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    <title><![CDATA[Hivos Online, Humanistisch Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking]]>: <![CDATA[Small Producers Agency]]></title>
    <link>http://www.hivos.net</link>
    <description></description>
    <language>eng-GB</language>
    
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			<title><![CDATA[Book on Value Chain Finance ]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Publications2/Book-on-Value-Chain-Finance</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
In large parts of the world, small-scale farmers, traders and processors are constrained in their business operations due to a lack of finance. Farmers want to be paid immediately, but traders do not have the ready cash to buy their produce. Traders need working capital so they can buy and transport produce, but lack the collateral to get loans. Processors cannot get the money they need to buy equipment or ensure a steady supply of inputs. 

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			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:48:11 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Book on Value Chain Finance ]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/Book-on-Value-Chain-Finance</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
In large parts of the world, small-scale farmers, traders and processors are constrained in their business operations due to a lack of finance. Farmers want to be paid immediately, but traders do not have the ready cash to buy their produce. Traders need working capital so they can buy and transport produce, but lack the collateral to get loans. Processors cannot get the money they need to buy equipment or ensure a steady supply of inputs. 

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			<pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:22:05 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Human rights NGOs have to think more strategically]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Civil-Society-Building/News/Human-rights-NGOs-have-to-think-more-strategically</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
Do NGOs and other civic actors undertake the most effective measures to hold governments accountable to their international obligations to protect human rights, and in particular to protect vulnerable populations? Jeff Handmaker, ISS lecturer and member of the Hivos/ISS Civil Society Building Knowledge Programme team, explores this question in the book ''Advocating for Accountability, civic-state interactions to Protect Refugees in South Africa&amp;quot;. The work of human rights organizations is rarely critically evaluated, possibly related to the fact that the issues they deal with are felt to be so important, that the mistakes they often make are mostly tolerated. 

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			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:17:39 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Presentation by PhytoTrade @ Hivos ]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/Presentation-by-PhytoTrade-Hivos</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
On Monday, February 15th, Gus le Breton, CEO at the Hivos partner PhytoTrade Africa gave a public presentation on a new biobased produce that PhytoTrade wants to bring from the very rural areas of Africa to the world market: Baobab Superfruit. The meeting was attended by about twenty people from various academic institutes, companies and organisations that are all active in the promotion of sustainable economic development and the access of the poor to the market.

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			<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:40:35 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[KP “Smallholders Agency” goes Asia]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/KP-Smallholders-Agency-goes-Asia</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
After having visited Latin America and East Africa, the initiating team of “Smallholders Agency” (from Hivos, IIED and Mainumby) went to India from 1-7 February to focus on the Asian continent. The objectives were to identify Asian members for the KP’s Learning Network, to find out how the knowledge program may become embedded in India and to initiate the multi-stakeholder exploration of key topics for the knowledge programme. 

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			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:02:05 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[KP small producer agency goes to Asia]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/KP-small-producer-agency-goes-to-Asia</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
After visiting Latin America and Africa, the KP on small producer agency is now going to identify Asian candidates for its global Learning Network (LN). A Round Table with potential LN candidates from India, Indonesia and other countries is organized by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bangalore on February 4. Moreover, through the regional Hivos office, a separate consultation meeting with Hivos partners is organized in Hyderabad on February 1. One specific objective of this meeting is to assess potential linkages between local initiatives and the global LN. Both meetings will be followed by field visits to rural organizations to share knowledge and insights. We look forward to learn a lot about small producer agency and smallholders’ linkages to markets in the region.

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			<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:13:26 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[ILEIA focuses on Family Farming]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/ILEIA-focuses-on-Family-Farming</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
One of the pillars in the global network on sustainable farming is ILEIA based in Netherlands. ILEIA is best known for its magazine that was recently renamed into Farming Matters, produced in 50.000 copies in six languages.

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			<pubDate>Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:50:39 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Report Another economics borne?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Publications2/Report-Another-economics-borne</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

‘There is another economics waiting be borne. It would take efficiency off the pedestal and stress theimportance of alternative measures’, Stephen Marglin, Harvard University. This is one of the quotes from the Beyond Economics Meeting in New York report. 

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			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:17:10 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Another economics borne?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Projects/Beyond-Economics/Another-economics-borne</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

‘There is another economics waiting be borne. It would take efficiency off the pedestal and stress theimportance of alternative measures’, Stephen Marglin, Harvard University. This is one of the quotes from the Beyond Economics Meeting in New York report. 

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			<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:26:41 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Collective responsibility for sustainable livelihoods]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Projects/Beyond-Economics/Collective-responsibility-for-sustainable-livelihoods2</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The second launch of ‘Beyond Economics’ took place in The Hague on 11 December 2009 and was inspired by the third issue of Development Vol 52. The Hague seminar hinged on the question of whether economics itself has to change or whether the existing economic principles just need to be more efficiently put into practice perhaps with better, more people-centred and environmentally friendly policy.

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			<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:26:06 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Collective responsibility for sustainable livelihoods]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/News/Collective-responsibility-for-sustainable-livelihoods</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The second launch of ‘Beyond Economics’ took place in The Hague on 11 December 2009 and was inspired by the third issue of Development Vol 52. The Hague seminar hinged on the question of whether economics itself has to change or whether the existing economic principles just need to be more efficiently put into practice perhaps with better, more people-centred and environmentally friendly policy.

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			<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:19:47 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Another economics borne?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/News/Another-economics-borne</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

‘There is another economics waiting be borne. It would take efficiency off the pedestal and stress theimportance of alternative measures’, Stephen Marglin, Harvard University. This is one of the quotes from the Beyond Economics Meeting in New York report. 

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			<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:01:29 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[KP “Smallholders Agency” lands in Africa]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/KP-Smallholders-Agency-lands-in-Africa</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The initiating team of “Smallholders Agency” (from Hivos, IIED and Mainumby) went to Uganda and Kenya from 20 to 28 November. The aim was to find out how the knowledge program can become embedded in East Africa and to find African members for the Learning Network.

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			<pubDate>Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:39:23 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Value Chain Financing, a concept of consequence]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/Value-Chain-Financing-a-concept-of-consequence</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
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 traditional subsistence crop that can be grown without costly inputs and independent from markets.

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			<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:30:39 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[New! Participatory Guarantee Systems newsletter]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/New!-Participatory-Guarantee-Systems-newsletter</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The market for organic foods is an important opportunity for farmers in developing countries. But how can consumers be assured that what they buy is indeed organic? Certification systems exist to give the answer. Most of these systems are ‘top-down’; they define the conditions that farmers have to comply with and ensure external inspectors do the checking. This increases the costs of the products. 

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			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:25:25 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Learning groups can have big impact]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/Learning-groups-can-have-big-impact</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The Knowledge Programme on “Smallholder Agency in the Globalised Market” is at present building a Learning Network as its core instrument. This network will be a group of some 15 persons from Africa, Latin America and Asia that will focus on the commissioning of innovative studies, the exchange of ideas and the diffusion of the results into the global debate and the capacities of civil society.

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			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:04:09 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Accelerating sustainable trade]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/Accelerating-sustainable-trade</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
What will the world look like in 2050? The long-term trends of population growth, climate change and increasing consumption per capita are not likely to change any time soon, resulting in accelerating pressures on natural resources such as soils and forest. Current increases in agricultural production are mainly based on the expansion of agricultural area – a process that causes great damage already and moreover will have exhausted its possibilities in the very near future. Sustainable intensification of agricultural production is the only way out. Sustainability will soon not be a voluntary option of ‘green’ companies anymore; it will be the only option left for any responsible production and trade.


This was the background of a congress called Accelerating Sustainable Trade, initiated by IDH, AkzoNobel and NEVI, held on November 2 in the Netherlands. “There is no future but a sustainable future” was one of its slogans. 

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			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:57:54 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[First actions of &quot;small holder agency&quot;]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/First-actions-of-small-holder-agency</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The knowledge programme Small Producer Agency in the Globalized Market made the first steps in the formation of its South-based Learning Netwok and the participatory design of its focal themes. Bill Vorley, the IIED chair of our programme, was interviewed by the El Comercio on August in Lima. 

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			<pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:05:40 +0200</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[Inclusive Improvement (5 June)]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Inclusive-Improvement/Inclusive-Improvement-5-June</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
Hivos has been at the forefront of emerging intervention practices in the market approach for many years, moving from Fair Trade (since 1985) to Organic (since 1989) to micro-credit (since 1994) to Coffee Coalition (since 1999) to ISEAL (since 2001) to mainstreaming market access for smallholders (since 2004). This latest challenge has brought Hivos to showcase attempts to combine upgrading of quality and inclusion of smallholders in attractive market channels. The draft report of these collected experiences, that are being systematized by Peter Knorringa of the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and Coen van Beuningen (Hivos), will be discussed at the workshop Inclusive Improvement on 5 June (NL). 

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			<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 13:29:54 +0200</pubDate>                                                           
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			<title><![CDATA[MoU Small Producers Agency in the Globalized Market Programme signed]]></title>
			<link>http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/MoU-Small-Producers-Agency-in-the-Globalized-Market-Programme-signed</link>
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On 21 January a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Hivos and the International Institute for Development Cooperation for the Knowledge Programme Small Producers Agency in the Globalized Market. Explicit statements of demand from organisations across various sectors suggest that there is a distinct and urgent need to integrate and synthesise existing bodies of knowledge – both scientific and practitioner knowledge – produced and disseminated in a way that strengthens the capacity especially in smallholder organisations and federations. 

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			<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:47:17 +0100</pubDate>                                                           
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