Download or read book From Best Practice to Best Fit A Framework for Analyzing Pluralistic Agricultural Advisory Services Worldwide written by Regina Birner, Kristin Davis, John Pender, Ephraim Nkonya, Ponniah Anandajayasekeram, Javier Ekboir, Adiel Mbabu, David J. Spielman, Daniela Horna, Samuel Benin, and Marc Cohen and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Framework to assess performance and impact of pluralistic agricultural extension systems written by Faure, Guy and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extension and advisory services (EAS) are well recognized as a key factor in contributing to agricultural productivity and growth. However, rigorous evaluation of EAS approaches and assessment of complex national or subnational pluralistic EAS systems are rare. This working paper examines the literature on experiential and empirical insights and explores methods to assess complex pluralistic EAS systems. The authors present conceptual thinking on innovation systems and EAS, and review the IFPRI “best-fit” framework. This framework remains relevant because it is based on a holistic perspective with an impact pathway orientation. The paper aims to operationalize and improve the best-fit framework to guide the evaluation of complex EAS systems. The authors draw on and summarize existing literature to illustrate methods and tools used to analyze each component of the framework. The review pays close attention to the literature and methods for assessing the diversity of service providers and their various delivery tools and learning approaches. The discussion also pays close attention to the interaction of each component and how it affects the performance and impact of EAS from a systems perspective. This paper adds key points and considerations on how to operationalize the best-fit framework to carry out evaluations of pluralistic EAS.

Download or read book 2013 Global Food Policy Report written by Fan, Shenggen and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2014-03-12 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2013 Global Food Policy Report is the third in an annual series that provides an in-depth look at major food policy developments and events. Initiated in response to resurgent interest in food and nutrition security, the series offers a yearly overview of the food policy developments that have contributed to or hindered progress in achieving food and nutrition security. It reviews what happened in food policy and why, examines key challenges and opportunities, shares new evidence and knowledge, and highlights emerging issues.

Download or read book OECD Green Growth Studies Fostering Green Growth in Agriculture The Role of Training Advisory Services and Extension Initiatives written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2015-05-08 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the role, performance and impact of farm advisory services, training and extension initiatives in the OECD area to foster green growth in agriculture.

Download or read book Indicator framework for national extension and advisory service systems written by Sulaiman V, R., Chuluunbaatar, D., Djamen, P., Grovermann, C., Holley, A. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-02-21 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extension and advisory services (EAS) play a key role in facilitating innovation for sustainable agricultural development. To strengthen this role, appropriate investment and conducive policies are needed in EAS, guided by evidence. It is therefore essential to examine EAS characteristics and performance in the context of modern, pluralistic and increasingly digital EAS systems. In response to this need, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed guidelines and instruments for the systematic assessment of national EAS systems. The Indicator Framework provides overarching guidance on EAS systems assessment, including a list of 40 indicators (10 core and 30 complementary) which cover all major aspects of EAS from inputs to impact. This Indicator Framework provides much needed structure to EAS assessment, taking into account contemporary, pluralistic services and is complemented by FAO’s instruments for participatory data collection in EAS, including quantitative and qualitative data.

Download or read book Working with Smallholders written by International Finance Corporation and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2023-11-01 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smallholder farmers are the stewards of more than 80 percent of the world’s farms. These small family businesses produce about one-third of the world’s food. In Africa and Asia, smallholders dominate the production of food crops, as well as export commodities such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton. However, smallholders and farm workers remain among the poorest segments of the population, and they are on the frontline of climate change. Smallholder farmers face constraints in accessing inputs, finance, knowledge, technology, labor, and markets. Raising farm-level productivity in a sustainable way is a key development priority. Agribusinesses are increasingly working with smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries to secure agricultural commodities. More productive smallholders boost rural incomes and economic growth, as well as reduce poverty. Smallholders also represent a growing underserved market for farm inputs, information, and financial services. Working with Smallholders: A Handbook for Firms Building Sustainable Supply Chains (third edition) shows agribusinesses how to engage more effectively with smallholders and to develop sustainable, resilient, and productive supply chains. The book compiles practical solutions and cutting-edge ideas to overcome the challenges facing smallholders. This third edition is substantially revised from the second edition and incorporates new material on the potential for digital technologies and sustainable farming. This handbook is written principally to outline opportunities for the private sector. The content may also be useful to the staffs of governmental or nongovernmental development programs working with smallholders, as well as to academic and research institutions.

Download or read book Agricultural extension in transition worldwide written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2020-04-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication contains twelve modules which cover a selection of major reform measures in agricultural extension being promulgated and implemented internationally, such as linking farmers to markets, making advisory services more demand-driven, promoting pluralistic advisory systems, and enhancing the role of advisory services within agricultural innovation systems. The reform issues consider the changing roles of the various public, private and non-governmental providers, and highlights the collaboration required to create synergies for more efficient and effective high quality services responding to the needs and demands of smallholder farmers. The modules draw on reform experiences worldwide and provide an introduction, definitions and a discussion for each specific reform measure, as well as case studies, tools, exercises and a reference list. The reform topics are envisaged for policy-makers, management and senior staff of institutions providing agricultural and rural advisory services. It can also be very useful for students studying agriculture, rural development, and extension in particular. This is a substantially updated version of the 2009 publication of the same title, but with only nine modules. These nine modules were restructured and up-dated, and three modules were added. The layout of the modules changed to allow a better overview for the reader.

Download or read book Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia written by Suresh Chandra Babu and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-06-15 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia: Status, Challenges, and Policy Options is based on agricultural extension reforms across five South Asian countries, reflecting past experiences, case studies and experiments. Beginning with an overview of historical trends and recent developments, the book then delves into country-wise reform trajectories and presents several cases testing the effectiveness of different types (public and private) and forms (nutrition extension, livestock extension) of extension systems. Further, the book provides a comprehensive overview of challenges and constraints faced in formulating and implementing reforms, tying the results into a concrete set of lessons and highlighting areas that require further research. In addition, the book discusses how a major aspect of agricultural development is the productivity increase from the knowledge base of farmers, and how translating research results into a knowledge base for farmers requires designing and implementing well-functioning extension programs. - Presents the current challenges and solutions by region, and provides insights for application in global settings - Provides key foundational information for the effective and efficient design of future intervention programs - Includes workshops and presentations based on real-world research of specific aspects of extension systems and provision of advisory and consultation services to various governments

Download or read book Comprehensive assessment of national extension and advisory service systems written by Sulaiman V, R., Chuluunbaatar, D., Mroczek, Z.K., Alexandrova, N., Holley, A., Mittal, N. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-04-05 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extension and advisory services (EAS) play a key role in facilitating innovation processes, empowering marginalized groups through capacity development, and linking farmers with markets. EAS are increasingly provided by a range of actors and funded from diverse sources. With the broadened scope of EAS and the growing complexity of the system, the quantitative performance indicators used in the past (for example related to investment, staffing or productivity) are no longer adequate to assess the performance of EAS systems. This operational guide meets the longstanding demand for guidance on undertaking such a comprehensive assessment of national EAS systems. It provides detailed directions on how to organize the entire process, from preparation to implementation and consolidation. Its use will help identify gaps and entry points for targeting investments and realigning policies for transforming EAS.

Download or read book Agricultural extension Global status and performance in selected countries written by Davis, Kristin E., ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-09-02 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. Agricultural Extension: Global Status and Performance in Selected Countries provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.

Download or read book Guide for monitoring and evaluation of the public agricultural extension and advisory service system written by Yang, P., Ou, Y. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2023-03-24 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide is aimed to propose a holistic, systemic, and easy-to-use methodology that is multiscalar, multisectoral, and multidimensional for the M&E of public EAS systems to help identify gaps and pathways to strengthen and reform the public EAS system. It starts with analyses of the common objectives, subject, challenges, lessons learned, and prospects of the existing M&E systems and expounds on the logical framework, rationale and objectives of the proposed M&E methodology from a multistakeholder perspective. Then it proposes M&E frameworks at the national and grassroots levels following such order as the introduction, key M&E elements, indicator framework, and operational framework. Next, it looks at the issues of data sources, data collection, and capacity building, focusing on the institutionalization of the M&E system in the public EAS. Finally, it introduces the commonly used tools and methods of data analysis, focusing on the weighting of indicators, scoring methods, and integrated analytical frameworks.

Download or read book Increasing access to agricultural extension and advisory services How effective are new approaches in reaching women farmers in rural areas written by Mbo’o-Tchouawou, M., Colverson, K.E. and published by ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD). This book was released on 2014-04-30 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Reforming the Agricultural Extension System in India What Do We Know About What Works Where and Why written by Katharina Raabe and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2008 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Knowledge Driven Development written by Yuan Zhou and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2015-05-30 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Knowledge Driven Development: Private Extension and Global Lessons uses actual cases written specifically to study the role and capacity of private companies in knowledge sharing and intensification through agricultural extension. Descriptions of specific models and approaches are teased out of complex situations exhibiting a range of agricultural, regulatory, socio-economic variables. Illustrative cases focus on a particular agricultural value chain and elaborate the special feature of the associated private extension system. Chapters presenting individual cases of private extension also highlight specific areas of variations and significant deviance. Each chapter begins with a section describing the background and agricultural context of the case, followed by a description of the specific crop value chain. Based on understanding of this context, extension models and methods by private companies receive deeper analysis and definition in the next section. This leads to a discussion of the private extension with respect to its relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, equity, sustainability and impact. Following that, comparison with public extension, the uniqueness of the knowledge intensification model, and lessons for its replication and scaling up are elaborated. The final chapter summarizes the major results from the ten cases presented, looking at the trends, commonalities and differences of various extension approaches and the general lessons for success or failure. It concludes with a set of messages around value creation, integrated services, market links, inclusive innovation, and capacity development. - Provides understanding of different knowledge sharing and intensification models of extension delivery and financing by private companies across the agricultural value chains - Assesses the factors leading to successes or failures of various approaches - Draws lessons and recommendations for future endeavors relating to private extension policies and programs

Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Gender and Agriculture written by Carolyn E. Sachs and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-10-28 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Agriculture covers major theoretical issues as well as critical empirical shifts in gender and agriculture. Gender relations in agriculture are shifting in most regions of the world with changes in the structure of agriculture, the organization of production, international restructuring of value chains, climate change, the global pandemic, and national and multinational policy changes. This book provides a cutting-edge assessment of the field of gender and agriculture, with contributions from both leading scholars and up-and-coming academics as well as policymakers and practitioners. The handbook is organized into four parts: part 1, institutions, markets, and policies; part 2, land, labor, and agrarian transformations; part 3, knowledge, methods, and access to information; and part 4, farming people and identities. The last chapter is an epilogue from many of the contributors focusing on gender, agriculture, and shifting food systems during the coronavirus pandemic. The chapters address both historical subjects as well as ground-breaking work on gender and agriculture, which will help to chart the future of the field. The handbook has an international focus with contributions examining issues at both the global and local levels with contributors from across the world. With contributions from leading academics, policymakers, and practitioners, and with a global outlook, the Routledge Handbook of Gender and Agriculture is an essential reference volume for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in gender and agriculture. Chapter 13 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Download or read book Agroforestry for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services written by Martin Kaonga and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2012-04-04 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agroforestry has great potential for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, providing rural livelihoods and habitats for species outside formally protected land, and alleviating resource-use pressure on conservation areas. However, widespread adoption of agroforestry innovations is still constrained by a myriad of factors including design features of candidate agroforestry innovations, perceived needs, policies, availability and distribution of factors of production, and perception of risks. Understanding the science, and factors that regulate the adoption, of agroforestry and how they impact the implementation of agroforestry is vitally important. Agroforestry for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Science and Practice examines design features and management practices of some agroforestry practices and their impact on biodiversity and the ecosystem services it delivers. It also identifies policy issues for facilitating adoption of desirable agroforestry practices and gradual diminution of undesirable policies.

Download or read book Assessment of the Capacity Incentives and Performance of Agricultural Extension Agents in Western Democratic Republic of Congo written by Catherine Ragasa and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-08-19 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural extension is critical for agricultural growth and food security, but making the extension system effective, demand driven, and responsive to the needs of a diverse set of producers remains a challenge. As part of the institutional reforms in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the extension system is being reviewed to identify strategies and practical actions to transform the system to better respond to the knowledge needs in a rapidly changing agriculture and food sector. This paper provides an in-depth review of the agricultural extension system of DRC including an analysis of its policies and legal framework, organization, and management; links to critical institutions; and capacity and incentive of different actors in the system. This review involved document analyses, interviews with key informants, and surveys of 107 extension organizations and 162 extension agents in 156 randomly selected villages in western DRC. This review suggests serious funding constraints, human resource management problems, no linkage and coordination within the extension system and with research and education systems, and a majority of underserved communities and farmers. This review also highlights a good opportunity given the huge human resources (more than 11,000 agents) deployed into the sectors and territories as part of the Ministry’s agricultural inspection system. However, their mandate is not clear and they currently focus on data collection (census) and checking what farmers do and limited in extension and advisory work. This review highlights the urgent need for human resource or civil service reform; public-sector commitment and funding; infrastructure rebuilding and skills upgrading in extension, education and training, and research organizations; and a unified policy or strategy with clear vision, mandate, targets, and performance-based incentive system.