Small Farm Resource Centers as Informal Extension Hubs in Underserved Areas: Case Studies from Southeast Asia

A Small Farm Resource Center (SFRC) is an informal in-situ extension model used for testing promising agricultural and rural livelihoods options on a physical central site, with some measure of extension methodology. There is a need to evaluate SFRCs as research-extension models operating outside of formal government extension and advisory services. Seven SFRCs located in Southeast Asia were studied to classify extension methodologies adopted by those centers, evaluate extension efficacy, and to provide recommendations for amplifying their services. On average in 2013, SFRCs were 21.1 years old, covered 24.2 ha, cost 242,000 USD to establish and had a yearly operating cost of 28,500 USD. The work of the seven SFRCs could be classified into five predominant extension methodologies: on-site and off-site demonstrations, on-site and off-site trainings, and off-site extension outreach. Most of the SFRCs utilized combinations of these and tailored their methods to the particular context. Besides agricultural production, SFRCs also offered socio-cultural and socio-economic assistance, owing to a cycle of extension knowledge refinement. SFRCS were re-engaged in 2021 and all 7 were still operational, and the majority provided the same number or more services (57%) as in 2013, utilized the same amount of space (71%), and were perceived to have the same or more efficacy (71%) even in the face of decreasing or stagnating funding (71%) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, SFRCs continue to be used successfully throughout Southeast Asia and provide cost-effective and needs-based extension and advisory services to underserved populations outside of formal extension services

The 10 Elements of Agroecology:Enabling transitions towards sustainable agriculture and food systems through visual narratives

The magnitude and urgency of the challenges facing agriculture and food systems demand profound modifications in different aspects of human activity to achieve real transformative change and sustainability. Recognizing that the inherent complexity of achieving sustainability is commonly seen as a deterrent to decision-making, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has approved the 10 Elements of Agroecology as an analytical framework to support the design of differentiated paths for agriculture and food systems transformation, hence facilitating improved decision-making by policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders in differing contexts at a range of levels on a number of scales. Biodiversity, consumers, education and governance are identified as promising entry points to build a structured process using visual narratives that rely on the 10 Elements of Agroecology to graphically dissect prospective social-ecological transition trajectories. We illustrate such applications with examples from agroforestry worldwide, public food procurement in Brazil and the United States of America, and agroecology education vis-à-vis secure access to land in Senegal. Nexus approaches are used to highlight and examine salient interactions among different sectors and entry points, and to develop visual narratives describing plausible theories of transformative change towards sustainable agriculture and food systems

Dialogue across Indigenous, local and scientific knowledge systems reflecting on the IPBES Assessment on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production

The Dialogue across Indigenous, local and scientific knowledge systems reflecting on the IPBES Assessment on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production report presents the main outcomes of a Dialogue across Indigenous, local and scientific knowledge systems that revisited and reflected on the key messages derived from the Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The Dialogue was hosted from the 21st to the 25th of January 2019 by the Karen community of Hin Lad Nai, Chiang Rai, Thailand, and it was co-convened and jointly designed by the Inter Mountain Peoples Education and Culture in Thailand Association (IMPECT) and Pgakenyaw Association for Sustainable Development (PASD) together with SwedBio at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and UNESCO Natural Science Sector

Against the odds: Network and institutional pathways enabling agricultural diversification

Farming systems that support locally diverse agricultural production and high levels of biodiversity are in rapid decline, despite evidence of their benefits for climate, environmental health, and food security. Yet, agricultural policies, financial incentives, and market concentration increasingly constrain the viability of diversified farming systems. Here, we present a conceptual framework to identify novel processes that promote the emergence and sustainability of diversified farming systems, using three real-world examples where farming communities have found pathways to diversification despite major structural constraints. By applying our framework to analyze these bright spots in the United States, Brazil, and Malawi, we identify two distinct pathways—network and institutional—to diversification. These pathways emerge through alignment of factors related to social and ecological structure (policies, institutions, and environmental conditions) and agency (values, collective action, and management decisions). We find that, when network and institutional pathways operate in tandem, the potential to scale up diversification across farms and landscapes increases substantially

Using institutional arrangements to teach undergraduates about commons in Thailand, and beyond

How can we introduce more people to the concepts of commons and institutions earlier in their careers?  Despite the wide variety of academic fields that contribute to commons research, there are few undergraduate university courses that center on this theme. This study describes how a study abroad program in Thailand uses guiding questions about institutional arrangements to teach North American undergraduate students about commons resource-dependent communities' control and access regarding coasts, forests, and rivers.  Components that will enable students to transfer this learning to other, more familiar settings are built into the field-based courses.  This paper outlines how students learn institution-focused questioning on history of local resource management groups, resource access and use, exclusionary mechanisms, strategic collaborations, and power relations in very unfamiliar contexts.  Through the lens of political ecology, the paper describes how focusing on institutions has shaped students’ understanding of the commons, and how they have been able to transfer their newly acquired institutional perspective to a range of situations in their home contexts

Fao'S Tool For Agroecology Performance Evaluation (Tape): A Multi-Dimensional Assessment Tool For The Performance Of Agroecology For Better Decision Making In The Transition To Sustainable Food Systems

"Agroecology is fast gaining interest worldwide among a wide range of actors as a holistic response to the multiple and interrelated challenges facing food systems – not least of which include continued poverty and hunger in the context of degrading natural resources and climate change. While there is increasing evidence on the positive impacts of agroecology, results remain fragmented because of heterogeneous methods and data as well as differing scales, locations and timeframes. In 2018, FAO was requested by its governing bodies to develop metrics, tools and protocols to evaluate the contribution of agroecology to the transformation of sustainable agriculture and food systems. To respond to this request, FAO, with the help of multiple partners, has developed a global analytical framework for the multidimensional assessment of the performance of agroecology: the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) (FAO 2019), which aims to: - Inform policy makers, development institutions, and other stakeholders by creating references to the multidimensional performance of agroecology and its potential to contribute to multiple SDGs; - Build knowledge and empower producers through the collective process of producing and sharing data and evidence based on their own practices; - Support agroecological transition processesThis session will explore the TAPE tool and its utilization with an aim to link the assessment of agroecology to better decision making in order to foster the transition to sustainable food systems.

Strengthening Informal Seed Systems To Enhance Food Security in Southeast Asia

In 2011, the number of hungry people in the world surpassed one billion for the first time. The majority of these people are largely dependent for their food security upon resource-poor smallholder farmers in developing or emerging economies. These smallholders depend on informal seed systems for 75–90% of their food crop cultivation. Southeast Asia, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots in the face of rapidly dwindling global genetic diversity, is at the forefront of seed systems issues. This article examines activities undertaken by a collaboration of researchers and local institutions to enhance food security within informal seed systems in Thai and Cambodian rural communities. We employed a two-step model for strengthening food security using a range of participatory activities to first understand and characterize, and secondly strengthen informal seed systems in the target regions. We documented seed pathways, histories, and storage as well as gender roles in each community. Informal seed systems were strengthened through identifying potential species for commercialization, addressing technological barriers to seed analysis, and conducting seed fairs and seed banking. These activities not only strengthened informal seed systems, but also significantly enhanced all four pillars of food security in the study communities. Recommendations for future informal seed systems and food security research include extending research into more communities and countries, focusing on the potential for enhancing formal seed systems, and examining the possibilities for synergies with food sovereignty approaches