Knowledge Portal

This archive reflects on 50 years of research on pastoralism at IDS. Much has changed, but there are also important continuities. The capacity to respond to today’s turbulent world, to make productive use of marginal environments, to make use of mobility to respond to heightened uncertainty, and to adapt and innovate are all features of pastoralism that can be important in meeting wider, global challenges. »

This report assesses the state of food security and nutrition in the world, and attempts to foresee impact of COVID-19. The critical link between food security and nutrition outcomes are food consumption and diet quality. New analysis determines that the cost of the diet increases incrementally as diet quality increases. The hidden costs for health and environment translate into actual costs for individuals and society. »

This study applied a means-end chain analysis to understand farmers’ perceptions of formal and informal sources of banana planting material. Farmers associated formal sources mainly with improved cultivars, tissue culture plantlets and low levels of diversity. Informal seed sources were mostly associated with traditional cultivars, suckers and high levels of diversity. »

This article systematically reviewed the scholarly and gray literature on banana trait preferences, with specific attention to studies that document gender-differentiated traits. Farmers (as producers, processors, and consumers) often prefer traditional cultivars because of their superior consumption attributes, even if new cultivars have better agronomic and host plant resistance characteristics. »

This publication aims to anwser the question: “How do farmers respond to the vegetable activities, and why?” in northern Uganda. A farmer outreach program was developed to promote use of good quality seed and good horticulture practice. Of all participants, one-third adopted 1 or more technologies. »

This publication describes how five practical actions can be widely implemented in integrative and sustainable ways for measurable and rapid impacts on livestock emissions, taking account the diversity of livestock systems and enhancing synergies and managing tradeoffs with other sustainable development objectives. »