المطبوعات
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”.
This book documents a unique series of 19 case studies where agricultural biotechnologies were used to serve the needs of smallholders in developing countries. They cover different regions, production systems, species and underlying socio-economic conditions in the crop (seven case studies), livestock (seven) and aquaculture/fisheries (five) sectors.
The biotechnologies covered include some that are considered quite traditional, such as fermentation and artificial insemination, as well as other more modern ones, such as the use of DNA-based approaches to detect pathogens.
Occasional papers on Innovation in Family Farming
The core idea of the Rural Knowledge Network (RKN) was to make more information available, specifically about markets, to smallholder farmers. This was done by building a network of entrepreneurs who collected price information regularly and sent it to a central collecting Internet platform facility. Due to the demonstrated benefits the RKN project has shown, the report concluded that rural market access to business networks should be expanded to reach commercially viable scales through the ongoing IFAD, FAO and other development programmes in the region.
This study suggests that the majority of farmers – particularly smallholders – need to expand their understanding of markets and economic opportunities in order to run their farms as sustainable and profitable businesses. To create a viable livelihood from farming, they need to move from a sole focus on production for home consumption to producing also for the market. Even though farmers are innovative and entrepreneurial, they often lack the know-how to do so alone. They need advice from others; they need services.
En Colombia, la Corporación para el Desarrollo Participativo y Sostenible de los Pequeños Productores Rurales (Corporación PBA), ha desarrollado la estrategia de Innovación Rural Participativa (IRP), en la cual se prioriza el desarrollo y estÍmulo a las capacidades, habilidades y destrezas de los agricultores, considerando como base su propio conocimiento. Así mismo, ha procurado fomentar en los centros de investigación, autoridades del Estado, organismos gubernamentales y no gubernamentales la función de acompañantes de procesos sociales locales, a fin de llevar a cabo una innovación, no para la gente, ni de la gente, sino junto con la gente.