New Agriculturist

Tracking investments in agricultural research for development

At present there is often little clarity on the source of funds for agriculture and rural development, nor effective systems to track these investments to provide evidence of impact and justify increased investment. Recognising this, the organisers of a technical workshop on tracking investments in agricultural research for develoipment have released a summary of the meeting and recommendations.

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Date published: February 2012

The inventory on foresight activities: survey deadline extended

To identify and record forward-thinking activities that have been developed, in a systematic and documented way, on issues related to agriculture, rural development and farming systems, GFAR invite you to participate in the implementation of the Inventory on Foresight Activities.

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Date published: January 2012

Adaptation to climatic changes through global cooperation

Climatic changes affect the four dimensions of food security: availability, accessibility, food utilisation and food system stability. It is evident that a new way of thinking is to be applied by all governments around the globe, a "Global Thinking". Global cooperation is to be promoted with governments being realistic, so as to accept and adapt to the unavoidable coming alternations, due to the climatic changes.

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Date published: January 2012

Ecosystem services and poverty reduction in aquatic agricultural systems

When waters are high, Smrity Kona and her family in Bangladesh, fish, plant vegetables and stock carp. When the flood recedes, they trap fish and plant winter rice in the fields where they fished. Understanding why poverty and vulnerability is so persistent in these aquatic systems, and working to change this through improved agriculture research and development, is the focus of the new CGIAR research program on aquatic agricultural systems.

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Date published: January 2012

Ecosystem services and small farmers

Farmers everywhere impact on the environment. In rich countries billions of dollars are spent every year to provide farmers with incentives to manage their land in ways that are consistent with the broader public good. But systems for rewarding smallscale farmers in the developing world for their contribution to the global environment have been elusive.

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Date published: January 2012

Victories for food and farming in Durban climate deals

After a grueling two weeks of negotiations, world leaders agreed to a number of decisions including the Durban Platform, which contain some provisions for adaptation, progress on a green climate fund, and a deadline for governments to adopt a new universal legal agreement on climate change by 2015.

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Date published: January 2012

G20 conference on ARD gives new impetus to GFAR

The first G20 conference on Agricultural Research for Development, held in Montpellier in September 2011, emphasised the importance of global foresight for prioritising research for development, knowledge sharing and capacity building, new forms of investments in research for development, and the need to enhance the delivery of research results and technologies to farmers.

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Date published: January 2012