads to poor plant performance for some of the most produced vegetables in the Gaza Strip. Against this background, it was necessary to introduce farm-level technologies that increase resource use efficiency and sustainably reduce groundwater consumption. One method of production that could contribute to this goal was soilless culture, also known as hydroponics. The project aimed to identify, assess and disseminate applicable, low-tech, hydroponic vegetable farming methods for sustainable agricultural production in the Gaza Strip, and promote its adoption.
