knowledge systems

This book edited by James Sumberg, analyzes the knowledge politics of agronomy and sheds new lights on current debates about agricultural development and food security. Over the last decade there has been renewed interest in food security and the state of the global food system. »

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. »

This magazine illustrates how the collective creation of knowledge lies at the heart of agro-ecology rooted in family farming. It presents stories of diverse actors who have jointly created agro-ecological solutions that are suited to their own, local contexts. Agro-ecology can be seen as knowledge-intensive and for successful outcomes the combination of different types of knowledge is essential. In the context of climate change, knowledge co-creation is especially relevant and urgent since developing climate resilient agriculture needs knowledge related to locally rooted adaptation strategies. »

This paper in the World Development Journal, studies the role of Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre (ATDC) in Africa. The ATDC has been considered as an alternative model to pursue sustainability of Chinese foreign aid to African countries. This paper attempts to examine the ATDC scheme, particularly focus on the knowledge construction at macro level of design and the knowledge encounter at micro level of daily operation based on the case studies in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. »

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 »