Development & AgricultureHeike Ostermann, GIZ Advisor for sustainable resource management and agriculture and member of the Global Donor Platform work stream on post-harvest losses presents the draft terms of reference for a study on food losses in Nigeria. Watch the webcast of her presentation and the following online discussion with Platform members and partners from FAO, World Bank, SDC, NRI and others as they contribute their thoughts and knowledge on the subject of food losses.
Food security is central to the renaissance of ARD on development agendas, said Albert Engel, head of the rural development and agriculture division at GIZ in an online interview with the Platform. Getting the private sector on board would be crucial for making significant progress. Albert points out clearly that he appreciates the comeback of food security in particular and rural development in general. As a Platform focal point, he highlights the unique role that the Platform plays in advocating the important topic and shows some of the potentials for collaboration with the private sector.
9.00am – 5.00pm on 03 December 2012 – 04 December 2012 at The Royal Society, London.
Scientific discussion meeting organised by Professor Guy Poppy, Professor Paul Jepson, Professor John Pickett CBE FRS and Dr Michael Birkett.
A growing population coupled with climate change increases pressure on land and food security. The sustainable production of sufficient food, water and energy is challenging and boundaries between intensive/extensive and high tech/low tech agriculture need to broken down. This meeting reports on innovative science and adoption of novel strategies that open new windows of opportunity for sustainable production intensification.
Biographies of the organisers and speakers will be available below soon and you can also download the draft programme (PDF). Recorded audio of the presentations will be available on this page after the event and papers will be published in a future issue of Philosophical Transactions B.
This event is intended for researchers in relevant fields and is free to attend. There are a limited number of places and registration is essential. An optional lunch is offered and should be booked during registration (all major credit cards accepted). but pre-registration online is essential.
Participants are also encouraged to attend the related satellite meeting Can science help us get back to the countryside? which immediately follows this event.
The Worldbank states that ICTs make a difference to small scale farmers:
“A farmers’ organization in Western Kenya uses mobile phones to access a digital marketplace and bypass middlemen. Now trading directly with exporters, the group is seeing dramatic increases in income. New mobile applications are also being used to provide timely information about disease outbreaks to farmers in Eastern Africa, so they can prepare and prevent the pests from affecting their livestock.
Understanding and addressing global agriculture developments—both positive and negative—are critical to improving smallholder livelihoods. These are just two examples of how the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) can improve smallholder farmers’ income and increase agricultural productivity. Expanded and increasingly affordable connectivity and tools, especially mobile phones, as well as advances in data storage and open access, have made ICT relevant to agriculture.”
Have a look at the Worldbank news-item.
Talking about agriculture, food security and rural development never forget about the ocean: A beautiful movie by the Worldbank.
FAO’s Forestry Department has launched the Organization’s first multimedia app, designed to bring its work on forests and forestry to a growing generation of iPhone and iPad users.
The ‘FAO Forestry’ App can be downloaded free from the Apple App store and provides users with news, videos, select publications, interactive maps showing world forest statistics, and a quiz, all navigable with a touch-screen wheel. It also includes a ‘donate’ button that takes users to the website of FAO’s TeleFood fundraising programme – which uses public contributions to finance small-scale agriculture, livestock and fisheries projects that help poor families achieve food security.
FAO Forestry invites students and people in public and private organizations with an interest in forestry to start downloading the app and share it with their friends and colleagues so that they can have the latest forest and forestry information at their fingertips.
The second version scheduled for mid-year will provide updated information on the forestry department’s work and allow users to donate specifically to forestry-related TeleFood projects.
Have a look at Worldbank new webportal:
www.ictinagriculture.org
Realizing the profound potential of information and communication technologies in developing country agriculture, the Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD) of the World Bank in collaboration with infoDev (part of the World Bank Group) embarked in an effort to explore and capture the expanding knowledge and use of ICT tools in agrarian livelihoods. In November 2011, the World Bank released an electronic Sourcebook (e-Sourcebook) to initiate further (and better) investment in this sector. Called “ICT in Agriculture”, the e-Sourcebook provides practitioners within and outside of the World Bank Group with lessons learned, guiding principles, and hundreds of examples and case studies on applying information and communication technologies in poor agriculture.
The e-Sourcebook and website was made possible through theCreating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy program and generous funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Authors, reviewers, and other experts in agriculture and information and communication technology (ICT) contributed to the content, and also framed the long-term discussion on using information and communication devices in poor rural areas. This discussion—which motivates this website—is critical to understanding the impacts of ICT on agriculture and smallholder livelihoods. It is also critical to creating sustainable interventions as well as business models that will support the martialing forward of agriculture projects and investments that use ICT.
The website is managed by a collaborative group in ARD and infoDev. Intending to engage with other practitioners, the website offers opportunities for interaction with other interested persons—public and private—working in agriculture and/or ICT. Please explore the website and contribute to it where requested. Innovative applications, media, and updates on on-going projects are only some of the features this site hosts.
The e-Sourcebook is provided fully and freely on this website. Fifteen modules touch on a wide spectrum of sub-fields in agriculture, including risk management, gender, forest governance, and farmers organizations. The Introduction (Module 1) introduces users to the ‘ICT in agriculture’ topic, offering key themes throughout the sourcebook as well as more details on how to use it.
Each module is stand-alone in format, providing users with the advantage of selecting the module or modules closest to their interest or work. The modules are delivered both in html and pdf format. The pdf format can be downloaded and printed. The full book can also be downloaded. In this version, hyperlinks between modules are included to promote cross-referencing throughout the Sourcebook.
If you have any further questions on the e-Sourcebook or website, please contact us. Please also note that the sourcebook is not available in print.
Das BMZ hat jetzt auch einen youtube Kanal. Unter http://www.youtube.com/bmz gibt es ab sofort filme zu aktuellen entwicklungspolitischen Themen, Reden, Interviews und Reiseberichte. Ein schönes Beispiel des Angebotes ist der folgende Animationsfilm zu Thema REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation):
When: Wednesday, November 30th to Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Where: Washington DC in the World Bank Building
The enhanced South-South economic integration leads to growing interest in regional harmonization and equivalence among trade standards. In order to judge the role of standards in South-South trade regarding their potential development benefit, the conference will draw a detailed picture, taking the diversity of products traded and the spatial heterogeneity of trade flow into account, and explore the related impacts, potentials, and limitations of standards. A focus will be put on the drivers of standardization and harmonization, co-regulation in the timber sector, and the specific perspective of small and medium enterprises.
The Trade Standards Practitioners Network (TSPN) is an international network of multilateral agencies, bilateral organizations, research institutes, NGOs, and other practitioners in the field of sustainability standards. Bringing together the know-how of all members, our mission is to better enable developing countries to take advantage of and participate more effectively in standard-based markets.
The conference, together with the member meeting, is the major annual event of the Network. It will not only guarantee for versatile professional discussion on the South-South trade topic; it also provides the opportunity to personally connect with representatives from diverse stakeholders in the standards field from all over the world.
For registration, please use the form at the TSPN 2011 Conference web page http://www.tradestandards.org/en/Article.299.aspx .
Please add your name to the file name and send it to info@tradestandards.org until the end of October.
There is no participation fee.
Download the call for registration: Invitation_TSPN Conference 2011_South-South Trade
Wann: 07. Oktober 2011, 9.00 – 17.00 Uhr
Wo: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und
Entwicklung (BMZ), Dahlmannstr. 4, 53113 Bonn, Nelson Mandela Saal
Das Thema der Marktintegration von Kleinbauern ist nicht neu in der entwicklungspolitischen Debatte, erlebt aber vor dem Hintergrund sich verändernder globaler Rahmenbedingungen derzeit eine neue Konjunktur. Unter „Inklusiven Geschäftsmodellen“ werden innovative Kooperationen zwischen Kleinbauern und Privatwirtschaft verstanden, die aus der Geschäftsbeziehung einen entwicklungspolitischen Mehrwert entfalten sowie Kleinbauern in ihrer Handlungs- und Verhandlungskapazität stärken.
Die inklusive Ausgestaltung von Lieferbeziehungen zwischen Kleinbauern und Unternehmen ist ein Instrument mit Potential. In der Praxis existiert eine Vielzahl von Modellen, die bereits angewandt werden. Allerdings sind Inklusive Geschäftsmodelle keine Selbstläufer. Sowohl Unternehmen als auch Kleinbauern sehen sich neuen Herausforderungen gegenüber. Und: Neue Beratungsprogramme sowie Agrar- und Sektorpolitiken können Anreize setzen, damit sich die Zusammenarbeit für alle Seiten lohnt.
Können angesichts der oft großen Macht-Ungleichheit zwischen Unternehmen
und Kleinbauern wirklich beide Seiten gewinnen?
Das BMZ lädt Sie daher ein, zusammen mit Vertretern aus Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, Wissenschaft, Privatwirtschaft und Zivilgesellschaft über Konzept und Praxis Inklusiver Geschäftsmodelle zu diskutieren.
Kontakt: Manuela.Vollbrecht@giz.de
Programm Download: BMZ Einladung Inklusive Geschäftsmodelle
Talk-A: Talk Agriculture & Rural Development 