In 2013, Humidtropics adopted the concept of Flagship Projects as the main vehicle through which the Program will carry out its research to achieve the Intermediate Development Outcomes. There are five Flagship Projects, of which one is mainstreamed to ensure coherence throughout the Program. The remaining four Flagship Projects are based on geographic location, including the Central America and the Caribbean Flagship, where the North Nicaragua (Nicanorte) Action Site is located. Within the Action Site, the Program is taking on a series of challenges, such as degraded soils, the reduction … [Read more...]
Adapting Humidtropics Research Methods to Fit Local Stakeholder Interests in Thailand
Last month I travelled to Thailand to launch a situational analysis in the northern province of Nan. In line with what I had previously done in Northwest Vietnam and in Uganda and West Kenya, I had come to Thailand to present the expected outline of a Humidtropics situational analysis report. This is meant to paint a broad picture of the current situation of agrifood production, marketing and natural resources management systems, while relating those to rural development indicators and expected outcomes of Humidtropics. I was the main facilitator for the situational analysis launch meeting … [Read more...]
2014 IFSA Symposium – Humidtropics is Forging Partnerships to Build Systems Capability
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...]