The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) aims to revitalize African farming in order to reduce rural poverty and hunger. This is a massively important undertaking for a continent where a third of the population continue to struggle with chronic malnutrition. But is CAADP getting the right strategies, policies and...

As population density increases and available natural resources diminish, tensions and competition increase among stakeholders for access to land for farming and animal husbandry as well as access to forest, fishery and wildlife resources. The scramble for resources involves communities, economic interest groups, governments and the private sector as they...

Agriculture remains an important means of alleviating poverty, but shortage of finance can constrain its development. At the same time, agriculture is evolving towards a global system requiring high-quality, comptetitive products, and is organized in value chains which often exclude smallholders. Value chain financing in agriculture offers an opportunity to...

This paper presents the position of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) on where agricultural extension stands today and where it needs to go in the future. The findings presented here are intended to better situate extension...

Producer organisations are widely heralded as leading contributors to poverty reduction and the achievement of food security. Following the withdrawal of state support as part of measures for liberalization, producer organizations in Africa have been in a process of transition, attempting to define appropriate strategies in a competitive open market...

Despite the importance of smallholder agriculture in East Africa, the strategic, conceptual and empirical analysis in the context of the crisis, which would guide policymakers and development practitioners in their efforts to revitalise agriculture in the aftermath of the crisis, is sparse. Moreover, recent studies tend to examine specific constraints...

January 2010 saw the launch of the world's first livestock insurance for remote African pastoralists as a result of years of research.

This first issue after the merger of the old Baobab with the Kilimo Endelevu Africa (KEA) looks at the importance of livestock in the livelihoods of farmers. Livestock is an integral part of most family farms, and fulfills many functions such as food, assets and fertilizer. This issue focuses on...

Smallholder agriculture continues to play a key role in African agriculture. This paper investigates trends, challenges and opportunities of this sub-sector in East Africa through case studies of Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. In these agriculture-based economies, smallholder farming accounts for about 75 percent of agricultural production and over 75...

The junior farmer field and life school concept was introduced in four schools in the district in 2004. Then, as the fields prospered and participating students and facilitators became more confident, teachers and students from other schools were invited to visit the fields and learn about the method. As of...

Smallholder farmers in Kenya grow most of the country's food, vegetables and fruit. These farmers face formidable challenges in increasing production, preserving natural resources and addressing the impact of climate change in food production systems. Meeting these challenges is vital to sustained livelihoods and reduction of poverty, especially in the...

This report is based on extensive research and interviews with several hundred farmers, the majority of them women, carried out by ActionAid staff and consultants in Uganda, Kenya and Malawi throughout the last third of 2009. It is complemented by an extensive global literature review, and our study also benefited...

The guidelines resulting from this report are principally directed towards sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the lack of farm power and appropriate machinery is having a deleterious effect on rural livelihoods. The farm power and machinery supply chain includes a range of stakeholders from manufacturers and importers through dealers, hire service...

Women are a major human resource and assure adequate nutrition, health and cognitive development of their households and children in their formative years. However, women are over-represented among the poor, suffer heavy workloads and have little control over resources for family care. Poverty and food insecurity are enhanced by lack...

Unacceptably high rates of micronutrient deficiencies persist mostly among resource-poor communities who rely on subsistence farming. In these communities, consumption of vegetables and fruits is the most sustainable way of reducing micronutrient deficiencies. Apart from enhancing dietary diversity, indigenous vegetables and fruits are often easier to grow, resistant to pests,...

Participants in the workshop shared experiences from nine projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. All projects had a common objective: to add value to an agricultural product and link smallholder farmers to profitable markets in a lasting way. The commodities included bulb onions in Kenya and Tanzania; fresh fruits in...

The present edition offers a collection of 14 diverse articles highlighting different aspects of mangroves - from the lush natural stands, wildlings, nursery practices, enrichment planting, to the various uses of the mangrove ecosystems as paddy rice fields, along with fisheries and wildlife sanctuaries and salt exploitation areas. The Special...

This paper uses the sustainable livelihoods framework to explore the contribution of smallholder production to food security in some sub-Saharan African countries and relates it to the South African case. Noting that many of the world’s hungry are smallholder farmers, it is clear that food insecurity is closely linked to...

Welcome to Dimitra Newsletter No. 16! This issue is devoted – as all our newsletters are – to the empowerment of women and men living in rural areas. FAO’s efforts in the Great Lakes Region highlight the fact that Farmer Field Schools can be instrumental in addressing a range of...

In developing the Scientific Conceptual Framework for the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme, FAO seeks to accomplish the challenging task of integrating perspectives from those sciences that are most directly concerned with conservation and development: ecology, agronomy and forestry, economics, and anthropology. The goal is to scientifically conceptualise...