As part of GCARD 2010, Farming First hosted a session entitled ‘Better Benefiting the Poor through Public-Private Partnerships for Innovation and Action.’ Within the discussions, our panel of experts addressed several case studies that present different ways that partnerships have helped to empower smallholder farmers around the world.
Marco Ferroni – Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable
In Mozambique, differences in rainfall contribute to higher levels of poverty in drier areas.
Poverty levels in drier regions of the country range from 67 to 85 percent, said Professor Firmino Mucavele, Director for Academic Reform and Regional Integration at Eduardo Mondlane University in a presentation of his analysis of agriculture’s true contribution to the Mozambican
In many countries where soil has been degraded or where farmers face difficult conditions, conservation agriculture has also been shown to improve yields through improved soil quality.
For example, in Zambia, a sample of 125 hand-hoe farmers using conservation farming in areas where land had been degraded was found to produce 1.5 tonnes more maize and
FICOM, the Farmers Information Communication project in Uganda is helping farmers access information on market prices and activity.
Important tips on growing crops are relayed from the Uganda National Farmers Federation headquarters to district level offices, and then to 24 ‘village phone centres’, in which each farmers’ group owns a mobile phone.
The farmers also send and
Drought tolerant crops, such as maize, are better able to withstand drops in water supply and are currently expected to be available within 4-5 years.
The biotechnology industry has been working in partnership with other organisations to ensure stress tolerance traits also reach farmers in developing countries.
For example, Monsanto is partnering with the African Agricultural Technology
