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Working Paper Accra 2008: The Bumpy Road to Aid Effectiveness in Agriculture(2008) Cabral, Lidia"The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness will be reviewed at the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra in September 2008. The Paris Declaration establishes operating principles for donors and recipient governments to improve the effectiveness of aid. These include government leadership of the development process, a focus on policy results, greater alignment by donors with national policies and management systems, harmonisation between donors with division of labour, and mutual accountability for development results. These principles are broadly sound for guiding development cooperation with national governments. However, they do not help in addressing the challenges arising in certain areas of assistance. In agriculture, the overwhelmingly private nature of agricultural activities, the roles of non-governmental service providers, the significance of context and the cross-sectoral dimension of policy challenges are some of the reasons why development cooperation in that sector struggles to comply with the Paris principles. The paper sets out areas requiring focused attention in the run-up to Accra 2008."Working Paper The African Commons(2010) Gorenflo, Neal"Dr. Tendayi Viki was born and raised in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. He is now senior lecturer in social psychology at the University of Kent in England. Currently a visiting fellow at Stanford University, his research interests include intergroup relations and multi-cultural co-innovation. He's also founder of social news site thegoodin.us, which aggregates stories about those who do good in the world. I recently sat down with Dr. Viki to explore the social structure of Zimbabwean villages and their commons-based agricultural practices."Conference Paper Agrarian Land Use Change and Constructions of the Commons: A Case of Indigenous Agriculture Development in Taiwan's Mountain Area(2011) Lin, Chia-Nan; Tsai, Bor-Wen"This study aimed to identify different land-use types from indigenous people’s agriculture development in Taiwan’s mountain areas. We focused on the agrarian land use changes, in attempt to analyze these land use types caused by what political and economic processes under mountain agriculture development in Taiwan. Further, we studied on indigenous people’s agrarian land use mechanism to figure out the regimes of resources management in different land use phases that they governed agrarian resources as common-pool resource. For these reasons, Tayah tribe, an indigenous community of Tayal people located in northern Taiwan, was selected for a case study to discuss for the tribe’s complicated progress of mountain agriculture. The result shows that the progress of mountain agrarian land use could be divided into three phases influenced by the political and economic situation. Each phase contains a specific regime about resource management that represents how land resources be interpreted and operated as the commons. These three phases were traditional swidden agriculture period, rice farming production, and diverse cash crops connected with market economy. Based on the findings, land use types which represented management regimes were transformed not only by agricultural process, but also by indigenous people’s cultural contexts. That illustrated land use issues of indigenous tribe especially located in mountain areas were complicated processes. Nowadays, the regime of resources management in local community was vulnerable and much weaker than before. That will be a critical and tough issue when we concerning about the robustness of management regimes especially in complex commons systems."Book Agricultural Commodities, Trade and Sustainable Development(International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 2005) Lines, Thomas"Talks on agricultural trade liberalization at the World Trade Organization must take into account the needs of commodity-dependent developing countries, to ensure that agricultural trade and commodity production will deliver outcomes that favour both the environment and poverty reduction. Alongside the trade negotiations, there are also hot debates amongst a range of actors and networks on ensuring functioning of domestic agricultural markets, improving governance and sustainability in bulk commodity markets among civil society groups. Environmental and conservation groups seek the application of better management practices (BMPs) organized either through segregated supply chains or through preferential access to markets and finance.This group is focused on private regulation, upgrading of buyer-driven chains, and supply chain management. Elsewhere, a cluster of organizations are revisiting supply management to reduce oversupply and price volatility, focusing on learning lessons from the failures of International Commodity Agreements (ICAs). And a group of farmer and development organizations is concerned about growing corporate concentration in commodity markets and the impact of skewed market power on the small and decreasing share of wealth finding its way back to primary producers.This group is focused on competition policy and corporate accountability."Conference Paper Agricultural Credit and the Build-Up of Social Capital in the Brazilian Amazon Frontier(2002) Ludewigs, Thomas"This paper is organized into four sections: first, I present an overview of the social capital literature, with some emphasis on interactions with credit programs and institutions. Next, I will discuss some aspects related to credit policies in the Brazilian Amazon and more specifically in the State of Pará, through the perspective of its institutional dynamics and, into some extent, as a process arising from its regional socioeconomic and political backgrounds. This part builds heavily on a FNO analysis recently published. Third, I want to present shortly some preliminary results of our on-going agricultural credit research in the region, with emphasis given to the impact of rural credit in Land Use - Land Cover Change (LUCC) and in agricultural production, and discuss briefly those results in light of what they represent for regional development. Forth, I will discuss the build-up of social capital in Amazonia, its effect in the performance of rural credit and the interactions with the physical environment and with diverse sectors of society."Journal Article Agricultural Information Systems and Communication Networks: The Case of Dairy Farmers in the Samsun Province of Turkey(2008) Demiryurek, Kursat; Erdem, Huseyin; Ceyhan, Vedat; Atasever, Savas; Uysal, Osman"Agricultural information systems and communication networks: the case of dairy farmers in the Samsun province of Turkey We recommend that more functional cooperation between public and private information sources in the system is needed to motivate conventional dairy farmers to convert into modern dairy farming system. Analysis of the agricultural information systems and communication network used by members and non-members of the Dairy Cattle Breeders' Association provided a framework to identify the strength and weaknesses of the current systems and led to recommendations to improve their performance. Structured interviews were used to collect data from a randomly selected forty-three members and sixty-five non-members of the Association. Tests of association (e.g., Correlation Coefficient and Kendall's tau) and tests of difference (Student's t test) were performed using SPSS. The main function of the information systems was the dissemination of dairy-farming-related information. Association membership functions as a means to keep more European pure-bred cows and provide financial incentives, rather than developing a modern dairy sector. The non-members of the Association mainly used their current knowledge and traditional practices. The lack of information support from the institutional sources resulted in the development of personal information sources to exchange information and diffuse technology among the farmers themselves. We recommend that more functional cooperation between public and private information sources in the system is needed to motivate conventional dairy farmers to convert into modern dairy farming system."Working Paper Agriculture, Water, and Ecosystems(2007) Falkenmark, Malin; Galaz, Victor"Agriculture depends on ecosystem functions such as pollination. This means it is closely linked with the health of surrounding ecosystems and should be considered an agro-ecosystem. Crop production systems have been managed as though they were disconnected from the landscape in general. Since the complex systems that make up the landscape are interconnected, this approach threatens the processes that make agriculture sustainable. Past agricultural management has caused wide scale changes in land cover, stream-flow, and groundwater systems. This has undermined the processes that support ecosystems and the services that they provide. Agriculture will continue to be a key driver of ecosystem change in the future."Journal Article Análisis de la Producción Agrícola Extensiva en Sinaloa: Alternativas para el Uso Sostenible del Agua(2010) Norzagaray Campos, M.; García Gutiérrez, C.; Llanes Cárdenas, O.; Troyo Diéguez, E.; Muñoz Sevilla, P."Sinaloa has the highest percentage of agricultural land with irrigation systems in México, this activity is important by the economic contribution, but also there is environmental negative impact. Today the over-exploitation in the aquifers by percolation of pesticides and other remainders causes damages in the ecosystems, and to the human health. On the other hand, agriculture consumes 80% of the fresh water available in the region, by this reason Gulf of California land is consider as over-exploited region. Due to, is important provide conservation strategies to remedy future repercussions on the aquifers and to avoid contamination of fresh water by saline intrusion."Journal Article The Analysis and Estimation of Efficiency of Agroindustrial Formations of Holding Type of the Belgorod Region(2012) Shedy, E."Socio-economic reforms carried out in the Russian Federation, led to the emergence of large agro-industrial associations - agricultural holdings, which differ in their structure, resource and investment potential, and able to make a significant contribution to solving the problem of food security, both individual regions and the country as a whole. The paper assesses the efficiency of agricultural holdings in the example of the Belgorod region and identify the prospects for their development."Working Paper Applying Efficiency Analysis to Small Farms in Low Income Countries: Some Theoretical and Empirical Considerations(1980) Pachico, Douglas"The success of policies for raising agricultural productivity and improving the welfare in low income countries may often depend very substantially upon the quality of decision making by farmers. For example, both the rate of diffusion and the magnitude of the benefits derived from new agricultural technologies may be significantly related to farmer decision skills. The better farmers are able to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of new techonologies and the sooner farmers learn to use new techonologies, the faster will be the spread of profitable new technologies. Likewise, as farmers become more highly skilled in managing new technologies, they will realize the full potential benefits of new techniques."Journal Article A Breadbasket for Africa: Farming in the Guinea Savannah Zone(2012) Morris, Michael; Binswanger, Hans; Byerlee, Derek; Staatz, John"Over the past five decades, African agriculture has failed to meet the demands of a continent set to become the most populous region on earth by 2025. During that half century, two relatively backward and landlocked agricultural regions--the Cerrado region of Brazil and the northeast region of Thailand--have developed at a rapid pace and have become leading agricultural exporters. The success of these regions defied the many skeptics who had asserted that their challenging agroecological characteristics, remote locations, and high levels of poverty would prove impossible to overcome. Similar perceptions for many years also fueled pessimism about the prospects for African agriculture, although this may now be changing. During the past decade, strong agricultural growth has been recorded in several African countries, and recent increases in international prices of agricultural commodities have opened up new opportunities. Africa’s Guinea Savannah zone covers about 600 million hectares, of which about 400 million hectares could be used for crop agriculture. With sustainable and inclusive growth of commercial agriculture, this region has the potential to feed Africa and create a booming export business."Conference Paper Building Local Capacity to Manage African Smallholder Carbon Projects(2013) Shames, Seth; Bernier, Quinn; Masiga, Moses; Buck, Louise"This paper describes an action research process undertaken with four African agricultural carbon projects - CARE's Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change Initiative in Western Kenya; World Vision's Assisted Natural Regeneration Project in Humbo, Ethiopia; Vi Agroforestry's Western Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project; and ECOTRUST's Trees for Global Benefits in Uganda - to explore their institutional changes as project managers and communities work to build local capacity for project management. It describes the process by which researchers and project managers collaboratively developed a research methodology for this project, as well as the content of the methodology. Also, based on the first round of data collection it reflects on the successes and challenges of the research methodology and presents the areas of potential action that each of the projects identified through the research process. The methodology was generally successful in gathering the desired data, although modifications could be made in the future to more effectively target questions to interviewees and possibly include additional stakeholder groups, such as government agents and other project service providers. Actions identified varied depending on the projects' stage of development, which may make cross-project analysis difficult. Due to the project managers' participation in the development of the methodology, these managers are well-placed to incorporate these survey tools into their normal monitoring and evaluation activities and to continue this iterative process after the research funds end. The four projects identified a variety of actions that they can take to improve local capacity for project management. Some of these include developing new partnerships with locally-based institutions, supporting cooperation among farmer groups, improving sustainable land management trainings, strengthening communication between community group officers and general members, ensuring that benefits can be accessed by poor farmers and women, clarifying roles within the project structure, overcoming resource constraints to implement practices, strengthening collective action for enterprise development and building local capacity for carbon monitoring and management of the carbon bonus."Working Paper Can Integrated Agriculture-Nutrition Programs Change Gender Norms on Land and Asset Ownership? Evidence from Burkina Faso(2013) van den Bold, Mara; Pedehombga, Abdoulaye; Ouedraogo, Marcellin; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Olney, Deanna"There is a high degree of interest in the potential for agricultural programs to be designed and implemented to achieve health and nutrition objectives. Policymakers have often looked to the experience of civil society organizations in designing and implementing such programs, particularly in different social and cultural contexts. For the past 20 years, Helen Keller International (HKI) has implemented homestead food production programs in Asia and recently has started to adapt and implement these programs in Africa south of the Sahara. The goal of these programs is to improve the nutritional status of infants and young children through a number of production and nutrition interventions. These interventions are targeted to mothers under the presumption that increasing women’s access to and control over productive assets and enhancing women’s human capital to improve production and health and nutrition care practices will translate into improved nutritional status for their children. However, there is very little evidence documenting the ways in which HKI’s homestead food production programs influence women’s access to and control over productive assets and enhance women’s human capital in ways that may improve nutritional outcomes. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach to analyze the impact of HKI’s Enhanced-Homestead Food Production pilot program in Burkina Faso on women’s and men’s assets and on norms regarding ownership, use, and control of those assets. Even though men continue to own and control most land and specific assets in the study area, women’s control over and ownership of assets has started to change, both in terms of quantifiable changes as well as changes in people’s perceptions and opinions about who can own and control certain assets. The paper also discusses the implications of such changes for program sustainability."Working Paper Cattle, Broadleaf Forests and the Agricultural Modernization Law of Honduras: The Case of Olancho(1996) Sunderlin, William D.; Rodriguez, Juan A."The broadleaf forests of Honduras are among the most extensive in Central America and have been subject to rapid deforestation. Among the important factors in the process of deforestation has been the growth of cattle farming. Structural adjustment policies enacted in 1992 have been directed at overcoming grave economic problems. The authors of the adjustment plans have assumed the same policies will help protect the natural resource base of the country, including its forests. "Field research conducted in August-November 1994 sought to understand the effect of the 1992 Agricultural Modernization Law (AML) on the cattle sector and on the management of broadleaf forests in eastern Honduras. The research found that the cattle sector may have benefited from reforms introduced through the new policies (this remains to be proven), while state capabilities in forest conservation and management have clearly declined. "The recommendations of this report are to: (1) strengthen the capacity of the state to enforce existing laws aimed at protecting broadleaf forests; (2) revise and amend the provisions of the AML to include provisions aimed specifically at the protection of broadleaf forests; (3) strengthen efforts to harmonise policies among various economic sectors; (4) conduct a national cadastral survey and implement national land-use planning; and (5) strengthen official support and the policy environment for community-based forest management. "There are three further research questions in need of attention: (1) Would intensification of the cattle sector assist efforts to reduce deforestation?; (2) Is halting of road construction in the vicinity of forests a promising way of lowering rates of deforestation?; (3) To what extent is broadleaf deforestation alleviated through attention to the cattle sector alone?"Working Paper Common Property Resources and Dynamics of Rural Poverty: Field Evidence from Dry Regions of India(1994) Jodha, Narpat S."Despite advances in agricultural technologies, access and availability of external inputs and supplies, income transfers through subsidies, relief etc, locally available biomass continues to be an important element in the fulfillment of basic needs of rural people, especially the poor in several parts of India including the dry tropical regions. In addition to meeting the direct needs of fodder, fuel, food, timber, fencing, thatching, etc, biomass plays crucial role in local resource regenerative processes of farming systems. These benefits not withstanding, the supplies and sources of biomass are rapidly depleting in India. The farm produced supplies suffered due to anti-biomass bias of new crop technologies favoring high grain-stalk ratios, short duration sole cropping systems and emphasis on cash crops. The natural supplies of biomass declined both due to decline in the areas of natural vegetation as well as their productivity. The heaviest burden of these developments have fallen on the rural poor, who do not have enough other options to meet the basic requirements of these products. This is illustrated by the changing situation of rural common property resource (CPRs) on which the poor depend very heavily."Conference Paper The Common-Field Village of Midland England(2008) Goodacre, John"The enclosure of the open fields farmed in common in the Midlands of England was accomplished in several stages. The enclosures of the seventeenth century were a turning point in the development of capitalist production. Paradoxically this was a triumph for open-field farming. "This paper is based on an analysis of the local agrarian economy and illustrated from the writings of two contemporary protagonists in the national debate on development."Working Paper Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia: Lesson Learned(2012) Jore, Olivier; Kosal, Mam; Kure, Yumiko; Sereywath, Pick; Thuok, Nao"Cambodia's wetlands cover over 30 percent of the country’s land area and support one of the largest, most diverse and intensive freshwater fisheries in the world. In the flood season (July-February), the flood waters from the Mekong River and Tonle Sap Lake catchments create a vast open water system on Cambodia’s lowlands. During this period, inundated rice fields become open access fishing grounds for local villagers and migrant fishers. Fishing in rice fields and floodplain systems takes place throughout the flood season, but the peak season is when water is receding (from November to February). Rice field fisheries are estimated to contribute up to 28% of the wild capture fisheries in Cambodia. Rice field fisheries are seen as a promising sub-sector to increase fish catches and meet the domestic demand for food. Despite its importance in Cambodia’s rural livelihoods, this complex system of rice field fisheries has not been a focus of detailed research or NGO projects until recently, with the advent of the Community Fish Refuge (CFR) approach. A Community Fish Refuge (CFR) is a form of stock enhancement or a fish conservation measure that is intended to improve the productivity of rice field fisheries. The idea behind refuge ponds is to create dry season refuges or sanctuaries for brood fish in seasonally inundated rice fields. Refuge ponds can be man-made ponds or natural ponds that can hold water throughout the year. During the dry season, these refuge ponds become disconnected from permanent natural water bodies."Journal Article Computer-Aided Design Elements of Precision Farming Systems Based on the Principles Biologization, Resource and Environmental Safety(2012) Plygun, S.; Lobkov, V."Development of practical methods of computer-aided design elements of precision farming systems on the basis of biological function, resource and environmental security for the producers of different specialization, ownership and financial security is the actual direction of development of modern agricultural science. Proposed development, which may serve as a basic programming model, allowing for expanded reproduction of soil fertility through the use of new ways to maximize the amount of phytomass in the agricultural lands, increase soil biological activity and reduce the costs of manufacturing nitrogen on yield formation of crops."Working Paper Cooperation Between National Research Organizations and International Centers: Opportunities and Limitations(1981) Ampuero, Enrique"The national agricultural research institutions maintain cooperative, technical links with many institutions in the international community. These organizations may be of multilateral nature such as the specialized institutions of the United Nations of may be bilateral technical agencies through agreements between governments or may be private institutions such as development banks or foundations. Some of these organizations have contributed to the establishment of research institutions or have participated in the strengthening of research programs."Working Paper Cornell Workshop on Agricultural and Rural Development in the People's Republic of China(1979) Barker, Randolph; Sinha, Radha"It is no surprise that the normalization of the relationship between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China and as a result her growing accessibility has generated a spate of information, some hard, some soft and opinionated. While on one hand an American newspaper commentator recently suggested that China was bringing back capitalism, some leading Marxists in the West feel disillusioned and are suggesting that China has gone 'revisionist'. At least one of them found the recent changes in China so much to his dislike that he refused an official invitation to go to China and see for himself."Working Paper Development of a Participatory Action Research Approach for Four Agricultural Carbon Projects in East Africa(2013) Shames, Seth; Bernier, Quinn; Masiga, Moses"This paper describes an action research process undertaken with four African agricultural carbon projects--CARE's Sustainable Agriculture in Changing Climate Initiative in Western Kenya; World Vision's Assisted Natural Regeneration Project in Humbo, Ethiopia; Vi Agroforestry's Western Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project; and ECOTRUST's Trees for Global Benefits in Uganda--to explore their institutional changes as project managers and communities work to build local capacity for project management. It describes the research protocol as well as the process by which it was collaboratively developed by researchers and carbon project managers. The paper also reports the results of the field work in each of the projects, which will be used to identify actions that they will implement in the next step of the action research process. The tools were generally successful in gathering the desired data, although modifications could allow future efforts to target questions to interviewees more effectively, include additional stakeholder groups such as government agents and project service providers, develop capacity for local-level data collection and analysis, and focus additional attention on local-level innovations and landscape-level coordination. The research yielded diverse topics for action across projects, as the projects are structured differently and are at different stages of development. Common themes included the need for partnership development, enhanced training of trainer programs, improvements in the sense of community ownership of projects, and stronger foundations for collective action throughout project and community institutions."Book Chapter Different Farming Methods -- But no Solution to Improve Rural Sustainability and to Save Australia's Family Farm(InTech, 2013) Muenstermann, Ingrid"Australia's best known common property system, the Tilbuster Commons, failed after five years despite being economically and environmentally successful. Reasons for the failure could be related to interpersonal relationships. This chapter will look at Elinor Ostrom's philosophy of the commons and at lessons learned from the Tilbuster Commons. The purpose of the chapter is to establish the significance and usefulness or otherwise of different farming methods to create sustainable rural societies and economies."Thesis or Dissertation Diseño de un Modelo de Gestión para el Desarrollo Sostenible y Competitivo de las Pequeñas Unidades Agrícolas Rurales del Perú: Una Experiencia Aplicada en el Valle de Virú(2011) Chong, Mario Gustavo"One of the main problems of small rural farming units is to establish and implement a management model to exploit, take advantage of its potential and boost its productive development. The research which was very thorough as it included cross-section, exploratory-descriptive, non-experimental and prospective methods was carried on between 2008 and 2011 with the contribution of three sectors so as to establish the validity of the project: public sector (regional governments: La Libertad and Lambayeque), private sector (United Nations Industrial Development Organization--UNIDO Explort Consortia) and academic sector (Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos). The methodology, which combines several different research tools such as: observation, surveys, interviews, questionnaires and field work that contribute to obtain a broad view of the Viru valley (located on the north coast of Peru), starts by identifying its problems and goes on to work out its lines of development. The results and the consensus of the main representatives of the area validate the proposed partnership management model for the development of small rural farming units, with the solid bases of integration, competitiveness and sustainable development. This model proposes the development of an autonomous entity and the integration of the three sectors (public, private and academic) so as to make sure the use of resources in a sustainable and competitive way based on the development of agricultural practices, water resources, park technology, non-traditional activities (tourism and aquaculture) and government public policies. The contributions of the research are consolidated into a replicable model and the organization of partnership workshops on the Peruvian coast: San Jose and Olmos."Journal Article Economic Analysis of Functioning of the Orel Region Grain Market(2012) Altukhov, A."In article analyzed the production and sale of grain in the Orel region, assess the market conditions of the grain market, justified factors constraining the development of the grain market in the region. Also impact on the firms and the holding companies in the Orel region is noted in supply of grain. The share of acreage data units in the total area sown grain is more than 20%. At the same time refining the grain is almost completely monopolized, which creates inherent difficulties in bringing agricultural products to the destination object."Working Paper The Effect of Indonesia's Economic Crisis on Small Farmers and Natural Forest Cover in the Outer Islands(2000) Sunderlin, William D.; Resosudarmo, Ida A. P.; Rianto, Edy; Angelsen, Arild"Twenty million people live in or near Indonesia's natural forests. The country's humid tropical forests, among the most extensive remaining in the world, are primarily in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya. A devastating regional economic crisis that began in mid-1997 affected Indonesia more strongly than any other country in Asia. "A random sample survey of 1,050 households was conducted in six outer island provinces to understand the effects of the crisis on the wellbeing of forest villagers and on their agricultural and forest clearing practices. In particular, the study sought to understand diverging opportunities introduced by the drastic depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah against the U.S. dollar: on one hand producers of agro-export commodities could get an income windfall from higher market prices; on the other hand increased costs of living could neutralise potential income gains. "Among the key findings of the research are: (1) two-thirds of the study households reported they were worse off and only one-fifth reported they were better off during the crisis than in the year before the crisis; (2) this happened in spite of the fact that three-quarters of study households had export commodity income; (3) clearing of forest land increased slightly in the first year of the crisis and greatly in the second year of the crisis; (4) land was cleared increasingly for export tree crops in sedentary systems and less for food crops in swidden cultivation systems; and (5) those who perceived themselves as worse off or better off were more likely to have cleared land during the crisis, and to have cleared a larger area of land, than those who felt their wellbeing did not change significantly. "Contrary to the common assumption that rural Indonesians were generally unaffected by the crisis, forest villagers perceived themselves as worse off during the crisis than before. Moreover, additional pressure has been put on forests, in spite of any conclusions that might be drawn from the turn toward increased sedentary farming during the crisis. Key policy lessons are that: (1) farmers need assistance in diversifying their income sources to help protect them against possible future economic shocks; and (2) there should be greater awareness of how macroeconomic instability can lead to undesirable environmental consequences."Journal Article Effectiveness of Radio in the Dissemination of Agricultural Information Among Farmers in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria(2009) Gana, F.S; Umar, I.S; Ndanisa, M.A.; Peter, E.W; Olaleye, R.S"The broad objective of the study is to determine the effectiveness of radio in the dissemination of agricultural information. Specific objectives are to examine the socio – economic characteristics of the farmers, their sources of agricultural information and effectiveness of radio in the dissemination of agricultural information as well as the related problems. The study was carried out in Edu local government area of Kwara state, Nigeria. A total of 150 farmers were randomly selected from different villages within the ten political wards of the local government. Interview schedule was used to collect relevant data from the respondents. The instrument for data collection was validated and subjected to reliability test .Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analysed data collected. Results showed that majority of the farmers were males, mostly 50 years and below in age with little formal education. Though most of the farmers got agricultural information through radio but some had to depend on friends / relations and Extension Agents(EAs) for agricultural information. Despite the advantages of the use of radio on this issue, 47.9% of the farmers considered it ineffective and some of the problems identified include language barrier, clarity of messages and improper interpretation of scientific terms / units of measurement as contained in the messages to be disseminated .In view of all these, more than one – half of the respondents did not record significant improvement in their farming activities. Furthermore, Chi Square analysis showed that only gender and level of improvement in farming had positive and significant relationship with the effectiveness of radio in the dissemination of agricultural information to targeted farmers. It can be concluded that radio is a useful source of agricultural information but it needs improvement in the areas of service delivery with a view to overcoming language barrier, poor presentation of key points and improper interpretation of scientific terms / units of measurements. It is recommended that radio station agricultural presenters should be trained, specifically on modern ways of presenting agricultural information to the rural people who are mostly illiterates."Conference Paper Emerging Land Issues in African Agriculture: Implications for Food Security and Poverty Reduction Strategies(2012) Jayne, Thom; Chamberlin, Jordan; Muyanga, Milu"Despite the fact that sub-Saharan Africa in 2012 contains much of the world’s unutilized and underutilized arable land, a significant and growing share of Africa’s farm households live in densely populated areas. Based on two alternative spatial databases capable of estimating populations at the level of one square kilometer and distinguishing between arable and non-arable land, we find that in at least four of the 10 countries analyzed, 25% of the rural population resides in areas exceeding 500 persons per square kilometer, estimated by secondary sources as an indicative maximum carrying capacity for areas of rain-fed agriculture in the region. The apparent paradox of a large proportion of Africa’s rural population living in densely populated conditions amidst a situation of massive unutilized land is resolved when the unit of observation moves from land units to people. A review of nationally representative farm surveys shows a tendency of (1) declining mean farm size over time within densely populated smallholder farming areas; (2) great disparities in landholding size within smallholder farming areas, leading to highly concentrated and skewed patterns of farm production and marketed surplus; (3) half or more of rural farm households are either buyers of grain or go hungry because they are too poor to afford to buy food; most households in this category control less than one hectare of land; and (4) a high proportion of farmers in densely populated areas perceive that it is not possible for them to acquire more land through customary land allocation procedures, even in areas where a significant portion of land appears to be unutilized. Ironically, there has been little recognition of the potential challenges associated with increasingly densely populated and land-constrained areas of rural Africa, despite the fact that a sizeable and increasing share of its rural population live in such areas. Inadequate access to land and inability to exploit available unutilized land are issues that almost never feature in national development plans or poverty reduction strategies. In fact, especially since the rise of world food prices after the mid-2000s, many African governments have made concerted efforts to transfer land out of customary tenure (under the control of traditional authorities) to the state or to private individuals who, it is argued, can more effectively exploit the productive potential of the land to meet national food security objectives. Such efforts have nurtured the growth of a relatively well-capitalized class of 'emergent' African farmers. The growing focus on how best to exploit unutilized land in Africa has arguably diverted attention from the more central and enduring challenge of implementing agricultural development strategies that effectively address the continent’s massive rural poverty and food insecurity problems, which require recognizing the growing land constraints faced by much of its still agrarian-based population. The final section of the paper considers research and policy options for addressing these problems."Working Paper The Enabling Environment for Agricultural Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Potential Role of Donors(2003) Tripp, Robert"To improve agricultural technology development in Africa requires strengthening of the enabling environment, including policies, public institutions and regulations. Various types of market failure imply that markets, by themselves, will not elicit the optimum amount of technology for Africas farmers. Priorities include more responsive regulations for input supply, support for emerging enterprises, strengthening input marketing, establishing adequate intellectual property protection, and addressing the challenges of biotechnology. Donors can play an important role, but short-term project interventions must give way to longer-term strategies for support to institutions including formal policies and regulations and informal rules and procedures that encourage indigenous organisational innovation."Journal Article Estimated Wind River Range (Wyoming, USA) Glacier Melt Water Contributions to Agriculture(2009) Cheesbrough, Kyle; Edmunds, Jake; Tootle, Glenn; Kerr, Greg; Pochop, Larry"In 2008, Wyoming was ranked 8th in barley production and 20th in hay production in the United States and these crops support Wyoming’s $800 million cattle industry. However, with a mean elevation of 2,040 meters, much of Wyoming has a limited crop growing season (as little as 60 days) and relies on late-summer and early-fall streamflow for agricultural water supply. Wyoming is host to over 80 glaciers with the majority of these glaciers being located in the Wind River Range. These 'frozen reservoirs' provide a stable source of streamflow (glacier meltwater) during this critical late-summer and early-fall growing season. Given the potential impacts of climate change (increased temperatures resulting in glacier recession), the quantification of glacier meltwater during the late-summer and early-fall growing seasons is needed. Glacier area changes in the Wind River Range were estimated for 42 glaciers using Landsat data from 1985 to 2005. The total surface area of the 42 glaciers was calculated to be 41.2 ± 11.7 km2 in 1985 and 30.8 ± 8.2 km2 in 2005, an average decrease of 25% over the 21 year period. Small glaciers experienced noticeably more area reduction than large glaciers. Of the 42 glaciers analyzed, 17 had an area of greater than 0.5 km2 in 1985, while 25 were less than 0.5 km2 in 1985. The glaciers with a surface area less than 0.5 km2 experienced an average surface area loss (fraction of 1985 surface area) of 43%, while the larger glaciers (greater than 0.5 km2) experienced an average surface area loss of 22%. Applying area-volume scaling relationships for glaciers, volume loss was estimated to be 409 × 106 m3 over the 21 year period, which results in an estimated 4% to 10% contribution to warm season (July–October) streamflow."Conference Paper The Evolution of Reservoir Irrigation Systems as Commons in the Dry Climate Region of Contemporary Japan(2011) Mogi, Aiichiro"The purpose of this paper is to explain Japanese reservoir irrigation systems as commons through historical points and to present their transformation and contemporary challenges under industrial changes and urbanization. Also significance of the system is touched upon at the time of natural calamity and environmental threat. In Japan some regions have a fairly dry climate and are short of perennial rivers, and these have long adopted reservoir irrigation systems for rice cultivation from ancient times. Particularly in the areas facing the Seto Inland Sea (between the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku) to which Hyogo, Kagawa, Okayama and Osaka prefectures belong for example, there exist many such irrigation works. As is the case in the Asian monsoon region, rice farming under reservoir irrigation has the attributes of CPRs, requiring some level of joint management, and the social and institutional features of CPR-like practices among such systems are quite frequent. However, because industrial base of agriculture has been declining as economic structure shifts in Japan, quite drastically in the latter half of the 20th century, institutional arrangements in irrigation have also changed, resulting in inevitable alterations in the commons content. The paper begins by explaining the nature of system supporting water supply and irrigation technology. This paper then goes on to examine custom and practices undertaken in the areas of Japan with centuries of history in using reservoir irrigation and their changes. The paper concludes with thoughts about whether the commons can provide a significant basis even in the society of the present."Journal Article Factors Affecting Agricultural Land Fragmentation in Iran: A Case Study of Ramjerd Sub District in Fars Province(2008) Kalantari, Khalil; Abdollahzadeh, Gholamhossein"The objective of this study was to examine the factors influencing fragmentation of landholdings commonly regarded as a major obstacle to agricultural development in Iran. A sample of farmers was selected and household and village-level data from 12 villages of Ramjerd sub district in Fars province were used to test these factors empirically. Required data were collected by questionnaire from 151 farmers who were selected through a stratified random sampling design from 12 villages of Ramjerd sub District of Marvdasht County in South of Iran. The findings indicated that the fragmentation is the result of several processes (including social, culture, economic, physical and operational processes), working either together or independently. The influences of these factors on land fragmentation were calculated by linear regression model. Results indicated that household average annual income, per capita arable land, size of land rented by household, labour force of household, family size, number of crop planted by household and size of land rented out, contributing to land fragmentation."Journal Article Farmer Participation in Research: Implications for Agricultural Development(1997) Monu, Erasmus D."Recently, there has been a great deal of attention devoted to the notion of farmer participation in agricultural research. In this connection, there has been a challenge to the conventional research model which conceives of the farmer as a passive partner so far as the identification of the problem, the conduct of the research and the development of the solution is concerned. This paper reviews a number of models suggested for agricultural research, noting the strengths and weaknesses of the models. Based on the author's experiences and other case studies, the implications of farmer participation in the development and dissemination of agricultural technologies are examined."Journal Article Food for a Rooted Future(2011) Broad, Robin; Cavanagh, John"Rice farmers in the Philippines go chemical free, community strong."Working Paper Fresh Look at Agricultural Input Regulations(1996) Tripp, Robert; Gisselquist, David"The role of the state in agricultural development has shifted considerably in recent years. One of the areas where this reorientation is most noticeable is the organisation of input provision. Seeds, pesticides, and fertilisers are now more likely to be distributed by traders and merchants, rather than by the government input enterprises that dominated the scene until recently. Seed production and variety development are no longer the exclusive domain of the public sector. Government extension and farm credit programmes that were often sources of subsidised inputs have been severely curtailed. On the demand-side, farmers are more familiar with commercial seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides and are more likely to be the ones choosing inputs and deciding how much to use. Population pressure has led to the intensification of cropping patterns, generating further demand for purchased inputs. Crop diversification and technical change have also contributed to a wider demand for agricultural inputs. "In the midst of these changes in agricultural input supply and demand, the issue of input regulation has often been overlooked. Government involvement in the provision of inputs has been accompanied by a regulatory role that registers and controls the inputs that are available (whether imported or produced domestically) and monitors the quality of those products once they are on the market. There has been considerable concern over how effective or useful government regulatory performance has been in the past, and with a rapidly changing agricultural situation it is even more important that government s role in the regulation of inputs be reviewed. What are the priorities for regulation? When should a government regulatory agency have primary responsibility, and when is it more effective to rely on markets and consumers?"Working Paper Gender and Climate Change Research in Agriculture and Food Security for Rural Development: Training Guide(2012) Nelson, Sibyl; Chaudhury, Moushumi"It is widely accepted that agricultural development will be severely curtailed without addressing the risks and capitalizing on the opportunities posed by climate change. The agriculture sector must adapt to the impacts of climate change in order to provide food security to the world’s growing population. At the same time agriculture must mitigate its contributions to climate change (13.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions) in order to slow the progression of this global challenge. Concurrently, it is internationally recognized that addressing gender issues in agriculture reduces hunger and poverty. In fact, it is estimated that more than 100 million people could be lifted out of poverty if women had the same access to and control of resources as men (FAO, 2011a). Although they are important food producers and providers, women presently have limited access to and control of resources. However, to date, these ideas--that climate change and gender issues are integral parts of agricultural development--have not been implemented in an effective way. This guide seeks to fill that gap by supporting work to investigate the gender dimensions of responding to climate change in the agriculture and food security sectors. The final goals are to improve food production, livelihood security and gender equality in the context of the changing climate."Working Paper Gender, Assets, and Agricultural Development Programs: A Conceptual Framework(2011) Meinzen-Dick, Ruth; Johnson, Nancy; Quisumbing, Agnes; Njuki, Jemimah; Behrman, Julia; Rubin, Deborah; Peterman, Amber; Waithanji, Elizabeth"Being able to access, control, and own productive assets such as land, labor, finance, and social capital enables people to create stable and productive lives. Yet relatively little is known about how agricultural development programs can most effectively deliver these outcomes of well-being, empowerment, and higher income in a way that acknowledges differential access to and control over assets by men and women. After reviewing the literature on gender and assets, this paper offers a conceptual framework for understanding the gendered pathways through which asset accumulation occurs, including attention to not only men's and women's assets but also those they share in joint control and ownership. Unlike previous frameworks, this model depicts the gendered dimensions of each component of the pathway in recognition of the evidence that men and women not only control, own, or dispose of assets in different ways, but also access, control, and own different kinds of assets. The framework generates gender-specific hypotheses that can be tested empirically: i) Different types of assets enable different livelihoods, with a greater stock and diversity of assets being associated with more diverse livelihoods and better well-being outcomes; ii) Men and women use different types of assets to cope with different types of shocks; iii) Interventions that increase men's and women's stock of a particular asset improve the bargaining power of the individual(s) who control that asset; and iv) Interventions and policies that reduce the gender gap in assets are better able to achieve development outcomes related to food security, health, and nutrition and other aspects of well-being related to agency and empowerment. The implications of these gender differences for designing agricultural development interventions to increase asset growth and returns to assets as well as for value chain development are discussed. Based on this analysis, additional gaps in knowledge and possible investigations to address them are identified."Conference Paper Genetic Diversity in Seeds as Global Commons Alternatives to Protect the Genetic Diversity from IPRs than by IPRs(2011) Ramprasad, Vanaja"Traditionally farmers have maintained high levels of crop genetic diversity as insurance for their subsistence farming. The heterogeneity in the crop genetic makeup allowed for yield security and also provided the necessary buffer against environmental variation (nutrition, health, climate, soil conditions and pests). Over the years with the development of modern breeding and the creation of new improved crop varieties farmers have switched to commercial agriculture, replacing their diverse land races. As a result areas previously rich in agricultural bio diversity have been replaced with genetically homogenous fields. Along with this came the heightened awareness that while incentives existed for farmers to develop new varieties, there were no perceptible rewards for genetic resource conservation. The disparity between rewards to genetic resource that form the basis of development of new crop varieties and rewards accruing to new varieties that are products of research has been pointed out. The issue of farmer’s right was first raised as a global concern in 1986, after which the FAO adopted the International Undertaking on Plant genetic resources(IU) .Several years later FAO officially recognized the concept of farmer’s rights but the resolution as not legally binding. In 2001 after years of debate a legally binding international agreement on farmer’s rights was reached with the adoption of the FAO International treaty on PGRFA. The treaty’s objectives are the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources and the equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use. A multilateral system for access and benefit sharing established under the treaty, governs the exchange of germ plasm from 35 food crops and 29 forage plants. A set of measures is called for to address the compatibility of seed laws and plant variety protection to take into account communities’ needs. Literature abounds on the topic to recommend reinforcing the traditional sharing system with a system of peer production and distribution of germ plasm as an alternative way to develop crop varieties and dynamically sustain genetic diversity. Measures are also needed to strengthen farmers, practices of seed saving and sharing and to further non commercial, non profit and co-operative exchange. Relaxing seed regulations and granting farmer immunity from patents and plant breeders infringement could support this. Considering the collective nature of plant genetic resource management, trusteeship by farmers is suggested in such a way that it accepts personal contribution to a common good and a form of ownership derived from that contribution. In the countries of south Asia where agricultural modernization is being justified to ensure food security which is vying with traditional form of seed saving. It has to be emphasized that the controls brought in the seed system, controls the entire food system. The objective of this paper would be to explore and give shape to the alternatives that emphasize the fact that the farmers varieties need to be protected from IPRs and not by IPRs."Working Paper Global Restructuring, Agri-Food Systems and Livelihoods(2001) Pimbert, Michel; Thompson, John; Vorley, William T."In this paper, the authors: 1. Analyse the dynamics of the present global agri-food system at different scales; 2. Use a number of analytical lenses to assess the forces and factors leading to diverging rural livelihoods and landscapes, both in the North and South; and 3. Develop research themes which can serve as leverage points for practical policy change for more democratic and environmentally sustainable food and agricultural systems."Working Paper How Have the Poor Done? Mid-Term Review of India's Ninth Five-Year Plan(2001) Saxena, N.C."This paper suggests that despite good performance on the growth front, progress in reducing poverty in India in the 1990s has left much to be desired."Journal Article How Personal Judgment Influences Scenario Development: An Example for Future Rural Development in Europe(2010) Metzger, Marc J.; Rounsevell, Mark D.A.; Van den Heiligenberg, Harm A.R.M.; Pérez-Soba, Marta; Hardiman, Paul Soto"Scenarios of alternative plausible futures have been used extensively to explore the potential effects of socioeconomic and environmental change. The ultimate objective of any explorative scenario exercise is to assess the variation in possible futures to provide insights into the range of potential outcomes. These results provide stakeholders with guidance for policy development, planning, and management. We explore how personal judgment can influence scenario development. Scenarios for the future of European rural regions are used to explore alternative outcomes under a public interventionist future and a market liberalization oriented future. A transparent qualitative framework is used to identify differences in outcomes based on personal judgment. Results show that, for both scenarios, there are plausible mechanisms that can lead to similar positive or negative outcomes. Choosing a single process per scenario, based on personal judgment and interpretation, can therefore greatly influence scenario outcomes and limit the range of uncertainty that is covered by the scenarios. The exercise shows the importance of making these judgments explicit in scenario development, especially when exploring broad consequences of alternative policy directions that may be based in political worldviews."Conference Paper Impact of Irrigation on Agricultural Growth and Poverty Alleviation: Macro Level Analyses in India(2003) Bhattarai, Madhusudan; Narayanamoorthy, A."Improved information and understanding of the scale of incremental benefit of irrigation and other factor inputs to agricultural growth and to poverty alleviation has large public policy implications on setting rural development policy. Analysis of data from 1970 to 1994 for fourteen major states of India shows that improvement in irrigation and rural literacy rate are the two most important factors for agricultural growth and rural poverty reduction in India. Extending access to irrigation to a large number of farmers and investing in human capital development are crucial to increasing agricultural productivity and reducing poverty in India."Book Chapter Impacts of AKST on Development and Sustainability Goals(International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, 2009) Leakey, Roger; Kranjac-Berisavljevic, Gordana"The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD) looks realistically at how we could effectively use agriculture/AKST to help us meet development and sustainability goals. An unprecedented three-year collaborative effort, the IAASTD involved more than 400 authors in 110 countries and cost more than $11 million. It reports on the advances and setbacks of the past fifty years and offers options for the next fifty years. The results of the project are contained in seven reports: a Global Report, five regional Sub-Global Assessments, and a Synthesis Report. The Global Report gives the key findings of the Assessment, and the five Sub-Global Assessments address regional challenges. The volumes present options for action. All of the reports have been extensively peer-reviewed by governments and experts and all have been approved by a panel of participating governments. The Sub-Global Assessments all utilize a similar and consistent framework: examining and reporting on the impacts of AKST on hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and environmental/social sustainability. The IAASTD was initiated by the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, with support from the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and other sponsors. Its goal is to analyze the potential of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST) for reducing hunger and poverty, improving rural livelihoods, and working toward environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development."Working Paper Information and Communication Technology in Agricultural Development: A Comparative Analysis of Three Projects from India(2004) Meera, Shaik N.; Jhamtani, Anita; Rao, D. U. M."A study was conducted that examined the performance of three ICT projects in India. The projects have quite different origins and purposes, but all are concerned with improving the delivery of information to farmers and other rural dwellers. One project is managed by the government of Madhya Pradesh as part of an exploration of e-governance. A second project is run by sugar cooperatives (with some government support) in Maharashtra and attempts to expand services to growers. The third project is an experiment by a large private agricultural input supplier to provide information to farmers in Andhra Pradesh. The study describes the organization of each project; discusses the types of farmers involved and assesses their utilisation of the services; and looks at the backgrounds and performance of the functionaries who manage the projects. The projects studied varied with respect to the type of services provided, but these included marketing information, extension advice, information about rural development programmes, and other information from government and private sources."Conference Paper Integrated Fish Farming: A Veritable Tool for Poverty Alleviation/Hunger Eradication in the Niger Delta Region(2004) Ayinla, O. A."Integrated fish farming is a system that focuses diversified agricultural production with emphasis on fish. It has a capacity of bridging the wide gap between fish demand and supply. The fish integrated culture is discussed emphasizing it s importance and relevance to poverty alleviation/hunger eradication. It s potential is yet to be fully exploited in concrete terms of increased fish production from aquaculture."Conference Paper International Symposium on Property Rights, Risk, and Livestock Development(1999) Luseno, Winnie K.; McCarthy, Nancy; Hazell, Peter; Kirk, Michael; Swallow, Brent M.; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth"Livestock production is one of few options available to millions of impoverished people who live in arid and semi-arid areas of sub-Saharan African (SSA). Livestock are flexible and fungible: they can be moved in response to variable rainfall conditions and can be purchased or sold in response to variable market conditions. Livestock can supply animal traction and play key roles in the transfer and cycling of nutrients for crop production. At the same time, livestock production is often associated with low productivity and low offtake, with land degradation, and with resource conflicts among pastoral groups and between pastoralists and farmers."Conference Paper Irrigation and Other Factors Contribution to the Agricultural Growth and Development in India: A Cross-State Panel Data Analysis for 1970 to 94(2003) Bhattarai, Madhusudan; Narayanamoorthy, A."The major objective of this study is to better analyze the factors contributing to multifactor agricultural productivity (Total factor productivity) and production growth in India. This study quantifies the incremental benefits of major factor inputs (such as, irrigation, crop technology and infrastructures) in over time variation of agricultural performance and agricultural productivity across the states in India and then it discussed the policy implications of these findings. This is done using annual time series and cross section data of 14 major states of India for the period of 1970 to 1995, which accounts for more than 90 % of the agrarian economy of the country. It adopts fixed effect panel model with weighted least squared estimation technique (Generalized Least Square technique) to correct for scale and size effect related biases associated with state level aggregate data series across the states in India. In addition, we have also used here actually farm-level realized indicators of factor inputs in explaining the variation of agricultural performance unlike in the previous studies on the topic that used the government spending in each sector to assess the factors contribution on productivity growth. Therefore, this study contributes to methodological refinement as well as providing an improved policy information on factors responsible for the interstate variation for agricultural productivity growth in India over the two and half decades."Working Paper Irrigation Kuznets Curve, Governance and Dynamics of Irrigation Development: A Global Cross-Country Panel Analysis from 1972 to 1991(2004) Bhattarai, Madhusudan"This report verifies the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for irrigation. The EKC hypothesis suggests for an inverse U-shaped (or concave) relationship between the level of environmental degradation and income in a given society. The EKC hypothesis also implies that some form of environmental deterioration appears inevitable during the initial stage of development, but subsequent increases in the societal income would generate enough incentives to improve the environmental quality. In line with this reasoning, the EKC relationship for irrigation (referred to here as Irrigation Kuznets Curve, or IKC) hypothesizes that the demand for irrigation is greater at the initial stage of development and that irrigation demand declines as societal income increases. This process subsequently gives rise to an inverted U-shaped relationship between the level of irrigation and the level of income. This information on EKC for irrigation has large implications for planning of irrigation and for analyzing demand for irrigation, and water uses and water reallocations across sectors."Conference Paper Irrigation Service Markets in Bangladesh: Private Provision of Local Public Goods and Community Regulation?(2001) Palmer-Jones, Richard"The exploitation of groundwater for agricultural production in Bangladesh has been crucial to the agricultural growth that has enabled Bangladesh to emerge from being the 'basket case' to a sort of self sufficiency in staple food production in the last 20 years together with significant reductions on HCR poverty. This has come about not through the innovative aid dependent NGOs for which Bangladesh has become famous, but largely through private investment in tubewells selling irrigation services (water) to farmers of contiguous blocks of land, evidently overcoming collective action problems posed by the fragmented and unequal land holding structure, and confounding pessimistic prognoses of several political economies. Groundwater drawdown externalities are not crucial in most areas due to the abundance of the resource. Competition in these markets can perhaps be modeled as 'contestable' and 'embedded'; disputes are regulated (perhaps imperfectly) by creative use of indigenous dispute resolution institutions and various cultural, economic, social and political resources. Poverty is reduced but the implications for inequality are not clear - but which is of greater significance?'"Working Paper Is Low External Input Technology Contributing to Sustainable Agricultural Development?(2006) Tripp, Robert"Low external input technology (LEIT) is a prominent feature of many discussions about the role of agricultural technology in rural poverty reduction. There is a widespread conviction the LEIT is more accessible to resource-poor households and can be the basis for human and social capital formation. This paper summarises a recent review of the subject, presents findings on the outcomes of LEIT, and draws more general implications for donor strategies in agricultural technology generation."Conference Paper Land Tenure and the Adoption of Agricultural Technology in Haiti(2002) Smucker, Glenn R.; White, T. Anderson; Bannister, Michael"There has long been an active debate in Haiti-as in many other developing countries-over whether or not the customary tenure system constrains technology adoption and agricultural development, and whether cadaster and land titling should be national priorities. This paper contributes to this debate by reviewing and interpreting the body of literature and new empirical evidence concerning the relationship between land tenure and the adoption of technology in rural Haiti. The findings suggest that (a) formal title is not necessarily more secure than informal arrangements, (b) informal arrangements based on traditional social capital resources assure affordable and flexible access to land for most people, and (c) perceived stability of access to land-via stability of personal and social relationships - is a more important determinant of technology adoption than mode of access. The paper concludes that there is no definitive relationship between tenure and technology adoption by peasants; peasants are preoccupied more by political and economic insecurity than insecure tenure; and rather than tinkering with formalizing tenure, policy makers should prioritize other more fundamental rural sector reforms. The paper ends by considering some of the implications for theory and suggests several avenues for future research on land policy."Working Paper Land Tenure and the Adoption of Agricultural Technology in Haiti(2000) Smucker, Glenn R.; White, T. Anderson; Bannister, Michael"There has long been an active debate in Haiti - as in many other developing countries - over whether or not the customary tenure system constrains technology adoption and agricultural development, and whether cadaster and land titling should be national priorities. This paper contributes to this debate by reviewing and interpreting the body of literature and new empirical evidence concerning the relationship between land tenure and the adoption of technology in rural Haiti. The findings suggest that (a) formal title is not necessarily more secure than informal arrangements, (b) informal arrangements based on traditional social capital resources assure affordable and flexible access to land for most people, and (c) perceived stability of access to land - via stability of personal and social relationships - is a more important determinant of technology adoption than mode of access. The paper concludes that there is no definitive relationship between tenure and technology adoption by peasants; peasants are preoccupied more by political and economic insecurity than insecure tenure; and rather than tinkering with formalizing tenure, policy makers should prioritize other more fundamental rural sector reforms. The paper ends by considering some of the implications for theory and suggests several avenues for future research on land policy."Journal Article Locally Grown Foods and Farmers Markets: Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors(2010) Conner, David; Colasanti, Kathryn; Ross, R. Brent; Smalley, Susan B."Farm viability poses a grave challenge to the sustainability of agriculture and food systems: the number of acres in production continues to decline as the majority of farms earn negative net income. Two related and often overlapping marketing strategies,(i) locally grown foods and (ii) distribution at farmers markets, can directly enhance food system sustainability by improving farm profitability and long-term viability, as well as contributing to an array of ancillary benefits. We present results of a representative Michigan telephone survey, which measured consumers’ perceptions and behaviors around local foods and farmers markets. We discuss the implications of our findings on greater farm profitability. We conclude with suggestions for future research to enhance the contributions of locally grown foods and farmers markets to overall food system sustainability."Working Paper Meeting Immediate Food Needs of the Resource Poor, and Contributing to Long-term Solution to Food Crisis in Rural Nepal(2009) Joshi, Neeraj N.; Dahal, Mana"The project intentionally targeted the people who are vulnerable to food insecurity characterised by low income families, unemployed due to lack of opportunities in and around their villages, have no or limited formal education, and those affected by conflicts and women."Working Paper Modernization Using the Structured System Design of the Bhadra Reservoir Project, India: An Intervention Analysis(1999) Sakthivadivel, R.; Thiruvengadachari, S.; Amarasinghe, Upali A."Evaluates the performance of the Bhadra Reservoir Project-before, during, and after the introduction of modernization with structured system design. Analysis focuses on water management, agricultural productivity, and farmer participation and perception. Identifies the absence of a continuing support mechanism and lack of farmer participation as the major causes for the project's decline."Conference Paper Multi-layered Natural Resources Management in Open and Closed Commons: A Case Study on the Right of Access and the State, Community and Farm Commons in Norway(2011) Shimada, Daisaku; Murota, Takeshi"This paper defines theclosed commonsas a commons which is equipped with strict membership requirements and rules based on a regional relationship for managing and using available natural resources.Iriai1 in Japanis an example of this. There also existsin Norway closed commons, such as the state commons (statsallmenning), the community commons (bygdeallmenning)and the farm commons (realsameie). These have been selected as a case study of a closed commons in this paper."Conference Paper A Network Perspective on Agricultural Watershed Governance: The Case of the Local Agri-Environmental Schemes in France(2011) Amblard, Laurence"Watershed governance typically relies on more or less formal inter-organizational networks whose structure is likely to influence the success of cooperation. An emerging body of literature seeks to analyze the role of networks in natural resource management. This paper aims at contributing to these developments by developing a research frame to assess the effects of the structure of inter-organizational networks on the outcomes of watershed governance. We focus on a specific type of watershed partnership developed in France in the frame of European agrienvironmental policy with the aim of limiting nonpoint source pollution from agricultural sources: the Local Agri-Environmental Schemes. The paper reviews how the different network structural properties may affect the success of collective action for natural resource management, on the basis of the literature using the tools of social network analysis. The case of the Local Agri-Environmental Schemes in the French context is presented as well as some first empirical evidence about the role of networks in the success of these schemes. Finally, the conceptual insights provided by the social network literature are used to formulate some assumptions to be tested in future work."Journal Article The New Green Revolution: How Twenty-First-Century Science Can Feed the World(2011) De Schutter, Olivier; Vanloqueren, Gaëtan"The combined effects of climate change, energy scarcity, and water paucity require that we radically rethink our agricultural systems. Countries can and must reorient their agricultural systems toward modes of production that are not only highly productive, but also highly sustainable. Following the 2008 global food price crisis, many developing countries have adopted new food security policies and have made significant investments in their agricultural systems. Global hunger is also back on top of the international agenda. However, the question is not only how much is done, but also how it is doneand what kinds of food systems are now being rebuilt. Agroecology, the application of ecological science to the study, design, and management of sustainable agriculture, offers a model of agricultural development to meet this challenge. Recent research demonstrates that it holds great promise for the roughly 500 million food-insecure households around the world. By scaling up its practice, we can sustainably improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, and thus contribute to feeding a hungry planet."Working Paper Organization of Agricultural Research for the Benefit of Small Farmers in Latin America(1981) Ampuero, Enrique"Leaders of international institutions, governments, and people interested in agriculture are increasingly concerned about the need to augment agricultural production and food production, in particular, to meet the demand of the world population, which presently exceeds four billion people. It is estimated that the population will double by the year 2015 if the same growth rate is maintained. Probably not a single day passes on which a meeting is not held in an international forum of in an office of a Ministry of Agriculture or Planning to analyze the magnitude of the problem and to take initiatives leading to the solution of these difficulties."Conference Paper Pampered Views and Parrot Talks: In the Cause of Well Irrigation in India(2011) Kumar, M. Dinesh; Sivamohan, M. V. K."The paper reveals some of the fallacies in Indian irrigation. They are as follows. Groundwater is a democratic resource; access to well irrigation is more equitable than canals; well irrigation is more productive than canal irrigation and therefore is superior to canal irrigation. Surface irrigation is becoming increasingly irrelevant in India’s irrigation landscape in spite of growing investments, and therefore future investments in the sector should be diverted for well irrigation. The growth in well irrigation in semi arid regions of India can be sustained by recharging the aquifers using local runoff. Well irrigation can boost agricultural growth and eradicate poverty in water-abundant eastern India. The paper makes the following arguments. The inherent advantages of surface irrigation system over well irrigation such as higher system dependability and the ability to effectively address spatial mismatch in resource availability and demand, means the second is not a substitute for the first. The use of outdated irrigation management concepts which treat 'drainage' as waste leads to underassessment of efficiency of surface systems. Sustaining well irrigation in semi arid and arid regions would need 'imported surface water' rather than local runoff for recharging. The use of simple statistics of “area irrigated’ to pass judgements about performance of surface irrigation systems is sheer misuse of statistics, as there are complex socio-economic and hydrological processes adversely affecting their performance, which are beyond the institutional capacity of irrigation agencies to control. Well irrigation alone cannot boost agricultural growth and reduce poverty in eastern India as the region has very low per capita arable land, and offers low marginal returns from irrigation owing to high humidity and rainfall. Finally, to conclude improving the performance of irrigation systems, be it gravity or well, and sustaining the country’s irrigation growth is a governance challenge."Journal Article Paths to Attaining Food Security: The Case of Cameroon(2010) Yengoh, Genesis T.; Armah, Frederick A.; Onumah, Edward Ebo"This paper sets out to develop a framework for characterizing agricultural growth orientations. We identify four main components in the global food system (technology, institutions, people, and natural resources). Based on the extent to which any two of these components are important in driving the growth of agriculture, we distinguish four main orientations of agricultural growth: local food, high resource-technology driven, guided technology driven, and right-to-food growth orientations. Given the social and environmental challenges that agricultural growth has to meet in Cameroon, we argue that the local food orientation and guided technology-driven orientation offer better opportunities for meeting the problem of food security in this country."