AsiaDHRRA Online

By Mr. Jesus Vicente Garganera, National Coordinator, PhilDHRRA
A market research scanning on calamansi that was done revealed important statistics and information for any farmer or group of farmers interested in producing and marketing. It was found that the production of calamansi in the country has been increasing, with major supplies coming from Central Philippines (although [...]

Towards The Celebration Of The International Year Of Family Farming-IYFF. A dream nearer each day
José María Zeberio-Executive Secretary of the World Rural Forum-WRF
REPORT ON THE IYFF
Before the end of 2009 we wish to update our report on the IYFF.
In the world today there are 3,000 million people who live in the countryside. The greater part [...]

Overview of Challenges Experienced by Small Farmers in Engaging with Markets, by Mr. Nonoy Villas, presented the rationale behind supporting small farmers’ commodity-based associations. He started with the definition of terms to illustrate that the small farmers have the weakest link in both the supply and the value chains.
He added that small farmers are much [...]

thanks to Jose Osaba of WRF for sharing this…

Country Presentations from Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia
Philippines
Mr. Luis Caballero Jr., Vice Chairperson of Zamboanga Sibugay High Value Marketing Crop, presented their community’s experience in maintaining food safety and quality standards for calamansi. In terms of maintaining product quality, this involved the processes before planting, the maintenance requirements during planting season, as well as the [...]

WRF has released the latest brochure of the Campaign for an International Year of Family Farming. Click to download

By Dr. Nellie Manalili, Regional Adviser for Asia on Market Access, Vredeseilanden (VECO)
Much of the problems in the agricultural sector exist because we do not understand what is going on. That is why we need to understand what are agricultural chains and how these are linked to the market.
In a simple marketing system, there is [...]

Potty trained pigs? An interesting tidbit from the Philippine Daily Inquirer….
TAIPEI, Taiwan—Farmers in southern Taiwan have started to potty-train their pigs in response to a planned water pollution fee, breeders and officials said Monday.
To keep their livestock from defecating into nearby rivers, a growing number of farms have established special “toilets” smeared with feces and [...]

Huffington Post has this breaking news about the Copenhagen Climate talks:
The UN international climate change conference is in chaos as the G77, which represents 130 developing countries “pulled the emergency plug” suspending the talks over wealthy countries’ reluctance to discuss a legally binding emissions treaty.
read more about the climate talk walkout here….

We are sharing with you our latest publication – the Mapping of Marketing Intermediation of CSO in Indonesia and Value Chain Analysis of Organic Rice in Indonesia.
You can download the PDF version here (right click and choose “file save as…” or drop by our office for the print version. Copies are limited though so call [...]

Thanks again to our friend Jose Osaba for sharing this interesting book from TWN.
“THE world is now facing a new era of climate change and the impacts of climate change are already being felt everywhere, particularly in the developing countries and small islands. The local knowledge systems and agricultural practices and techniques adopted by local [...]

A presentation by By Mr. Peter Sousa Hoejskov, Food Quality and Safety Officer, FAO Regional Office in Asia Pacific, during the 2nd LSFM RTW.
Mr. Peter Hoejskov started his presentation with a discussion on the importance of food safety and standards. He cited that food safety and control systems provide: the basis for inspection, testing, and [...]

Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack  shared  this article with us about their visit to the  World Vegetable Center in Arusha, Tanzania. The intrepid couple are traveling in Africa and you can keep up with their discoveries and adventures in their personal blog at  BorderJumpers.
The World Vegetable Center is focusing on “building a sustainable seed system [...]

Here’s an oldie but goodie bag ‘o tips for TechTuesday from MobileActive.org about the effective use of mobile phones in issue campaigns.
Speed is often critical in an advocacy campaign and mobile phones allow the rapid dissemination of messages to a network of supporters with specific calls for action. In the developing world, where internet access [...]