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Focus on: Extension
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Local language podcasting in Zimbabwe
 In Mashonaland Central Province, northern Zimbabwe, 100,000 farmers are accessing advice from veterinary health and agricultural experts via mp3 players. More surprisingly, this is taking place in a remote and semi-arid area that has no grid electricity, a poor radio signal and no reliable mobile phone network. read article
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Better rice by mobile phone
 Rice farmers in the Philippines can now receive fertiliser recommendations tailored to their fields through an automated mobile phone interface. With a set of recorded questions, the system collects information on their particular field conditions and returns recommendations based on a model of nutrient management maintained by the International Rice Research Institute. read article
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How the harvest can pay for extension
 A new Zambian initiative that links agricultural extension with market-orientated production is providing smallholder farmers with loans of the best varieties of certified seed, training and support throughout the agricultural cycle and, vitally, a link to valuable markets. read article
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Participation to promote innovation in Nepal
 In Nepal, an international network for promotion of local innovation has identified and assessed more than 200 examples. The most promising are promoted through public meetings, while others are further developed through a joint experimentation process involving farmers, NGOs and government staff. read article
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GFAR research and innovation
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Farmers on film in the fight against striga
 In West Africa, ICRISAT has built on experiences gained by AfricaRice in developing a series of ten farmer-to-farmer videos. The ten films are now being widely shown to support rural learning on practical and affordable ways to control one of Africa's most serious weeds - striga. read article
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Virtual outreach: connecting farmers in the Caribbean
 Small farmers dominate farming in the Caribbean, where state extension and advisory services are financially stretched. To help small farmers in the region, a team of researchers has made use of mobile 'smart' phones to improve the accessibility of relevant agricultural knowledge and information. read article
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Extension approaches for small farms in Bhutan
 Varying environmental conditions and isolated farming communities scattered across Bhutan's valleys, ridges and slopes has made the provision of extension services a serious challenge. But the community of Salamjee has changed its farming landscape by introducing sustainable land management technologies. read article
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Developments
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Conserving Kakamega
 To address the rapid depletion of Kenya's Kakamega Forest, the Muliru Farmers Conservation Group is promoting alternative, sustainable income-generating activities, including cultivation and value addition of a plant use in traditional medicine. read article
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 Fighting poverty with heifers in Rwanda
Send a Cow Rwanda's approach of providing families with quality livestock to supply milk, meat and manure has proved so successful that it has been adopted by the Rwandan Government. The aim of their 'One Cow Per Poor Family' policy is to provide good quality and suitable livestock to every poor family in the country by 2015. read article
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Betting on llamas in Bolivia
 In Bolivia, llama prices are up and demand for shawls and scarves made from alpaca fibre is increasing. But how do smallholder farmers capitalise on these optimal market conditions? One answer comes from the government's Camelid Valorisation Programme, through which ranchers are increasing their incomes, protecting the environment and transforming their lives. read article
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Breadbasket initiative begins bearing fruits in northern Ghana
 In northern Ghana, a three year government initiative supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, aims to increase food security and income of around 250,000 smallholder farmers, while creating 15,000 jobs in agriculture-related sectors. read article
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Points of view
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Feeding the world in 2050
 In February 2012, the Economist Group held an inaugural Feeding the World summit in Geneva. One focus was the role of the private sector in building and strengthening the entire food production chain from field to fork, including support for the world's smallholder farmers. Participants were also invited to share their views with New Agriculturist. read article
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In pictures
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The Karrayyu: pastoralism under threat
 The Karrayyu are one of the last remaining Oromo pastoralist groups in Ethiopia. Although they are strong and resourceful with a rich cultural heritage, their future is threatened due to changing economic, social and climatic conditions. read article
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My perspective
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 Dr. Michel Pimbert
Dr. Michel Pimbert, principal researcher and team leader at IIED believes that for both urban and rural areas, 'circular' production systems are a sustainable alternative to our normal 'linear' models that deplete resources and create waste and pollution. read article
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Country profile
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Uganda
 Once known as 'the pearl of Africa' Uganda has seen exploitation of its agricultural potential impeded by dictators and civil war. More recently, Uganda has made significant progress, becoming increasingly peaceful, stable and prosperous. read article
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Malawi
 A largely agricultural country, 84 per cent of Malawians live in rural areas where about 11 million are engaged in smallholder subsistence farming. read article
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GFAR updates
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 GFAR present a selection of brief news items based around recent international and regional events and meetings concerned with agricultural innovation and its implications in development. read article
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News brief
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 Recent news, including research that claims cassava will be able to cope with climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa, that nitrogen fertiliser staves off locust invasions, and work to reshape agricultural research in West Africa. read article
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Book reviews
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 Reviews of some of the latest agriculture and rural development publications. The lead review for this edition is The viral storm - the dawn of a new pandemic age by Nathan Wolfe. read article
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