Blog

Video: The Value Chain Approach to Boosting Rural Economies

August 26, 2016 |

In the latest episode of Farming First TV, we talk to Dr. Richard Pluke, Senior Agricultural Advisor at Fintrac, about the organisation’s “value chain approach”. “People complain about problems with markets,” Dr. Pluke comments. “The truth is, the markets are out there, you just need to produce for them and become a dependable supplier.” If smallholders are able to plug into markets and become successful, he argues, the entire rural economy can be boosted as a result. …

Video: Feeding India with Finite Resources

August 11, 2016 |

“You can’t cook a cuisine with just one ingredient,” Indian farmer Balwinder Singh Kang tells Farming First TV. Farming, he explains is the same. “I don’t say you can only use one technology, I say use the best of everything.” Mr. Kang has been farming for the past 30 years on a small farm at Hanumangarh in the state of Rajasthan. He grows GM cotton as well as conventional varieties of wheat, mustard, beans, and some vegetables. Not all technologies, however, are reaching him and his fellow farmers. …

Video: In Conversation with a Female Food Hero

August 9, 2016 |

Farming First meets the winner of Tanzanian reality show "Mama Shujaa wa Chakula" that searches for a female food hero.

Winning Innovators Pitch Pulse Products at IFT2016

July 20, 2016 |

Innovators from all over the world won the chance to present their unique pulse-based products at the Institute of Food Technologists Expo in Chicago this week. The Global Pulse Confederation, a Farming First supporter via the International Agri-Food Network designed the “LovePulses Produce Showcase” competition to discover a new wave of pulse products for the market, in celebration of the International Year of Pulses. …

Biofortification Pioneers Win World Food Prize 2016

June 29, 2016 |

Drs. Maria Andrade, Robert Mwanga, Jan Low and Howarth Bouis have been announced as the 2016 winners of the World Food Prize, the most prominent global award for individuals whose breakthrough achievements alleviate hunger and promote global food security. The $250,000 prize rewards their work in countering world hunger and malnutrition through biofortification, the process of breeding critical vitamins and micronutrients into staple crops. …

GACSA Forum: Making Agriculture “Climate-Smarter”

June 21, 2016 |

Last week, Farming First attended the Annual Forum of the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA) in order to launch our latest animated video and series of case studies on climate-smart agriculture (CSA). Our video was featured as part of the opening session of the conference, which was held at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome. …