Youth and agriculture: Key challenges and concrete solutions

With older farmers less likely to adopt new technologies, the need to re-engage youth in agriculture is vital if productivity is to be increased sustainably. This publication provides real-life examples of how this can be done. It shows how tailor-made educational programmes can provide rural youth with the skills necessary to engage in farming and adopt environmentally friendly production methods. Clearly laid out, with numerous case studies, photos and examples, topics covered also include accessing land and finance, connecting to markets and ‘green’ jobs

Joint statement for the ECOSOC side event on “Innovation Systems for Family Farming”

CGIAR, FAO, GFAR and IFAD, by convening this side event on “Innovation Systems for Family Farming” during the High-Level Segment of the ECOSOC Substantive Session 2013, wish to draw the attention of the ECOSOC members to the crucial importance of innovation in family farming and of agricultural innovation systems

Governing food and agriculture in a warming world

In order to understand, how, why and whether the trade-offs and tensions around simultaneous implementation of the SDGs are resolved in ways which are both sustainable and equitable requires an appreciation of power relations across multiple scales of governance. We explore the politics and political economy of how the nexus around food-energy and water is being governed through initiatives to promote ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) as it moves from the global to the local. We combine analysis of how these interrelationships are being governed (and ungoverned) by key global institutions with reflection upon the consequences of this for developing countries that are being targeted by CSA initiatives. In particular, we look at Kenya as a country heavily dependent on agriculture, but also subject to some of the worst effects of climate change, and which has been targeted by a range of bilateral and multilateral donors with their preferred vision of CSA. We draw on strands of literature in global environmental politics (GEPs), political ecology and the political economy of development to make sense of the power dynamics which characterize the multi-scalar politics of how CSA is translated, domesticated and operationalized in practice

Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Growth and Bridging the Gap for Small-Family Farms: Interagency Report to the Mexican G20 Presidency

In 2011, G20 leaders committed to sustainably increase agricultural (production and) productivity (paragraph 43 of the Cannes Declaration). They "agree(d) to further invest in agriculture, in particular in the poorest countries, and bearing in mind the importance of smallholders, through responsible public and private investment," they "decide(d) to invest in research and development of agricultural productivity. Early in 2012 Mexico, as G20 President, invited international organisations to examine practical actions that could be undertaken to sustainably improve agricultural productivity growth, in particular on small family farms. The preparation of this report, co-ordinated by the FAO and the OECD, responds to this request. It is a collaborative undertaking by Bioversity, CGIAR Consortium, FAO, IFAD, IFPRI, IICA, OECD, UNCTAD, Coordination team of UN High Level Task Force on the Food Security Crisis, WFP, World Bank, and WTO. We, the international organisations, are pleased to provide you with this joint report and look forward to continuing collaboration within the G20 framework to further elaborate and, as appropriate, implement the recommendations that it contains

Livelihoods, conflict and aid programming: Is the evidence base good enough?

In conflict-affected situations, aid-funded livelihood interventions are often tasked with a dual imperative: to generate material welfare benefits and to contribute to peacebuilding outcomes. There may be some logic to such a transformative agenda, but does the reality square with the rhetoric? Through a review of the effectiveness of a range of livelihood promotion interventions—from job creation to microfinance—this paper finds that high quality empirical evidence is hard to come by in conflict-affected situations. Many evaluations appear to conflate outputs with impacts and numerous studies fail to include adequate information on their methodologies and datasets, making it difficult to appraise the reliability of their conclusions. Given the primary purpose of this literature—to provide policy guidance on effective ways to promote livelihoods— this silence is particularly concerning. As such, there is a strong case to be made for a restrained and nuanced handling of such interventions in conflict-affected settings.Department for International Development - PO511

Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, nutrition and gender:Conceptual and methodological considerations

Indigenous Peoples, especially women and children, are affected disproportionately by malnutrition and diet-related health problems. Addressing this requires an investigation of the structural conditions that underlie unequal access to resources and loss of traditional lifestyles, and necessitates inclusive approaches that shed light onto these issues and provide strategies to leverage change. Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are inextricably connected to land, which in turn is interwoven with issues of self-determination, livelihoods, health, cultural and spiritual heritage, and gender. Ongoing loss of land and the dominant agri-food model further threaten Indigenous Peoples’ food systems. Continuing gender-based discrimination undermines the self-determination and rights of women, and negatively impacts on their health, nutritional status, and overall wellbeing, as well as on the wellbeing of households and communities. We suggest that feminist political ecology and modern matriarchal studies provide holistic interlinking frameworks for investigating underlying issues of power and inequality. We further argue that a focus on the principles of respect, responsibility, and relationships, and an openness to different worldviews, can facilitate a bridging of Indigenous and Western approaches in research and community action conducted in partnership with Indigenous Peoples. This can contribute to creating new ways of knowing regarding Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, equally valuing both knowledge systems. Indigenous Peoples’ rights, right to food, and food sovereignty are frames that, despite some tensions, have the common goal of self-determination. Through their ability to inform, empower, and mobilize, they provide tools for social movements and communities to challenge existing structural inequalities and leverage social change. Publisher Statement: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Lemke, S & Delormier, T 2018, 'Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, nutrition and gender: Conceptual and methodological considerations' Maternal & Child Nutrition, vol 13, no. S3, e12499, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12499. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving

Guidelines for measuring gender transformative change in the context of food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture

These Guidelines include step-by-step guidance to formulate qualitative and quantitative indicators of gender transformative change to help gender experts and food security, agriculture and nutrition programme specialists in their efforts to design, implement, monitor and evaluate gender transformative interventions. These indicators should be distinctive from and a complement to other reach, benefit and empower indicators intended to contribute to gender equality outcomes in food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. The Guidelines also present an overarching framework for measuring gender transformative change in the context of food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture, including key dimensions and a socio-ecological model for identifying spheres of influence within which gender transformative change can be measured. Additionally, the Guidelines bring attention to other important issues to consider when to implement the framework and when to develop context-specific indicators of gender transformative change, such as the incorporation of insider perspectives and consideration to intersectional forms of discrimination