policy research Articles
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Agricultural biotechnology policies and research investments in Mexico
This paper examines the agricultural biotechnology research situation in Mexico. In addition to providing insights into the institutional and policy evolution, it analyses a quantitative survey of biotechnology investments in the 14 most important national public and private research organisations from 1985 to 1997. During this time period, Mexico experienced a noteworthy biotechnology ...
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Shaping scientific excellence in agricultural research
Science and technology and particularly biotechnology is increasingly central to development agendas in Africa and elsewhere. Implicit within the centrality of science and technology lie a set of policy issues regarding how best to shape contextually appropriate, innovative and sustainable science and technological products in, with and for developing countries. The work of the Consultative Group ...
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Mapping organisational linkages in the agricultural innovation system of Azerbaijan
This study describes the evolving context and organisational linkages in the agricultural innovation system of Azerbaijan and suggests ways to promote effective organisational ties for the development, distribution and use of new or improved information and knowledge related to agriculture. Graph-theoretic principles and concepts are employed to assess the existing organisational linkages vital ...
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The role of research in wine: the emergence of a regional research area in an Italian wine production system
In recent years, the wine industry has undergone a radical technological modernisation in which scientific research has become extremely prominent. Focusing on a Italian regional research system related to wine, we provide a detailed account of the structural features of the research and extension institutions. The empirical analysis is based on detailed interviews with people from research ...
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Agricultural research policy framework for improved livelihoods security in crop-livestock production systems
Concerns for sustainable development and poverty alleviation are forcing public agricultural research systems to focus on improving livelihoods security. Crop-livestock production systems are central to the livelihood security of the rural poor in India and some other countries of the tropics. With increasing population, urbanisation and incomes, massive increases are foreseen in demands for ...
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New forms of local collective governance linked to the agricultural landscape: identifying the scope and possibilities for hybrid institutions
Over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in the focus on rural development and public goods within the common agricultural policy (CAP). Many researchers emphasise how this implies a need for new ways of implementing policy and innovative collaboration between various actors. Policymakers also acknowledge such needs. Local action groups and organisations have a significant ...
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Strengthening agricultural innovation capacity: are innovation brokers the answer?
Taking the case of Dutch agriculture as an example, this paper examines the emergence and role of innovation brokers in stimulating agricultural innovation system interaction and innovation capacity building, and reflects upon their potential role in developing and emerging countries' agriculture and how their emergence and functioning can be fostered. It concludes that innovation brokerage is ...
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The need for a professional network of agricultural and biosystems engineers in Africa
Agricultural productivity in Africa remains the lowest in the world, but recent concerns about food insecurity, rising food prices and resource depletion have spurred world–wide interest about the role of African agriculture in feeding Africa and the world. Majority of world's uncultivated agricultural land is in Africa, yet the capacity to harness this resource remains limited due partly ...
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Agricultural biotechnology R&D and innovations in Nigeria
This study examined the nature and extent of the agricultural biotechnology R&D and innovations in Nigeria. Data were collected from the Directors, Heads of Crop Units and Research Scientists in the agricultural research institutes using structured and unstructured questionnaires and interview schedules. The data collected were analysed using frequencies, means and percentages. The study revealed ...
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Perspective: The evolving dimensions and perspectives on food security - what are the implications for postharvest technology research, policy and practice?
Food security is a difficult concept to define and complex challenge that has continued to haunt humanity despite remarkable progress in increasing global food production during the last century. Starting as a problem of deficit global supply (production) of cereals, especially in tropical countries, work led by United Nation agencies through the World Food Conference in 1974 and World Food ...
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The importance of irrigation water rights: lessons from South Africa and Tunisia
With increasing water scarcity, research on policy options for improved water allocation and governance has become an urgent priority for many developing and developed countries. More and more, the focus is placed on institutional reforms but evaluating institutional alternatives is a challenging task. This paper takes a comparative approach and confronts case study data from Tunisia and South ...
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How embedded are organic fresh fruit and vegetables at Irish farmers' markets and what does the answer say about the organic movement? An exploration, using three models
This article is about the responses the organic movement makes to various pressures on the alterity of farmers' markets (FMs) in Ireland. These pressures are the increasing distance food travels to the FM, availablity of processed foods, disconnected vendors and produce, appropriation, market forces and evaluations and finally policy pressures. However, the research presented here suggests that ...
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Are developing-country policies and investments promoting research and research partnerships in agricultural biotechnology?
This article presents findings from two studies of public-sector research on agricultural biotechnology. The first focuses on national agricultural research organisations and universities in developing countries, while the second focuses on public?private research collaborations with international agricultural research centres. Findings suggest that a number of developing countries are, in fact, ...
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Modern food supply technology `key to affordable food`
The modernisation of farm-to-market supply chains is important for increasing farmers' income, alleviating poverty, cutting food waste and improving the affordability of food staples, according to the authors of a book. The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains: Enter the Dragon, the Elephant, and the Tiger is a joint project by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Food ...
By SciDev.Net
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Science for Environment Policy
The economic impact of climate change on European agriculture A new study has estimated how changes to climate might affect the value of European farmland. Based on data for over 41 000 farms, the results suggest that their economic value could drop by up to 32%, depending on the climate scenario considered- Farms in southern Europe are particularly sensitive to climate change and could ...
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Engaging High School students in soil science inquiry
In April 2007, teacher Irka Elsevier and then-graduate student Biance Moebius-Clune began their second inquiry unit designed to enable high school students to better understand soil science concepts through their own research and experiments. Moebius-Clune was an NSF fellow in the Cornell Science Inquiry Partnerships (CSIP) program, which allowed the pair to develop inquiry curriculum to guide ...
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Food and water insecurity: re-assessing the value of rainfed agriculture
ABSTRACTRainfed agriculture has potential to produce needed cereals for the growing populations of West and Central Asia even though rainfed agriculture is perceived as risky. The value of rainfed agriculture to produce competitively should be re-assessed. This requires the concerted efforts of farmers, researchers, and policy makers to work on the technical factors that determine agricultural ...
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Investing in people and evidence for sustainable farming
Evaluation of farming systems, new ideas and learning with practitioners should be part of a transformed agriculture. Food security is difficult to pin down. It can be explained simply as access to enough food. But behind that simplicity lies an interconnected web of factors — from food prices to agricultural practices, nutrition, natural resources, technology, trade and social ...
By SciDev.Net
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The problems with the arguments against GM crops
New evidence shows that arguments against GM crops are unfounded, says Margaret Karembu. The year 2013 marked the 18th consecutive year of commercial cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or now commonly referred to as biotech crops. And in just under two decades, the volume of land on which biotech crops are grown has increased from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 — the first ...
By SciDev.Net
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How to use organic and inorganic fertilizer together
If we want to improve the operation level of fertilizer production, we need to speed up the improvement of the level of complete fertilizer production line plant. We need to cultivate a new type of fertilizer equipment operation and service main body, and support the development of complete fertilizer production equipment better. Then fertilizer processing enterprises should also make fertilizer ...
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