The ILRI-led MorePORK II project focuses on developing the capacity of value chain actors in best-bet interventions through an information and communications and technology (ICT) platform known as PigSmart. Continue reading
We have been using the participatory system dynamics modelling technique to map out the pig and paddy value chains in Myeik and Palaw townships in southern Myanmar. Through the involvement of value chain actors in group modelling, it became evident that small-scale pig farmers are in effect ‘price takers’, exerting limited influence on the price of live pigs. Continue reading
The MINI project is investigating how to increase the availability of fruits and vegetables in nutritionally vulnerable markets in Bihar, India. The barriers to this goal are numerous, ranging from the inferior prices offered to farmers in smaller markets, to the typically weaker purchasing power of rural consumers. Continue reading
Recently, ILRI and partners have implemented participatory processes in the construction of SD models. Such techniques (termed “group model building” or “mediated modelling”) involve the careful organization of several focus group sessions with 10-15 value chain stakeholders. The participants articulate value chain problems, structure, and data that are then used to parametrize working models from which scenarios can be jointly developed and discussed. Continue reading
A recent study in Nicaragua shows that despite the growing popularity of learning alliances, it is difficult to quantify whether they increase the capacity of partners compared to other networks with similar goals. Researchers from ILRI and the Georg-August-Universitåt in Germany evaluated the business relationship constructs of trust and capacity development in the Nicaraguan Learning Alliance. Continue reading
Stephen Oloo, a spatial data analyst with the Policies, Institutions and Livelihoods program at the Nairobi headquarters of the International Livestock Research institute (ILRI), has won the ‘best student presentation’ award at a ‘Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial’ conference (FOSS4G) held in Dar es Salaam 28 Aug–3 Sep 2018. Continue reading
To support mainstreaming of gender into Humidtropics research, the program developed four classroom-training modules to be used by facilitators of innovation platforms, covering: Control of Assets (CoA); Power & Decision-Making (PDM); Needs, Priorities and Perceptions (NPP); Barriers to Participation (BtP) Continue reading
