Food security policy and governance
Institutional and organizational innovations
Image: via Flickr (by: CGIAR Climate)
Besides technological innovations, transformation of policies, key institutions or markets are necessary to improve food and nutrition security. Such organizational and social innovations require investments in the enabling policy and business environment. Strengthening the capacity of farmers and other stakeholders in the food system to develop innovations based on their knowledge and experience also depends on the enabling environment. Smart solutions are often the result of complex interactions between entrepreneurs, research institutes, NGOs and governments. This Knowledge Portal topic presents examples of these institutional and organizational innovations.
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August 25th, 2020
Published by Agricultural Systems, August 7th, 2020
This special issue takes stock of how the world of agricultural research for development (AR4D) is engaging with scaling in theory and practice in the context of increased pressure to demonstrate impact. The 10 publications cut agross three categories: 1) Understanding the scaling trajectory retrospectively form a longer term, systems perspective; 2) Understanding scaling of innovation retrospectively as part of shorter term AR4D interventions; 3) Conceptual or methodological approaches aimed at guiding scaling prospectively. »
August 10th, 2020
Published by Hivos, IIED, July 1st, 2020
This paper aims to strengthen the understanding of multi-stakeholde initiatives (MAIs) by showing what works and what does not, and also provides actionable recommendations for people designing MAIs. In general, the case studies analysed in this report have shown the added value of MAIs in addressing food system problems. The complex nature of food systems, with their many moving parts and multiple actors, requires an approach that brings this diversity of views together in a meaningful and productive way. »
June 23rd, 2020
Published by Hivos, IIED, June 1st, 2020
This paper highlights lessons and insights about the opportunities, dilemmas and tensions of putting (low-income) citizen agency at the centre of advocacy and interventions. The food systems for low-income citizens have characteristics that make citizen agency an important starting point for external interventions. »
October 10th, 2019
Published by World Development , October 1st, 2019
This study explored food safety issues at each stage of the value chain to identify the economic questions, practical challenges, and knowledge gaps along the way. With regard to food standards there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and policymakers will need to consider the specific of the circumstances when working to make improvements along the value chain. »
September 12th, 2019
Published by Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy, August 21st, 2019
This brief focuses on the challenge of measuring and comparing health improvements from programmes and policies affecting agricultural production, farmers’ livelihoods and the food environment of urban and rural households... »
September 2nd, 2019
Published by World Resources Institute, Rockefeller Foundation, August 30th, 2019
This report lays out a global action agenda that will help reduce food loss and waste to help meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The report calls on governments, companies, farmers, consumers, and everyone in between to: 1) “Target-Measure-Act”; 2) Pursue a short “to-do” list per player; 3) Collaborate on “scaling interventions” »
August 20th, 2019
Published by FAO, September 10th, 2018
This paper explores some aspects of contract farming with public–private partnerships that combine the expertise and profitability goals of the private sector with the enabling policies of governments. Contract farming (CF) has demonstrated its positive impact as an institutional innovation. Even smallholders can benefit: by reducing – if not eliminating –transaction costs, CF provides markets, finance and technology to smallholders. »
July 25th, 2019
Published by FAO, IFAD, May 29th, 2019
This action plan mobilizes concrete, coordinated action to overcome challenges family farmers face, strengthen their investment capacity and thereby attain the potential benefits of their contributions to transform out societies and put in place long-term and sustainable solutions. The global action plan aims at accelerating actions undertaken in a collective, coherent and comprehensive manner to support family farmers. »
May 15th, 2019
Published by Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, December 3rd, 2018
This paper takes a retrospective analysis of the shifts in the Australian aid program that made significant progress in aligning its agriculture policy and programming to be more nutrition-sensitive, and the broader policy environment which made these shifts possible. »
April 1st, 2019
Published by CGIAR, February 1st, 2019
This working paper assesses the current state of practice for the representation of food security indicators in agricultural systems models and provides recommendations for improvements in both model formulation and the empirical evidence base underlying it. The assessment found that there is broad agreement at conceptual level about linkages between agricultural systems and food security. However, the extant conceptual frameworks are often not specific enough. »
February 28th, 2019
One size does not fit all: Private-sector perspectives on climate change, agriculture and adaptation
Published by The Climate-Smart Agriculture Paper , November 28th, 2018
This paper assesses how private-sector actors across the supply chain manage climate smart agriculture (CSA), with an eye on how civil society can better engage companies in promoting CSA practices. The research highlights the need for the scientific community to provide more detailed, actionable information to incentivise companies’ investments in CSA. »
January 9th, 2019
Published by Sociology & Anthropology, December 3rd, 2018
This paper aims to stimulate a discussion of how to raise the farmers’ income by providing another way of looking at prices. Since farmers do not earn a sufficient livelihood, alternative ways than market prices have to be looked at: the 'fair prices’. »
January 2nd, 2019
Published by World Scientific, January 1st, 2019
This book features a comprehensive foresight assessment, exploring the pressures, threats as well as opportunities, on the global agriculture and food systems between now and 2050. Food systems thinking can help identify synergies and trade-offs between the SDGs, and indicate leverage points for policies and interventions. »
December 27th, 2018
Published by Oxfam, December 3rd, 2018
This paper argues that closing the living income gap for small-scale farmer requires tackling the underlying imbalance in risk and market power that many of them face when engaging in global food value chains. The underlying imbalance is not accidental, but reinforced by structural barriers at the level of individual supply chains, commodity sectors, and public policy agendas. »
December 17th, 2018
Published by PPPLab & CIMMYT, November 13th, 2018
Impact at scale is needed to address critical global issues like water availability, sanitation, food security, access to clean energy and environmental concerns. But at the same time we all seem to wonder what scaling actually means in practice: how can our policy or project activities contribute to reach impact at scale? The PPPLab, studied to what it realistically takes to scale, and developed a practical tool that helps projects to identify strengths and weaknesses of their scaling strategies. »
November 15th, 2018
Published by PPPLab, November 15th, 2018
This paper presents the main lessons from Dutch-supported public–private partnerships (PPPs) in food security and water, provides building blocks for making PPPs deliver on the SDGs, with fundamental implications for key partners in PPPs and policymakers. Taking into account the lessons from Dutch-supported PPPs and their challenges, the Dutch PPP approach is in need of recalibration. »
October 31st, 2018
Published by World Bank, October 23rd, 2018
This report strengthens the economic case for increased public investment and other policy attention on food safety in developing countries. The most crucial roles for governments is to be facilitative: induce investments and behaviour changes by actors that share the goal and responsibility for safer food. »
October 8th, 2018
Published by The World Bank, February 1st, 2012
This article discusses the role of innovation brokers in bridging communication gaps between various actors of agricultural innovation systems. Innovation brokers help build synergy in agricultural innovation systems, but their "behind-the-scenes" mode of operating conceals their impact. »
August 15th, 2018
Published by Agronomy for Sustainable Development Journal, August 9th, 2018
This paper is calling on the need for a transformation of food systems in order to achieve the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. This transformation is needed to deliver multiple and simultaneous social, economic, and environmental outcomes, including poverty eradication and mitigation and adaptation to climate change. »
August 1st, 2018
Published by High Level Panel of Experts on Food and Nutrition Security, June 13th, 2018
This report clarifies the concepts of multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) and identifies the challenges. The primary benefit of MSPs is the mobilization and coordinated use of complementary resources. A major challenge is the tensions that can appear among partners in an MSP. »
July 27th, 2018
Published by Experimental Agriculture Journal, June 6th, 2018
This article describes when and for what purpose innovation platforms provide an appropriate mechanism for achieving development outcomes, and what kinds of resource investments and enabling environments are required. The study provides a decision support tool for research, development and funding agencies. »
June 20th, 2018
Published by SNV, April 2nd, 2018
This paper outlines factors that are important for successful Public Private Producer Partnerships (4Ps) business cases. A major conclusion is that there is a sound basis for the role of 4Ps in rural development. Long-term 4Ps can contribute to development of agricultural value chains. »
May 6th, 2018
Published by GlobalDev, March 22nd, 2018
This blog argues that innovations in technologies, policies, and institutions will be critical in reshaping food systems for nutrition, health, inclusion and sustainability. Global cooperation is key to ensuring that innovations in food systems are widely disseminated and contribute positively to global development. »
April 4th, 2018
Published by Food Security Journal, February 1st, 2018
This paper analyzes the influence of informal institutions on farmers’ access to land resources, financial resources, and farm inputs to achieve Sustainable Crop Intensification (SCI). Results indicate that informal institutions play a central role in enhancing farmers’ investment in SCI interventions. »
February 28th, 2018
Published by Agricultural Systems Journal, February 13th, 2018
This paper characterizes concisely the vast inter-related literature on agriculture research for development context, mechanisms, and impacts as a framework and foundation for the expert assessments of specific mechanisms. »
December 18th, 2017
Published by NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, July 21st, 2017
This article examines the factors that enhance and constrain innovation platforms' functionality by applying the concept of institutional embeddedness. Innovation platforms have emerged as a way of enhancing the resilience of agricultural and food systems in the face of environmental change. »
December 12th, 2017
Published by journal Food Policy, August 12th, 2017
This article addresses the question how value chain organization and innovations can have an important impact on modern technology adoption. The adoption of modern technologies in agriculture is crucial for improving productivity of poor farmers and poverty reduction. »
November 28th, 2017
Published by Wageningen Economic Research, True Price, February 1st, 2017
This publication discusses a method to map the societal effects of food production and consumption and the relative size of those effects. It uses six capital categories: financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, natural and social and relationship capital, which are subdivided to cover all relevant societal effects of food. »
November 6th, 2017
Published by journal Tropical Conservation Science, August 30th, 2017
This article frames two rapidly moving issues in the EU's multifaceted relationship with agriculture in the tropics: 1) use of the public development funds to drive agricultural productivity and market access and 2) the adoption of private production contracts for sourcing products destined for EU markets. »
October 31st, 2017
Published by journal Cahiers Agricultures, September 7th, 2017
This article discusses external influences on innovation platforms and the options for effective responses. The platforms examined in this paper were conceived as vehicles for facilitating institutional change in support of innovation that benefits smallholders, in selected agro-enterprise domains in Benin, Ghana and Mali. »
September 14th, 2017
Published by ECDPM, September 13th, 2017
This article reflects upon efforts to link sustainable production with responsible consumption both within global value chains and within domestic markets in developing countries. In order to transform current food systems into sustainable food systems, a number of changes must occur. »
August 21st, 2017
Published by KIT, June 1st, 2017
This working paper examines how theories of change (ToCs) have enabled practitioners to navigate towards impact in settings characterized by a multiplicity of views from different actors on issues of joint concern. ToCs are increasingly used to articulate pathways for interventions and to support learning. »
August 8th, 2017
Published by Agricultural Systems Journal, July 26th, 2017
This article in the discusses the participation of farmers in knowledge co-production within multi-stakeholder settings. While farmers are recognized as equally weighing sources of innovation in the Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) framework, their participation in knowledge co-production within multi-stakeholder settings such as innovation platforms is still often limited. »
August 7th, 2017
Published by KIT, June 1st, 2017
This working paper provides examples of 'systems analysis'; describing the context, what was done, and how the outcomes informed broader research and development activities. Agricultural innovation systems (AIS) are complex, multi-layered, and can be difficult to define and analyse. »
July 26th, 2017
Published by WUR, June 22nd, 2017
This dissertation is a sociological analysis of the agri-food system of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, that feeds most of the over four and a half million residents of this fast-growing city. It is based on qualitative research that has generated a picture of the food system that supplies the important foods for the majority of residents of the city. »
July 3rd, 2017
Published by PBL, May 24th, 2017
This report explores the potential added value of public-public cooperation between Dutch sub-national actors and their Sub-Saharan African counterparts. Over the past years, development cooperation policy in the Netherlands has become increasingly oriented towards facilitating private sector development and public-private partnerships (PPPs). As opposed to PPPs, decentralized public development cooperation has received relatively little attention. »
June 20th, 2017
Published by IITA, WUR, CGIAR-RTB, June 1st, 2017
This publication provides guidelines for creating successful innovation platforms in agricultural research for development (AR4D). Innovation Platforms are an increasingly popular approach to enhancing multi-stakeholder collaboration in AR4D programmes. »
June 14th, 2017
Published by SAGE Open Journal, May 6th, 2017
This article investigated the impact of crop disease on cardamom farmers’ livelihoods, as well as both individual and institutional efforts to combat the disease in Nepal. During a crisis, farmers expect government institutions to help, especially when customary practices have not solved the problem. »
May 1st, 2017
Published by Science and Public Policy Journal, April 4th, 2017
Innovation platforms (IPs) form a popular vehicle in agricultural research for development (AR4D) to facilitate stakeholder interaction, agenda setting, and collective action toward sustainable agricultural development. This article in the Science and Public Policy Journal, aims to systematically research the dynamics of stakeholder composition throughout IPs and tries to analyze how seven ‘key functions’ of the innovation process are fulfilled. »
April 20th, 2017
Published by Global Food Security Journal, March 1st, 2017
This paper focuses on the rationale for supporting market interventions for smallholders through what the authors call Institutional Demand. Institutional Demand consists of different interventions that target procurement from smallholder farmers and distribute their surplus to vulnerable populations. This policy intervention links the goals of both agricultural development and social protection through three key areas: price stabilization; income generation and; food security. »
April 4th, 2017
Published by IIED, November 1st, 2016
Social learning approaches can catalyse knowledge co-creation and action, so have the potential to help solve complex ‘wicked’ problems such as climate change and food insecurity. This working paper by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) synthesises evidence from five diverse initiatives employing social learning approaches in response to such problems using the Climate Change and Social Learning initiative’s monitoring and evaluation framework. »
March 30th, 2017
Published by CIMMYT, December 22nd, 2016
This paper by CIMMYT argues that successful agricultural interventions require social shifts, not just technological. Traditionally, agricultural research organizations measured impact by the number of technologies developed, with less attention given to whether or not these technologies were adopted by farmers and the impact they had in communities. Currently, research and extension approaches based on agricultural innovation systems are becoming more popular. »
March 8th, 2017
Published by Routledge, February 28th, 2017
This book on Routledge by Ingrid Oborn, Bernard Vanlauwe, Michael Phillips, Richard Thomas, Willemien Brooijmans and Kwesi Atta-Krah, describes different aspects of systems research in agriculture in its broadest sense, where the focus is moved from farming systems to livelihoods systems and institutional innovation. Much of the work represents outputs of three CGIAR Research Programs on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics, Aquatic Agricultural Systems and Dryland Systems. »
February 22nd, 2017
Published by PLOS ONE, February 6th, 2017
This article in PLOS ONE, analyses the role of multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) for agricultural innovation and scaling. Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) are seen as a promising vehicle to achieve agricultural development impacts. By increasing collaboration, exchange of knowledge and influence mediation among farmers, researchers and other stakeholders, MSPs supposedly enhance their ‘capacity to innovate’ and contribute to the ‘scaling of innovations’. »
February 14th, 2017
Published by Ghana Journal of Science, Technology and Development, December 1st, 2016
This article in the Ghana Journal of Science, Technology and Development, highlights the role of innovation platforms for resilience thinking. In this paper, the concept of resilience is approached from the perspective of socio-ecological systems dynamics. In particular, the study examined the contribution of farmers to research towards enhanced resilience of traditional African vegetable production systems in northern Ghana. An Innovation Platform was set up as a ‘knowledge space’ that provided an enabling environment for the interaction between farmers’ indigenous and researchers’ scientific knowledge in agricultural research. »
February 7th, 2017
Published by CTA, January 19th, 2017
This book by CTA examines ‘innovations systems’ – a concept suggested as underpinning industrial development – as a strategy for agricultural development. Innovation systems approaches conceptualise change as a long-term, socially-embedded process, and recognise the important role policy plays in shaping the parameters within which decisions are made. The lessons learned can be useful in guiding the design, implementation and evaluation of future policies, programmes and research on agricultural innovation systems. »
January 24th, 2017
Published by NewForesight & Commonland, January 20th, 2017
This report by NewForesight and Commonland presents the complex challenges we face in our current food system, and highlights opportunities to forge a path towards a more sustainable future. The authors sketch an initial outline of holistic approaches that offer long term solutions while capturing net positive business opportunities with multiple returns. The main aim of this paper is to trigger decision makers in business, government, and society to form coalitions, apply such holistic approaches and drive systemic change in our food systems at scale using an ecosystem approach. »
January 10th, 2017
Published by CCAFS, December 15th, 2016
This research paper by CCAFS is the result of a joint effort among a small group of researchers to identify pathways for transformation towards sustainable food systems, which are resilient towards shocks and towards climate change in particular. Using empirical studies, both transformations in governance systems and governance of transformations were investigated. »
December 29th, 2016
Published by IIED, November 1st, 2016
This briefing by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) highlights how farmer organisations and government agencies managing large scale irrigation systems in West Africa need to collaborate to agree on a vision for agricultural services that increases scheme viability while meeting the needs of different types of farmers. »
December 28th, 2016
Published by PNAS Journal, December 12th, 2016
This article, published by the PNAS Journal, presents a study that provides insight about the challenge in meeting the projected tripled cereal demand by 2050 due to expected population growth and modest changes in diets in 10 SSA countries, through scenarios of yield gap closure. Recent studies indicate that the global increase in food demand by 2050 can be met through closing the gap between current farm yield and yield potential on existing cropland. Here, however, we estimate it will not be feasible to meet future SSA cereal demand on existing production area by yield gap closure alone. »
December 13th, 2016
Published by IPC, November 10th, 2016
This paper elaborates on the strategic role of family farms to accelerate agricultural transformation towards achieving food security and nutrition, as well as sustainable and inclusive rural development. Considering that 75% of the SSA population is involved directly or indirectly in farming and related employment, the strategic role of family farms in such a transformation is increasingly being recognized by key actors. »
November 29th, 2016
Published by PLAAS , November 1st, 2016
This book presents case studies on changing agro-food systems in Southern Africa within the context of large-scale land-based and agri-business investments. By capturing the testimonies of local people in rural settings, with a particular focus on small-scale farmers, it aims to provide vivid accounts of the micro-level changes underway in agro-food systems in Southern Africa, and to reflect the experiences and perspectives of local people. »
November 9th, 2016
Published by IDDRI, October 16th, 2016
The paper examines the complexity and fragmentation of the governance regime for FNS and the policy implications for the European Union and the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS). It shows that the current governance regime is still highly fragmented and tends to privilege the best resourced actors and specific (political) approaches to FNS, and hence, risks impairing the input legitimacy of governance. The fragmentation is mainly linked to the existence of two types of arenas: multilateral ones and multistakeholder ones. »
November 1st, 2016
Published by Food Security journal, July 7th, 2016
This article, published in the Food Security journal, investigates the effect of household education attainment on food security among poor urban households, using longitudinal data collected between 2007 and 2012 in Kenya. Poverty and food insecurity continue to feature prominently in the global agenda, with particularly close attention being paid to the determinants of food insecurity. However, the effect of education is mixed and remains understudied in low income countries. »
October 17th, 2016
Published by FAO, INRA, October 1st, 2016
The FAO and the INRA undertook a survey of innovative approaches that enable markets to act as incentives in the transition towards sustainable agriculture in developing countries.15 cases from around the world provide insights into how small-scale initiatives that use sustainable production practices are supported by market demand, and create innovations in the institutions that govern sustainable practices and market exchanges. The study concludes with four results on how market based solutions can help with the transition towards sustainable agriculture. »
October 12th, 2016
Published by Wageningen Academic, April 1st, 2016
This book, published by Wageningen Academic, presents a set of case studies on food quality improvement and innovation in food chains, with cases from South Africa, Ethiopia, Benin, Uganda and Senegal. This publication shows how a co-innovation perspective can be developed and applied. Co-innovation entails the combination of technical, organisational and institutional changes, the involvement of various chain actors, and the introduction of complementary innovations at different levels of the food chain. »
September 30th, 2016
Published by AGRA, September 6th, 2016
This report by AGRA is the fourth volume of the Africa Agriculture Status Report series focusing on, “Progress towards African Agricultural Transformation”. The series has the objective of producing an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of emerging issues and challenges being faced by Africa’s smallholder farmers. The 2016 Report has tracked the progress made in the last decade with the MDGs and the Maputo Declaration as critical benchmarks, through to the current status, considering the Malabo Declaration and the projection and trajectory towards 2030 in line with the SDGs. »
August 2nd, 2016
Published by IPES-Food, June 1st, 2016
This report by IPES-Food is about the changes that the agricultural sector should make to move towards a diversified agroecological system. This should stop the negative climate effects of the current industrial agriculture system. Input-intensive crop monocultures and industrial-scale feedlots are now dominate farming landscapes. The uniformity at the heart of these systems leads systematically to negative outcomes and vulnerabilities. »
July 12th, 2016
Published by Solutions, May 1st, 2016
In this article in Solutions it is argued that with limited global resources, and in the face of environmental changes, meeting future food security challenges will first require a shift in thinking from just ‘producing food’ (and other sectoral interests) to ‘food systems.’ Future solutions should aim to find synergies between climate mitigation and adaptation and between health and environmental goals, with inevitable trade-offs that will need careful management. »
July 12th, 2016
Published by Agricultural Systems Journal, June 1st, 2016
This study in the Agricultural Systems Journal identifies entry points for innovation for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems. An agricultural innovation systems approach is used to provide a holistic image of (relations between) constraints faced by different stakeholder groups, the dimensions and causes of these constraints, and intervention levels, timeframes and types of innovations needed. The data shows that constraints for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems are mainly of economic and institutional nature. »
June 30th, 2016
Published by Journal of Rural Studies, June 1st, 2016
This paper in the Journal of Rural Studies operationalizes the concept of social wellbeing (comprised of interlinked material, subjective and relational dimensions) as a framework for understanding the effects of agrarian change, as experienced by inhabitants of two villages in rural Southwest Bangladesh. Production of two ostensibly similar high value export crops (tiger shrimp and freshwater prawn) resulted in radically different trajectories of agrarian change and social wellbeing outcomes in the two villages. »
June 8th, 2016
Published by World Development Journal, May 1st, 2016
This paper in the World Development Journal, introduces a Special Section on Chinese and Brazilian engagements in African agriculture. The paper asks if a new paradigm for development cooperation is emerging, and argues that we must move beyond the simplistic narratives of either “South–South” collaboration or “neo-imperial” expansion of “rising powers” to look at the dynamic and contested politics of engagement, as new forms of capital and technology enter African contexts. »
May 27th, 2016
Published by Overseas Development Institute, March 3rd, 2014
This case study reviewed social enterprises (SEs) operating in the agriculture and health sectors in Kenya to examine how the lack of a widely-accepted social enterprise definition influences activity in Kenya, identify niches within which agriculture and health sector social enterprises are operating and summarise key findings from discussions with key informants. Social enterprise in Kenya is a dynamic space at the moment, but that there is a lack of common terminology and understanding of how SEs fit into wider sectoral contexts. »
May 16th, 2016
Published by Wiley Online Library, April 19th, 2016
Using concepts of multifunctionality and agrarian change, this paper examines the implications of introducing an international environmental certification programme to a site where the ‘peasantry’ has been preserved and has limited integration in the global agro-food system. Drawing on a case study that examines the first certified organic shrimp production project in Vietnam, this paper concludes that the current movement towards post-productivism in the global North has potential to keep local farming practices in the global South by justifying the value of peasant-like production methods through international certification. »
April 19th, 2016
Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, January 29th, 2016
Agricultural cooperatives and producer organizations are institutional innovations which have the potential to reduce poverty and improve food security. This book presents a raft of international case studies, from developing and transition countries, to analyse the internal and external challenges that these complex organizations face and the solutions that they have developed. »
March 8th, 2016
Published by The Economist Intelligence Unit, February 23rd, 2016
This publication by the The Economist Intelligence Unit, highlights the overlooked value of rural economies for food security and poverty reduction. The authors state that rural economic development holds the key to ensuring that the nutritional needs of a growing global population are met, and poverty in rural areas is eased, narrowing the gaps between rural and urban populations. The focus of this research project is a better understanding of the macro- and microeconomic conditions that would enable rural economies to deliver a more significant contribution to economic growth. »
February 10th, 2016
Published by Scholar's Press, July 21st, 2015
Starting from recently published articles and new research this book presents a structured approach, which offers opportunities and challenges for local and regional food systems, that we see re-emerging globally. Based on a new classification of local food systems the book goes into adequate governance structures. This is demonstrated by a number of examples chosen from all over the world. »
January 7th, 2016
Published by Routledge, October 1st, 2015
A new edition of Food wars, a book written by Tim Lang and Michael Heasman, was published by Routledge. Food wars can be understood as a war declaration against nowadays food-world. This new edition brings new developments since the first edition fully up to date within the original analytical framework of competing paradigms or worldviews shaping the direction and decision-making within food politics and policy. »
January 6th, 2016
Published by Oxford University Press, September 24th, 2015
The New Harvest argues that Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security despite its history of persistent food shortages and the rising threat of climate change. To achieve this, the continent must harness scientific and technological advances, invest in infrastructure, foster higher technical training, and create regional markets. It must also produce a new crop of entrepreneurial leaders dedicated to the continent's economic improvement. »
December 8th, 2015
Published by Experimental Agriculture Journal, October 15th, 2015
This article in the Experimental Agriculture Journal highlights 'Innovation Platforms' (IPs) as a promising vehicle to foster a paradigm shift in agricultural research for development (AR4D). By facilitating interaction, negotiation and collective action between farmers, researchers and other stakeholders, IPs can contribute to more integrated, systemic innovation that is essential for achieving agricultural development impacts. However, successful implementation of IPs requires institutional change within AR4D establishments. The objective of this paper is to reflect on the implementation and institutionalisation of IPs in present AR4D programmes. »
December 8th, 2015
Published by Fairfood International, October 30th, 2015
In its ‘Social justice in the food sector’ series, Fairfood International is interviewing experts on their views on how to create fair and sustainable food supply chains. Raj Patel is an award-winning British academic, journalist, activist and writer. In this interview with Fairfood’s Richard Glass, he shares his view on corporate control of the food system and the systemic change needed to create a fairer future. »
November 17th, 2015
Published by FAO, October 13th, 2015
This edition of FAO's "The State of Food and Agriculture 2015" (PDF) makes the case that social protection measures will help break the cycle of rural poverty and vulnerability, when combined with broader agricultural and rural development measures. The report finds that in poor countries, social protection schemes - such as cash transfers, school feeding and public works - offer an economical way to provide vulnerable people with opportunities to move out of extreme poverty and hunger and to improve their children's health, education and life chances. »
November 16th, 2015
Published by Brookings Institution, October 13th, 2015
This report "Ending Rural Hunger: Mapping Needs and Actions for Food and Nutrition Security" (PDF) argues that a new approach is needed to achieve Global Goal 2: Zero Hunger: the international community must shift from a pattern of erratic political attention and inadequate measurement of the underlying issues to a sustained, strategic, and evidence-based commitment to food and nutrition security (FNS). This implies systematic and quantitative review of how well individual countries are doing in FNS, the strategies being undertaken, and the investments being made, especially in the developing world. »
October 19th, 2015
Published by Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, September 4th, 2015
This paper in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences compares knowledge generation, transmission, access, and use in four food system domains (global industrial, independent commercial, local and sustainable, and fair trade) discriminated on dimensions of globalization and multifunctionality. The objective of these comparisons is to understand connections among the resilience of food systems, food security, and knowledge systems... »
October 2nd, 2015
Published by IIED, September 1st, 2015
This paper (PDF) by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), examines whether local or global food chains are better at delivering food security and safety, decent employment, protecting the environment and contributing to economic growth. Using case studies from Senegal and Peru, the authors show a new and complex reality that challenges ideological views about re-localising food production and consumption. It points to the dilemmas but also to the potential and limits of national policies and food chain practices in a context of market globalisation. »
September 2nd, 2015
Published by IFPRI, July 24th, 2015
The past 50 years witnessed a remarkable spread of smaller-scale rural mechanization in some regions of South Asia, mostly characterized by the spread of single-cylinder diesel engines. Despite the evidence, international and local policy debates do not reflect the significance of these patterns of rural mechanization for agricultural and rural development. This paper by IFPRI starts with a discussion of three main generalizations arising from the spread of smaller-scale technology. »
September 2nd, 2015
Published by AGRA, July 15th, 2015
This Background Note by AGRA was intended for the High-Level Side Event on African Economic Transformation held in the margins of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, 13-16 July, Addis Ababa Ethiopia. It highlights potentials and challenges for transformation of African agriculture for sustainable growth. »
August 26th, 2015
Published by Agriculture and Human Values, July 24th, 2015
Agricultural intensification, now commonly referred to as sustainable intensification, is presented in development discourse as a key means to simultaneously improve food security and reduce rural poverty without harming the environment. Taking a village in Laos as a case study, we show how government agencies and farmers could perceive the idea of agricultural intensification differently. »
August 26th, 2015
Published by CAAST-NET Plus, June 30th, 2015
This report (PDF) by CAAST-NET Plus presents the key findings from an analysis of research cooperation between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Two issues were investigated: first, the extent to which joint EU-SSA research cooperation has impacted on Africa-EU joint FNS priorities; and, second, the extent to which research outputs have been used in policy-making and... »
August 6th, 2015
Published by KIT, June 1st, 2015
This paper (PDF) by KIT looks at the process of agricultural innovation and the realistic contribution agricultural research can make. To be able to analyse the process of agricultural innovation, three elements are distinguished: 1) opportunity assessment to identify ‘entry points for change’; 2) experimentation, leading to ‘tested and tried promising new practices’; and 3) »
July 9th, 2015
Published by Lucas Simons, November 1st, 2014
In his book “Changing the Food Game”, author Lucas Simons argues that the challenge of feeding the world’s population can only be solved by effective market transformation to achieve sustainable agriculture and food production. In the first part of the book, Simons explains about system dynamics and system failures. Lucas Simons explains clearly how we... »
July 9th, 2015
Published by Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, April 30th, 2015
The analysis presented in this paper (PDF) in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, reflects specifically on those proposals based on a common aspect: the need to transform the governance of the EU present-day food system, that is, who makes decisions, how are those decisions made, and which changes need to be made to empower food consumers. The introduction of reforms to change these models is proposed. »
June 18th, 2015
Published by IPES-Food, May 20th, 2015
The report of IPES-Food, entitled The New Science of Sustainable Food Systems: Overcoming Barriers to Food Systems Reform (PDF), makes the case for reaching beyond the traditional bounds of the scientific community in conducting this analysis. According to the authors, to accelerate the shift towards sustainable food systems, a new science of sustainable food systems is needed. »
June 17th, 2015
Published by GPF, February 10th, 2015
This book by Nora McKeon explores the global food governance at a crossroads. It proceeds to explain how actors link up in corporate global food chains and in the local food systems that feed most of the world’s population. It unpacks relevant paradigms – from productivism to food sovereignty – and highlights the significance of adopting a rights-based approach to solving food problems. »
June 16th, 2015
Published by Scinnovent, January 20th, 2015
This discussion paper (PDF) by Scinnovent Centre, sought to interrogate the challenges facing innovators in Kenya with a view to making recommendations to the various actors within the national innovation system on the various kinds of support required to ensure Kenyan innovators meet their full potential. A research survey was conducted to capture views on... »
May 18th, 2015
Published by Aidenvironment, NewForesight & IIED, April 17th, 2015
This paper by Aidenvironment, NewForesight and IIED presents a sustainable sector transformation model for smallholder dominated agricultural commodity sectors which takes a holistic approach to transformation. It begins with an explanation of some of the dynamics of sector transformation. It then presents the limits of purely public or market-driven models, before finally presenting the five building blocks that make up the model. »
May 18th, 2015
Published by Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment, February 2nd, 2015
Drawing on data collected from policy documents, interviews and participant observation, this book by Jessica Duncan examines the re-organization and functioning of a UN Committee that is coming to be known as a best practice in global governance. Framed by key challenges that plague global governance, the impact and implication of increased civil society engagement are examined by tracing policy negotiations within the CFS, in particular, policy roundtables on smallholder sensitive investment and food price volatility and negotiations on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, and the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition. »
May 14th, 2015
Published by MDPI Sustainability, January 13th, 2015
This paper (PDF) in Sustainability aims to identify gaps in current capacities and the development needs as perceived by stakeholders involved in national and regional Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). Three regional needs assessments undertaken by Tropical Agricultural Platform (TAP) and its partners. The surveyed tropical regions were Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. The... »
May 4th, 2015
Published by KIT, ICRA & CDI, November 12th, 2014
This publication (PDF) by KIT, ICRA and the Centre for Development Innovation (CDI), argues that Dutch-funded capacity development projects in developing countries for tertiary agricultural education organisations as they are currently carried out are not able to successfully achieve the sustained changes required. The authors suggest that long-term institutional change is needed. The report specifically... »
April 16th, 2015
Published by International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, April 24th, 2014
This paper in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability describes why inter- and trans-disciplinary research, accompanied by innovation platforms, is essential in the context of agricultural development in West Africa. The authors argue that an enabling institutional context is necessary to achieve an increase in agricultural production. This will have consequences for setting priorities of... »
April 16th, 2015
Published by International Journal of Agricultural Extension, February 27th, 2014
This paper comprehensively examines the organizational systems of agricultural extension in China. The organizations of agricultural extension in China have been gradually diversified over 30 years’ reform and adjustment. Suggestions on how to optimize the internal organizational structures, how to encourage the interaction and coordination among different types of organizations, and how to coordinate the relationships between organizations and external environment are proposed. »
March 30th, 2015
Published by FAO, September 1st, 2014
Aimed at policy-makers, project designers and field practitioners, this publication (PDF) by FAO provides the conceptual foundation for a new set of FAO handbooks on sustainable food value chain development. It defines the concept of a sustainable food value chain, presents a development paradigm that integrates the multidimensional concepts of sustainability and value added, highlights ten guiding principles, and discusses the potential and limitations of the approach. »
