Across the world, women form an integral part of the agricultural sector. In much of South Asia, women make-up a majority of the agricultural workforce, but the extent of their contribution remains unacknowledged in policy and public debates. They often undertake difficult physical labour - working long hours, and are paid lower wages compared to their male counterparts - if they are paid at all. LANSA research identified women’s agricultural work in South Asia as a critical...
Value of collaborative research crossing boundaries
Author : Saba Aslam with inputs from Haris Gazdar and Nitya RaoPublished Date : Saturday, January 5, 2019
Taking the Farming System for Nutrition Approach to Scale
Author : R V BhavaniPublished Date : Thursday, September 6, 2018
Seven villages in Koraput district in Odisha and five villages in Wardha district in Maharashtra were the sites of the Farming System for Nutrition (FSN) study by MSSRF in India from 2013-18. Emerging evidence from the study points to improved household dietary diversity resulting from a broad-ranging agricultural intervention that focused on increasing availability of nutrient dense crops, nutrition gardens of fruits and vegetables, fishery and poultry as supporting interventions, accompanied...
Farming System for Nutrition demonstration models in Maharashtra – thanks to a LANSA ‘Champion’
Author : R V BhavaniPublished Date : Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Five villages in Wardha district (Vidarbha region), Maharashtra was one of the sites of the action research study by MSSRF from 2013-2018 to demonstrate feasibility of a farming systems approach to address the problem of undernutrition.The endline survey in 2017 showed evidence of improvement in dietary diversity; farm men and women have emerged as spokespersons, and shared their experience at block and district level forums. Farmers from another 16 villages have been motivated...
Farmer-made fertilizer doubles vegetable yields in rural Bangladesh
Author : Hans-Peter Schmidt and Sabine GabryschPublished Date : Friday, April 6, 2018
Home gardening plays an essential role in rural Bangladesh by providing access to fresh and varied food and thus contributes to reducing undernutrition. Gardens can also help families to earn a small income through sale of surplus produce. However, yields in backyard gardens are often low due to degraded soils. Also, many families lack financial resources to buy fertilizers, and the manure they collect from cows is mostly used as fuel for cooking.Could there be a solution?The FAARM project...
