FarmFriday

Module 1 provides an overview of issues to be explored in the Learning AgriCultures series. This series aims to provide support to educators in explaining the principles behind sustainable small-scale farming. Module 1 serves as the introduction to the series, while subsequent modules provide a more in-depth and practical focus on important themes brought up. This module can alternatively be used as a stand-alone short course, to provide an overview of small farm sustainability.

The One World Trust, with support from the International Development Research Centre, has created an interactive, online database of tools to help organisations conducting policy relevant research become more accountable.

The Trust has built the online accountability database to support researchers, campaigners and research managers to think through the way they use evidence to influence policy in an accountable way. The database takes into account that research organisations are increasingly diverse – they are no longer just universities, but private companies, public institutes and non-profit think-tanks. No single accountability model can encompass this diversity.

Instead, the database provides an inventory of over two hundred tools, standards and processes within a broad, overarching accountability framework. With a dynamic interface and several search functions, it allows users to identify aspects of accountability that interests them, and provides ideas to improve their accountability in this context. Each tool is supported by sources and further reading.

Check out the research accountability tool here…

The Economist

CELIA ORBOC, a cake-seller in the Philippines, spent her little stipend on a wooden shack, giving her five children a roof over their heads for the first time. In Kyrgyzstan Sharmant Oktomanova spent hers buying flour to feed six children. In Haiti President René Préval praises a dairy co-operative that gives mothers milk and yogurt when their children go to school.

These are examples of the world’s favourite new anti-poverty device, the conditional cash-transfer programme (CCT) in poor and middle-income countries. These schemes give stipends and food to the poorest if they meet certain conditions, such as that their children attend school, or their babies are vaccinated. Ten years ago there were a handful of such programmes and most were small. Now they are on every continent—even New York City has one—and they benefit millions.

Continue reading about why Conditional-cash transfers are good here….

The benefits of participatory approaches can only be felt if all those involved have a common understanding and set of expectations. This guide, designed for volunteers, partner organisations and staff, is based on VSO’s experience on promoting participation. The authors hope that it will also prove useful to the wider development community. The guide is divided into three parts, which are available as three separate PDF files.

Download the facilitator’s guide here…

download the paper here….

download the template here…

FrontlineSMS is the first text messaging system to be conceived, designed and written firmly with the needs of the non-profit sector in mind. Until now, the majority of systems have not taken into account the nature of non-profit work, and the specific conditions (financial and physical) which many work under.

FrontlineSMS has been successfully deployed in over forty countries in many areas by grassroots NGOs including the Nigerian and Philippine elections, in the sending of security alerts to fieldworkers in Afghanistan, market prices to smallholder farmers in Aceh, and to circumvent government restrictions in countries including Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

What can FrontlineSMS do for you?

Are you a locally- or internationally-based NGO looking at the potential to use mobile phone text messages to reach specific groups of individuals within a target community? Or to run an awareness raising campaign? Or to run a competition, or carry out a text-based survey? Or to simply keep in touch with your fieldworkers?

Do you want to provide text-based information services such as bus times, prices, goods availability etc?

If you have already identified applications for text messaging within your non-profit organisation and are looking for a simple, comprehensive, affordable and complete entry-level system then you’re in the right place. If you think text messaging could work for you but don’t know where to start, and are looking to try a service without having to dig too deep into your pockets, then you’re also in the right place.

The FrontlineSMS software is provided free to charities and other non-profit organisations. The software can be downloaded here but requires activation before messages can be sent or received. Details on how to obtain activation codes are provided.

read the complete info about it here….

1. Suggested template for documentation

1. Rural poverty reduction monitoring tool