Family Farming Knowledge Platform

Resources

The Resources section holds archived publications and multimedia materials related to family farming general issues.

The external references on this page are provided for informational purposes only - they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by FAO.

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Practices
Tecnologías para el ahorro de mano de obra: tracción animal y procesado mecánico de cultivos

Este artículo incluye algunos ejemplos de uso de la tracción animal como fuente de energía para operaciones de post-cosecha. Detalla las características del equipo de tiro impulsado por animales, molienda motorizada de granos (molinos de placa, de rodillos y de martillos), extracción de aceite motorizada (prensa de tornillo sinfín, prensa...
2016 - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO TECA

Working paper
Technology adoption and risk exposure among smallholder farmers

Panel data evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
This paper investigates the empirical linkages between production risk and technology adoption decisions among agricultural farmers in Tanzania and Uganda using a balanced household panel dataset from the World Bank’s LSMS-ISA project. Applying a moment based approach and a MundlakChamberlain IV fixed effects model to control for endogeneity and unobserved...
Uganda - United Republic of Tanzania
2016 - African Development Bank Group

Conference proceedings
Workshop on policy dialogue and strengthening of the capacity of pastoralists’ networks and organizations

This summary report documents the results of the workshop  convened by the African Union Commission    AUC) from 29  June - 01 July 2016 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The workshop was  organized  under  the  theme  “Resilience and adaptation  to  drought conditions and pastoralists systems in Africa” and was attended by  representatives ...
2016 - The African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)

Case study
Agroecology for home and market: a winning combination for rural Communities in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe

  The main cause of food insecurity for many communal households in Zimbabwe is their reliance upon a form of subsistence-based agriculture which is dependent on a limited range of inputs often poorly suited to local conditions. The current agricultural system prioritizes monocropping and grain yield over other factors of food...
Zimbabwe
2016 - Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)

Magazine article
Editorial - Co-creation in the practice, science and movement of agroecology

Knowledge building is central to agroecology rooted in family farming. But why? What type of knowledge, and whose knowledge is mobilised? This issue of Farming Matters explores what we really mean by co-creation of knowledge in agroecology, why it is so essential for today’s challenges, and how it takes place around the world.
In agroecology, farmers continuously build situation-specific knowledge that allows them to develop under unpredictable and changing circumstances. There are no  fixed prescriptions in agroecology about how to produce, process, market or store food, feed, medicine and fibre. Rather, different practices work in different ways depending on each specific context and ecosystem....
India - Mexico - Netherlands (Kingdom of the) - Rwanda
2016 - ILEIA, Center for Learning on Sustainable Agriculture

Working paper
Farm Transition and Indigenous Growth

The Rise to Medium- and Large-Scale Farming in Ghana
This paper characterizes the transition from small-scale farming and the drivers of farm size growth among medium- and large-scale farmers in Ghana. The research was designed to better understand the dynamics of change in Ghana’s farm structure and contribute to the debate on whether Africa should pursue a smallholder-based or...
Ghana
2016 - International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Video
Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure in Sierra Leone

Since February 2014 Sierra Leone, with support from the Government of Germany and FAO is implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT). This video interviews a wide range of engaged national stakeholders from the land, fisheries and forestry sectors and documents best practices and lessons learned....
Sierra Leone
2016 - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Technical paper
Rural-urban linkages and food systems in sub-Saharan Africa

The rural dimension
Given the context of transitions related to rapid urbanization, the roles that rural economies and societies will have to play (particularly smallholder farmers and other rural producers) in creating sustainable and inclusive food systems, in generating employment and incomes and in contributing to more balanced, equitable and mutually reinforcing patterns...
2016 - International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Case study
Water security and Agroecology transform lives in the Drylands of Kenya

Drylands represent 40% of the Earth's surface, produce 44% of the world’s food and are home to 80% of the world’s poor. Eighty per cent of Kenya comprises arid or semi-arid lands. Rainfall occurs in just one or two short, intense seasons. Because the land is so dry, when rain...
Kenya
2016 - Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)

Blog article
Conférence régionale de la FAO pour l’Afrique

51 ministres de l’Agriculture attendus à Abidjan
La 29ème session de la conférence régionale de l’Organisation des Nations-Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) se tiendra à Abidjan du 4 au 8 avril 2016. A quelques jours de l’ouverture de ces assises, le ministre de l’Agriculture et du Développement rural Mamadou Sangafowa a co-animé en compagnie du sous-directeur...
2016 - Abidjan.net

Magazine article
Opinion: Women farm through knowledge sharing

In an attempt to solve problems, people collectively ask questions and discuss and implement solutions. Elizabeth Mpofu describes how knowledge co-creation is commonplace in the lives of people and in agroecology. From these processes, social, political, and practical innovations emerge.
  Learning is a lifetime activity. Nowhere is this clearer than in agriculture, and especially among women farmers. Being responsible for over 70% of agricultural production on our continent, we farm through knowledge sharing. In complex and closely knit social groups, starting in early childhood, knowledge is birthed, nurtured and passed...
Zimbabwe
2016 - ILEIA, Center for Learning on Sustainable Agriculture

Technical paper
Agricultural and rural development reconsidered

A guide to issues and debates
The role of small-scale family farms in development is the subject of long-standing debate. Despite predictions on the likely evolution of small farms, as urban and industrial sectors account for larger shares of economic activity, the agricultural landscape in the developing world continues to be dominated by family-operated smallholdings. Consequently,...
2016 - International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Technical paper
Household resilience to drought

The case of Salima District in Malawi
This study identifies factors that affect resilience to drought among smallholder farmers in Salima, one of the districts frequently affected by drought in Malawi. The study contributes to the existing literature by constructing a drought resilience index (DRI) and uses it to determine the effect of drought resilience on the...
Malawi
2016 - International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Blog article
Groups promote agroecology at international meeting in Uganda

Organizations that are advocating for agroecology farming practices among small holder farmers in Uganda and Africa at large have urged Uganda government and policy makers to support small farmers in terms of finances and knowledge to increase food production for their families and income earning, instead of opening Uganda to...
Uganda
2016 - GRAIN

Video
By purchasing maize from Somali farmers, WFP links them to markets and Boosts Sustainability

Somalia’s agricultural sector has been undermined by years of conflict and climatic shocks, but WFP and its partners are helping farmers rebuild the sector and reconnect with markets. In partnership with FAO and the Somali Ministry of Agriculture, and with long-term support from the European Union (EU), WFP is working...
Somalia
2016 - World Food Programme (WFP)

Book part
Agriculture, WASH, and safety nets

Ethiopia’s multisector story
Over the past 25 years, Ethiopia has made remarkable headway in addressing the country’s nutrition situation. Despite ongoing challenges, significant progress has been made toward meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, including halving child mortality, doubling the number of people with access to clean water, and quadrupling primary school...
Ethiopia
2016 - International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Report
International Conservation Agriculture Advisory Panel for Africa (ICAAP-Africa)

International Conservation Agriculture Advisory Panel (ICAAP - Africa) has been called for under the auspices of the Lusaka Declaration of the 1st Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture (IACCA) held in Lusaka in March 2014. It is a group of global conservation agriculture experts acting as a thinktank to advise ACT...
2016 - African Conservation Tillage Network (ACTN)

Video
Escola na Machamba do Camponês FAO Moçambique- Maputo-Moamba, Gaza- Pfukwe

Entrevista com o Representante da FAO em Moçambique, Castro Camarada, sobre Escola na Machamba do Camponês. Cerca de 27.500 camponeses estão a ser beneficiados pela Metodologia das Escolas na Machamba do Camponês (EMCs) introduzida pela FAOMZ, num total de 1.095 escolas, que se estendem por todo o país.  Esta abordagem tem...
Mozambique
2016 - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Newsletter
Scaling Up Humanitarian Response to Tackle Worsening Drought

This edition of the UN in Zimbabwe newsletter is dedicated to shed light on the partnerships, progress and challenges in the collective humanitarian response in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe
2016 - United Nations in Zimbabwe

Magazine article
Institutionalising dialogue in Rwanda through innovation platforms

A platform of farmers, retailers and service providers,civil society organisations, NGOs, government officials, and researchers improves livelihoods in Rwanda. Through interaction and collaboration, these groups experiment with various technological and institutional innovations, thereby tackling local agricultural challenges. This experience illustrates the importance of institutionalising a space where knowledge can be...
Rwanda
2016 - ILEIA - Center for Learning on Sustainable Agriculture
Total results:3607