Publications
Small-scale farmers in China in the face of modernisation and globalisation
The development of China as a global economic power is one of the most dramatic stories of recent decades. China’s economy has been the fastest growing in the world since 1980. Rapid growth has occurred in all sectors, including agriculture, accompanied by rapid poverty reduction. In the past 30 years, based on China’s official povertyline, the absolute level of rural poverty fell from 260 million (36 per cent of rural population) in 1978 to 26.9 million (2.8 per cent of rural population) in...
Video: Global Learning Network at Work 3rd Meeting - Indonesia
"You are aware that The Global Learning Network of Hivos–IIED knowledge programme on ‘Small producers’ agency in globalised markets’ held its third and last meeting in Bandung between 13-17 February. It was hosted and organized by Dr. Ronnie S. Natawidjaja, Chairman, Master of Agricultural Economics Program Faculty of Agriculture Padjadjaran University (UNPAD). 16 learning network members from Africa, Latin America and Asia came together to share their insights, challenge each other and...
Agro-biodiversity @knowledged
Biodiversity is important for the resilience of our planet. Smallholders depend on biodiversity for their livelihoods and survival, and they are its main guardians. Farming practices which use and enhance this diversity are common, yet agriculture can also be the greatest destroyer of biodiversity. Can we add insights and evidence to the debates?This is the basis of a knowledge programme that has recently been started by Hivos and Oxfam Novib.It aims to develop concepts and ideas about agricu...
Markets, smallholders and empowerment
With the global population expected to rise to 9 billion by 2050, there has been growing attention at the highest policy circles to the contribution of small-scale agriculture to food security and poverty eradication. However, the creation of an enabling framework towards this end has been hampered by contradictory approaches and policy ''pendulum swings" alternately on 'rights-based' and 'market-based' support strategies. This issue of Capacity.org aims to refocus attention on the...
A Greener and more Inclusive Agriculture Sector
Starting this week Dutch Prime Minister Rutte and the governing parties are engaged in a new round of discussions on how to reduce the budget deficit to an acceptable level. The economic crisis is hitting the Netherlands hard and the politicians aim to cut back on a wide range of programs and services, including development aid. Unfortunately there is no sign of interest to not only reduce expenditures but to also look at possible solutions that take sustainability as a starting point. Why no...
New Donors, New Investments: New Development?
On January 27, 2012, the International Development Studies of Utrecht University organised its eight knowledge for development seminar. The seminar aimed to critically assess the meaning of development in the context of contemporary transformations such as the increased involvement of giants like India and China in development cooperation and the increased role of southern countries in international investment flows. Some key questions were: How do these new relations influence the notion of...
Small, competitive and resilient - How small-scale producers contribute to food security
Food insecurity threatens almost one billion people, especially in rural areas in developing countries, where four out of five people go hungry every day. Scientists estimate that the world’s population will grow to 9.1 billion by 2050. Since natural resources are already dangerously degraded, fossil fuels are becoming scarce, and climate change has become an impending reality, this poses a serious challenge. To nourish the growing population and meet the challenges of climate change, it is n...
Changing Perspectives: Small-scale farmers, markets and globalization
The Knowledge Programme on ‘Small producers agency in globalised markets’ released this first Working Paper during the First Provocative Seminar and the Hivos Conference on Knowledge and Change which took place in The Hague from 28 September to 1 October.
Value Chain Financing, a concept of consequence
I lived for some time among the farmers in the uplands of the Philippines. Most of them grew hybrid maize, destined for the pig industry around Manila. A major feature of dally life was the constant indebtedness of the farmers with the local traders that supplied the farmers with credits for the seeds and fertilizer, in return for a high interest rate and obligatory delivery of the whole yield to the trader. Some farmers were trying to escape from the debt trap by returning to white maize, a...
Inclusive Improvement: Standards and Smallholders
Millions of smallholder families in tropical commodity chains can double their income through improved management (specifically to enhance waste recycling), through better control over green house gas emission (through regular methane production and composting), through decreasing external inputs and through a focus on improving product quality. This book argues that combining sustainable development and poverty reduction is feasible. But it requires efforts of such magnitude that all parties...