While digital technologies could enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of farming activities, the Grow Asia report in 2019 still showed that farmers’ adoption of digital technologies remained low across Southeast Asia. In their interviews with 100 farmers from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar, the Grow Asia team found that farmers would only decide to adopt a… Read More
Agriculturists and extension workers have been exploring how to harness the use of social media for agriculture. However, social media adoption among farmers in developing nations remains to be a challenge. A survey among 365 farmers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, revealed that only 66 respondents had adopted social media. Furthermore, only 8 out of the… Read More
The issue of logistics in agricultural extension work, where officers have to back and forth from their office to the farms they are working with, is a common issue in the sector. Even with the existence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) like mobile phones, which are expected to make the extension work efficiently, there… Read More
Farmers have widely used mobile-based information service systems to address challenges they face and keep up with the latest developments in the sector. The study of Wijerathna et al. (2020) provides another perspective on how Twitter, a mainstream online microblogging platform, can serve as a Short Message Service (SMS) system for rural communities in the… Read More
In Asia Pacific Region, three countries have approved their Family Farming NAP as part of the UNDFF: Indonesia, Nepal and The Philippines. Furthermore, starting from 2021, Bangladesh has also been taken significant steps towards the development of the NAP, whereas in India, Laos, Cambodia and Japan progress is being made in mobilising actors to implement… Read More
In celebration of the International Women’s Day last March 8, the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC) invites female members of the farmers’ organizations under the Asia-Pacific Farmers Program (APFP) and Farmers Organizations for Asia (FO4A) to join the “Women Ensuring Food Security and Nutrition: Forgotten Foods… Read More
Agrifood systems in the Asia-Pacific region have been particularly vulnerable to shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, quickening the adoption of digital technologies, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said. Qu was speaking in a special event entitled “Innovation, Science and Digitalization: Transforming agrifood systems… Read More
Here’s an inspiring story of Dante and Aming Pajaron, family farmers from Valencia, Bukidnon, Philippines who were able strive and thrive amid pandemic through Integrated Diversified Organic Farming System (IDOFS). Also called “low-cost farming”, IDOFS is a farming approach that promotes the shift from monoculture production systems into “sustainable and self-reliant small-scale farming” methods. Before venturing into… Read More
The United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF, 2019-2028) aims to unleash the potential of family farmers as ‘key agents of change’ to transform food systems in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. This is guided by a Global Action Plan (GAP) under which Pillar 4 calls for improved communication and ICT capacities, Rural… Read More
In 2021, the World Rural Forum organized a 4-day Global Conference entitled, “Family Farming at the Core of Sustainable Food Systems”. The Global conference was attended by family farmers, governments, UN agencies, research centers, cooperatives, and others organizations committed to strengthening family farming. This event confirmed the unique position of family farming in achieving inclusive,… Read More
