Innovation platforms are established to facilitate open communication and collaboration among various actors usually within a value chain to promote collective resource management. The concept of innovation platform as a strategy of entry point for operationalization, validation and dissemination of agricultural technology have received much attention in recent times among researchers in Ghana....

........................................................................................................................2 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................3 THE NATIONAL MAIZE ECONOMY.............................................................................4 GUATEMALA’S AGRICULTURE AND MAIN MAIZE PRODUC...

In this paper we address the question of farm-nonfarm linkages at the household level for a case-study in Senegal. We examine whether increasing off-farm employment opportunities for rural households – resulting from increased horticulture exports and associated agro-industrialization – has benefitted the smallholder farm sector through investment linkages. We use data from a household survey i...

Future climate changes will affect smallholder farmers in the developing world, posing threats to household food security. Nevertheless, there remains limited comparable evidence across multiple countries and regions regarding the global extent of climate shocks affecting smallholder food security. We examine data from 5,299 household surveys across 15 countries in Latin America, Africa and Sou...

Traditional smallholder farming systems are characterized by low yields and high risks of crop failure and food insecurity. Through a biophysical model, PARCHED-THIRST and a socio-economic farming systems simulation model, OLYMPE, we evaluated the performance of farming practices based on maize yield, gross margin and total family balance over a 10-year period in semi-arid Olifants River Basin ...

BACKGROUND The use of highly hazardous pesticides by smallholder farmers constitutes a classic trans-sectoral 'wicked problem'. We share our program of research in potato and vegetable farming communities in the Andean highlands, working with partners from multiple sectors to confront this problem over several projects. METHODS We engaged in iterative cycles of mixed methods research around p...

The Agricultural sector has the greatest potential for improving rural livelihood and eradicating the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). By the end of the GTP period, the government seeks to double yields of smallholder farmers largely by scaling-up best practices, producing high value crops, expanding irrigation development and promoting natural resource conservation. A substantial increase...

In recent years, many countries have realized the need to revive agricultural extension services to promote pro-poor growth, reach poor marginalised smallholder farmers and address new challenges on sustainability, environmental degradation and climate change. This paper discusses evolving concepts and approaches in agricultural extension, past experiences of key countries, problems and failure...

In smallholder agriculture, women farmers are largely responsible for the selection, improvement and adaptation of plant varieties. In many regions, women are also responsible for the management of small livestock, including their reproduction. Women often have a more highly specialized knowledge of wild plants used for food, fodder and medicine than men. Women – users, preservers and managers ...