Technology

Constructing alternatives to globalisation: strengthening tradition through innovation

Full-text sample article FREE from Taylor & Francis With the inability of international economic integration to create opportunities for important segments of society, many Mexicans are searching for ways to forge their own alternatives. These strategies are the concrete manifestations of the realisation that the `mainstream' path of the search for proletarian employment is no longer viable and that a return to traditional forms of cooperation, organised around mechanisms for ecosystem management, might offer greater security and a better quality of life.

Author: 
Barkin, David
Author: 
Barón, Lourdes
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4

Crop diversity and livelihood security in the Andes

Andean farmers have traditionally adapted and selected varieties of quinoa and potatoes to reduce their vulnerability to a range of environmental risks. Data suggest that this strategy is being undermined. Market pressures, particularly the requirements for consistency and quantity along with the import of subsidised wheat products, are leading to the displacement of quinoa and indigenous potato varieties. This paper explores the feasibility of maintaining crop diversity while ensuring that farmers benefit from market opportunities.
Author: 
Hellin, Jon
Author: 
Higman, Sophie
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3

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for gender and development

This article discusses the burgeoning field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), with a particular focus on the opportunities for its application as part of the international women and development agenda. We discuss recent theoretical developments in critical GIS and feminist theory which have created this opportunity, as well as the problems inherent in using GIS for gendered research. We focus on the obstacles created by inadequate gendered data sources and the ability of GIS to represent women's issues.

Author: 
Bosak, Keith
Author: 
Schroeder, Kathleen
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10

Participatory technology development in agricultural mechanisation in Nepal: how it happened and lessons learned

International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT) projects on new resource-conservation technologies (RCTs) in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Nepal aimed to strengthen equity of access, poverty reduction, and gender orientation in current rural mechanisation processes - more specifically, to promote machine-based resource conservation and drudgery-reduction technologies among smallholder farmers.
Author: 
Biggs, Stephen
Author: 
Goodrich, Chanda Gurung
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Justice, Scott
Author: 
Sah, Ganesh
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16

Participatory risk assessment: a new approach for safer food in vulnerable African communities

Women play the major role in food supply in developing countries, but too often their ability to feed their families properly is compromised; the result is high levels of food-borne disease and consequent limited access to higher-value markets. We argue that risk-based approaches - current best practice for managing food safety in developed countries - require adaptation to the difficult context of informal markets.
Author: 
Dipelou, Morenike
Author: 
Grace, Delia
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Kang'ethe, Erastus
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Olawoye, Janice
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Randolph, Tom
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12

Participatory research practice at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

This study assessed the extent to which participatory methods had been used by CIMMYT, and how the scientists perceived them. Results suggest that participatory approaches at the Center were largely 'functional' - that is, aimed at improving the efficiency and relevance of research - and had in fact added value to the research efforts. The majority of projects surveyed also placed emphasis on building farmers' awareness. This is understandable if we think that the limiting factor in scientist-farmer exchange is the farmers' limited knowledge base.
Author: 
Bellon, Mauricio
Author: 
Lilja, Nina
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10

Integrating participatory elements into conventional research projects: measuring the costs and benefits

Until recently, participatory and conventional approaches to agricultural research have been regarded as more or less antagonistic. This article presents evidence from three sub-projects of a Thai-Vietnamese-German collaborative research programme on 'Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountainous Regions of Southeast Asia', in which participatory elements were successfully integrated into conventional agricultural research as add-on activities.
Author: 
Neef, Andreas
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9

Engaging with cultural practices in ways that benefit women in northern Nigeria

This study explores the intra-household impact of improved dual-purpose cowpea (IDPC) from a gender perspective, in terms of productivity and food, fodder, and income availability, the impact of which is linked to the income thus placed in the women's hands. Surplus income is important in providing food and nutritional benefits to the home, particularly during periods of risk.
Author: 
Alene, Arega
Author: 
Manyong, Victor M.
Author: 
Tipilda, Annita
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7

Impact assessment of farmer institutional development and agricultural change: Soroti district, Uganda

This article is based on participatory development research conducted in Soroti district of Uganda with the aim of assessing the impact of agricultural development among poor farmers. The central argument is that a combination of farmer empowerment and innovation through experiential learning in farmer field school (FFS) groups, changes in the opportunity structure through transformation of local government staff, establishment of new farmer-governed local institutions, and emergence of a private service provider has been successful in reducing rural poverty.
Author: 
Friis-Hansen, Esbern
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4

The lost 1990s? Personal reflections on a history of participatory technology development

This article traces a history of agricultural participatory research, largely from the author's personal experience. Participatory research in the 1970s was mostly led by disciplinary scientists, and characterised by innovative activities and open academic debate, with some recognition that policy and development practice was a political process. The 1980s saw a shift to learning from past experience, and a participatory mainstream developed, seeking methods for scaling up.
Author: 
Biggs, Stephen
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3
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