5. Food

5.1 Developing Countries Farm Radio Network

Developing Countries Farm Radio Network
416 Moore Avenue, Suite 101
Toronto M4G 1C9
CANADA
Contact: Nancy Bennett, Executive Director
Tel: +1 416 971 6333
Fax: +1 416 971 5299
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.farmradio.org/
Geographic coverage: Developing countries
Languages: English; French; Spanish
Subject areas: Agricultural extension; Information and communications technology; Radio broadcasts
Publications: Newsletter (quarterly)

The Developing Countries Farm Radio Network is an information exchange network for rural broadcasters, journalists, agriculture extensionists and community health workers. The information shared encourages sustainable agriculture with simple, proven ways to increase food supplies using only resources ordinarily available to small-scale farmers.

Network participants receive quarterly packages (English, French, Spanish) of radio scripts, which are adapted and translated by members into 240 languages and dialects for local audiences. The scripts are based on the needs and experiences of its audiences - the methods shared are carefully researched and the scripts reviewed by an international panel of experts in agriculture and health. Topics covered include soil conservation, crop production, livestock, agroforestry, building small businesses, environmental issues, nutrition and family health, and gender issues.

The Network also provides resources to help members communicate more effectively with their audience. A quarterly newsletter discusses successful communication techniques and supplies background programme information with additional resources.

5.2 ECHO Inc. (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization)

ECHO Inc.
17391 Durrance Road
North Fort Myers
FL 33917
USA

Contact:David Balsbaugh, Educational Programs Director
Tel: +1 239 543 3246
Fax: +1 239 543 5317
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:http://www.echonet.org/
Geographic coverage:Developing countries
Languages:English; Spanish
Subject areas:Agricultural extension;Crop production; Farming systems; Horticulture
Publications: ECHO Development Notes (quarterly)

ECHO is a non-profit-making, Christian organisation dedicated to the fight against world hunger. Its primary mandate is to strengthen the work of missionaries and national churches as they assist small farmers or gardeners in the third world. They are pleased to help other individuals and groups doing similar work.

ECHO's primary activities include:

publishing ECHO Development Notes (offered in English and Spanish) - a quarterly technical bulletin addressing third world agricultural problems, distributed free to agricultural development and health workers, teachers and scientists overseas;
sending from a seed bank (containing over 450 varieties of hard-to-find food plants, multi-purpose trees and other tropical crops that have the promise of doing well under marginal conditions) trial packets of seeds to people in the ECHO network - recipients are asked to report on local performance and acceptance of the plants grown, and if these show promise they are then made responsible for the subsequent multiplication and distribution of seed within their locality; No charge for moderate requests from development organizations.
responding to farming and gardening questions from 160 countries - the specialised library helps staff and visitors research practical answers to a wide range of agricultural topics, while the ECHO home page provides rapid computer access to much of the information that it holds;
maintaining a small farm where a wide variety of lesser-known but promising tropical and subtropical plants and innovative techniques are demonstrated;
providing study opportunities, consulting and project planning at the demonstration farm for students, interns, missionaries and development workers going overseas. Note that ECHO is not an “official” educational institution so getting visas to visit or study can be very difficult.

5.3 Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET)

Famine Early Warning System
Chemonics International
1133 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
USA
Fax: +1 202 955 7598
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.fews.net/
Geographic coverage: Africa
Languages: English
Subject areas: Famine; Food security
Publications: Online databases

FEWS NET is the principal activity in a food security information-based approach to preparedness and planning. The goal of FEWS NET is to create more useful and sustainable information systems that facilitate finding solutions to food insecurity problems in sub-Saharan Africa. The focus of FEWS NET is to empower Africans to find African-led solutions to African-identified food insecurity problems. This will occur primarily through strengthening African capacity to improve the quality and effectiveness of food security information systems and networks, and will result in relevant information being used in the development of policies, programmes, strategies and plans (including contingency and response) that reduce food insecurity.

While the objective of working to improve food security in the 17 drought-prone African countries (listed below) remains the primary focus, these objectives were furthered by the need to help establish more effective, sustainable, and African-led food security and response planning networks that reduce the vulnerability of at-risk groups, including risk from both famine and flood situations.

The Fews Net database is accessible to interested parties for use in furthering the objectives of food security for all. It includes:

Resources and Toolkits - this area of http://www.fews.net/ brings together, from the world's leading sources of food security knowledge, the finest resources and tools available on policy-level decision-making and food security management;
Leadership and Contacts - this provides an invaluable coordinated network of leading public and dynamic private enterprises that comprises the top technical and managerial know how.

West Africa (Sahel):
Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger

Southern Africa:
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia

East Africa (Greater Horn):
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Southern Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe

5.4 FARM-Africa (Food and Agricultural Research Management)

FARM-Africa (Food and Agricultural Research Management)
9 - 10 Southampton Place
London WC1A 2EA
UNITED KINGDOM
Contact: Rosie Rendall, Coordinator
Tel: +44 20 7430 0440
Fax: +44 20 7430 0460
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.farmafrica.org.uk/
Geographic coverage: Eastern and southern Africa
Languages: English
Subject areas: Dairy animals; Farming systems; Food production; Pastoralism; Women

FARM-Africa is a registered charity committed to helping smallholder farmers and pastoralists in Africa to improve their level of agricultural productivity and income in an environmentally sustainable way. Established in 1985, FARM has projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. New projects in Uganda and Transkei, South Africa are planned.

FARM's objective as an organisation is to work with people to help them produce more food for themselves and their families. It works in close partnership with communities and their institutions, and where possible:

tests out new ideas and approaches towards increasing productivity of natural resources;
facilitates the dissemination and adoption of successful experiences;
pays particular attention to the role and welfare of women.

FARM's projects include:

a Regional Dairy Goat Development Project (in Ethiopia and Kenya), which helps poor widows obtain productive goats in order to give them access to milk for their families and produce marketable goat products;
a Farmers' Research Project in Ethiopia, which works with pastoralists in arid northern Kenya, and has a programme with communities on wildlife and tree conservation in Ethiopia - it provides help for resettlers in South Africa and has an integrated agricultural project in Tanzania.

FARM sees itself as a catalyst in the process of breaking the famine cycle, and collaborates with many other governmental and charitable organisations in this effort.

5.5 Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)

Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network
PO Box CY 2765, Causeway
Harare
ZIMBABWE
Contact: Mabel Ndakaripa Hungwe, Communications Specialist
Tel: +263 4 792348/50
Fax: +263 4 792411
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.fanrpan.org/
Geographic coverage: Southern Africa
Languages: English
Subject areas: Agriculture; Food; Natural resources; Policy analysis
Publications: FANRPAN Newsletter

FANRPAN is a forum that brings together key stakeholders in the food, agriculture and natural resource sectors to discuss issues productively and identify solutions to problems confronting the region.

The overall goal of FANRPAN is to facilitate and promote the analysis, synthesis, formation, adoption, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of appropriate and effective food, agriculture and natural resources policies. It aims to provide a forum for discussion of problems and potential solutions; facilitate provision of high-quality policy-relevant information to policy makers and decision makers; and support dialogue forum processes with solid analytical research and analysis, capacity building, information exchange and sharing of best practices.

New March 2003

Food & Fertilizer Technology Centre (FFTC)

Food & Fertilizer Technology Centre
5F.14 Wenchow St
Taipei 10616
TAIWAN

Tel: +886 2 2362 6239 Fax: +886 2 2362 0478
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.fftc.agnet.org/
Geographical coverage: Asia & Pacific
Languages: English
Subject areas: Food production; Information dissemination; Sustainable agriculture
Publications: FFTC Newsletter; Issues in Asian Agriculture; books and bulletins

The Food & Fertilizer Technology Centre was established in 1970 in response to a regional shortage of both rice and fertilisers. It is staffed by an international team of agricultural scientists who collect and disseminate information in their own subject matter speciality. FFTC programmes are all held in countries of the Asian and Pacific region in cooperation with national and international agricultural centres in the region.

FFTC does not carry out any research but collects and disseminates research results generated by other agricultural centres in the region. The aim is to provide farmers in the Asian and Pacific region with improved practical information about new technology, to help them achieve higher yields and better incomes.

The Center's information work is broad-based, reflecting the information needs of small-scale farmers in the region. It does not disseminate information directly to Asian farmers but technical information to people working for national extension systems, and other people such as agricultural researchers who also work with farmers and act as "multipliers of information".

Some information is collected through networks of research and extension centres. The Center also holds 4-8 international seminars and workshops each year on topics of major regional importance and carries out surveys each year with the help of local cooperators. Topics covered in regional surveys over the past few years include virus diseases of fruit trees (diagnosis, insect vectors, natural enemies of the vectors); problems of Asian farmers in pesticide use; and low-input technology using local resources developed by farmers on their own farms.

Information is disseminated via the Internet, at training courses, and in publications. Each year FFTC distributes 20-40 technical publications free of charge to more than 2000 libraries and extension centres, most of them in the Asian and Pacific region.

FFTC publications (Books, Extension & Technical Bulletins, FFTC Newsletter, Leaflets, Issues in Asian Agriculture) can be freely accessed from the Center’s website.

5.6 Food Science Network for Africa (FOSNA)

Food Science Network for Africa
PO Box 31449
Dar Es Salaam
TANZANIA
Tel: +255 22 2780378/9
Fax: +255 22 2116713
E-mail: [email protected]
Geographic coverage: Africa
Languages: English
Subject areas: Food science; Nutrition; Research; Technology transfer

Food science can improve the food security of people by improving food adequacy - its quantity, quality, safety and social - cultural acceptability. It can be made available and accessible to all individuals at all times in order to achieve good nutrition for health and a happy life through improved food processing and post harvest handling, and development of appropriate technologies as well as modification of indigenous food processing technologies.

In response to limited exchange of information and transfer of knowledge in solving problems at the ground level, FOSNA has recently been established to address these issues. FOSNA provides an opportunity for food scientists in African countries to network, exchange ideas and get to know each other through the Internet, workshops and symposia.

The specific objectives of FOSNA are to:

address challenges related to research and development and generation of information for improved transfer of technology;
initiate, develop, promote and coordinate tailor-made and need-driven research and market-oriented training in food science and its applications for the improvement of livelihood of the people in Africa;
promote collaborative research in food science and nutrition in Africa, as well as to foster and maintain links with scientists outside Africa;
develop and periodically update a data bank of food scientists, food industries, research institutes and training institutions in Africa;
collaborate with food industries in product development and quality assurance;
foster inter-laboratory exchanges within African countries;
disseminate food science information, education and communication materials through appropriate channels.

5.7 FOODNET

FOODNET [Updated June 2004]
IITA Eastern and Southern African Regional Center
PO Box 7878
Kampala
UGANDA
Contact: Shaun Ferris
Tel: +256 41 221416
Fax: +256 41 220217
E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
Web: http://www.foodnet.cgiar.org/
Geographic coverage: Central and Eastern Africa
Languages: English
Subject areas: Information and communications technology; Marketing; Post harvest research; Radio broadcasts
Publications: PhAction (biannual newsletter)

The FOODNET project is a new type of regional agricultural research and development network focusing on market-oriented research and sales of value-added agricultural products. It has three main objectives, and is seeking partnerships with a range of public and private sector partners to undertake:

market research and the identification of market opportunities;
post harvest research;
implementation of commercial agro-enterprise activities.

FOODNET, a member of the Future Harvest consortium, is one of 17 regional networks of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) operating in Eastern and Central Africa, and is funded by USAID. FOODNET aims to assist in developing skills for implementing market-oriented research and developing innovative methods for information exchange.

The network has a small grants fund to assist R&D organisations to undertake market-oriented research. At present there are 20 research and development projects being implemented by partners throughout the region. FOODNET offers training opportunities in market analysis, agro-enterprise development, and website design and maintenance.

Information exchange is being developed at several levels, including a website, publication of a biannual newsletter (PhAction), and dissemination of CD-ROMs in collaboration with the FAO's Information Network on Post-harvest Operations (INPhO) project. Information is broadcast in specific countries via national and local radio, and the staff of FOODNET also promote and inform the research community about progress via the standard means of publishing papers and giving talks at public and research-based meetings.

5.8 Future Harvest

Future Harvest [updated Nov 2004]
c/o AIARC
901 N. Washington Street
Suite 706, Alexandria, VA 22314
USA

Contact: Executive Director

Tel: +1 703 548 4540
E-mail:[email protected];
Web: http://www.futureharvest.org/
Geographic coverage: Global
Languages: English
Subject areas: Food production; Food security

Incorporated in 1998 as a charitable and educational organisation to advance debate and catalyse action for a world with less poverty, a healthier human family and a better environment, Future Harvest was created by the 16 food and environmental research centres known as the Future Harvest Centers. These research centres, located around the world, are supported by 58 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organisations known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Future Harvest works to:

promote awareness and educate the general public and decision makers about the importance of food production and the role of agricultural science in meeting the human and environmental challenges of today and tomorrow;
build financial support for scientific research and charitable projects that bring the results of this research to rural communities, farmers, and their families in the developing countries.
o carry out its work, Future Harvest:
commissions highly respected experts to explore the links between food and agriculture and important universal issues including environmental renewal, peace, economic growth, health, and population concerns;
enlists influential public figures, world leaders, Nobel laureates, media personalities, and entertainers to become advocates for world agricultural research;
engages in a range of partnerships to communicate its messages, build financial support, and promote action that addresses global food and environmental challenges.

5.9 Institut du Sahel (INSAH) [Sahel Institute]

Institut du Sahel
BP 1530
Bamako
MALI
Contact: Sompo Ceesay, Director General
Tel: +223 23 02 37/23 53 38
Fax: +223 23 02 37/22 23 37
Web: http://www.insah.org/
Geographic coverage: West Africa
Languages: French
Subject areas: Drought mitigation; Dryland ecosystems; Food security

INSAH seeks to promote the emergence of a scientific area of savanna in West Africa which will be able to make a significant contribution to achieving food sufficiency, to fight against drought and desertification, all in order that development can be durable.

Its strategy rests on reinforcing national skills in research and in developing national skills in cooperation to the full within a framework of regional cooperation and dialogue.

INSAH helps countries in CILSS (Comité Permanent Inter Etats de Lutte Contre La Sécheresse au Sahel) in the fight against drought in the Sahel by defining strategies and programmes for achieving sufficiency in food while preserving the environment.

It consists of two principal programmes:

programme development;
agro-socio-economic research.

Within the framework of these programmes, INSAH runs study courses, research programmes and training courses, provides technical assistance, and offers information and computer courses (development of products, data processing, advice). It has published several papers providing information on work in the Sahel.

RESADOC, the Sahelian Scientific and Technological Information and Documentation Network, operates in a networking mode with Sahelian countries to share information on drought. Funded by IDRC, UNESCO and French bilateral aid, RESADOC has developed an important database of information, including Resindex.

5.10 International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

International Food Policy Research Institute [updated July 2004]
2033 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006-1002
USA

Contact: Luz Marina Alvare, Head Librarian
Tel: +1 202 862 5600 Fax: +1 202 467 4439
E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]
Web: http://www.ifpri.org
Geographic coverage: Global
Languages: English
Subject areas: Agricultural economics; Food resources; Food security; Policy analysis
Publications: Newsletter; publications list available

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), one of the 15 research centres of CGIAR, was established in 1975 to identify and analyse alternative national and international strategies for improving the food situation of the low-income countries and peoples of the world.

The mission of the International Food Policy Research Institute is to identify and analyse policies for sustainably meeting the food needs of the developing world. Research at IFPRI concentrates on economic growth and poverty alleviation in low-income countries, improvement of the well-being of poor people, and sound management of the natural resource base that supports agriculture. IFPRI seeks to make its research results available to all those in a position to use them and to strengthen institutions in developing countries that conduct research relevant to its mandate.

Researchers, policymakers and those generally interested in development issues are reached through IFPRI's publications. Major studies are published in the research report series. These, along with abstracts that summarise the major policy conclusions, are sent to researchers, policymakers and libraries around the world. Other publications include a newsletter, an annual report, reprints, and commercial publications (published through The Johns Hopkins University Press). More than 8,000 people receive, or are notified of these publications through IFPRI's mailing list and more than 20,000 publications are distributed each year in addition to those sent through the mailing list.

IFPRI publications section on the IFPRI website provides access to infomation about IFPRI's research and related articles. Most documents are available for download in PDF