The leader of the Community Managed Natural Farming (CMNF) programme Vijay Kumar explains the Social Capital side of the story, and how women’s groups were a central part of the success of CMNF, now recognised worldwide as a model of agricultural transformation. The CMNF initiative has mobilised over a million...

The biochar fertilizer provides not only nutrients to crops, but also microclimate favourable conditions for plants growth, mostly during the dry season. Materials used to make this biochar fertilizer is locally sourced from crop residues form beans, maize, ground nuts, coffee husks, residues of fodder, assorted plants rich in NPK...

Tephrosia pesticide can be used to controlling pests such as Army worm, Aphids, and Mites. Tephrosia plant grows naturally in most parts of Uganda, it is a legume with pods and seeds that are easy to germinate. The leaves of Tephrosia are quite hard in texture and even difficult to pound, therefore some water can...

Small-scale farmers can play an important role in establishing long-term food systems. But, as Sabrina Elba, UN Goodwill Ambassador for the International Fund for Agricultural Development, explains, additional investment is required. She tells a story about the importance of agriculture based on her recent trips to Sierra Leone. She explained,...

This review of the agroecology debate in South Africa is part of the research project ''Transitions to Agroecological Food Systems: a case for policy support (TAFS)'' launched in 2020. Its main objective is to provide policymakers and stakeholders with convincing arguments about the importance and adapted ways of promoting agroecological transitions...

It’s a simple matter to play a soundtrack about farming on the radio. The tricky part is making sure that the program connects with the audience, as I learned recently from Gideon Kwame Sarkodie Osei at ADARS FM, a commercial station in Kintampo, a town in central Ghana.

The vandalism of hives and theft of honey in Nigeria is a perennial problem that has led to the loss of investments and gains by beekeepers and discouraged consumers as well. Beekeepers find it difficult to securely situate their apiaries as they describe it as simply 'no-go' areas for placing...

The increase in demand for dairy products in Burkina Faso is encouraging livestock producers to develop milk production. Three types of dairy systems (pastoralists, agropastoralists and market-oriented dairy farms) have been characterised based on a sample of 60 producers operating in the West and centre of the country. Pastoralists’ dairy...

The hive "Ruche Fonge" is an intermediate hive model which combines features of the Kenyan topbar hive and the Dadant movable frame hive. This hive model was developed and successfully tested by the "Groupe d'initiative locale camerounais "Apiculture lumière du Cameroun"" (GIC LUMICAM) and is now being promoted in Cameroun...

This document explains how to make the topbar hive "La grande", a topbar hive model developed by the beekeeper of "la Plateforme des Apiculteurs des Cataractes (PLAAC)" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and widely adopted by beekeepers in DRC and the rest of the world. You will find...

This case study, Effectiveness and duplicability of the Youth Inspiring Youth in Agriculture (YIYA) initiative, is an output deriving from the assessment of the YIYA Initiative in Uganda. In 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Uganda, with the Ministry of Agriculture,...

The Kenyan topbar hive is having great success in African and is gaining popularity in other continents. This hive model allows the transition from a traditional beekeeping with fixed comb hives, to a more sophisticated, but still easy to practice beekeeping. In fact, the advantage of this hive model is...

This case study, “Solutions to youth agripreneurship challenges”, is an output deriving from the assessment of the Youth Inspiring Youth in Agriculture (YIYA) Initiative in Uganda. In 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Government of Uganda, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) as...

Peer-to-peer learning can be very effective in sharing knowledge and experience, and encouraging the adoption of new practices and technologies among farmers including youth. FAO training approaches, like the Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS), encourage youth facilitators to share their knowledge in the respective communities, mobilizing and sensitizing...

Rwanda's climate and rich and varied melliferous flora are favourable for the development of beekeeping.  This document explains how to make a traditional hive model composed of elongated cyclinder made with the stems of Pennisetum (Urubingo), bamboo or papyrus. This hive model is very suitable to promote among smallholder producers...

In light of the 10 elements of agroecology and the 13 agroecological principles adopted by the High-Level Group of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), the importance of rethinking the production of knowledge and its sharing, and include agroecological transition processes in participatory approaches, is today largely a consensus. On paper, these principles seem fairly...

Like many African countries, Rwanda’s population is young. A third of Rwandans are aged between 15 and 34, and youth employment is a critical policy issue that directly affects national food security. Indeed, youth engagement in agribusiness in developing countries is a crucial asset to achieving sustainable food security. Recognising...

In South-West Uganda, manure is highly valued for sustaining yields of East African Highland Banana, but it is in short supply. As a result, banana growers import manure from rangelands up to 50 km away. We aimed to explore the potential of this regional banana-livestock integration to meet crop nutrient requirements...

This monthly e-newsletter gives a bird’s eye view of all the exciting updates from Access Agriculture, a world-leading organisation for quality agricultural training videos in international and local languages, working across the Global South.

The beekeepers suit is an essential element of the protective gear. It protects the body from bee stings when working with bees. There exist different models of bee suits, and in this practice, we describe how to make a protective jacket. This practice was developed by the Beekeeping Network North-South...