skip navigation
A Learning Consortium

 

International Conference

conference

Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

 

8th–10th July 2009

The Future Agricultures Consortium together with the Centre for Social Protection is convening a 3–day conference on Seasonality, to be held on Wednesday 8th to Friday 10th July 2009 at IDS Sussex.

The conference will bring together 50–60 international participants, to include academics and practitioners, as well as policymakers from both governmental and international bodies. The conference will be global in scope but with a strong focus on Africa. The event aims to think through lessons from the past, examine current research, review good practice and consider policy options for the future.

 

Link here for more conference information.

Farmer First:
Transforming Agriculture through Farmer-Centred Innovation

big farm

On 16 June 2009, IDS Research Fellow Dr John Thompson and a distinguished panel of experts officially launched two new books that emphasise the importance of putting farmers at the centre of agricultural innovation and development: Farmer First Revisited: Innovation for Agricultural Research and Development and Innovaton Africa: Enriching Farmers’ Livelihoods

Read More

New FAC Occasional Paper "Pastoralist Innovation Systems - Perspectives from Ethiopia and Kenya"

While there has been much discussion of the importance of innovation in African
agriculture, remarkably little has focused on mobile pastoral systems. Everyone agrees
that science, technology and innovation must be at the centre of economic growth,
livelihood improvement and development more broadly.But it must always be asked: what innovation - and for whom? Decisions Photo: Ian Scoonesabout direction, diversity and distribution are
key in any discussion of innovation options and wider development pathways..

 

Read this report

 

pciMore resources at
Pastoralist
Communication
Initiative

 

FAC Partners receive
Think Tank policy funding

FAC congratulates two Consortium partners being awarded Think Tank Initiative research grants. The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) and Ethiopian Economic Association/ Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute (EEA/EEPRI) conduct agriculture policy research in Kenya and Ethiopia.

KIPPRAEEA

Read more

E-Debate

Big farms or small farms:
how to respond to the food crisis?

big farm

Join the e-debate now.

 

Contributions can be read here. Please continue to respond to any of the points made in the two position papers or on any of the contributions received at this email address.

Dfid White Paper consultation

Why food and agriculture needs to be front and centre.

Read FAC Commentaries

Social Protection

New Policy Briefs and Working Papers

FAC members review social protection in Ethiopia, Malawi and Ghana in a series of Policy Briefs and Working Papers available for download in FAC Publications.

FAC Commentaries

The global food crisis and
priorities for action

FAC members discuss ways to address the food crisis in Africa in short video interviews.

FAC YouTube Channel

FAC WorkshopPhoto:Julia Day, STEPS Centre

Input Subsidy Lessons from Malawi and Kenya Opportunities, Challenges and Future Prospects: presentations and panel discussion

 

 

Blessings Chinsinga,
Department of Political and Administrative Studies,
Chancellor College, University of Malawi

Future Agricultures Consortium - Key Themes

The Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) aims to encourage critical debate and policy dialogue on the future of agriculture in Africa. The Consortium is a partnership between research-based organisations in Africa and the UK , with work currently focusing on Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi.

Through stakeholder-led policy dialogues on future scenarios for agriculture, informed by field research, the Consortium aims to elaborate the practical and policy challenges of establishing and sustaining pro-poor agricultural growth in Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi. Current work focuses on four core themes:

Policy processes: what political, organisational budgetary processes promote or hinder pathways to pro-poor, agriculture-led growth? What role should different actors, including Ministries of Agriculture, have in this?

Growth and social protection: what are the trade-offs and complementarities between growth and social protection objectives?

Agricultural commercialisation: what types of commercialisation of agriculture both promote growth and reduce poverty? What institutional and market arrangements are required?

Science, technology and innovation: how can agricultural technology be made to work for the poor? How are technology trajectories linked to processes of agrarian/livelihood change?

 

News and Events

Web Resource
FAO launches new interactive livestock production and health statistics atlas

Conference
Innovation Systems For Poverty Reduction And Sustainable Livelihoods Development In SADC Countries

Report
From rural livelihoods to agricultural growth
The land policies of the UK Department of International Development

Report
The Impacts of Private Food Safety Standards on the Food Chain and on Public Standard-Setting Processes

Press Release
ILRI/AGRA Conference on role of markets for smallholders

Event
Latest Farmer First Book Launch

News
USD$30 million for African Policy Think Tanks - FAC partners included

News
Copenhagen Deal Without Agriculture is No Global Deal

News
UK: Reforming Institutions for Agricultural Research

News
USA: Doubling Financial Resources for Agricultural Development

News
Africa not benefiting from foreign land deals

Report
Haramata 54: Bulletin of the drylands - edited by IIED

News
EU € 1 billion ‘Food Facility’ for developing countries

News
Credit crunch deepens the hunger crisis

CAADP Meeting
Partnership Platform Meeting (26-27 March in Pretoria, S.A.)

Report
John Wyeth & Steve Ashley's review DFID’s 2005 Agricture Policy

Conference
International Conference: Seasonaility

e-Debate
Big Farm - Small Farm

Conference:
Science for Development: Mobilizing Global Linkages

Article:
Lessons from Zimbabwe
Book Review

Event:
Seasons of Hunger
Book Launch

Conference
Toward a Green Revolution for Africa
Conference & Report

African Commentaries:
Food Crisis

Reports:
GRAIN reports on global 'land grabs'

News:
Guardian: Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply

Event:
African Assessments of the requirements for growth & equity in African agriculture

Review:
ODI concludes review of the Millennium Villages Project

Publication:
Towards ‘smart’ subsidies in agriculture? Lessons from recent experience in Malawi

Publication:
Private Standards, Small Farmers and Donor Policy: EUREPGAP in Kenya

Publication:
The Role of Agriculture in Achieving MDG1

Debate:
Policy frameworks for increasing soil fertility in Africa

Traduction:
Ce site web est maintenant en Francais!

Debat:
Cadres politiques propices à l’amélioration de la fertilité des sols en Afrique

Briefing paper:
The Global Fertiliser Crisis and Africa
by Andrew Dorward and Colin Poulton

More news and events...

Related websites

  steps   steps

steps

ffr

 

Agriculture is a key pathway out of poverty

site en français

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Future Agricultures, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, BN1 9RE Tel: +44 (0)1273 877418 Email: FAC@ids.ac.uk

Terms and Conditions