Kai Mausch, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and David Harris, Bangor University
Understanding rural household aspirations and taking them seriously in development planning could offer great potential in shaping the future of rural spaces.
A man runs through a desert locust swarm in Kitui County, Kenya.
DAI KUROKAWA/EPA
David Harris, Bangor University; Jordan Chamberlin, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and Kai Mausch, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)
Smallholder farming might not be able to generate enough value on its own, but farmers still need support.
Morten Wendelbo, American University School of Public Affairs
The $4 billion that foundations are pledging to spend within five years amounts to less than 1 percent of what businesses and governments spend on global warming every year.
It’s critical to ensure that smallholder farming groups are run democratically.
Flickr/Solidarity Center
Daniel Rodriguez, The University of Queensland; John Dixon, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, and Mulugetta Mekuria, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Africa’s declaration to boost agriculture on the continent has seem some progress but a lot still needs to be done.
More than 70% of Rwanda’s population are subsistence farmers.
Shutterstock/Sarine Arslanian
There are questionable methods being used which distort our understanding of the number of smallholder farmers that embrace new technologies.
Drought tolerant beans in Malawi. Africa needs improved agricultural practices to be implemented by smallholder farmers.
Neil Palmer/CGIAR Research Program/ Flickr
Since 2000, the growth of the commercial seed market has almost tripled. More than 63% of the world’s commercial seed is now owned by six corporations.
Women from a local cocoa farmers’ association spread cocoa beans to dry in Djangobo, Niable in eastern Ivory Coast.
Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon/