THE GFAR BLOG

World Rural Forum Strengthen Family farming has proven to be one of the paramount strategies to address the challenges facing humanity, including food security, climate change, forced migration. In times of crisis, the resilience, know-how, adaptability and community roots of family farmers are essential in attending the food, social and environmental needs of populations. Today … More Enabling policy environment towards unleashing the potential of family farming

By Sophia Amoah (Knowledge Management Intern, FARA, Ghana) FAO defines family farming as: “a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral, and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on family capital and labor, including both women’s and men. The family and the farm are linked, co-evolve, and combine … More Small-scale family farming in changing food systems

By Lisa Desbordes(Agribusiness Intern, FARA) In both developed and developing countries, family farming  is the most common form of agriculture. In the world, there are about 500 million family farms. Peasants, indigenous peoples, traditional communities, fisher folk, mountain farmers, herdsmen, and many other groups represent every region and biome of the world, and include peasants, … More Shifts in small scale family farming

By COPROFAM Meet Wagner Canal, a family farmer from São Domingos do Norte in the Southeast region of Brazil.  He strongly believes that family farming must keep up with the global technological advancements and continuously reinvent itself to stay relevant.   To this end, the family farmer has invested in internet coverage for more than 80% … More Brazilian family farmer bets on ICTs and Youtube channels to spread knowledge 

Michel Ghanem – Mohammed VI Polytechnic University “Why is it common sense to diversify our investment portfolio, but not the world’s food portfolio?” asks Dr. Arif Husain, Chief Economist at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize (quote from Twitter, 23rd March 2022). As we diversify our … More Africa’s forgotten crops could offset growing food insecurity

CABI CABI researchers are hoping that the concept for a new award-winning digital tool could help in the fight against the devastating armoured bush cricket which is blighting the crops of small-scale farmers in Southern Africa. The armoured bush cricket (Acanthoplus spp.) has been ravaging the sorghum, millet, pumpkin, cowpea and cucumber crops of farmers … More Award-winning digital tool to fight devastating armoured bush cricket pest

Farm Radio International Once a week, families in western Burkina Faso gather around the radio to hear the fictionalized story of Batogma and her husband, Mahadou. “Head of the family, how many bags did we store after threshing?” asks Batogma to her husband. “You’d better talk about something else. The question of stocks is not … More Radio dramas spark conversations and challenge gender norms

By: Hajnalka Petrics, JP GTA What if your diet was lacking proteins – because fish and eggs are considered fit for men, but not for women? What if you were deprived of your source of food and income – because the law allows land to be owned by men, but not by women? What if … More Joining forces to promote gender transformative approaches

by Anna Patel, CGIAR The participation of both women and men is critical for productive, climate-resilient food systems. Yet, women face many more barriers than men. Gender inequality is endemic within natural resource management and agricultural systems, where girls and women have less control over resources, access to services and opportunity to engage in markets. … More Ready? Set? Transform! How to make gender equality last

by Vincent Mariadho – Prolinnova Kenya Coordinator 56-year-old smallholder farmer Rebecca Auma Dero is the brains behind the innovative sack-garden irrigation kit. Identified during the now concluded Proli-FaNS (Promoting local innovation in Food and Nutrition Security) project run in Kenya by Prolinnova Kenya, Rebecca’s innovation has been documented and used as a starting point for … More Local farmer innovation an entry point for farmer-led joint research

By Andres Sanchez FORAGRO/IICA Digital agriculture solutions are considered by many as innovations per se. However, if we more ambitiously see innovation as “an iterative, social process characterized by attempts, trial and errors”, aimed to “respond to one or more constraints hindering the wellbeing of an individual, of a group, or of a whole community”(1), … More How do family farmers perceive digital solutions in the LAC Region

By the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) A digital soil map for Nepal launched in 2021 provides access to location-specific information on soil properties for any province, district, municipality or a particular area of interest. The interactive map provides information useful for new crop- and site-specific fertilizer recommendations for the country. Produced by … More Digital soil map provides information for crop productivity and soil health

By The Land Portal The landscape of land data is different from many other types of data held by governments because land tenure systems are social, political, and economic in nature. Land tenure systems determine how land can be used, controlled or transferred, and for how long, for what purposes and under which conditions. Having … More The Land Portal: Bringing together data governance and FAIR principles

By CABI CABI has been awarded a $4.5 million contract from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work with them to help address known constraints to data utility in agriculture development investments. These include helping the foundation’s Agricultural Development Program strategically address data sharing considerations at the beginning of projects rather than as an … More Constraints to FAIR and responsible data use in agricultural development investments highlighted

By Samwel Onyango, Cassava Project Assistant and Masters graduate in Food Safety and Quality, University of Nairobi The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted food systems. In the ‘new normal’, Kenyan farmers are struggling to revitalize their farms and are keen to mitigate some of the challenges experienced due to lockdowns, controlled gatherings and movement restrictions … More Revitalizing Kenya’s cassava value chain post COVID-19

The Partners in Action Campaign As we near the closing of the year 2021, GFAR takes this opportunity to thank all our Partners in Action contributors, readers and those who engage in the comments section. When the Partners in Action campaign was flagged off in May we were hoping that you would offer your experiences … More End of Year Letter from our Executive Secretary – Hildegard Lingnau

By Lauren Sarruf, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) A study by CCAFS has explored the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on Guatemala’s food production systems, generating a series of recommendations for the sector. The closures and safety measures adopted worldwide in response to the coronavirus outbreak continue to have profound … More Impact of COVID-19 on Guatemala’s agriculture sector

By Dr. Dennis Rangi, Director General, Development, CABI CABI’s Dr. Dennis Rangi, based in Nairobi, asks how we can apply the determination and urgency shown to the COVID-19 pandemic to plant pandemics on the African continent in order to help food security. During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across Africa showed great determination and urgency in … More Healthy crops are key to solving Africa’s food insecurity

By the Kenya National Farmers’ Federation (KENAFF) Like the rest of the world, Kenya’s climate is changing. The rainy seasons’ timing and duration have shifted, making them exceedingly unpredictable. Climate change poses a significant danger to agriculture, food security, and poverty alleviation. Agriculture contributes to climate change by emitting anthropogenic greenhouse gases and converting non-agricultural … More Bolstering Kenyan farmers’ resilience to climate shocks