Rural youth today, farmers tomorrow?

A rising number of rural youth in developing and emerging economies are turning their back on small-scale agriculture. Limited access to markets, assets, finance and infrastructure in rural areas, coupled with perceived employment opportunities in urban areas increasingly makes cities the preferred choice in the search for a better life. Yet small-scale farming remains a key source of livelihood and employment and will be critical to future food security. Engaging rural youth in agriculture i...

Business Knowledge in Development

As follow up to the January 2012, seminar ”The state of the art on knowledge integration across boundaries”, a meeting on ‘Business knowledge in development’ will be held on Tuesday 3 April 2012 at Hivos in The Hague.At the seminar itself, we missed the participation of the private sector and identified the need for a deeper discussion on the role of business knowledge in development. Given the differing drives and incentives in terms of knowledge production and use of business and the domai...

New Publication: Small-scale farming - Youth in an era of rapid rural change

This is the second in a series of papers from the Knowledge Programme Small Producer Agency in the Globalised Market. The paper focuses on developing and emerging economy regions of the  world,  providing an overview of trends in small-scale farming and  agrifood  markets, demographic changes and trends in employment –  particularly  that of youth.

The Third Global Learning Network Meeting

02/03/2012 Reshaping the debate on small-scale farmers looking into the future; news from Indonesia, a country of millions of very small-scale producers.The Global Learning Network of Hivos – IIED knowledge programme on ‘Small producers’ agency in globalised markets’ held his 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 learni...

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...

Vergroot 'Land Grabbing' de voedselonzekerheid in Afrika?

Sinds deze zomer wordt de Hoorn van Afrika opnieuw getroffen door  grootschalige voedselonzekerheid en de roep om voedselhulp.  Tegelijkertijd bereiken ons berichten dat grote arealen landbouwgrond in  Afrika worden verworven door veelal buitenlandse investeerders. Dat  roept de vraag op:is de huidige hongersnood een direct gevolg van deze  door velen als ‘land grab’ betitelde trend? En: Wat weten we eigenlijk  van de gevolgen van grootschalige landacquisitie voo...

A Global Learning Network at work

Globalisation and particularly the food crises of 2007- 2008 and 2010-11 have renewed interest in agriculture and small-scale producers. Much of this interest has focused on connecting producers to markets. Governments, donors and the development community at large, as well as many in the private sector, have embraced the “pro-poor market” concept with the expectation that, through market inclusion, small-scale producers can survive and even prosper in the face of the major changes in agricul...

"MUSEVENOMICS" analyzed

Popular understanding as postulated by Ugandan President Museveni suggests that if the prices of commodity prices go up, farmers should benefit by way of higher income. Morrison Rwakakamba from Uganda, a practicing economist and an active member of the  Knowledge Programme on “Small Producers’ Agency in Globalised Markets” argues that while this might theoretically be true, the practice is a bit detached from the theory. He explains that certain structural factors inhibit the farmers fro...