Unlocking the potential of agriculture innovation for family farmers - Thematic catalogue for smallholder farmers to promote innovation
Unlocking the potential of agriculture innovation for family farmers - Thematic catalogue for smallholder farmers to promote innovation

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-11-13

Total Pages: 103

ISBN-13: 9251310920

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TECA is an FAO online platform for the exchange and sharing of agricultural technologies and practices for smallholder farmers and producers. The platform facilitates the transformation process in rural areas by making relevant and innovative technologies available to farmers in the field. In doing so, TECA further enhances the access to knowledge of smallholder producers in rural areas increasing their capacity to innovate and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This catalogue promotes a set of successful innovations for farmers on the occasion of the FAO International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers: Unlocking the potential of agricultural innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, which will be celebrated in FAO Headquarters on 2123 November 2018. The technologies presented are concrete actions that have solved specific development challenges and promote sustainable and inclusive rural transformations. The technologies and practices are designed following the FAOTECA platform standards and have been tested and refined in the field. Each practice supports smallholder farmers and those providing advisory services to agricultural producers, to identify specific needs, select the correct practices and to implement technologies adequately. Developed with the help of FAO in cooperation with the FAO Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and other key partners, the GIZ, ICRAF, IFOAM and Swisscontact, this catalogue aims at illustrating how sharing knowledge may unlock innovation throughout the farming process.

Scaling up inclusive innovations in agrifood chains in Asia and the Pacific
Scaling up inclusive innovations in agrifood chains in Asia and the Pacific

Author: Gálvez, E.

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2022-06-21

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9251356297

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The publication looks at innovations happening at all stages of the food value chain: from production to manufacturing and retailing. This also includes the extended value chain, for example input supply, financial services and agribusiness support services. Yields are improving and primary production is becoming more resilient as a result of digital technologies such as precision agriculture, agricultural drones, and digital farming services and marketplaces; and novel business models such as plant factories, crowdsourcing for farmers. Data and robotics help lift productivity and food safety in the manufacturing process. Online grocery commerce and food delivery services are revolutionizing the way consumers purchase food. Distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, allows making payments and tracing back food products along the chain in order to increase transparency and trust. New business models are springing up to shorten the chain by removing or shifting stages and to make it fairer and greener, stimulated by enabling technologies and changing customer behaviours. Innovations such as these are discussed and illustrated by almost 200 practical examples from 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, across various types of firms and commodities. By observing emerging trends and providing concrete examples, the book discusses the nature of these innovations, how they are affecting food systems and value chains, positively or negatively, and how to deal with trade-offs. It concludes with a reflection on the impacts of these innovations, the policy solutions identified, and lessons learned to future-proof the region’s food systems, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The State of Food and Agriculture 2021
The State of Food and Agriculture 2021

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-11-23

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 9251343292

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The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of agrifood systems to shocks and stresses and led to increased global food insecurity and malnutrition. Action is needed to make agrifood systems more resilient, efficient, sustainable and inclusive. The State of Food and Agriculture 2021 presents country-level indicators of the resilience of agrifood systems. The indicators measure the robustness of primary production and food availability, as well as physical and economic access to food. They can thus help assess the capacity of national agrifood systems to absorb shocks and stresses, a key aspect of resilience. The report analyses the vulnerabilities of food supply chains and how rural households cope with risks and shocks. It discusses options to minimize trade-offs that building resilience may have with efficiency and inclusivity. The aim is to offer guidance on policies to enhance food supply chain resilience, support livelihoods in the agrifood system and, in the face of disruption, ensure sustainable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to all.

Working with Smallholders
Working with Smallholders

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2023-11-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781464819629

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

Save and Grow
Save and Grow

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-06-22

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 9251068712

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The book offers a rich toolkit of relevant, adoptable ecosystem-based practices that can help the world's 500 million smallholder farm families achieve higher productivity, profitability and resource-use efficiency while enhancing natural capital.

Impact tokenization and innovative financial models for responsible agrifood supply chains
Impact tokenization and innovative financial models for responsible agrifood supply chains

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-10-15

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13: 9251350590

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This report provides a comprehensive summary and analysis on how impact tokenization and innovative financial models can promote responsible agri-food supply chains. Recent advances in the development of impact tokenization techniques, distributed ledger technology, and innovative financial models have created new opportunities to improve transparency, verification, and incentive alignment across multiple stakeholders in agri-food supply chains. This report outlines those opportunities and describes how practitioners and policymakers can implement enhanced methods for efficiently defining and verifying impact in agri-food supply chains. The report concludes with an analysis of the most promising financial models for promoting responsible agri-food supply chains.

The Craft and Science of Coffee
The Craft and Science of Coffee

Author: Britta Folmer

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2016-12-16

Total Pages: 558

ISBN-13: 0128035587

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The Craft and Science of Coffee follows the coffee plant from its origins in East Africa to its current role as a global product that influences millions of lives though sustainable development, economics, and consumer desire.For most, coffee is a beloved beverage. However, for some it is also an object of scientifically study, and for others it is approached as a craft, both building on skills and experience. By combining the research and insights of the scientific community and expertise of the crafts people, this unique book brings readers into a sustained and inclusive conversation, one where academic and industrial thought leaders, coffee farmers, and baristas are quoted, each informing and enriching each other.This unusual approach guides the reader on a journey from coffee farmer to roaster, market analyst to barista, in a style that is both rigorous and experience based, universally relevant and personally engaging. From on-farming processes to consumer benefits, the reader is given a deeper appreciation and understanding of coffee's complexity and is invited to form their own educated opinions on the ever changing situation, including potential routes to further shape the coffee future in a responsible manner. - Presents a novel synthesis of coffee research and real-world experience that aids understanding, appreciation, and potential action - Includes contributions from a multitude of experts who address complex subjects with a conversational approach - Provides expert discourse on the coffee calue chain, from agricultural and production practices, sustainability, post-harvest processing, and quality aspects to the economic analysis of the consumer value proposition - Engages with the key challenges of future coffee production and potential solutions

The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security: 2021
The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security: 2021

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-03-17

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 9251340714

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On top of a decade of exacerbated disaster loss, exceptional global heat, retreating ice and rising sea levels, humanity and our food security face a range of new and unprecedented hazards, such as megafires, extreme weather events, desert locust swarms of magnitudes previously unseen, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people – most of them in low-income developing countries – and remains a key driver of development. At no other point in history has agriculture been faced with such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyperconnected world and a precipitously changing landscape. And agriculture continues to absorb a disproportionate share of the damage and loss wrought by disasters. Their growing frequency and intensity, along with the systemic nature of risk, are upending people’s lives, devastating livelihoods, and jeopardizing our entire food system. This report makes a powerful case for investing in resilience and disaster risk reduction – especially data gathering and analysis for evidence informed action – to ensure agriculture’s crucial role in achieving the future we want.

Digital technologies in agriculture and rural areas
Digital technologies in agriculture and rural areas

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2019-06-01

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 9251315469

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This report aims to identify the different scenarios where the process of digital transformation is taking place in agriculture. This identifies those aspects of basic conditions, such as those of infrastructure and networks, affordability, education and institutional support. In addition, enablers are identified, which are the factors that allow adopting and integrating changes in the production and decision-making processes. Finally identify through cases, existing literature and reports how substantive changes are taking place in the adoption of digital technologies in agriculture.