Theme: Crop improvement
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Develop while protecting and protect while developing: The Story of Ruixiang Ru form Inner Mongolia
By Farmer Seed Network in China In honor of women’s day, SD=HS will dedicate the whole month of March to highlighting the great work and strides made by women across the countries where we work. Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, is the birthplace of millet and has an 8,000-year history of dry farming. In 2000, it […]
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Empowering other women farmers: Teresa Carrillo’s story in Guatemala
By Sahira Tello, ASOCUCH In honor of women’s day, SD=HS will dedicate the whole month of March to highlighting the great work and strides made by women across the countries where we work. Teresa Carrillo Cruz, 51 years old, lives in the community of Villa Alicia, in the municipality of Todos Santos Cuchumatán Huehuetenango. She […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | February 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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Crop diversity for Food security in West Africa
A partnership initiative between CIMMYT, ICRISAT WCA and OXFAM Background Environmental and socio-economic conditions in many zones of West Africa are rapidly changing. Unstable governments and unprecedented variability of weather conditions are affecting millions of farmers, who are already facing food insecurity on a regular basis. Government services, financial services, input supplies are all compromised […]
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Partnerships for Diversity: Strengthening farmer-research partnerships
Oxfam’s SD=HS Program joined forces with CIRAD (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement) and CCRP (the Collaborative Crop Research Program funded by McKnight Foundation) to pilot social and institutional innovations and participatory research approaches to shift power dynamics and strengthen the role of farmers in seed systems. Background Smallholder farmers are […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | January 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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Building Bridges between Practitioners and Academics
“It is one of the most interesting courses I ever took because it brought scholars and practitioners together and allowed them to interact with grassroots cases.” –Yiching Song, Farmer Seed Network in China This blog looks at the experience seven SD=HS colleagues who presented some of the case studied as ground for group work, to […]
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Anna Sofia Asingo on building bridges
“I get motivated when the farmers themselves show interest to share the knowledge they have, and when they are willing to integrate their knowledge with the knowledge we have.” Anna Sofia Asingo is a passionate advocate for farmers and their rights. With 11 years of experience working with Community Integrated Development Initiatives (CIDI), a member […]
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Marrying practical experience and theoretical knowledge: Jeko Manata’s reflections
“The interest in farming and working with farmers has always been part of me, I understand it very well because I grew up as a farmer and now, I am a farmer. It’s calling for me to work with farmers.” Jeko Manata grew up in southern Zimbabwe, surrounded by agriculture and with a family background […]
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From the Fields to the Classroom: Joseph Mwitumwa’s reflections
Joseph Mwitumwa is a Seed Production and Marketing Officer with Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT) Zambia. Together with six colleagues from different countries, he participated in the Smallholder Engagement in Seed Systems course held at Wageningen University and developed in partnership with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, the Production Ecology & Resource Conservation and Oxfam Novib through […]
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John Tigere on empowering farmers in Zimbabwe
“Nearly everyone in Zimbabwe is a farmer and even those in towns still have one or two beds of vegetables on their backyards.” John Tigere works with Community Technology Development Trust in Zimbabwe (CTDT). His focus is on farming as a family business and as such he works with Farmer Seeds Enterprises to facilitate the commercialization of […]
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“Stay rooted in the reality on the ground” Yiching Song’s advice to work on seed systems
“I am crazy about seeds, and I consider supporting farmers and farmers seed systems my life mission.” Since 2000, Yiching Song has been aiming to link farmer seed systems and the formal system. In 2013, she established the Farmers’ Seed Network in China (FSN) to work through Farmer Field Schools and engaged farmers through Community […]
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Breaking Barriers: Juliet Nangamba’s Journey
“It is fascinating to make the connections between climate change, seeds systems, food systems, livelihoods, women, land, and indigenous knowledge surrounding seeds, and how they impact aspects of culture, traditions and life.” Juliet Nangamba works as a programmes manager with Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT) Zambia. She focuses on seed and food systems projects and […]
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SD=HS colleagues participating in Wageningen University course
Over the weekend of 21 and 22 January, seven colleagues arrived in the Netherlands to participate in a course titled “Smallholder engagement in Seed Systems” at Wageningen University. We extend them a very warm welcome! The course was developed in a consortium with Wageningen University & Research, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, the Production Ecology […]
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Seed banks provide food and biodiversity
This blog has been translated from Swedish, the original version can be found on Sida’s website. In northern Uganda, Sida is supporting small-scale farmers who are building seed banks made of local plants that were almost lost. This protects biodiversity. For farmer and facilitator, Hellen Akello, the project has boosted both her confidence and her […]
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SD=HS in Zimbabwe newsletter | July 2022
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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Zimbabwe end of season evaluation
By Bernard Muradya Oxfam Southern Africa MEAL Officer Yield improvement The Seed Production and Marketing component of the SD=HS project in Zimbabwe employed the Farmer Field School model in proving technical capacity to seed growers in the four targeted districts. During the 2021-2022 farming season, a total of 15 Farmer Field Schools (FFSs) adopted seed […]
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SD=HS in Zimbabwe: an overview
By Patrick Kasasa, SD=HS program manager CTDT Zimbabwe The SDHS project in Zimbabwe has made great strides in improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers through strengthening the role of smallholder farmer in the utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. This was achieved against the backdrop of political and economic turmoil that the […]
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Farmers integrate SD=HS efforts by selecting varieties of local food plants in Zimbabwe
Participatory variety selection of cleome: integrating nutrition, local food plants and participatory plant breeding in farmer field schools Pardon Sithole, Pillar 3 lead and Manata Jeko, Pillar 1 lead at CTDT Zimbabwe People in Zimbabwe, like in any other country in Africa, are affected by malnutrition. Poor diets, socio-economic conditions and disease are to blame. […]
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’I am now a better farmer’ Muzamani Lihinga is on his new crop variety in Zimbabwe
Translated by Obey Mugwira, and Manata Jeko, Field Officer CTDT Zimbabwe My name is Muzamani Lihinga. I am a 63 year old smallholder farmer from Maihwa village ward 6 of Chilonga in Chiredzi district to the South East of Zimbabwe. I am a member and facilitator of Hlubuko Farmer Field School (FFS). Effects of climate […]