Climate change mitigation beyond agriculture: A review of food system opportunities and implications

A large body of research has explored opportunities to mitigate climate change in agricultural systems; however, less research has explored opportunities across the food system. Here we expand the existing research with a review of potential mitigation opportunities across the entire food system, including in pre-production, production, processing, transport, consumption and loss and waste. We detail and synthesize recent research on the topic, and explore the applicability of different climate mitigation strategies in varying country contexts with different economic and agricultural systems. Further, we highlight some potential adaptation co-benefits of food system mitigation strategies and explore the potential implications of such strategies on food systems as a whole. We suggest that a food systems research approach is greatly needed to capture such potential synergies, and highlight key areas of additional research including a greater focus on low- and middle-income countries in particular. We conclude by discussing the policy and finance opportunities needed to advance mitigation strategies in food systems

Building Pathways out of Rural Poverty through Investments in Agricultural Information Systems (WorldAgInfo Final Report, complete)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report (complete)This report summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems, pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education.Bill and Melinda Gates Foundatio

Section 1: WorldAgInfo: 21st Century Agriculture Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo Final Report)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report extractThe WorldAgInfo Project final report, which this document is a part of, summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities (summarized and contextualized in this section) included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems, pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education

Front Material (WorldAgInfo Final Report)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report extractThe WorldAgInfo Project final report, which this document outlines, summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems, pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education

Section 3: Knowledge Systems: Outcome of the Workshop at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (WorldAgInfo Final Report)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report extractThe WorldAgInfo Project final report, which this document is a part of, summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York (described in this section), and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems, pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education

Section 7: Literature Reviews (WorldAgInfo Final Report)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report extractThe WorldAgInfo Project final report, which this document is a part of, summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia (listed here, and provided in full in the First KM Reviews collection); and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems, pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education

Section 4: Ideas for Other Potential Support Initiatives (WorldAgInfo Final Report)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report extractThe WorldAgInfo Project final report, which this document is a part of, summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems (including those listed here), pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education

Section 6: Smallholder Surveys (WorldAgInfo Final Report)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report extractThe WorldAgInfo Project final report, which this document is a part of, summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students (documented here). The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems, pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education

Section 2: Pathways out of Rural Poverty: Proposed Information Projects Generated by the Workshop in Livingstone, Zambia (WorldAgInfo Final Report)

WorldAgInfo Project Final Report extractThis report summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems (including proposed information projects described in this section), pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education