Senegal

This report from CTA demonstrates how young agro-entrepreneurs across the developing world are tackling some of the value chain’s most substantial challenges through using information communication technologies (ICT). The authors argue that when it comes to building a more efficient and equitable value chain, the potential impact of ICTs is more than incremental; it is catalytic. One reason for this is that through having better access to information, farmers can save time and faster access the information they need to support their work. »

This report by FAO shows the nature of the impacts of climate change on, and vulnerabilities of fisheries in different parts of Africa, to identify current and potential coping mechanisms/strategies as well as biophysical and social characteristics/attributes that increase resilience to these impacts. The report consists of five chapters. Each chapter includes observations on the adaptive capacity of the social-ecological system and concludes with observations on the potential role of fisheries management institutions to reduce vulnerability to climate change. »

The working paper (PDF) by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), aims to provide insight into how we can use novel approaches to scale up research findings on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) to meaningfully address the challenges of poverty and climate change. The approaches described include those based on value chains and private sector involvement, policy engagement, and information and communication technologies and agro-advisory services. The paper draws on 11 case studies to exemplify these new approaches to scaling up. »

A new report published by CGAP presents insights in how digital financial services (DFS) can work for smallholders. Digital tools offer great opportunities for the world’s 450 million smallholder families, but cannot replace personal support, according to the new human-centered design research. Recognizing the need for DFS that better respond to smallholder demand, CGAP partnered in early 2015 with a financial service provider (FSP) in each of Zimbabwe, Senegal, Rwanda, and Cambodia to design a new generation of smallholder-specific digital financial products and services. Under the guidance and expertise of two human-centered design (HCD) firms, CGAP and its FSP partners worked to explore, create, evolve, and test possible digital solutions for smallholder families. »

This article uses a gender-based perspective to assess the conditions that underlie vulnerability and resilience of households and communities that face climate-change. The authors utilized a feminist political ecology framework to analyze how women and men are differently affected by issues of climate change and resource degradation. The authors compared the agricultural and livelihood systems of male and female respondents, as well as their productive resources, organization and access to services, and concluded that women have less access than men to common property resources, as well as to cash to obtain goods or services. »

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. »