Built on the challenge 'to give voice to small farmers', the International Farming Systems Association (IFSA) focuses on farming systems research to help smallholder development in the tropics. In 1992, the IFSA Europe Group was formed and mandated with organizing a bi-annual European Symposium. These symposia are a platform for dialogue between scientists and practitioners from a wide range of theoretical background and methodological focus. At the 2014 Symposium in Berlin, IFSA Europe chose to re-examine farming systems research in the context of global issues and widen its influence to … [Read more...]
Maize, Pigs, Plums and Tea – Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets in Northwest Vietnam
One of the key recommendations emerging from a situational analysis conducted by Humidtropics in four provinces of Northwest Vietnam is to use existing success stories of marketing business models to replicate those within value chains for indigenous local foods targeting niche markets. As a result, Humidtropics scientists from ILRI partnered with the Agriculture Economics and Value Chains Department of the Centre for Agrarian Systems Research and Development (CASRAD) to conduct a value chain assessment on four agricultural products: maize, pigs, plums and tea. This assessment provided … [Read more...]
The Humidtropics Newsletter is Out!
This quarterly newsletter reports on news and updates about the functioning and progress of Humidtropics. In this issue, we share with you some highlights of our operations, new publications, as well as news on some upcoming activities. Volume 1, Issue 1 – January-March 2014 … [Read more...]
International Conference on Integrated Systems Research
Humidtropics, in collaboration with Dryland Systems and Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), is organising an international conference on integrated systems research. Entitled Systems Research for Sustainable Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture, the conference will deal with major components within systems research in agriculture. The purpose of the conference is to learn from research undertakings on integrated systems, with an emphasis on results: data, methods and lessons learned. The conference will take place at the Conference Center of IITA in Ibadan, Nigeria, from October 7 to … [Read more...]
Towards Humidtropics’ Extension for 2015-2016
Humidtropics’ Extension Proposal Workshop is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from March 18 to 20, 2014. Humidtropics' extended Management Committee will convene for three days to develop the Extension Proposal for 2015-2016 and to work on a number of implementation issues that require strengthening. The specific objectives and tasks to be accomplished through this meeting are: Strengthening implementation of research action across locations; Partnership strengthening and management for results; Defining/refining Indicators, Targets and Metrics for each of the Intermediate … [Read more...]