ACDI/VOCA-AICCRA Internship Program

To accelerate inclusive and gainful employment for young women and men in Zambia, ACDI/VOCA, under its USAIID EDGE project, developed an internship program. ACDI/VOCA partnered with the Accelerating Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project to deliver a joint program centered around building capacities of interns in business management skills, key value chain practices, climate information services (CIS) and climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices

Empleo inclusivo desde los centros de formación: Experiencia de trabajo entre Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá y Fundación ACDI/VOCA LA

Esta guía es una herramienta que busca socializar buenas prácticas para la inclusión laboral, desde las entidades relacionadas con los procesos de formación para el trabajo y desarrollo humano. Su vocación es eminentemente práctica por lo que pretende responder a interrogantes puntuales referidos al quehacer de los equipos de trabajo y de los tomadores de decisiones, que procuran el establecimiento de una agenda común para la consolidación del empleo inclusivo como un eje estratégico dentro de los Centros de Formación. Se espera que permita el debate y sea una herramienta de consulta al interior de las entidades, y a distintos niveles, como: personal directivo, coordinación académica, registro, docentes, departamento de prácticas, entre otros

Seed system security assessment: Haiti

A Seed System Security Assessment (SSSA) was carried out in Haiti in May-June 2010. The work assessed the impact of the 12 January 2010 earthquake on households and agricultural livelihoods, including pos - sible changes in assets, land holdings, labor availability, income generation activities, crop profiles and seed use. The work also analyzed acute seed security issues, monitoring farmers’ seed procurement strategies and examining the effects of any aid given. As a third thrust, the SSSA looked at chronic seed security problems, including those related to seed/grain markets, agricultural product transformation and access to modern variet - ies. Hence the foci included ‘very short term’, as well as short- and medium-term issues. Ten sites have been included in the assessment. These are located in the following communes: Bassin Bleu, Chantal, Hinche, Lascahobas, Verrettes, Marigot, Le Petit Goave (plains/hills), Léogâne, Belle Anse and La Vallée de Jacmel. The sites typify Haiti smallholder agricultural regions and allow for insights into the mix of areas in which humanitarian and development aid unfolds. In terms of agro-ecology, the sites range from the better-off irrigated areas of Verrettes, to some of the drought-prone zones of Bassin Bleu, and include a range of mountainous and lowland locales . Furthermore, Léogâne, La Vallée de Jacmel, and Le Petite Goave are located directly in the earthquake epicenter and can be contrasted and compared with the other seven sites scattered across the country. The SSSA consisted of a total of 983 comprehensive farmer interviews, plus 35 focus group sessions (21 mixed, 15 women only), key informant interviews, and commissioned studies on special topics. Note that an SSSA goes well beyond a conventional seed needs assessment as it homes in on specific seed security problems communities face, and then recommends actions to alleviate specific constraints, and often improve systems

Improving adoption of technologies and interventions for increasing supply of quality feed in low- and middle-income countries

The global increase in the demand for and production of animal-source foods (four-to five-fold increase between 1960 and 2015), which has been mostly concentrated in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), provides smallholder livestock producers with an opportunity for improving their livelihoods and food and nutrition security. However, across livestock production systems in many LMIC, limited supplies and high cost of good quality feed severely constrains exploitation of this opportunity. In many of such countries, feeds and feeding-related issues are often ranked as the primary constraint to livestock production and increased consumption of animal-source foods. Here we review the complex biophysical, socio-economic and technological challenges related to improving quality feed supply and the reasons for generally low adoption of apparently proven feed enhancement technologies. We describe also successful interventions and conclude by recommending strategies for improving quality feed supply in LMIC that account for and overcome the prevailing challenges

AICCRA Internship Program: Pause and Reflect Report

The overall objective of the internship program is to expose university students and/or graduates to practical skills necessary for gainful employment and entrepreneurship over a period of 2 to 6 months. By employing interns, EDGE will address SMEs’ critical gaps and build their capacities to diversify their networks, increase the quality of their products, enhance their visibility, and identify new markets, which in turn, should increase SMEs’ sales, profits, and access to finance opportunities

Climate-Smart and Regenerative Agriculture in Climate Change Adaptation for Smallholder Coffee Farmers

The primer explores the challenges and opportunities faced by smallholder coffee farmers due to climate change impacts. It showcases diverse climate-smart and regenerative agricultural practices employed on small coffee farms and highlights the importance of incremental and anticipatory adaptation measures