A+RD Network Newsletter 10/2011
| Focus Areas | Multilateral Issues | Regional Issues | Who is Who |
Dear readers
The new A+RD Network Newsletter is born! Every two months it will inform the Network Members about the latest news in agriculture and rural development. The following four headings will always form part of the Newsletter: Network Focus Areas, Multilateral Issues, Regional Issues, Who is Who.
Focus Area: Rural Advisory Services
Discussion: Targeting Women with RAS
A first e-discussion on "Targeting Women with Rural Innovation and Rural Advisory Services" has just ended. It was moderated by Nara Weigel and Jane Carter of Helvetas. They will produce an issue paper based on the results of the discussion and further research. As soon as this document is available it will be published on the A+RD NW Website.
Share Fair stresses importance of RAS
Our network was present at the second Agriknowledge Share Fair that took place in Rome from 26-29 September. The Fair organized by the Rome-based agencies has gathered around 500 participants. Sessions like “How can we make agricultural innovation systems work for smallholders” or “climate-smart agriculture – yes we can” were very much in line with our topics. In both sessions, the importance of RAS has been highlighted by many participants. For a short feedback of our session, have a look at the following blog >>
Focus Area: Land Governance
Voluntary Guidelines on land, forest and fisheries
The Global Programme Food Security (GPFS) of SDC has been supporting the FAO-lead process of the Voluntary Guidelines on land, forest and fisheries. The GPFS has participated in the negotiation session and organized a multi-stakeholder information meeting in Bern. more >>
Focus Area: Climate Change Resilient Agriculture
Training: Disaster Risk Reduction and Food Security
The network Disaster Risk Reduction/Food Security hosted by the SDC humanitarian aid domain has organized a training course at the beginning of September. Inputs of SDC staff and partner organizations, in particular WFP and Swiss College for Agriculture, have focused on “increasing resilience in farming systems” as well as on weather index insurance to manage risk in small scale agriculture.
Focus Area: Impact Measurement
Impact Study Postcosecha Central America
Between 1983 and 2003 SDC carried out a programme in Central America to assist farmers in reducing post harvest losses and increasing food security. By 2010 approximately 415000 farmer families had acquired a metal silo, allowing for decentralized safe storage of 380000 tons of staple food. A 5 year ex-post impact study of the postcosecha programme in Central America presents the results of the benefits of the metal silos based on a field survey of 800 silo owner vs. 800 non silo users. more >> (PDF, 3031 KB)
New on post-harvest losses in Africa
Two new documents by FAO / World Bank discuss post-harvest losses in Africa:
FAO/World Bank workshop on reducing post-harvest losses in grain supply chains in Africa, FAO/World Bank, 2010
more >> (PDF, 4276 KB)
MISSING FOOD: The Case of Postharvest Grain Losses in Sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank/NRI/FAO, 2011
more >> (PDF, 1227 KB)
Reformed IFAD through external lens
The Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), is a network of 16 donor countries with a common interest in assessing the organisational effectiveness of multilateral organisations. SDC has been participating actively in the network. In 2010, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was assessed at an institutional level and across ten developing countries. MOPAN conclusions acknowledge the success of the reform undertaken in the last 5 years. IFAD receives scores of adequate or strong on all 19 key performance indicators assessed by the survey. more >> (PDF, 430 KB)
CIAT Delegation at SDC
On September 22, CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) executives have visited SDC in Bern to present their programmes to the GPFS and the A+RD members. SDC is supporting CIAT with a core-contribution. Furthermore, bilateral projects are ongoing especially in East Asia (Agroentreprise Development Laos/Vietnam & SADU Vietnam) and in Eastern Africa (Pan African Bean Research Alliance, PABRA).
East Asia: North Koreans in Switzerland
A delegation of North Corea has been on a study tour in Switzerland and has come to SDC to present the Sloping Land management.
For backround information see the SDC Asia Brief "Food from the Hills - Sloping Land Management in DPR Korea" more >> (PDF, 4600 KB)
Some of the A+RD Network members are probably familiar to you, others are not.
In order to give a face to the names on the members list, every Newsletter shortly presents some of the A+RD Networkers:
Zayasaikhan Dugeree
is working as National Programme Officer in the SDC Cooperation office in Mongolia. She is responsible for monitoring of projects, mostly in the private sector and some in governance and NRM. She came to our network based on her experiences with RAS.
Zayasaikhan sees the contributions to and benefits from the A+RD Network in the areas of: (1) Combination of pragmatic methodologies with innovation; (2) Sharing the lessons learned and experiences; (3) Synergies with other networks, specifically PSD Network (E+I); (4) Practical advice from the members
Pierre-Yves Suter
is currently the Country Director of HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation in Mali. In his function, he is supervising the implementation of around 20 projects in the Sahelian country. Pierre-Yves is an agronomist and has been active for more than 30 years in development cooperation, especially in Asia and Africa.
According to Pierre-Yves, the A+RD Network should: (1) facilitate exchange of experiences between motivated development practitioners; (2) provide a discussion platform and be a source of innovative approaches; (3) show new approaches and ways of tackling issues affecting the rural population; (4) contribute to the know-how of its members and their institutions.
Last but not least ...
As you probably know, everyone is talking about “green economy” and “greening agriculture” in view of the Rio +20 conference that will take place in June 2012. Instead of reading a long report, have a look at this youtube video and enjoy >>
