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FAO working in support of persons with disabilities

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Ed
August 2006

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The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the key linkages between poverty, disability, nutrition and agricultural production. The paper also reports on some of the FAO's work on disability and disability rights and highlights 5 FAO projects / pilot models - ranging from mushroom production to blacksmithing - that target rural people living with disabilities. It would be useful for anyone with an interest in mainstreaming disability in development policy and practice

Understanding the links between agriculture and health

HAWKES, Corinna
RUEL, Marie T
May 2006

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This is a collection of briefs on the relationship between agricultural systems and outputs and health. Provides a conceptual framework of the linkage between agriculture and health and looks in some detail at some key aspects, including food safety, agricultural technology, nutrition, foodbourne diseases, malaria and water-associated diseases, HIV and AIDS, occupational health hazards, livestock, fisheries, agroforestry, agrobiodiversity, urban agriculture, sustainability, policymaking and synergies between agriculture and health

Effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on rural communities in ACP countries : a reader

BOTO, Isolina
WESSELER, Gesa
BERKHOF, Irene Prins
Eds
2004

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This reader synthesises information from a number of sources on the impact of HIV on rural communities. It focuses the effects in the agricultural sector, and the implications of 'crusscutting issues' of gender and youth. It explores possible mitigation strategies, and information and communication strategies; and identifies 'urgent actions' which include improving the use of and access to ICT

Health : an ecosystem approach

LEBEL, Jean
2003

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Can people remain healthy in a world that is sick? Many ecological disasters can be directly traced to careless exploitation of the environment, with human beings as first perpetrator and then victim. Our health closely mirrors the health of our surroundings: this is the basis of the Ecohealth approach. It recognizes the links between humans and their biophysical, social, and economic environments, and that these links are reflected in the population's state of health. This is a new area of research, requiring input from scientists, community and interest groups, and decision-makers. This book describes this new approach, providing lessons and recommendations from various IDRC-supported research activities. It demonstrates how decision-makers, in particular, can use the ecohealth approach to formulate policies and solutions that are both immediately visible and sustainable over the long term

Addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on ministries of agriculture : focus on eastern and southern Africa

TOPOUZIS, Daphne
2003

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This joint FAO/UNAIDS study is the first to examine the full range of implications of HIV/AIDS for Ministries of Agriculture (MoAs) in eastern and southern Africa. It describes structural changes in the smallholder agriculture sector including changing farming systems (as household cultivation shifts from cash crops to subsistence crops and from labour-intensive to labour-extensive crops); and changes in the age structure and quality of the agricultural labour force as more elderly people and children assume a greater role in farming. Four areas of HIV/AIDS impact are analysed in detail: (1) MoA staff vulnerability to HIV infection and AIDS impact; (2) the disruption of MoA operations and the erosion of capacity to respond to the challenges being posed by the HIV epidemic; (3) the increased vulnerability of MoA clients to food and livelihood insecurity; (4) the relevance of certain MoA policies, strategies and programmes in view of the conditions being created by HIV/AIDS

Addressing extension and training needs of farmers with physical disabilities : a case study of the Islamic Republic of Iran

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO), Extension, Education and Communication Service, Research, Extension and Trainig Division, Sustainable Development Department
2003

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This study assesses extension and training needs of farmers with physical disabilities in Iran. A significant number of people with physical disabilities are engaged in agricultural activities, but in many cases they are denied access to special training schools that would provide them with appropriate technical knowledge. The study makes a number of critical recommendations to improve training accessibility

Labour savings technologies and practices for farming and household in eastern and southern Africa|Labour constraints and the impact of HIV/AIDS on rural livelihoods in Bondo and Busia districts western Kenya

BISHOP-SAMBROOK, Clare
2003

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This report presents the difficulties of, and threats to, rural livelihoods in western Kenya. The information is one component of a joint IFAD/FAO study entitled ‘Improving Women’s Access to Labour Saving Technologies and Practices in Sub-Saharan Africa’. It is divided into six related topics, which include tables, charts, diagrams and illustrations. This would be useful for stakeholders and policy makers interested in agricultural and rural development in western Kenya

Integrating intellectual property rights and development policy : report of the commission on intellectual property rights

COMMISSION ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (CIPR)
September 2002

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This detailed and thorough report considers whether and how intellectual property rights (IPRs) can play a role in achieving the Millenium Development Goals. It explores the potential benefits of IPRs in stimulating economic growth, and the associated benefits in terms of productivity and reduced poverty. It considers also the barriers that IPRs may present to developing economies, including discouraging invention, research, technology transfer, domestic production and driving up the costs of medicines and agricultural inputs. Key issues covered in successive chapters include: current evidence about the impact of IPRs in developing countries; development of and access to medicines; protection of plants and genetic resources; the Convention on Biological Diversity, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions and geographic indicators; copyright and patents; IPR legislation for developing countries; international and national institutional framework for IPRs

Are we not peasants too? Land rights and women's claims in India

AGARWAL, Bina
2002

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Explores the barriers and challenges to securing effective, enforceable land rights for women -- even in countries with progressive social movements and the appropriate legal reforms, such as India. Shows how this issue is central to improving rural women's economic status. Presents a range of strategies (eg re-directing micro-credit) to tackle these problems, and closes with a summary of how women are organising around this issue

The impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural production and mainstreaming HIV/AIDS messages into agricultural extension in Uganda

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES [UGANDA]
2002

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This report analyses the impact of HIV and AIDS on agricultural production in Uganda. Extension workers interact regularly with the crop farmers, livestock farmers and the fishing folk. Despite this regular interaction, the study has revealed that extension workers are not involved in HIV and AIDS work, as it does not fall within their mandate. Also the extension workers at present lack the knowledge and skills of addressing HIV and AIDS issues since it had long been perceived as a health matter. To mainstream HIV and AIDS messages into agricultural extension, the agricultural sector must recognise that the epidemic is not only a health issue, but a development issue as well. The report concludes with recommendations for sensitising key ministry staff, designing appropriate HIV and AIDS messages to increase agricultural production, building the capacity of extension workers, and networking and collaboration

Monitoring and evaluating stakeholder participation in agriculture and rural development projects : a literature review

KARL, Marilee
2000

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This article reviews the current literature on the subject, and also highlights three key methodological issues to be addressed: how to assess the degree and quality of participation; how to measure the costs and benefits of participation to the stakeholders involved; and how to assess the impact of that participation on desired project outputs, project performance and sustainability. An annotated bibliography is also provided

Agricultural information sources

CARTER, Isabel
September 1999

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The research explored information sources used and preferred by grassroots farmers. Agriculture was selected because there is even less printed material available for farmers than, for example, for health workers. There was a particular interest in discovering the views of farmers about their access to and use of printed information. This is a summary of DFID Education Research paper no 31 (see related record)

Locally generated printed materials in agriculture : an experience from Uganda and Ghana

CARTER, Isabel
1999

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This report examines the usefulness of locally generated information material to (near-) subsistence level farmers in Uganda and Ghana. It questions the assumption that non-literate farmers do not benefit from information material and shows the variety of vectors and strategies that communities use to disseminate new knowledge. It examines the conventional theoretical and practical bases for the provision of information and contrasts these with practice at community level. The starting point for the report is a survey of Footsteps readership by Tearfund. Footsteps is a widely disseminated newsletter on community development, aimed at near-subsistence level farmers. It seeks to provide farmers with printed agricultural information in their own language and appropriate for their situation

The internet and rural and agricultural development : an integrated approach

RICHARDSON, Don
1997

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Discusses the potential benefits of using the Internet for rural / agricultural development. Contextualises the growth of the internet in development initiatives and addresses the potential of the internet in specific areas, eg community development, research/education, small and medium enterprise development, and news media. Finallly, identifies several areas of best practice to guide effective use of the internet. Recommends engaging intermediary agencies involved in (project support, research, extension, health etc) in internet initiatives, as well as stakeholders and intended beneficiaries. Warns against the widening information gap between haves and have-nots

Voices of the poor : poverty and social capital in Tanzania

NARAYAN, Deepa
1997

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This study explores the usage of participatory methods for policy research by comparing and contrasting these findings with those from more conventional household consumption and expenditure surveys. It shows how using these measures leads to different conclusions about the causes and nature of poverty. The study goes on to discuss the concept of social capital at the local level, providing quantifiable evidence that village-level social capital (defined as membership in groups with particular characteristics) significantly affects household welfare

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