Paper

This paper explores new cases for weather monitoring and forecasting through mobile phones to enhance climate resilience. The authors advocate for increasing focus and investment from mobile network operators (MNOs), value added service (VAS) providers and donors into enabling technologies that can provide more localized and accurate service. In the developing world, the availability of localized, granular weather forecasts can benefit smallholder farmers who depend on rain for their agricultural activities and food security. »

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) & The International Labour Organizattion (ILO) prepared a background paper for the Feeding Africa conference of October 2015. The paper highlights several challenges and opportunities in involving youth in agribusiness. The authors stimulate the development of a special program to promote youth in agribusiness. »

This working paper aims to show how the right to food can be ensured in local biomass production and through certification systems in food insecure regions. The authors argue that until now food security aspects of biomass-based economies are hardly addressed because practical criteria and indicators are lacking. »

Index based insurance is a promising innovation that might yet help scale up agricultural insurance to needed levels, as well as help underwrite many public relief programs. It also promises to be a useful bridge for increasing the engagement of private insurers in managing these risks, either directly or through various kinds of public-private or nonprofit-private partnerships. Yet despite many promising pilots, IBI has not yet taken off at scale. There are a number of challenges holding back IBI. »

This publication (PDF) by Dr. Rauno Zander from the GPFI SME Finance SubGroup aims to provide development policymakers with some practical recent insights on new trends in agricultural value chain financing. It highlights good practices, success factors and lessons to be learnt from recent experiences, covering the past five years. The paper looks at innovation challenges in agricultural value chain financing and details three possible types of innovation. »

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. »