This report, launched in the UK Parliament in July 2010, outlines why support for agriculture - and in particular for smallholder farmers - is critical to address hunger and poverty in Africa. The report showcases a range of approaches that have improved access for marginalised farmers, especially women, to decision-making,...

Climate change is now recognized as serious with long term negative effects on agricultural productivity, and hence on the well-being of communities especially in Africa. Farmers have experienced climate change effects and have tried to mitigate these effects by adapting new/different production practices. This study has been set up to...

Se caracterizó el comportamiento socioproductivo en las parcelas del Consejo Popular de Santiago de las Vegas. Se realizaron entrevistas directas y observación directa a una muestra representativa del 20% de los parceleros. Se efectuó un análisis de componentes principales como herramienta en la agrupación de los parceleros para la caracterización...

A rapidly changing world combined with mounting domestic challenges is prompting many Middle East and North African (MENA) countries to rethink their development models and to initiate economic and social reforms. Taking this new momentum as a starting point, this paper uses the concept of Food Security to identify 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...

Global food production has increased by 20% in the past decade – but food insecurity and poverty remain widespread , while the natural resource base continues to decline. International research centers, which have helped drive previous improvements, must continue to deliver new technologies to support sustainable growth in agriculture; and...

ZATAC was requested by FAO to identify participants from Africa and facilitate a 3 day roundtable meeting on voluntary standards and schemes for specific quality products. The aim of the roundtable was to consult with key stakeholders and build consensus on intervention strategies related to voluntary standards and schemes for...

Based on the premise that smallholders often get excluded as markets become more commercial, this paper draws lessons from the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA) Project by exploring the main issues and challenges facing extension service partners in five African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi). These lessons...

Dimitra Newsletter 19 highlights FAO’s strong interest in the exchange and capitalisation of good agricultural practices and in the methods that enable rural populations to access information and communication. The Knowledge Management and Gender programme, which organised a Knowledge Share Fair in Niamey in June 2010, illustrates the innovative methods...

This Technical Bulletin is the third in a series produced by the Women's Livelihoods and Dairy Goat Project being implemented in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This IFAD-funded project aims to improve rural livelihoods in marginal, conflict and post-conflict areas of the two countries. There are large numbers of small-scale livestock keepers...

This Technical Bulletin is the first in a series produced by the Women's Livelihoods and Dairy Goat Project being implemented in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This IFAD-funded project aims to improve rural livelihoods in marginal, conflict and post-conflict areas of the two countries. Hygienic milk production, handling and processing are key...

Women farmers grow, buy, sell, cook food and feed their children. They produce 60 – 80%1 of food in most developing countries and, as such, it is women that hold the key to tackling hunger and malnutrition. Yet their needs are often not recognised or understood. As a result, policy...

Esta Guía tiene por objeto posibilitar a técnicos vinculados al sector, el cálculo, diseño e instalación de pequeños sistemas de riego.

This Working Document provides practical guidelines for upgrading agricultural retail markets in rural areas and analyses the strategic potential of upgrading as an important component of rural development. This document presents methodological steps for the design and implementation of appropriate programmes, rather than a single model to replicate. The objective is to propose...

Today, the spectre of hunger has returned to many developing countries. The number of undernourished people has risen above one billion, or one sixth of humanity. The international community faces other daunting challenges, including the global economic downturn, plummeting levels of trade and investment, growing scarcity of natural resources, and the...

El presente estudio pone de relieve las trabas existentes para una mayor incorporación de las mujeres al mundo del trabajo: una estructura productiva que no crea suficientes empleos de buena calidad para ellas –y tampoco para los hombres– y una población femenina envejecida y con muy bajos niveles de calificación....

Ongoing violent conflicts accentuate the challenges that women and men face in the rural areas of Iraq, Lebanon, and the occupied Palestinian territories. The potential of cooperatives for sharing risk, pooling resources, learning together, generating income, and balancing work and family responsibilities, has yet to be actualized. Cooperatives in the...

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...

A mediados de la década de los ochenta, los derechos de las mujeres rurales emergen en la agenda regional. La denuncia de los movimientos sociales y la gradual profundización de la participación de las mujeres en la elaboración de alternativas políticas, sociales y económicas propiciaron transformaciones en las políticas públicas...

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...