In recent years, agricultural advisory services have been the subject of renewed interest at the level of agricultural policies and development aid. Numerous development actors have taken up the issue of advice to farmers: professional agricultural organizations, government agencies, investors, agri-providers, NGOs, telephone companies, etc. Questioning the meaning of agricultural advisory...

With this and every iteration of Foresight Africa, we aim to capture the top priorities for the region in the coming year, offering recommendations for African and global stakeholders for creating and supporting a strong, sustainable, and successful Africa. In doing so, we hope that Foresight Africa 2022 will promote a...

This framework aims to ensure the recognition and protection of the right of farmers to define rules, based on their habits and customs, within their communities, networks, or other collectives, for the organisation of their seed activities, as well as the need for the State to accompany them in this....

This first ever FAO in Africa: Impacts in 2021 report presents a summary of the main priorities, developments and results achieved by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the Africa region in 2021. FAO in Africa: Impacts in 2021 is organized according to the four...

"The Organic Farmer" (TOF) is the English version of the magazine for small-scale Kenyan farmers who previously had only very limited access to information on ecological farming. It is the only magazine for ecological farming in East Africa. Similarly unique is "Mkulima Mbunifu" (The Smart Farmer), the edition of TOF in Swahili....

This report provides a collection and analysis of six case studies which introduce trailblazing shared label initiatives by smallholder organisations across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Each case study explores the motivation for collective marketing action, the choice of claims to make through a shared label, the control over the...

These three study reports help establish a roadmap for changing seed policies and laws toward instruments supporting farmer-based seed systems in Africa. Throughout the world, farmers play a significant role in producing, selecting, managing, and conserving plant resources. In Africa, where smallholder farmers are still the overwhelming majority, women on smallholder...

Partners of a new resilience building initiative in Zimbabwe held a launch meeting in Harare on 7 October 2022, gathering 80 participants, including national agricultural extension programmes, government representatives, academic institutions, government representatives, private sector actors, the media, EU representatives and national agricultural research and development organisations. Entitled "Resilience Building through...

In a refreshingly optimistic book, ‘The soil will save us’, Kristin Ohlson explains how agriculture could stop emitting carbon, and instead remove it from the air and place it in the soil.

The report identifies the irrigation potentials, gaps and needs that exist at national level for paddy rice production. The analysis carried out in the outlook will form a basis for enhancing water resources management in paddy fields. The report addresses all stakeholders involved in the sector, including technicians, researchers, and...

This report focuses on the technical and policy measures to address existing challenges, and outline gaps in the implementation of policies to improve agricultural water use efficiency and enhance management in paddy fields in Zambia. It promotes the formulation and deployment of an effective system for the development of the...

Desmodium is a legume that is commonly used as a protein supplement in dairy cattle, with many farmers growing it to cut production costs. The crop has numerous varieties but the most common are greenleaf and silverleaf. The legume can be intercropped with napier grass and maize to help control stemborer...

The first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Malawi in early April 2020, and the numbers went up subsequently, leading to Government-instituted COVID-19 lockdowns, which disrupted almost all aspects of normal life in the country.  One of the most affected sectors by the lockdowns was agriculture, as contacts between extension workers...

In this video, Viacampesina.org collects and shares the testimonies of farmers from the South and East African region, who rely on peasant agroecological methods to revive their soils and fight the climate crisis. They also discuss the central importance of farmers and small-scale food producers in implementing pragmatic solutions to...

The Greater Karamoja Cluster lies at the crossroads of Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda. In this vast desert region nearly the size of the United Kingdom, crossing borders is a requisite for survival. But in recent decades, competition over natural resources has led to cattle raids and violent conflicts....

Today, one of the major global challenges we face is that of feeding the world. Would it be possible to solve this challenge? If yes, via what pathways? Nowadays, two paradigms come up when discussing solutions to the global food challenge. On the one hand, technical, scientific and large-scale ‘one...

La flambée des prix des intrants agricoles devient insupportable pour beaucoup d’agriculteurs du Burkina Faso. Pour survivre, des producteurs ont trouvé des alternatives en misant sur la fabrication des engrais organiques. Bokashi, composte aérobic, ce sont des fertilisants locaux que Saïdou Ouédraogo, agriculteur et éleveur, fabrique pour fertiliser ses sols....

The Malawi Forum for Agriculture Advisory Services (MaFAAS) held its Farming and Extension Conference in Lilongwe, Malawi, from 19 to 22 July 2022. The conference brought together various stakeholders, who are working in the agriculture space in Malawi, from farmer groups to extension service providers (both state and non-state) and...

Researchers from the universities of Maryland and Texas in the United States of America questioned the rapid expansion of cultivated land in Africa in a recent study utilizing satellite data from NASA's Landsat program. Africa has increased its agricultural area by more than a third during the last two decades...

How to engage farmers that have limited formal education is at the foundation of environmentally sound and equitable agricultural development.  This study describes the process of development of an innovative curriculum, which integrates agroecology, nutrition, climate change, gender, and other dimensions of social equity across 2 weeks of training explicitly for...