SMALL-FARMS-L Archives

Moderated e-mail conference on small farms and food security

SMALL-FARMS-L@LISTSERV.FAO.ORG

The e-mail conference will allow participants from around the world to share and discuss their experiences, lessons learned and perspectives on the contribution of small farms to food security and nutrition.
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AIS
Wed, 12 Oct 2022 08:43:31 +0000
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Side event organized by AARINENA at FAO Science and Innovation Forum (SIF) 2022:

Enhancing knowledge sharing in support of agricultural innovation: Date Palm Innovation Platform

13 October 2022
10:00 am Jordan Time / 9:00 am CET time

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4229973126?pwd=cXBaRGp5V3kwd1kzekFTeGRPQzlCQT09
Meeting ID: 422 997 3126
Passcode: 100

The region is experiencing a huge knowledge gap, as the information and knowledge produced locally are not easily accessible. To close the gap, FAO and AARINENA joined efforts to explore opportunities to sustainably improve the quality and quantity of date palm production and support the small-scale producers. This joint effort resulted in

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AIS
Wed, 12 Oct 2022 08:04:58 +0000
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CIRAD, FAO's Office of Innovation and the Destree Institute present the webinar on

Towards the first global foresight on extension and advisory services for agrifood systems of the future: participatory scenario shaping

- Side event organized by CIRAD, FAO and the Destree Institute on the occasion of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum -

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2022 11:05:19 +0000
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FAO's Office of Innovation presents the webinar

Capacity development for agricultural innovation systems (AIS) mainstreaming and investments through the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP)

- Side event of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022 -

13 October 2022

From 15:00 to 16:30 CET (Rome)

To register, please click HERE<https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Rqc_ALnvRE2BbT8me57cQw>

To unleash countries' and regions' potential for agricultural innovation, their human and institutional capacities need to be strengthened, and investments in capacity development (CD) for agricultural innovation systems (AIS) need to be scaled up. This side event aims to share successful examples of the partners of the TAP, a global, multi-stakeholder

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AIS
Mon, 10 Oct 2022 07:44:53 +0000
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FAO's Office of Innovation presents the webinar

TAPipedia: Fostering knowledge sharing in support of agricultural innovation
- Side event of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022 -

12 October 2022
From 16:30 to 18:00 CET (Rome)
To register, please click HERE<https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tFqyTEkcT9ae5C1iyyLB2g>

The event is aimed to promote knowledge sharing in support of agricultural innovation. The promotion of agricultural innovation is the main objective of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20 initiative launched in 2012, led by FAO and financially supported by the European Union. TAPipedia, the knowledge hub developed in the context of TAP, is positioning itself as

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AIS
Fri, 7 Oct 2022 13:47:09 +0000
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[cid:705d2b47-a07a-4006-ae55-1215c0c056a0]

FAO in Azerbaijan presents the webinar

Strengthening of Agricultural Advisory Services in Azerbaijan

- Side event of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022 -

14 October 2022

From 08:00 to 9:30 CET (Rome)
(10:00 to 11.30 GMT+4, Baku)

To register, please click HERE<https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K0E8W9zCQdyiWKLWX_zUaQ>

As part of its efforts to diversify the economy, the priority of the Government of Azerbaijan is stimulating growth of agricultural sector. To this end, a project funded by the European Union and implemented by FAO is supporting development of an agricultural advisory services system that is well-coordinated, demand-driven and that facilitates innovations through stakeholder

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AIS
Fri, 7 Oct 2022 13:44:27 +0000
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FAO's Office of Innovation and IFPRI present the webinar

Guiding integration of policies and investments to innovate for food systems transformation: Global Lessons
- Side event of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022 -

14 October 2022
From 16:00 to 17:30 CET (Rome) 10:00-11.30 EDT
To register, please click HERE<https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eCcwLmwPSqyfh4HXiZUBiw>

Strengthening the agricultural innovation system (AIS) is a key step to accomplishing food systems transformation. Lack of policy cohesiveness and limited integration of policies and investment plans have constrained the pathway to achieve the SDGs. This side-event will present a framework that defines pathways to food systems transformation using

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AIS
Wed, 22 Jun 2022 09:07:48 +0000
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Dear colleagues,

Are you interested in agricultural innovation? If your answer is YES, then you might be interested in TAPipedia, the knowledge sharing hub on agricultural innovation and related topics: https://tapipedia.org<https://tapipedia.org/>.

What is TAPipedia?

Developed as part of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20-initiative funded by the European Union and facilitated by FAO in support of capacity development for agricultural innovation systems, TAPipedia is a freely accessible website for knowledge and information sharing. TAPipedia was recently enriched with new functionalities, and it currently includes more than 4,200 resources in three UN languages: English, French and Spanish. The repository features

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AIS
Thu, 16 Jun 2022 07:43:51 +0000
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[cid:image001.png@01D88161.09CA8DF0]
Webinar on:
Strengthening capacities of key regional research and extension organizations to support agriculture innovation in Asia-Pacific
21 June 2022
From 11.30 to 13.00 (Bangkok time)
From 06.30 to 08.00 (Rome time)

To register, please click HERE<https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p40-P4vQTG2Jkr1HbVQk2g>

The Asia-Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services Network (APIRAS) and the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) in partnership with the Research and Extension Unit of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations are committed to strengthening agriculture innovation systems (AIS) in the Asia-Pacific region for agri-food systems transformation.

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AIS
Tue, 19 Apr 2022 13:33:34 +0000
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Dear all,

Please find below information on the e-discussion on “The co-creation, sharing and dissemination of local innovations for healthy soils in Africa” implemented by the FAO Family Farming & Agroecology Community of Practice in Africa and co-organized by Access Agriculture, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), Biovision Africa Trust, FAO Family Farming Knowledge Platform, FAO Agroecology Knowledge Hub, FAO TECA Platform, Pan-African Farmers Organization (PAFO), and World Rural Forum.

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AIS
Thu, 25 Nov 2021 11:26:03 +0000
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The Tropical Agriculture Platform Secretariat, hosted by FAO, is glad to invite you to attend the following side event during the 8th Tropical Agriculture Platform Partners Assembly:

FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2021 | 14:00-15:30 CET
Establishing and Operationalizing a Research, Technology and Innovation Platform for the Date Palm Integrated Production System in NENA Region (DRTIP_NENA)
Side event organized by the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA)
Registration link: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0Jj0X3enQhGDjHFwDpm1og

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AIS
Thu, 25 Nov 2021 09:20:05 +0000
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The Tropical Agriculture Platform Secretariat, hosted by FAO, is glad to invite you to attend the following side event during the 8th Tropical Agriculture Platform Partners Assembly:

FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2021 | 09:30-11:00 CET (16:30 Beijing)
Ways to Develop Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) via Integration of Industry-EducationResearch (IER)
Side event organized by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).
Registration link: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6A4MkMqERKGaZvm1FlDTiQ

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AIS
Wed, 24 Nov 2021 09:27:28 +0000
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The Tropical Agriculture Platform Secretariat, hosted by FAO, is glad to invite you to attend the following side event:

THURSDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2021 | 14:00-15:30 CET
TAP-AIS project: assessing capacity needs of key national organizations
Side event organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and national partners of the TAP-AIS project
Registration link: https://fao.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqdOyoqj0oHdKMWHeTu_RJqOkTWcYn_SKg?_x_zm_rtaid=O8bdAFDfStOicGYIx8WyGw.1637743163467.1fccd8d48e657c73036fd3c95fe825f7&_x_zm_rhtaid=283
Flyer: https://www.fao.org/3/cb7761en/cb7761en.pdf

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AIS
Fri, 19 Nov 2021 16:31:17 +0000
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The Tropical Agriculture Platform Secretariat, hosted by FAO, is glad to invite you to attend the following side event:

MONDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2021 | 14:00-15:30 CET
Regional insights and challenges in investment in innovation for sustainable agriculture intensification
Side event organized by the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (CoSAI) in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO).

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Palestini, Giulia (OINR)
Wed, 10 Nov 2021 09:24:27 +0000
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FAO-AGRILINK Joint Webinar

Extension and advisory services (EAS) for the empowerment of small and family

farmers: Addressing the digital divide

14:00 – 16:00 Rome / Central European Time on Thursday, 11th November 2021

WEBINAR LINK (no registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81406935388

PROGRAMME

Time

Session

Speaker

14.00-
14.05

Introduction to the webinar

Selvaraju Ramasamy, FAO Senior
Agricultural Officer & Head of Research
and Extension Unit, OINR (tbc)

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Palestini, Giulia (OINR)
Fri, 24 Sep 2021 10:02:49 +0000
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Invitation en français ci-dessous

Dear colleagues,
I would like to share with you the below invitation to a TECA webinar on beekeeping in Africa, organized by FAO and the Beekeeping Network North-South. The webinar will be held in French on 28 September 2021.

Kind regards,

Giulia Palestini

Research and Extension Unit, Office of Innovation (OIN),


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Palestini, Giulia (OINR)
Thu, 29 Jul 2021 15:05:41 +0000
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FAO's Research and Extension Unit presents
Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers (TECA) Webinar on:

Regenerative Agriculture: good practices for small scale agricultural producers

5 August 2021
From 14:00 to 15:30 (CET)

To register, please click here<https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ojcMJ_NyRKWMxYia9V57og>

Regenerative agriculture is an inclusive agroecosystems approach for conserving land and soil, biodiversity, and improving ecosystem services within farming systems. It focuses on the regeneration of living soil, improved micro hydrology, and conserving biodiversity at all levels while enhancing inputs use efficiency and ecosystem system services. The approach helps to achieve food and nutritional security with economically viable and ecological sustainable options.

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AIS
Tue, 23 Jun 2020 16:24:38 +0000
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Dear all,

we would like to share with you the below invitation.

Kind regards,

SALSA project WP7 team

SALSA Project Final Conference:

Can small farms and food businesses improve people’s access to more and better food in our globalized world?

Thursday, 25 June 2020 from 10:00 to 11:00 and from 11:30 to 13:00 (CET)

[cid:cc57f56f-6410-49f8-b5cc-9539e8a34bf3]

Please register <https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_I5lkRDMlQ-CFMTGYllH4mg> to follow the virtual event through the Zoom conferencing platform.

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AIS
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 13:05:50 +0000
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Dear subscribers and SALSA partners,

We would like to share with you the SALSA Newsletter - February 2019, which you can find attached. This newsletter summarizes our 2018 highlights and provides a brief outlook to 2019, during which we will explore the possibility of holding a third Salsa email conference in the last quarter of the year.

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AIS
Wed, 16 May 2018 13:15:29 +0000
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Dear all,

After our e-conference, we did a short survey to assess how you, the participants, experienced the e-conference, and to collect your suggestions to further refine or improve our future e-conferences.

I promised you the summary of the survey feedback, which we also presented in our last week's close-out webinar. So for those who could not participate in the webinar, below is the overview of the survey outcome.

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AIS
Wed, 9 May 2018 07:30:28 +0000
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Dear all,

Thanks to all who participated and actively contributed (once more!!) in our wrap-up webinar. This webinar concluded our 2nd e-conference, looking back at the past - how this e-conference came about -, the synthesis of the outcome, and exploring what we can do differently next time.

The recording of the webinar is now online, so you can view it in your own time:

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AIS
Mon, 7 May 2018 07:42:33 +0000
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Hi all,
Looking forward to see MANY of you later today, in our wrap-up webinar -- Monday May 7th at 15:00 Rome time (GMT+2)
--> use this tool to convert this time to your local time: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html
How do you connect to our interactive webinar?
In our webinar, you will, in real time, connect to our panel of speakers, including all key people in this project, using this link.
https://bluejeans.com/457735685
If asked for an ID, use this: 457735685
You can already come in and set up your connection as of 14:30 Rome time on Monday. We will be there and

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AIS
Thu, 3 May 2018 12:39:44 +0000
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Dear all,

We are coming close to our "finish line" for our 2nd e-conference, a process which took many months to prepare and execute. Our next Monday's webinar will be the cherry-on-the-cake, wrapping up all of our work, in beauty, we hope :-) !

So, we look forward to see MANY of you participated, in our wrap-up webinar on Monday May 7th at 15:00 Rome time (GMT+2)
--> use this tool to convert this time to your local time: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html
.. it will be great to see many of you online, people who we met and connected to, via the

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AIS
Mon, 30 Apr 2018 15:37:10 +0000
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Hi everyone...

The "crown" on the work from all people who contributed to the e-conference is now public... :-)

As promised, and on time...: The synthesis report for the 2nd e-conference is online!

Here is the announcement post:
http://www.fao.org/nr/research-extension-systems/res-home/news/detail/en/c/1127121/

...which links (at the bottom) to the actual synthesis report and the appendix with ALL input email messages:

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Palestini, Giulia (AGDR)
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:49:07 +0000
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Dear all,

1/ Upcoming webinar, book this date/time!
As promised, we are organizing a close-out webinar to wrap up this e-conference. We will send you more details later, but please book already:

Monday May 7th at 15:00 Rome time (GMT+2).

The webinar will last for 1.5 hours maximum.

As participants to the e-conference, you will NOT have to register for this webinar. More details on how to join will follow later.

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AIS
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 10:42:01 +0000
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Hi all,
Thank you to the 103 people who filled in the survey thus far.
If you have not filled it in yet, please do so now, as we are closing the survey this evening.

best,
Peter

From: Peter Casier <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of AIS <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Tuesday, 17 April 2018 at 08:59
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Kindly fill in our short survey

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AIS
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 06:59:58 +0000
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Hi all,

Please take 2 minutes to fill in our short survey covering the e-conference process: http://bit.ly/econf-survey
As we are working on the wrap-up document, we will have to close the survey real soon.

So, could you please do it now? Thanks -- the survey really helps us to further improve the process for the next time! :-)

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AIS
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 15:39:27 +0000
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Hi everyone,

As promised, here is our planning for the wrap-up of our 2nd e-conference.

1. Summary document
We are working on a wrap-up document, summarizing this e-conference. This will also include a list of every input you all submitted.
We should have this wrap-up document ready for you by April 30th.

2. Wrap-up webinar
On top of the wrap-up document, which will be quite elaborate, we also want to organize a short online webinar (which is like a real-time online "seminar"), in which the main key project people will give their perspective, and main take-home messages from the this

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AIS
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 15:58:57 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is a last minute input on topic #2 "Small farms’ contribution to resilience of the food system"

For the sake of "completeness", I still wanted to distribute this, the input was sent, by error, to the wrong email address.
--Peter.

Q2.1/8 - Question "2.1. What are the ways that small farms contribute to the resilience of the food system in your region? Please provide examples."

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AIS
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 14:17:59 +0000
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Dear all,

Here is the very very very last aggregation for this e-conference.
The honours of the closing inputs are with our dear friend Sami Elhag <[log in to unmask]> from Sudan, on topics #5 and #6
Short answers, but distributed to you all, to wrap up this e-conference's input -- Peter

Q5.1/7 - Question "5.1. What kind of food businesses are important to small farms in your region? Which of these are small food businesses? Please also explain how you define small food businesses."

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AIS
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 13:56:13 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Here is the aggregated input we received on Topic #4 - "How small farms address future challenges"
--Peter

Q4.1/12 - Question -"4.1. Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?"

From: Yoanna Ivanova <[log in to unmask]> (Bulgaria)
The main future challenges I see are:
- Shedding of production areas
- Climate change
- Changes in distribution channels

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AIS
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 13:34:10 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Here is the last input received on topic #3 "Strategies used by small farms to overcome challenges – a view of the past"

As mentioned before, some of these inputs might be quite short, but we still want to distribute them to the group
---Peter

Q3.1/10 - Question "3.1. Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past."

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AIS
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 13:16:04 +0000
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Dear all,

Below are the last inputs received on topic #2 "Small farms contribution to resilience of the food system"
As we mentioned before, some of these input might be quite short, but we still want to distribute them to the group.
--Peter

Q2.1/7 - Question "2.1. What are the ways that small farms contribute to the resilience of the food system in your region? Please provide examples."

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AIS
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:30:09 +0000
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Dear all,

We're processing the last inputs we received before yesterday's deadline. -- Some of these inputs might be quite short, but I still want to distribute these to the group. -- Peter

Here is the last aggregated input on topic #1 - "Cooperation among small farms"

Q1.1/15 - Question: "1.1. What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?"

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AIS
Mon, 9 Apr 2018 18:58:37 +0000
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Dear all,

This evening, we closed the input for our e-conference.

We did our best to keep up with today's last input messages, but the volume was too high to process everything today :-) -- we received 31 inputs in the last 3 hours of the e-conference.

I still have 23 messages to be processed, which I will do tomorrow. So you can expect the last aggregation emails to go out then.

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AIS
Mon, 9 Apr 2018 18:38:22 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input we received on topic #6 - "How can policies affect small farm activities and their resilience?"

Q6.1/10 - Question - "6.1. What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?"

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AIS
Mon, 9 Apr 2018 17:54:17 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input received on topic #5 - "The importance of food businesses to small farms"

Q5.1/6 - Question "5.1. What kind of food businesses are important to small farms in your region? Which of these are small food businesses? Please also explain how you define small food businesses."

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AIS
Mon, 9 Apr 2018 12:46:45 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input received on topic #4 "How small farms address future challenges"
-- best, Peter.

Q4.1/11 - Question: "4.1. Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?"

1/ From: Florence Egal <[log in to unmask]> (France/Italy)
I come from a sustainable development and territorial perspective. it is quite clear to me (including from the - very interesting - contributions I have been reading) that small farms have a comparative advantage in local economies, sustainable diets and resilience and that we

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AIS
Mon, 9 Apr 2018 12:13:05 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input on topic #3 "Strategies used by small farms to overcome challenges – a view of the past"
-- Peter

Q3.1/9 - Question "3.1. Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past."

From: Mahesh Chander <[log in to unmask]> (India)
I agree to the contribution of James Chacha (3.1/8), who talked about absence of connectivity/link between farmers and researchers' findings as one among the challenges small farmers face. In India too, we have a huge research and extension infrastructure for agricultural development. Yet, over 59% of the farm

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AIS
Mon, 9 Apr 2018 11:50:35 +0000
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Thanks to all for your input on Topic #2 "Small farms’ contribution to resilience of the food system", aggregated here...

best, Peter

Q2.1/6 - Question: "2.1. What are the ways that small farms contribute to the resilience of the food system in your region? Please provide examples."

From: Lizzy Igbine Niwaafa <[log in to unmask]> (Nigeria)
Small farms are traditionally organic based and face less hazards and chemical pollution. They use traditional seeds, not GMO or laboratory prepared seeds. They have 100% quality seeds they have been tried and tested over the years. Though there are arguments that these seeds yield less quantities

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AIS
Mon, 9 Apr 2018 11:16:23 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Oh WOW..
We're receiving an influx of incoming feedback during our last day of this e-conference. We are doing our best to keep up with you all... :-)

Here is the aggregated input we received on topic #1 - "Cooperation among small farms "
Thanks for everyone's input!! -- Peter

Q1.1/14 - Question - "1.1 What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?"

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AIS
Sun, 8 Apr 2018 21:07:22 +0000
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Dear all,

We will be closing the e-conference tomorrow, Monday April 9th at 17:00 Rome time.

The inputs received today, April 8th, will be processed and distributed tomorrow morning.

Going through all your input received in the past three weeks, all topics seem to be evenly covered, with the exception of topic #2, which lags slightly behind the others in number of responses/inputs.
So, if, for the last day, you could concentrate on this topic too, that would be great.

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AIS
Sun, 8 Apr 2018 21:02:22 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Three weeks have passed since the FAO e-conference for the SALSA project was launched. The number and quality of the contributions has been incredible, and your submissions are going to be of great value to the SALSA team. To date we’ve received 234 submissions from 43 countries and your contributions have now led us to 56 aggregate emails. The number of registrations to the e-conference has risen to 846. We hope to get further contributions, especially to those questions posed by the participants. These have been highlighted in the aggregate emails and summarized and sent out on an

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AIS
Sat, 7 Apr 2018 20:24:36 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Ah, the powers of the internet age, enabling us to connect, no matter where we are, through electronic fora like this FAO/SALSA e-conference.

Here I am, sitting in a remote village high up in "Alto Adige", the mountainous region of North Italy, while I was processing messages coming in from all corners of the world this week. Also this week, the last snow was melting in the valleys over here. Through the window, I could see farmers (mostly small farmers) all around me, preparing their grazing fields so they could -finally after 4-5-6 months- get their livestock out

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AIS
Sat, 7 Apr 2018 18:23:10 +0000
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Hi everyone,

As we’re closing the e-conference on Monday, now is the right time to aggregate all additional questions YOU, our dear participants, have raised, in relation to our discussion topics, over the past weeks. See below (and I hope I did not forget any. If I did, send me a mail).

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AIS
Fri, 6 Apr 2018 21:27:55 +0000
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Hi everyone,
here is the aggregated input received on topic #4 “How small farms address future challenges”
—Peter

Q4.1/10 Question: "4.1. Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?"

From: Winnona Merritt <[log in to unmask]> (USA)
This is a reply on an earlier message (Q4.1/9) from Marta Czekaj in Poland, identifying “the lack of successors” as one of the main future challenges for small farms.

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AIS
Fri, 6 Apr 2018 21:16:04 +0000
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Hi all,
Here is additional input received on topic #6 - "How can policies affect small farm activities and their resilience?”
—Peter

Q6.1/9 - Question "6.1. What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?"

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AIS
Fri, 6 Apr 2018 21:07:08 +0000
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Hi all,
Here is the latest input received on topic #5 - "The importance of food businesses to small farms”
—Peter

Q5.1/5 - Question "5.1. What kind of food businesses are important to small farms in your region? Which of these are small food businesses? Please also explain how you define small food businesses."

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AIS
Fri, 6 Apr 2018 20:49:57 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is one additional input received on Topic #1 - Cooperation among small farms
—Peter

Q1.1/13 - Question: "1.1. What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?”

From: Marta Czekaj <[log in to unmask]> (Poland)
I am Marta Czekaj, assistant professor at the University of Agriculture in Krakow (Poland), a SALSA partner

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AIS
Fri, 6 Apr 2018 19:40:57 +0000
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Hi all,

As many people are still joining, the question came: “how can I see all input given by participants since the start of the e-conference?”.

All aggregation emails we sent out to the e-conference participants, you can check online:
With this link<https://listserv.fao.org/scripts/wa-fao.exe?A1=ind1803&L=SMALL-FARMS-L&O=D&H=0&D=0&T=1>, you can check all messages for March: https://listserv.fao.org/scripts/wa-fao.exe?A1=ind1803&L=SMALL-FARMS-L&O=D&H=0&D=0&T=1
And with this link<https://listserv.fao.org/scripts/wa-fao.exe?A1=ind1804&L=SMALL-FARMS-L&O=D&H=0&D=0&T=1>, you can check all messages for April: https://listserv.fao.org/scripts/wa-fao.exe?A1=ind1804&L=SMALL-FARMS-L&O=D&H=0&D=0&T=1

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AIS
Thu, 5 Apr 2018 19:18:36 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Our e-conference will end on Monday April 9th, at 17:00 Rome time. This leaves you four more days to submit your input on the six topics.
(for those of you who joined in late, please see this post<http://www.fao.org/nr/research-extension-systems/res-home/news/detail/en/c/1107043/> with the full background)

Over the weekend, you will also receive a summary of our 3rd e-conference week. By Monday evening, we will distribute the last aggregated inputs.

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AIS
Thu, 5 Apr 2018 19:07:01 +0000
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Hi all,
Here is the aggregated input on topic #4 - How small farms address future challenges
— Peter

Q4.1/9 - Question: "4.1. Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?”

1/ From Marta Czekaj <[log in to unmask]> (Poland)

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AIS
Thu, 5 Apr 2018 18:40:30 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input received from everyone, on topic #5 "The importance of food businesses to small farms”
——Peter

Q5.1/4 - Question "5.1. What kind of food businesses are important to small farms in your region? Which of these are small food businesses? Please also explain how you define small food businesses."

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AIS
Wed, 4 Apr 2018 19:25:54 +0000
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Hi everyone,

here is the aggregated input on topic #4 - the future challenges for small farms.

Q4.1/8 - Question: "4.1. Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?"

1/ From: Viviane CdV <[log in to unmask]> (Italy)
Our future challenges for small farmers in Italy, might be different from those in other parts of the world:

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AIS
Wed, 4 Apr 2018 19:04:12 +0000
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Hi all,

And on we go… Here is the recently received input on topic #1: "Cooperation among small farms”
— Peter

Q1.1/12 - Question: "1.1. What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?"

1/ From: Victor David Martinez Gomez <[log in to unmask]> (Spain)
(Moderator: Victor’s input was submitted as a reaction to several past inputs received under topic #3 and topic #4 which referred to “cooperation” as part of the past or future challenges. So I took the liberty of posting his input under this topic, which was centered around

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AIS
Wed, 4 Apr 2018 18:35:34 +0000
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Hi everyone,

A couple of days ago, I asked for more input on Topic #5 "The importance of food businesses to small farms” - And I am happy to see many of you responding with your valued input — AND I mean it when I say “valued input”! :-) — just read through this summary. You’ll see the variety of input, and practical examples. Mmmm, just lovin’ it, and please keep it coming!

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AIS
Wed, 4 Apr 2018 17:43:11 +0000
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Hi all,
Here is the input received yesterday and today on topic #6: “How can policies affect small farm activities and their resilience?”
— Peter.

Q6.1/8 - Question: "6.1. What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?"

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AIS
Wed, 4 Apr 2018 17:11:48 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input on Topic #3: "Strategies used by small farms to overcome challenges – a view of the past”

Thanks all for your input! — Peter

Q3.1/7 - Question: "3.1. Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past.”

1/ From: Bernadette Majebelle <[log in to unmask]> (Tanzania)
Bernadette Majebelle is a consultant in market access from Tanzania

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AIS
Tue, 3 Apr 2018 19:24:40 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Here is the aggregated input received on topic #6 - “Policies and small farms”

Q6.1/7 - Question: “6.1. What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?"

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AIS
Tue, 3 Apr 2018 19:12:48 +0000
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Hi everyone,
Here is the most recent input received on topic #1 - “Cooperation among small farms” — Peter

Q1.1/11 - Question: “1.1 What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?”

1/ From: Richard Hawkins <[log in to unmask]> (Netherlands)
I am Richard Hawkins, Director of ICRA,<http://www.icra-edu.org/> a small Foundation based in the Netherlands that offers capacity strengthening services to develop small holder farming and build trust in value chains.

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AIS
Tue, 3 Apr 2018 18:47:40 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input received last night and today on Topic #4: "How small farms address future challenges”
Best, Peter---

Q4.1/7 - Question: "4.1. Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?”

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AIS
Tue, 3 Apr 2018 18:21:52 +0000
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Hi everyone,

While we're getting A LOT of input on the e-conference, one specific topic receives less attention than the others - Topic #5 on food businesses.

So, as we’re going into the last days of the e-conference, could I kindly ask you for your focus on:
Topic #5: "The importance of food businesses to small farms"

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AIS
Mon, 2 Apr 2018 19:57:08 +0000
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Dear all,

Here is the aggregated input for Topic #4 - Small farms and future challenges — Peter

Q4.1/6 - Question "4.1. Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?"

From: Viviane CdV <[log in to unmask]> (Italy)
This is a reply on a query from Teresa Pinto Correia (Q4.1/4) related to this topic: How do small farmers get access to knowledge and skills?

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AIS
Mon, 2 Apr 2018 19:33:19 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is input received on topic #3: Small farms and past challenges”

Q3.1/6 - Question: "3.1. Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past."

From: Esther Mwende Muindi <[log in to unmask]> (Kenya)

Challenges faced by small scale farmers in Kenya vary from region to region. In the highlands, the main challenges are:

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AIS
Mon, 2 Apr 2018 19:23:09 +0000
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Dear all,
Here is the aggregated input received on the “policies and small farms” - Topic #6 — Peter

Q6.1/6 - Question “6.1 - What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?”

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AIS
Mon, 2 Apr 2018 19:04:14 +0000
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Dear all,

Here are the aggregated answers from the recently received input on topic #1 "Cooperation among small farms” - Peter

Q1.1/10 - Question: “1.1 What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?”

From: Nasreen Sultana <[log in to unmask]> (Bangladesh)
I am Nasreen Sultana, Country Project Manager of project “Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS)” run in eight countries and I manage this project in Bangladesh.

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AIS
Sun, 1 Apr 2018 20:55:41 +0000
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Dear all,

New input received on topic #4 "How small farms address future challenges”

Q4.2/6 - Question “4.2 To cope with these future challenges, do small farms require new innovations and adaptation techniques? And if so, which?"

1/ From Mark Redman <[log in to unmask]> (Romania)
There have been some interesting responses to Question 4.2 (To cope with future challenges, do small farms require new innovations and adaptation techniques), but I think it’s important to extend the discussion about smallholders and innovation to also include a) innovation in policy-making for smallholders, and; b) innovation in the development of alternative business models for smallholder

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AIS
Sun, 1 Apr 2018 20:29:48 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input for topic #1 "Cooperation among small farms”

Q1.1/9 - Question "1.1. What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?"

1/ From: Mahesh Chander <[log in to unmask]> (India)
Thanks Manuela, for her response/inputs on soft skills and links on TAP & CDAIS (Q1.1/8). The TAP and CDAIS look quite promising, wish India too becomes a part of it in future.
Apart from soft skills, another challenge is that youth are not attracted to agriculture, given the opportunity they would like to sell the land

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AIS
Sun, 1 Apr 2018 19:52:08 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input received on topic #2 ""Small farms’ contribution to resilience of the food system” — Peter

Q2.1/4 - Question: “2.1 What are the ways that small farms contribute to the resilience of the food system in your region? Please provide examples.”

1/ From: Mark Redman <[log in to unmask]> (Romania)
I am Mark Redman from the SALSA project partners in Romania.

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AIS
Sun, 1 Apr 2018 19:19:03 +0000
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Dear all,

We are now two weeks into the FAO e-conference for the SALSA<http://www.salsa.uevora.pt/en/> project, and your contributions continue to pour in. Since starting we’ve enjoyed 182 submissions from 40 countries and your contributions have now led us to 47 aggregate emails. Thanks so much to the 817 of you who registered. So far we've processed input from 86 different contributors, so we’d love to hear from those of you who did not contribute yet. As we mentioned last week a diversity of involvement will lead to more experiences and deeper conversations.

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AIS
Sat, 31 Mar 2018 12:08:36 +0000
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Hi all,

Some recently received input on Topic 4 - Future challenges for small farmers.

Q4.1/5 - Question 4.1 "Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?"

From: Mahesh Chander <[log in to unmask]> (India)
This is in context of Teresa Pinto Correia’s question (Q4.1): But if a small farm does not have the skills to collaborate, how does he/she get these skills? if you do not have access to knowledge or do not know how to use it, how can these skill be improved?


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AIS
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 13:34:14 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the summary of inputs received on challenges small farms faced in the past.

Q3.1/5: Question: “3.1 Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past.”

1/ From: Sanusi Jari <[log in to unmask]> (Nigeria)
I am Dr. Sanusi Jari a Lecturer/Researcher at Federal University Dutsin-Ma Katsina State, Nigeria and a Consultant Agronomist Value Chain Development Expert.

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AIS
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 13:01:33 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the aggregated input on topic #6 - “How can policies affect small farm activities and their resilience?”

Q6.1/5 Question “6.1: What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?”

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AIS
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 12:07:34 +0000
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Hi everyone,

As we received a lot of input already in the past two weeks, we get more and more replies/queries relating to previous input, and additional questions as well.
This is really good, as this provides more and more interactions between all e-conference participants. It is slightly more challenging to separate these into specific the questions, as much input cross the question-topic “borders” - but we nevertheless aggregate these for each of the topics.

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AIS
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 16:09:13 +0000
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Hello,
it is us again, — while we did not receive input on all four questions in Topic #1 - "Cooperation among small farms”, I do not want to delay distributing the input for too long, so we can keep the discussion going (while still trying to avoid sending you all too many emails). :-)

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AIS
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 15:14:26 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Once again, a summary - this time on Topic #2 - Small farms’ contribution to resilience of the food system

Q2.1/3 - Question "2.1. What are the ways that small farms contribute to the resilience of the food system in your region? Please provide examples."

From: Olga Moreno Perez <[log in to unmask]> (Spain)
I am Olga Moreno from the SALSA Project. Our study region is the province of Castellón (NUT3), located in the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

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AIS
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 14:25:06 +0000
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Hi everyone,

A new influx of mails regarding topic #6 on policies and small farmers :-)
As a moderator, it is fascinating to be able to combine input on the same topic, like in this aggregated mail from India, Scotland, USA, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, meshed with examples within the emails from China, Kenya etc.. Keep this input coming, all!

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AIS
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 12:49:49 +0000
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Dear all,

Here is the most recent input we received on Topic #4 - "How small farms address future challenges”

Q4.1/4: Question: “4.1 - Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?”

1. From: Prof Paul Iji <[log in to unmask]> and Edwin Chang’a <[log in to unmask]> (Australia)

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AIS
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 07:47:15 +0000
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Hi everyone,

As we are over half-way into our e-conference, a short “housekeeping message” for everyone.

While at a “conventional” conference, we might have a panel of 5-6 people talking on the stage, and a thousand people listening in the room, our SALSA e-conference is different: We provide the opportunity for everyone to get onto the stage, and express his/her thoughts and inputs.

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AIS
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 12:00:41 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Here is the aggregated input we received on topic #6: "How can policies affect small farm activities and their resilience?”

Just as a reminder, the three questions were (and more input from you all is highly appreciated:
6.1. What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?
6.2. Can you give specific examples of how these policies have affected small-farm decision-making?
6.3. What are the most critical policies

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AIS
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 11:22:00 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the summarized input we recently received on topic#3 "Strategies used by small farms to overcome challenges – a view of the past”. If anything, it shows the diversity of our participants: from Italy, via Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon and Morocco to India and Somalia... !

Q3.1/4 - Question “3.1: Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past.”

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AIS
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 15:37:32 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is the most recent input received on Topic #1: "Cooperation among small farms"

Q1.1/6: “Question: 1.1.: What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?"

1/ From: Teresa Pinto Correia <[log in to unmask]> (Portugal)
I am Teresa Pinto Correia - I am the coordinator of SALSA

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AIS
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:35:47 +0000
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Hi everyone,

here is the aggregated input received on the topic #2: Small farms and the resilience of the food system

Q2.2/3 - Question "2.2 Have small farms been more resilient compared to large farms in your region? What were the main factors that determined their resilience? Please provide examples."

1/ From: Said Zarouali <[log in to unmask]> (Morocco)
The challenge has been in the financing (providing credit) - which is the main factor determining small farmers’ resilience… Small farmers can contribute significantly to the resilience, with minor investments. Labour is often contributed by family members, without paying wages, and they are a

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AIS
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:09:41 +0000
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Hi all,

Continuing our e-conference discussions in our 2nd week, here is the consolidated input on topic #6, related to “Policies and small farms’ activities and their resilience”.

***Many of you have joined us in the past week. For you, just a quick reminder that we refer to each input aggregation with a code looking like this: “Q6.3/2” - Which means this is "the 2nd summary for input on question Q6.3”. This coding allows us to keep track of all aggregated input — Peter

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AIS
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 02:37:58 +0000
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Hi everyone,

As we’re starting our second week of our e-conference: While we are looking forward to your continued input to the specific SALSA questions, I would like to summarize some questions your fellow participants are interested in, related to the SALSA topics at hand.
Your input would be much appreciated. We have over 800 participants in our e-conference, representing a vast range of experiences and expertise, so let’s capitalize on this collective knowledge! - If any of you have other specific questions you’d like to have the opinion/input from your fellow participants, don’t hesitate to put them in your

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AIS
Sun, 25 Mar 2018 19:15:48 +0000
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A week ago, when we launched the 2nd FAO e-conference for the SALSA<http://www.salsa.uevora.pt/en/> project.

One week later we are thrilled with amount and depth of everyone’s contributions. This is a huge testimony to the 800 people that registered for the e-conference and the 101 processed contributions (distributed through 32 aggregation emails) coming from 57 contributors in 30 countries.

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AIS
Sat, 24 Mar 2018 14:22:36 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Here is the latest input received for Topic #5 - The importance of food businesses to small farms

5.1/2 - Question: "5.1. What kind of food businesses are important to small farms in your region? Which of these are small food businesses? Please also explain how you define small food businesses."

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AIS
Sat, 24 Mar 2018 11:50:43 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Here is the most recent received input on Topic#4 future challenges for small farms..
Included are also a questions from Mayank Jain, to you all (which i highlighted in yellow, at the bottom).
— Peter

Q4.1/3: Question “4.1 Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?”

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AIS
Fri, 23 Mar 2018 13:02:24 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Once more, here is the aggregated input on topic #1 on the cooperation among small farms, which we received since the last update on this topic.

Just as a reminder, the four questions on this topic were:
1.1. What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in other regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?
1.2. Could you provide specific examples of the advantages and/or disadvantages of cooperation among small farms?
1.3. Are there any forms of collaboration between small farms that work particularly well? Why? How does the size of the farm affect cooperation?


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AIS
Fri, 23 Mar 2018 11:45:15 +0000
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Dear all,

While in this e-conference, we are looking for your input on the specific questions the SALSA project, related to these questions, some of your fellow e-conference participants are also asking for your feedback, on issues related to the SALSA project questions.

As this e-conference acts as an enabler, connecting over 800 different stakeholders globally, we want to plug into your input, on questions from your fellow e-conference participants.

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AIS
Fri, 23 Mar 2018 11:44:52 +0000
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hi all,

Here is the aggregated input we received on topic #6 concentrating on "How can policies affect small farm activities and their resilience?”

There are 3 questions in this topic:
6.1. What are the policies (international, national or local) in your region that affect the viability and development of small farms, and small farms’ decision making regarding the amount and type of food produced and their ambitions regarding market integration?
6.2. Can you give specific examples of how these policies have affected small-farm decision-making?
6.3. What are the most critical policies that are needed in your region to support

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AIS
Fri, 23 Mar 2018 10:38:47 +0000
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Hi everyone,

I wanted to draw your attention to our e-conference topic #5 concentrating on "The importance of food businesses to small farms”

In the SALSA Analytical Framework, food businesses are defined as "processors, distributors and retailers". A particular interest of the project is the type of relations which these businesses have with small farms and the wider regional food systems, and the role they play in the viability and development of small farms.
(Input from the discussion moderator: Food businesses, large or small, such as processors, distributors and retailers, are critical to food security and food production value chain,

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AIS
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 15:34:20 +0000
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Dear all,

A housekeeping message from your facilitation team…

1/ Current status
At this moment, we have 786 people participating in this e-conference from across the globe. Your diverse input, with your diverse experience is truly touching and valuable.

Since we launched our e-conference four days ago, your activity and input surpasses our expectations - so keep it coming!
In four days, we processed 85 input emails from you, and redistributed these via 27 aggregation emails.

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AIS
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 15:01:35 +0000
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Hi everyone,

Here is the aggregated input we received on topic #3 concentrating on "Strategies used by small farms to overcome challenges – a view of the past", reflecting all input received for the two questions in this topic. — (and this is a long one - based on 14 different input emails from you all! With thanks to all contributors!!)

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AIS
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 13:45:54 +0000
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Dear all,

Here is the aggregated new input we received on topic #2 concentrating on "Small farms’ contribution to resilience of the food system", reflecting all input received for the three questions in this topic. —
PLEASE keep sending your feedback with only ONE question’s input per email and clearly mark - in your email subject - which question your input relates to (which makes it much easier for us, to process them) — Peter

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AIS
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 13:12:19 +0000
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Hi all,

We received A LOT of input on topic #1 again, with thanks to everyone!

So I'm aggregating all input received for the four questions in this topic. — BUT PLEASE keep sending your feedback with only ONE question’s input per email (which makes it much easier for us, to process them) — Peter

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AIS
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 11:49:13 +0000
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Hi everyone,

To avoid too many emails for all participants, we’re sometimes combine different questions related to the same topic, within one aggregated email.
In this summary email, we combine Question 4.1 and Question 4.2
- What are the future challenges for small farms and do they require new innovations and adaptation techniques?

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AIS
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 19:43:31 +0000
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Hi all,

aggregated input received on the two combined questions:
“3.1 Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past."
“4.1 Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?”

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AIS
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 19:10:32 +0000
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Here is input received on question “1.4 In what way does gender influence cooperation among small farms? Please share experiences from your region”

(From the moderator: Gender issues are part of the core discussioon food security and agriculture - While this is only one input, I would really like to break this discussion open and have more input, as it is so relevant. While (I hope) we can all agree on the major part women have in the global food production/food security, we (the SALSA team) are particularly looking for input on how gender influences cooperation between small farms.)

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AIS
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 18:57:55 +0000
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Dear all,

Here is today’s aggregated input on question “1.3 Are there any forms of collaboration between small farms that work particularly well? Why? How does the size of the farm affect cooperation?”

1/ From: Raja Rathinam <[log in to unmask]> (India)

Small cooperative/farmers are being helped by big cooperatives.
For example "Amul milk cooperative" is a bigger one in this country. Recently UNDP initiated a small cooperative company to help the small farmers in an other region, Uttar Pradesh.
Now the big cooperative has come forward to help the small one.

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AIS
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 18:32:57 +0000
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Hi all,

Here is today’s aggregated input on question "1.2. Could you provide specific examples of the advantages and/or disadvantages of cooperation among small farms?”

(From the moderator: Some of these inputs refer to the general question of why “cooperation among small farms works or does not work” - for further input we would love to hear other specific examples on the advantages or disadvantages of cooperation between farmers: where in your region, has it worked or did not work...)

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AIS
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 18:01:34 +0000
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Dear all,

aggregated input on question “1.1 - What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in your regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?”

1/ From: George Madoda <[log in to unmask]> (Tanzania)

My name is George Madoda, I work for Aid for Trade logistics as a policy analyst under the department of International trade and agriculture development

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AIS
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 20:47:07 +0000
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Input received on question “1.3 Are there any forms of collaboration between small farms that work particularly well? Why? How does the size of the farm affect cooperation?"

From: Ghulam Qadir Arbab <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>

Small farms cooperatives, each on volunteering basis, (work on a basis of an) expectation of same services in return. As such these have little impact on their income because whatever services they get free – they also work in return free for them.

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AIS
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 20:35:04 +0000
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Input received on question “1.2 Could you provide specific examples of the advantages and/or disadvantages of cooperation among small farms?”

From: Ghulam Qadir Arbab <[log in to unmask]>

I am against a formal system of cooperatives that normally works in the form of cooperatives. This has failed due to several factors. Top of all is that small farmers have little surplus to sell collectively. Moreover, small farmers strive hard to survive, so they have no time for other activities.

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Mon, 19 Mar 2018 20:21:24 +0000
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Input received on question “4.2 To cope with these future challenges, do small farms require new innovations and adaptation techniques? And if so, which?"

Input received from Paul Rigterink <[log in to unmask]>

I am Dr. Paul Rigterink - retired Business Process ReEngineer - USA (Current interest - providing alternative agriculture concepts to the Department of Cordoba (Colombia) so that small farmers can improve their standard of living dramatically in areas often controlled by the FARC, ELN, and BACRIM crime organizations)

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Mon, 19 Mar 2018 20:08:51 +0000
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Input on question ³3.2 Share specific examples of what types of
adaptations and innovations have helped small farms to cope with these
challenges"

Input from E.S. Njieassam <[log in to unmask]> (Cameroon)

Identifying the three main challenges of small farms as:
- Fluctuation in market
- Governance mechanism
- Human and social capital

The examples of adaptations and innovations that helped small farms cope
with these challenges:

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Mon, 19 Mar 2018 19:53:58 +0000
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Here is input on question “6.2: Can you give specific examples of how these policies have affected small-farm decision-making?"

Input from Nagabhatla, Nidhi <[log in to unmask]>

My name is Nidhi Nagabhatla, a program officer and senior researcher at UNU (United Nations University) – I work on multiple dimensions in the water-food-energy nexus. I also chair the Steering Committee of YPARD- the youth platform focusing on agricultural research and development, and I represent the Global Youth constituency with the GFAR Steering Committee.

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Casier, Peter (FAOLOB)
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 19:14:20 +0000
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Input received on question “3.1 Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past.”

1/ View from Pakistan:
From: Muhammad Tasleem <[log in to unmask]> in Pakistan

I am Muhammad Tasleem from Pakistan's Sindh province. I am student of Economics and doing a project on "Sustainable Livelihood" with a local NGO in Dadu district of Sindh Province.

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Mon, 19 Mar 2018 18:52:01 +0000
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Input received on question “2.2 Have small farms been more resilient compared to large farms in your region? What were the main factors that determined their resilience? Please provide examples.”

From: Scott E. Justice <[log in to unmask]>
I am Scott Justice, working for 20 years as an Agri Mechanization Specialist based in Kathmandu (Nepal). I work for CIMMYT here in South Asia, but I am also advising various programs and projects in SE Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, etc.

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Mon, 19 Mar 2018 18:27:08 +0000
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Input received on question “2.1 What are the ways that small farms contribute to the resilience of the food system in your region? Please provide examples.”

From: Solomon Mulu <[log in to unmask]>

I am Solomon Mulu (MSc in Farm Forestry). I am currently a PhD candidate in Forest and Livelihood at University of Gondar, Ethiopia.

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AIS
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 18:01:06 +0000
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Dear all,

Here is 2nd aggregated input, received on question “1.1 - What are different experiences of small farms’ cooperation in your regions? How has this changed over the past 10 years?”

Peter

1. A view Zimbabwe: Cooperation through a “ward”-system
From: Daniel Nkomboni <[log in to unmask]>

My name is Daniel Nkomboni, I work for the Department of Research and Specialists Services, Matopos Research Institute, in Zimbabwe.

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AIS
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 11:16:56 +0000
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Dear all,
We are receiving a LOT of input from you, on the different questions. Keep them coming!

We can not re-send each individual input to the entire e-conference list, otherwise most of you will (rightfully) complain about too many emails.
So, I am “aggregating/summarizing" your input, combining different emails into one.
Each aggregated input email will have a title like “Q1.1/2”+plus short summary of content. “Q1.1/2” means this is the 2nd aggregation email on question “1.1”.
Please feel free to add input, agreement, disagreement, further illustrations to any of this input — just send it to [log in to unmask] clearly indicating

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AIS
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 13:08:58 +0000
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Dear all,

Tomorrow, we start with our e-conference. With (currently) over 640 registered participants, how will we do this?

Well, it is pretty simple. There are a number of specific questions the SALSA team requires your feedback/input on, which are listed below.

So, for any of these questions, just email your input to [log in to unmask], we will screen it, and repost/resend it to the entire the group.

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AIS
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 11:45:46 +0000
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Dear all,

Yesterday we officially published the public announcement of our e-conference, which you can find here: http://bit.ly/SALSA-econference-announcement

In the past 72 hours, over 150 new participants have joined, so welcome to all!

We have people joining in from across the globe, all interested in our discussion topics: academics, researchers, farmers, extension agents, policy makers, teachers and educators, people from the private sector, policy makers, or agripreneurs,.. Participants range from PhD’s to on-the-ground practitioners. That makes it a really interesting and diverse mix, so we are really looking forward to your input.

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AIS
Fri, 2 Mar 2018 11:44:40 +0000
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Dear all,

1/ More people joined. Great!
Thanks to everyone in reaching out to your individual networks, encouraging people to join into our e-conference group. In the last week, over 50 new people joined. Welcome to all new e-conference colleagues! :-)
If you have more colleagues who want to join, you know the routine:
Ask them to register to our e-conference by sending a short email to “[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>”, specifying:
- Their email address to be registered on the list
- Their full name
- Organisation, institute, company they work with, and their function (or simply note “private” if they want

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AIS
Sat, 24 Feb 2018 12:40:26 +0000
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Dear all,

Thanks for your response on my previous short email, announcing a new upcoming SALSA Email-based conference (e-conference), facilitated by FAO. And I am really encouraged that out of the 462 participants of the first SALSA e-conference, only 2 opted to no longer participate.

As the first SALSA e-conference was organized over a year ago, a short refresher:
This first e-conference was to support and give input to the SALSA project (SALSA: "“Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security”, see more here). The SALSA project had just started at the time of the first e-conference, and your

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Casier, Peter (FAOLOB)
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 11:48:28 +0000
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Dear all,

We truly appreciate your contribution to the SALSA e-conference back in October 2016.

We are now preparing for a new Email-based conference/consultation, starting in a few weeks. If any of you would NOT want to participate in this new round, please send me an email via [log in to unmask] and I will unsubscribe you from this list.

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AIS
Fri, 11 Nov 2016 15:21:30 +0000
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Dear Colleagues,

Here below is the Summary Document of the FAO e-mail conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition" that took place 10-23 October 2016.

The 10-page document contains:
- The Executive Summary
- Section 1, providing an introduction to the conference
- Section 2, presenting the moderator's summary of the main issues that were discussed during the conference.

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AIS
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 16:23:33 +0000
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Dear Colleagues,

The FAO webpage for this e-mail conference (http://www.fao.org/nr/research-extension-systems/res-home/news/detail/en/c/434322/) has just been updated. It now contains the link to the PDF containing all of the 99 messages posted during the conference, as well as the background document, in a single file. The link to the PDF is http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/research_extension/docs/smallfarmsmessages.pdf (750 KB).

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AIS
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:54:40 +0000
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Dear Colleagues,

The last messages have just been posted (numbers 79 to 99), so this FAO conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition" is now officially closed.

I would like to very sincerely thank all of you who participated actively and enthusiastically in this conference. I have certainly learned a lot and I hope that you too have benefited from all of the knowledge, experiences and insights that so many people around the world shared with the conference.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:54:16 +0000
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My name is Sandra Sumane. I am a researcher at the Baltic Studies Centre in Riga, Latvia. My thoughts relate to two questions about the role of small farms role in food security and nutrition.

Regarding Q. 3.3.2 ("As outlined in Section 2.1, there are four dimensions of food security, namely the availability of food; access to food; utilisation of food; and food stability. How exactly do small farms contribute to each of the dimensions of food security? If possible, provide specific examples from your own work, experience or region"):

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:53:54 +0000
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This is Lizzy Igbine, again.

I want to consider the threshold for small farms.

As a practitioner, we classify in my country small scale farmers as having one plot to maximum of 5 hectares. This is also equated to the harvest and outputs. This is our yardstick in classifying the government's interventions in input distributions and assistance to small scale farmers by government. Any production above this scale is considered commercial or big farms.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:53:19 +0000
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This is Gabriel Adukpo from Ghana again, this time on the challenges and future prospects of small farms.

The challenges of food security and nutrition are well-known and documented. A new development in Ghana is the destruction of vast tracts of land through illegal mining for alluvial gold in certain communities. All these paint a bleak future for agriculture as a whole and small farm in particular.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:52:54 +0000
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This is Gabriel Adukpo from Ghana, again.

I am contributing to the role of small farms in solving the triple burden of malnutrition (Question 3.3.5).

When children are severely malnourished, health authorities refer them to rehabilitation centers established at the hospitals where food is used to treat the "ailment" of malnutrition. Certain prescriptions go with the instruction: "eat before taking this drug". Policy makers interested in a healthy society would naturally be concerned with the triple burden of malnutrition.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:52:23 +0000
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My name is Pavlos Karanikolas. I am an Assistant Professor in the Agricultural University of Athens-Greece, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.

Regarding Questions 3.3.2 and 3.3.4:

I would like to present briefly some research findings from field surveys in Greece, including more than 300 farms. These farms are representative samples of local farming systems, including mainly olive groves, as well as orange trees, arable farming (e.g. wheat) and sheep rearing.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:52:01 +0000
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I am Eyongetta Njieassam, a Ph.d candidate at the University of dschang, Cameroon and I also take part time lectures at the University of Buea, Cameroon.

I am writing about small farm holders and their contribution to food security and sustainability.

Here in Cameroon, small farm holders are limited to people who practice peasant agriculture. They live in the rural environment and they carry out their activities mainly using family labour. Small farm holders manage 80 percent of land and they contribute to food security through the following ways:

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:51:31 +0000
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I am Olubode Olusegun, from Nigeria, addressing question 3.4.2.

In my own response, small farms contribute immensely to availability of food, requires intervention in access to food, although obtain food in the fresh state regularly but requires knowledge in terms of what comprises a balanced diet and the minimum food calorie to consume daily, and faces pressures which may affect food security.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:50:44 +0000
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This is Mahesh Chander again, this time on entrepreneurial small farmers, an issue raised in discussions involving Francisco Gurri (Message 69) and Bazyli Czyżewski (Message 65).

There is growing realisation among farming communities that they won't be able to sustain and compete unless they treat farming as business. This realisation is leading to small scale farmers forming producer groups, cooperatives, part of contract farming etc. These farmers wish to be linked up with markets including opportunities for exports to maximise farm profits collectively. They are able to do things better by being part of producer groups which they couldn't do

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:50:08 +0000
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My name is Marisa Gonnella. I work as professor of Rural Sociology and in projects about Rural Extension and development.

Regarding Q. 3.2.1 (Compared to other approaches, what are the advantages and disadvantages of applying this food systems approach to study the contribution of small farms to food security and nutrition?), Q. 3.2.2 (What is the best way to define the boundaries and characteristics of a regional food system?) and Q. 3.2.3 (In quantitative terms, what methods would you use to assess the contribution of small farms in a particular region to meeting the demand for food within the same

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:49:58 +0000
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I am Chidinma Peter-Onoh Ph.D, a lecturer in the Department of Crop Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria.

In Nigeria, farming is basically done on a small scale. Most farmers produce for their family alone and, in some cases, a little for others. A characteristic feature of the agricultural production system in Nigeria is that a disproportionately large fraction of the agricultural output is in the hands of these small holder farmers whose average holding is about 0.1-3.0 hectares.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:49:32 +0000
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My name is Gabriel Adukpo from Ghana. I am an Agriculturist with specialization in Extension and Adult Education. I have spent 25 years working with farmers as District Agricultural Extension Officer and Municipal Director of Agriculture in the public sector. Having been additionally trained at Writers Bureau, UK, I am settling down as a Freelance Journalist on retiring a couple of weeks ago. 

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:49:12 +0000
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This is Scott Justice, CIMMYT Nepal office. I am an agricultural and rural mechanization specialist (not an agricultural engineer) working in mechanization research and development for last 20 years.

In Asia and Africa over the last 15-20 years, there has been a growing avalanche of old and new models of agri machinery, in large and small agri machinery, in all sectors (production, protection, harvest and post-harvest). And new ideas and innovations are coming into the markets the time. Again, both in large scale but especially in small scale lower horse power machinery. And mostly, for good or bad, coming out

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:48:47 +0000
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My name is Talis Tisenkopfs, I am a sociologist and researcher at the Baltic Studies Centre in Riga, Latvia. Our institute is a partner in the SALSA project.

My contribution relates to defining small farms, specificall Question 3.1.2 ("What are the most important additional criteria that should be used in such a research project? If possible, provide specific examples where you or others have used additional criteria in practice in research on small farms and share any lessons learned from using them"):

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:48:20 +0000
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My name is Patrick N. Jellason, a third year PhD researcher in the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, UK. I am currently working on enhancing resilience and food security of northern Nigerian dryland smallholders in the era of climate change.

In response to question 3.4.1:

Taking examples from my research and field engagement, smallholders with 2 hectares or less have evolved with their local approaches to soil fertility and rain water management in those areas. However, results from baseline studies indicate some practices critical to resilience enhancement and food security in dry areas to be lacking in those areas such as

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:47:37 +0000
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This is Richard Yeboab, from Ghana, again.

Regarding Question 3.4.2:

Small farms contribute to all three dimensions of sustainability. In Ghana, for example, most of the food that feeds the nation is said to be from small farms hence it contributes so much to economy as well as social. Their operations contribute negatively to the environment because of the practices. Continuous use of the land has made many land marginal. Fertility is low. In the dry season, grazing and wild fires destroy the vegetation and expose the soil to all the forms of erosion. Where tree crops, e.g. mango, cashew

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:47:09 +0000
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This is Richard Yeboah from Ghana, again.

There is a gender dimension to food and nutrition security (FNS) especially in the developing countries. The small farms are normally run by poor households where mostly men are heads. The men are the owners of the farm and the wives and children are workers on the farm. When the crop is harvested it is, in most cases, the man who decides on the distribution as to what to sell, keep for food etc. On a daily basis, or periodically, the women are supplied with the grain for preparation to feed the home.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:46:29 +0000
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This is Dr. Raja Rathinam from India. I am a food related specialist served as G.M/MD in NDDB, World Bank, ADB, Reliance Projects for helping rural families through dairy farming with proven abilities and awarded for the contribution of my work. I am working for small producer organisation in rural areas of India. The place is located near Varanasi which is the most backward area. UNDP initiated this project to increase the income of underprivileged rural women through dairy farming. Main objective of this project is to develop food security, poverty alleviation, sustainable management of natural resources with the intensification 

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:45:44 +0000
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I am Oladeinde Kayode Benjamin, a Nigerian and a MSc research student from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

It's been an insightful time on this platform and I want to thank all contributors and our esteemed Moderator for his comments.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:45:10 +0000
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My name is Aisling Murtagh, a postdoctoral researcher at National University of Ireland, Galway. I have carried out research looking at the linkages between less mainstream trends in food and agriculture in Ireland, such as farmers' markets and community gardens.

My contribution ties most closely with the questions related to defining small farms and the most appropriate threshold for research purposes (3.1.1). I think this is a complex question without one clear universally applicable answer. It seems very context dependent.

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:44:28 +0000
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This is Arbab Ghulam Qadir again. It was a really great opportunity and I learnt a lot from the fruitful discussions in the e-conference.

Regarding Question 3.4.1 ("Driven by the SDGs, sustainability development is now central in the international development agenda. Sustainable development involves three dimensions - environmental, social and economic - and it is in manifold ways connected with food security and nutrition. How can small farms specifically contribute to achieving food security and improved nutrition in a sustainable way?"):

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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:43:50 +0000
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My name is Rose Aduol-Sigar, a consultant with extensive experience in food security, environmental management and rural development. Many years of experience working with international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and national NGOs. Currently engaged in organisational capacity building of a start-up national NGO called Action for Change and Progress.

Regarding Question 3.4.1 ("Driven by the SDGs, sustainability development is now central in the international development agenda. Sustainable development involves three dimensions - environmental, social and economic - and it is in manifold ways connected with food security and nutrition. How can small farms specifically contribute to achieving food security and improved

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Sun, 23 Oct 2016 11:28:43 +0000
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This is Teresa Pinto-Correia, from ICAAM - University of Evora, again.

I am much impressed and thankful for all suggestions and comments exchanged during the conference so far.

We are in the last days, but I would like here to reinforce the question raised in message 49, by Lee-Ann Sutherland, and touched in message 62 by Daniel Nkomboni.

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Fri, 21 Oct 2016 15:34:21 +0000
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I am Sarah Edewor, a Nigerian and a Doctoral student from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

During the course of my research, both as a student and on the various projects that I have been opportune to be a part of, it has been determined that farmers are smallholder farmers when they cultivate less than 2 hectares of land. Despite these small farm sizes, a large portion of them still happen to be the ones responsible for contributing immensely to the food security in the country.

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Fri, 21 Oct 2016 15:07:01 +0000
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This is Ana Afonso from Spain, again.

Some reflection on Question 3.4 and the RAI Principles:

Small farms and small producers are acknowledged as very important actors to implement the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (RAI Principles) that were approved by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in October 2014 and aim to contribute to food security and nutrition and to the improvement of sustainable livelihoods for small producers, with a comprehensive, responsible and respect for the environment approach.

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Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:13:35 +0000
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My name is Elisha Otieno Gogo from Kenya, a Ph.D student at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (translated as Humboldt University of Berlin), Germany. My research topic (preharvest and postharvest treatments (e.g. UV-C, UV-B) for quality assurance of African indigenous leafy vegetables) is under interdisciplinary research project addressing food security in East Africa (HORTINLEA). 

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Fri, 21 Oct 2016 13:06:59 +0000
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My name is Ana Afonso from Spain, a researcher linked to GESPLAN Research Group at the Technical University of Madrid. My research lines are Human Development, Food Security and Rural Development.

My contribution addresses the third set of questions 3.3 regarding the role of small farms in food security and nutrition.
As stated in the background paper, small farms are important to achieve food security contributing to all the four dimensions as well as addressing the triple burden of malnutrition. But my view is that they have a particular role to play in some specific aspects:

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Fri, 21 Oct 2016 11:31:45 +0000
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Dear Participants,

We are now in the final stages of the e-mail conference, so I especially encourage those who have not yet done so, to share your knowledge, lessons learned and insights on the 15 questions to be addressed in the conference (reproduced below).

The last day for sending messages to me (at [log in to unmask]) is Sunday 23 October (deadline is midnight, Rome time). The final messages will be posted on 24 October and the conference is then closed.

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Fri, 21 Oct 2016 09:28:30 +0000
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My name is Harriet Gausi. I work in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development at Lilongwe Agricultural Development Division in Malawi. I am currently a PhD in Agriculture Student at the University of New England, Australia.

Comment on Question 3.1.1:

I have worked with communities at grass root level for over ten years and when we read in literature on land holding sizes, it looks like a mere statistic, but as one goes to the communities, it is when it becomes evident that this is real; it is not just as any other statistic. Most of the farmers

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Fri, 21 Oct 2016 07:49:08 +0000
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This is Rachid Serraj. I am a Senior Agricultural Research Officer at the CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) Secretariat in Rome.

Responding to Mark Redman (Message 48):

I am afraid I can't speak on behalf of the CGIAR regarding smallholder typologies, but I know that several CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) have done work on that; e.g. Humidtropics (Alvarez et al, 2014) or the International Food Policy Research Institute (Fan et al, 2013).

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Thu, 20 Oct 2016 15:46:11 +0000
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Hello, this is John Poveda one more time.

I would like to keep the line of contributions around the question 3.3.6 given by Dionisio Ortiz-Miranda (# 54) and Francisco Gurri (# 59).

I agree with Francisco in the position that there is an increasing amount of information that reports a very positive impact on the "on farm" diets related to the increase of diversity in the farm. An interesting "review-like" report was made by Heywood (2013). The author concludes amongst other things that "There is abundant evidence that edible plant and animal diversity contributes substantially to human diets in terms

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 16:12:53 +0000
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I am ONIMA V T, PhD Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India.I am glad to take part in this e- conference.

For the research studies we usually follow this criteria prescribed by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, Circular No. 250-12/10/19/RD-III (Vol. V) dated 15th November 1991, the land holders were classified into five categories, one hectare as wetland shall be deemed to be equal to 2 as dryland.

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 16:11:41 +0000
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This is Francisco Gurri, again, in response to Bazyli Czyżewski (message 65).

Bazyli suggests that "subsistence and semi-subsistence farms in less developed countries would use"...non sustainable.. "capital intensive practices" to be competitive in the market. I agree, and they actually do. The minute small householders embrace national policies and start practicing agriculture as a business, they increase their use of fertilizers, weed killers, they reduce biodiversity and become all together less sustainable. Their adoption of a market-oriented agriculture is usually celebrated by local authorities. Unfortunately, peasants soon start reducing diet diversity, increase their dependence on store food items and eventually

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 16:10:43 +0000
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This is Jahi Chappell, again.

There are ample examples of small farmers leading in "battle" against excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides. Whatever one thinks of La Via Campesina, they surely lead in such battles, and they are not exclusively subsistence farmers. Indeed, within the United States, you can look at the variety of farmers represented by the National Family Farm Coalition, and many of its member organizations fight excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, including Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, which has prominent farmer members; many of the farmers in Julie Guthman's book Agrarian Dreams; the research and work

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 16:10:03 +0000
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This is Jahi Chappell, Senior Research Fellow, Agroecology and Agricultural Policy at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, UK.

Regarding production diversity and household nutrition, I would say the most rigorous assessment is that there is insufficient evidence to make conclusive statements either way. There is even *less* evidence with regards to how contingent the relationship is - that is to say, it could be that in a condition of isolation, poor infrastructure, and/or predominance of large farms, for example, there is a weaker - or stronger - relationship between production diversity and nutritional status. And that

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 16:08:45 +0000
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This is Dr. BL Jangid, working as Principal Scientist (Agricultural Extension) under ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Regional Research Station, Pali 306401, Rajasthan, India.

I would like to respond to Message 56 by Dr. Mahesh Chander, about classification of land in India. As per Government of India (2015), the operational holding are classified as below-

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 13:26:07 +0000
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This is Bazyli Czyżewski again, in response to Francisco Gurri (Message 58).

I agree with the opinion that if "you google local farmer markets in the US and agroecological farms and organic farms. I don't think you will find Monsanto amongst them". The same, if we consider agroecological farms in Poland or in different European countries. They get support in Europe from the EU Common Agricultural Policy for being agroecological, and they have to meet specific ecological requirements. But there is less than 1% of such farms in Poland. In Austria which is leading in ecological production - less than

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 13:08:48 +0000
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I am Ashoke Bose, Founder of Sustainable Energy & Agriculture Technology, LLC (SEAT), a private company located in Arizona, USA. We are involved in developing Near Zero Carbon (NZC) emission greenhouse technology and micro-greenhouses which should allow farming in a semi-controlled environment. Our project is located in Sahuarita, a rural community, which is approximately 20 miles north of Nogales at Arizona-Mexico border. 

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 13:05:28 +0000
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This is Mahesh Chander, again.

My comments relate mostly to Question 3.3.6 (i.e. "The importance of healthy, balanced, diversified diets is increasingly recognised (e.g. FAO and WHO, 2014). In view of this, some small farmers may undertake crop diversification or diversify out of crops into aquaculture and livestock. Developments may vary across different parts of the world. What are your observations? Also, do you think that in small farms the share of staples in the output is higher than in large farms?"):

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 12:34:19 +0000
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This is Daniel Nkomboni again, with my brief general comments on 3.2.1 ("Compared to other approaches, what are the advantages and disadvantages of applying this food systems approach to study the contribution of small farms to food security and nutrition?").

This approach allows for identification of quantities and food produced within a farming system; it follows pathways of food/product movement to disposal. As it explores the reverse flow of inputs into the system and out to consumers, it can use the value chain analysis tools to highlight flow of goods and inputs; actors involved and their competitiveness. It can be

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 11:56:29 +0000
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This is Andrew Fieldsend, of the Research Institute of Agricultural Economics in Budapest, Hungary. The Moderator has informed us that the impressive total of 460 persons have subscribed to the conference, and the contributions have been stimulating. If it is not deemed to be too much off topic, some of you may be interested in the following information: 

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 11:54:57 +0000
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This is Tunrayo Joseph-Adekunle with a senior colleague Jonathan Atungwu. We are involved in running an organic farm which runs on sustainable practices. It takes into consideration environmental issues, health and nutrition of the community. The scheme started in April 2014. The immediate community enjoys weekly supply of produce that ensures their health. The farm is small scale but productive. 

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 08:16:30 +0000
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This is Francisco Gurri, again.

I write in response to Dionisio Ortiz-Miranda's message (Nr. 54) on the relationship between the diversity of on-farm production and farm households' nutrition.

Dionisio's suggestion that there is "significant scientific evidence showing little impact of production diversity of smallholders' farms on the improvement of households' nutrition status" surprised me, so I looked up the references he provided in his message.

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 08:15:55 +0000
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This is Francisco Gurri, again.

I write in response to Bazyli Czyzewski's request (Message 52) for references regarding small farmers leading the "battle against excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides".

The four references below are good examples, not only of a battle against but also of the promotion of sustainable practices, and a little bit about small landholders struggle.

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Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:19:34 +0000
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I am E.M. Muralidharan, working with a forestry research organization in Kerala, India. I am not professionally involved with any aspect of farming but live in a region where small farms are the norm due to the high density of population and the topography.

Mahesh Chander (Message 16) mentions about diversity of food products contributed by small farms. I wish to bring attention to the particular kind of small farm represented by the multi-tiered home garden systems that are typical of monsoonal climates like in the western coast of India and other parts of the tropics. These often combine a

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Tue, 18 Oct 2016 15:57:38 +0000
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Dear Participants,

This e-mail conference began on Monday 10 October and the last day for sending messages to me for this conference is Sunday 23 October (deadline is midnight, Rome time). The final messages will be posted on 24 October and the conference is then finished.

I encourage you now to participate actively in the remaining days!

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Tue, 18 Oct 2016 11:20:18 +0000
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This is Mahesh Chander from India, again.

About categories of farmers. In India, farmers are categorised into the following categories based on land owning status. Most of the researchers use this classification. It is also common in research projects and students thesis:

1. landless: No land in his or her name.
2. marginal: less than 1 ha land
3. small: 1-2 ha land
4. Large: >2 ha

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Tue, 18 Oct 2016 08:37:20 +0000
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My name is Dele Raheem. I am a Food Scientist and currently a Visiting Researcher at the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland in Finland. Many thanks to the participants for their inputs on the contribution of small farms to food and nutrition security globally.

The global demand by consumers for local and traditional foods has to be responded to, which requires that small farms will need to be supported in several ways to meet this demand and in effect help to reduce food insecurity. By taking advantage of innovative technology that helps in diversifying the crops and their processing locally

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:57:46 +0000
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This is Dionisio Ortiz-Miranda, again.

I would like to reply to the message by John Poveda (36):

I find particularly interesting the debate about the relationship between the diversity of on-farm production and farm households' nutrition. My point is that there seems to be significant scientific evidence showing little impact of production diversity of smallholders' farms on the improvement of households' nutrition status. Rather, the relationship between market oriented production (either diversified or not) and nutrition seems to be more significant (I add some references below). This raises some questions regarding the most effective way to improve the small farm

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:56:59 +0000
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My name is Dionisio Ortiz-Miranda. I am an agricultural economist in the Department of Economics and Social Sciences at the Technical University of Valencia (Spain). I am also involved in the SALSA project, and thank all the participants in this e-conference for their valuable contributions.

I have been following closely the exchange of messages. I would like to make a point that have somehow arisen in the previous contributions.

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:56:12 +0000
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[Note, the first line of Francisco Gurri's Message 42 began "Bazyli Czyżewski's observations (Message 22)..". Instead of Message 22, it should have been Message 7...Moderator].

This is Bazyli Czyzewski again.

I would like to comment on Francisco Gurri's statement Gurri's (in Message 42):
""Small farms lack knowledge of ecologically friendly practices and lack ecological consciousness" rings hollow in a world were small farmers are leading an ongoing battle against GMOs, use of toxic weed killers etc. It also contradicts years of worldwide research into traditional knowledge and the sustainability of traditional subsistence strategies that have survived for thousands of years,

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:55:19 +0000
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I am Karlheinz Knickel, a member of the SALSA project coordination team at the Institute for Mediterranean Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (ICAAM), Evora University in Portugal. I have also supported John Ruane in the compilation of the background document for this e-conference.

Before I come to the points that I want to raise, I would like to thank already now all who have contributed with highly relevant experiences and suggestions. This will all really help with the transdisciplinary research work we are carrying out!

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:54:40 +0000
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I am Loupa Pius once again, from Uganda.

I am responding to Arbab Ghulam Qadir's request (Message 39): "I would like to hear from Loupa Pius about how the small farmer is defined in Uganda and other African countries and impact of different definitions of small farmer".

I personally don't think there is a clear definition of the small farmer in Uganda. What is available in the Uganda context and elsewhere in Africa is the definition of smallholder farmer/subsistence farmer with a practice of subsistence agriculture.

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:53:50 +0000
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My name is Lee-Ann Sutherland. I am a social researcher at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland. As part of the SALSA consortium, we will be looking at small farms and food security in Scotland, UK.
 
Regarding Question 3.2.2 on the boundaries of food systems:

Small farms in Scotland are often ‘crofts’, small holdings of poor quality land, which historically were tenanted to employees of large estates, so employees could provide their own subsistence and cheap labour to the estate at the same time. They are now legally protected, and tend to produce primarily beef and sheep through extensive grazing (the holdings

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:53:11 +0000
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My name is Mark Redman and I am living and working in Romania. Most of my work is related to various aspects of policy-making for rural development - both at national and European level. My private consulting company is a partner in the SALSA project (the project within which this e-conference has been launched). Many thanks for the rich diversity of experience and perspective shared with the e-conference so far. 

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:52:36 +0000
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I am Stefano Grando, a researcher in rural sociology and food studies and a member of the team of the University of Pisa involved in the SALSA project.

First, I want to thank all the contributors who gave very valuable comments and suggestions and engaged in deep debates on several important points which greatly enrich our work adding different regional, professional and scientific perspectives.

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:30:52 +0000
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This is Mahesh Chander, again, replying to the specific question of Teresa Pinto-Correia (Message 41).

Most of the farms in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are crop-livestock mixed farms unlike specialized farms commonly seen in other parts of the world. These mixed farms follow integrated farming systems where income comes from diverse sources, namely cereal crops, fruits, legumes, fruits, cash crops and livestock and at times fisheries too. In addition, landless livestock keepers contribute substantially to milk and meat production. The majority of the people in rainfed regions of India depend on livestock, owing to low productivity and high uncertainty

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:29:40 +0000
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My name is Abubakar Shaibu-Salami. I am a telecoms (microwave transmission) engineer by profession. I am also a farmer and cofounder of Agriteer, a youth-led organisation that is working on increasing the role of youths in agriculture and climate change initiatives in Nigeria and across the African continent. I am glad to be a member of this conference. 

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:28:42 +0000
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I am Richard W. N Yeboah, PhD, Senior Lecturer, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Northern Ghana. I represent the Ghana team on the SALSA project (http://www.salsa.uevora.pt/en/).

I have followed the discussion and can see the dimensions that are being introduced to the definition of small farm. I think that in an attempt to answer question 3.1.1, it is important to first define a "farm" as many people will have different definitions of it.

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:27:54 +0000
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This is Mahesh Chander, again, on diversification.

If a farmer chooses to grow non-food crops in his entire land or keeps a larger chunk for non-edible products like cotton, tobacco, poppy, flowers, medicinal plants etc., where does s/he stand in farm size vs food security? His/her contribution to food production per se might be nil or little, but s/he might be depending on market for his/her food needs.

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Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:26:53 +0000
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This is Francisco Gurri, from ECOSUR Capeche again:

Bazyli Czyżewski's observations (Message 22) regarding Question 3.4.2 give us a surprising look at how small farmers are conceptualized in what once was a communist area of influence. According to Bazyli, householders are classified first based on their income, and eventually on how much of their production goes to the market.

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Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:11:24 +0000
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This is Teresa Pinto-Correia, again.

In messages 9 (by Mahesh Chander) and 12 (by Loupa Pius) there was reference to the need for us to consider also small farmers with no land. Please can you clarify how exactly you will identify a small farmer with no land? What is the indicator and what is the threshold for separating small from other farmers? Where do you get the data from? Any examples of already applied methods will be useful.

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Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:09:44 +0000
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I am Teresa Pinto-Correia, a geographer from the Institute for Mediterranean Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (ICAAM) at Evora University in Portugal, coordinator of the project SALSA – the project within which this e-conference has been launched.

I am extremely grateful to all your comments and suggestions.

I have a question to Bazyli Czyżewski (Messages 22 and 33) who has proposed different ways of approaching the definition of small farms.

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Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:09:05 +0000
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This is Arbab Ghulam Qadir, again.

I was waiting for a reply of Dick Tinsely. I will appreciate highly his input on all questions in the background document because Dick is extensively involved in research on small holders.

I have enjoyed reading Message 36 of Siera Vercillo. Great writing style. She can contribute well on all questions and on the issue of definition to classify farm as small because she has good working experience in Ghana. Other e-conference participants from Africa can also contribute on this.

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Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:08:08 +0000
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This is John Poveda, B.Sc. in biology with postgraduate studies in ecological agriculture and technical studies in horticulture production. I come from a long tradition of farmers in Colombia (Latin America) where I’ve had the opportunity to experience first-hand some of the strengths and struggles of small scale agriculture in a poor to medium rent country. I presently live in Quebec, Canada, along with my family where we have decided to develop our own small scale farming project based on the model of community supported agriculture (CSA). Having this experiences from both sides of the spectrum (from a low income 

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Fri, 14 Oct 2016 16:11:48 +0000
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This is Siera Vercillo, again.

Encouraged by John, the moderator, I am expanding upon the strategy regarding smallholders mentioned in the first paragraph of my earlier contribution (#36). I am glad to hear there is interest as I did not want to make my earlier contribution too long to read. This is in relation to answering the question of how to define 'small farms' - questions 3.1.1-3.1.3 - with an example of how I am doing so in my doctoral research focused on gender relations and differences in smallholder farming and food security in northern Ghana.

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Fri, 14 Oct 2016 12:28:15 +0000
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My name is Siera Vercillo and I am a Doctoral Candidate at the Geography Department at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, focusing my research on gender, smallholder agriculture and food security in northern Ghana. I have also worked for five years as an agriculture development consultant and project implementer in West Africa, mostly in Ghana and Sierra Leone. 

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Fri, 14 Oct 2016 11:11:36 +0000
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This is Daniel Nkomboni, again, presenting Southern Africa agricultural perspectives on Question 3.3.1 - How important is the contribution of small farms to food security:

Small farms are a source of national food security stores, e.g. government normally buys food crops, e.g. maize grain, for national stores. This complements national food coffers and is an important gap bridging process. Because farming is not specialised, diverse crops (from cereals to pulses) are produced and this ensures near balanced meals at village and national level. Small farms still grow traditional open pollinated varieties that are used by breeders to come with improved

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Fri, 14 Oct 2016 10:40:30 +0000
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This is Mahesh Chander, again.

Regarding farm size criteria:

In case it is not already addressed, soil type and availability of irrigation infrastructure, dryland vs wet lands could also be the criteria to define farm size. In India, about 65% of farmland is under rainfed dryland conditions which contribute only about 35% of food, while 35% of irrigated land contributes roughly 65% of food. Large farm size in drylands may be contributing even less than the small farms located in irrigated areas. Can there be different classification depending on the purpose - food security vs nutrition security vs environmental quality?

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Fri, 14 Oct 2016 08:49:27 +0000
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This is Bazyli Czyżewski again. 

As Arbab Ghulam Qadir (message 32) said, a uniform definition of farm size cannot be adopted globally. 

But why don't we use the approach elaborated in Europe to define it, I mean the notion of 'Standard Output' (SO). The SO is the average monetary value of the agricultural output at farm-gate price of each agricultural product (crop or livestock) in a given region. It can differ in each country and regions over the world. According to this notion, small farms in Europe are defined as:
1. The farms would be included in the FADN survey, and

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 15:16:08 +0000
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This is Arbab Ghulam Qadir, again.

In response to Dick Tinsley (Message 30) - I have gone through links given by you. Great work on small holders and I, being an agri economist, think mainly from the economic point of view but you being an agronomist have given great detail and I will go through these pages to grab the new knowledge.

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:22:40 +0000
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This is Birhanu kagnew from Hawassa University, Ethiopia.

It is true that poverty and lack of awareness are the main reasons for food insecurity among small farmers. But, beside this, the key technological innovations such as improved seeds can increase the economic resilience of small farmers in the developing world, especially if these technologies prove tolerant to a wide range of conditions. Yet the adoption of improved seeds is itself negatively affected by climate shocks and therefore the intensity of diffusion remains sub-optimal. Institutional changes, and possibly even deeper structural changes, are required to correct this. For example, to support

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:22:08 +0000
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Dear Colleagues,

Thank you all for joining, especially those who have sent in messages to this FAO e-mail conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition".

The conference runs for a short amount of time. It began on 10 October and the last day for receiving messages is 23 October. The questions that are being covered in this short e-mail conference are quite specific. They are presented in Section 3 of the conference background document (reproduced below). The 15 questions are grouped in four classes.

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:19:26 +0000
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This is Dick Tinsley again,

Sitting in Colorado at the western end of the e-conference means I don't get to see most posting before John our faithful moderator is trying to call it quits for the day and head home. This allows me to review all the day's posting before making leisurely replies. Thus please allow me a few comments

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:18:54 +0000
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This is Loupa Pius once again.

I generously agree with Arbab Ghulam Qadir's statement (Message 20) about poverty in small farm holders and small livestock keepers. There is concrete need to address poverty living among the small world feeders (small farms). These communities are equipped to come out of poverty including malnutrition aspects. However, we cannot zero our understanding maybe on that it is because they are not utilizing the available resources they have, they are exploiting them more ignorantly and hence they could not be responsible for their own poverty more of it is contributed by their national governments

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:18:06 +0000
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I am Ahamed Tijjani Abdullahi, agriculturalist. Research technician at the Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri, Borno State, Northeast Nigeria.

As an agriculturalist working in an agricultural research institute in northern Nigeria, I have the opportunity to interact and witness the positive contribution of small farms to food security and nutrition.

In Nigeria, almost 90% of food consumed is produced by small farm holders. Since attempt to define small farms can only be confined to a region, in my view a small farm is any farmer that produces for his consumption and sells the rest to meet his family's needs e.g.

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:17:16 +0000
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My name is Lizzy Igbine. I am a graduate farmer and National President of the Nigerian women agro allied farmers association (Niwaafa). I am a practicing farmer and I work in rural communities in Nigeria and Africa.

The contributions of small farms cannot be over emphasized. It ranges from growing vegetables at home to planting grains and tubers in small community farms. This produce adds to families daily meals and is found at the tables of the rich and the poor.

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Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:16:44 +0000
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My name is Carolina Vargas, a master's student at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, México. My research is in a Mennonite colony called Salamanca, the approach is about their agricultural system in family and community scale.

In response to Question 3.3.4 ("Many small farmers participate in the rural non-farm economy to generate additional income. Does this increase the contribution of small farms to food security and nutrition?"), I want to say:

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:34:30 +0000
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I am Olumide Odeyemi, a Nigerian and doctoral candidate with research interest in microbial food safety, sustainable farming, microbial ecology and shelf life extension at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

It is of great interest that many researchers have contributed and stressed the importance of small farms in food security and nutrition. However, food waste at household levels cannot be overemphasised. A large proportion of food produced is never consumed but rather wasted due to poor handling, transportation, processing and postharvest storage among other factors.

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:33:41 +0000
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I am Loupa Pius once again from Uganda, Karamoja Region.

I will always refer my comments in regards to livestock production and some basics of the crop producer. Looking at the world food security status, I agree with Phelix Oyath (Message 15) and Mahesh Chander (Messages 9, 16). First off, I am literally from Karamoja where more people are shifting from crop farming to their native practice of livestock production (cattle keeping) large herd pastoralism. To my own understanding of the contribution of small farms to world food security and nutrition, I make a focus onto the practice itself. The

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:32:26 +0000
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My name is Daniel Nkomboni and I work as a livestock & rangelands researcher in the semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe. My work encompasses developing research based technologies for small farms although it also caters for commercial farms. I am currently based in South Island of New Zealand.

Defining small farms: In the southern African context, they may be rural family run farms with land areas of approximately 6 ha (this varies with agroecological regions). The definition should include land carrying capacities, livestock units and go beyond to include cultural & religious norms. Most of these farms are characterized by poor

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:31:20 +0000
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This is Bazyli Czyzewski again.

I agree with Loupa Pius (Message 12) that "small farms cannot only be defined maybe by land size...". But what is wrong with the definitions that we use in Poland which are grounded in many papers concerning the European Union (EU) agriculture? According to this approach, there are the following possibilities:

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:28:36 +0000
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[Reminder: All messages are numbered chronologically. If during the conference you notice that you are missing any messages, just contact me at [log in to unmask] Alternatively, you can view them all at:
https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?A0=Small-farms-L ...Moderator].

This is Nkwah Azinwi Ngum, again. Just to add to the reactions of Arbab Ghulam Qadir (Message 20):

It is very true that small farmers have grown into the habit of consuming less nutritious food even in the face of increased incomes.

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 09:26:42 +0000
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This is Arbab Ghulam Qadir, again, in response to Message 8 (by Francisco Gurri):

I have also conducted several nutrition surveys. In order to avoid irrelevant detail I have given my conclusions/observations derived from those studies. During nutrition surveys, the majority of the respondents informed that they rely on less preferred food, borrow food items from relatives or purchase on credit from local shop.

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 09:25:06 +0000
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My name is Georg Andersson, and I have a Msc in Biology and a PhD in Environmental Science from Lund University, Sweden. I mainly do research in ecosystem services in agriculture.

I agree with Nkwah Azinwi Ngum (Message 4) in that small scale farms are important as a buffer against economic turbulence and in times with trade limitation etc. They will be an important safety net against such fluctuations.

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 09:23:59 +0000
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This is Francisco Gurri, again, responding to message 15 by Phelix Oyath:

I would argue that what Phelix Oyath is observing was true long before the availability of credit schemes, western seeds and fertilizers. In the Yucatán (Mexico), small farmers have been supporting themselves and paying taxes to maintain elite classes for at least four thousand years, and for many more years in other parts of the world. It would be wise to maintain a historical perspective to avoid giving economists and modern agronomists credit for what small householders have been doing since before the origins of banks and universities.

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 09:22:26 +0000
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My name is Dominic Glover. I’m a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS, Brighton, UK) (www.ids.ac.uk) and a member of the STEPS Centre (www.steps-centre.org), which investigates technical, social and ecological pathways towards sustainability. My work focuses on technology and technological change in small-scale agriculture in low- and middle-income countries. I have carried out research on rice cultivation systems and the commercialisation of transgenic crops in various countries, notably the Philippines, India, Nepal, and Madagascar. I’d like to thank the organisers for convening this e-conference. 

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Wed, 12 Oct 2016 09:21:19 +0000
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This is Mahesh Chander, again.

I agree with Loupa Pius (Message 12) that "small farms cannot only be defined maybe by land size but can also be shared, by livestock keepers who are landless but equally share the natural resources and they equally contribute to world food security". Someone having just 1 ha of land may own a herd of over 200 goats or nomads with a herd of 500 sheep or other species, how are we going to classify them? There can be a basis of livestock units equivalent to decide size of farms based on livestock units owned

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Tue, 11 Oct 2016 15:45:01 +0000
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My name is Phelix Oyath. BA Economics/Sociology. I work at One Acre Fund (Western part of Kenya for 6 years now).

In response to Question 3.3.1 ("How important is the contribution of small farms to food security and nutrition? Why?":

From my own understanding of small farms based on where I come from, refers to greater population of rural households with less than 1 acre piece of land. These larger cohort whose greater population comprises women and children is able to fight hunger and poverty through meaningful training on good crop production techniques, availability and accessibility of quality seeds and fertilizer through credit scheme cum

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Tue, 11 Oct 2016 15:44:17 +0000
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This is Dick Tinsley, again, responding to Question 3.3.3 regarding the level of interest for food security - individual, household, local, regional...:

The most critical would be local or community level. Traditionally this has been the household, but I think that might have misled the effort. Smallholders usually operate and interact in communities which would be the area and production lands over which the mobile resources like labor or contract tillage migrate. If you will excuse the Christian proverb of "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul", the problem is that you can concentrate your mobile resources such as labor on one

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Tue, 11 Oct 2016 15:38:31 +0000
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This is Dick Tinsley, professor emeritus Department of Soil & Crop Sciences, Colorado State University. While based in the USA, my entire 30 year career has been working with smallholder farmers and their communities. A few years ago I synthesized my career into the text "Developing smallholder agriculture: A global perspective", which is now available from Amazon. I also manage the website http://www.smallholderagriculture.com/ from which I hope to make various references during this e-conference. 

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Tue, 11 Oct 2016 14:43:30 +0000
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I am Loupa Pius, working with the Dodoth Agro-Pastoralist Development Organization (DADO), based in Kaabong, Karamoja region, Uganda. I work as the project coordinator for Conservation Agriculture project. DADO is a local, non-governmental, non-political non-profit making organization founded in July 1996 by the agro-pastoralist communities in Kaabong district. As a community based organization (CBO), DADO was to provide livestock extension services and other related efforts to bring peace and reconciliation among the ethnic groups in north Karamoja. After a decade of its operation as a CBO the organisation was formally registered as a national non-governmental organisation (NGO) with the NGO 

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:53:52 +0000
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Dear All,

Thanks to all of you who have joined up to this conference.

The thematic areas related to small farms and small farmers are very many. However, I want to remind you here that the questions to be addressed in this e-mail conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition" are quite specific and are grouped in four classes, i.e. questions related to defining small farms; small farms within a food system; small farms and their role in food security and nutrition; and small farms and achieving food security and improved nutrition

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:53:02 +0000
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I am Dr Praveen Kumar Shrivastava, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, D.B.S. Post Graduate College Kanpur UP India. I am glad to take part in this e- conference.

In my district, malnutrition is very common and prevailing in all sections of society. The main reason for this is we forget to use traditional knowledge of our forefathers. In modern parlance we call it tribal knowledge or ethnobotanical knowledge.

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:51:36 +0000
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I am Dheeraj Mishra, Assistant Professor (Agricultural Extension) currently working for the development of agripreneurship among the students of B.Sc. (Agriculture) of Gwalior region of Madhya Pradesh, India. Most of these students belong to families having small and marginal land holdings. It is my pleasure to share my experience at this forum.

Here, I mention the two major constraints I have faced during my work.

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:50:45 +0000
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I am Mahesh Chander, Principal Scientist with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and currently, Head, Div of Extension Education at ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India. My job responsibilities include post-graduate teaching, research and field extension activities for livestock development. I consider this as one good opportunity to take part in this FAO moderated e-mail conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition”. 

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:49:43 +0000
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My name is Francisco Gurri, PhD. I work at the Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Southern Mexico with Maya agriculturalists.

In response to Message 2 (by Arbab Ghulam Qadir):

I haven't been to Pakistan but I wonder if your impression about farmer diet and its nutritional value is based on systematic diet observations, 24 hour recalls, food frequency questionnaires etc., or are just impressions from the field. Some of your statements do not agree with most case studies showing that traditional food systems are highly complementary. Perhaps rather than judge their system a priori, it would be wise to see why it has survived. Trying to change food systems

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Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:48:48 +0000
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This is Bazyli Czyżewski. I am a researcher from the Poznań University of Economics and Business (Poland) dealing, inter alia, with the issue of sustainable agriculture and small farms.

There are 600,000 to 800,000 small farms in Poland according to different definitions. The question how small farms can contribute to the sustainable development (in which dimensions) is the tricky one. According to my research and observations I can say in which dimensions they'd rather not. Paradoxically, it is the environment. Small farms are not environment friendly. They cause relatively more damage than big ones, especially when they get money to

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:47:48 +0000
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I am Mr. Yves Stephane Ngaleu and currently working with the Cameroon Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at the divisional delegation of Mfoundi - Center region - Cameroon. I am an extension for the GIZ and have experience with a project that deals with improving the competitiveness of family own farming exploitations (Le Programme d’Amélioration de la Compétitivité des Exploitations Familiales Agropastorales (ACEFA, http://www.acefa.cm/en/). 

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:46:51 +0000
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I am Morshed Alam, President of Bangladesh Animal Agriculture Society (BAAS). Personally, I had my graduation in Agricultural Science and involved in various organizations dealing in agriculture, especially livestock and poultry. The associations I worked for are World Poultry Science Association Bangladesh Branch (WPSA-BB) as Vice-President; Animal Health Companies Association of Bangladesh (AHCAB) as founder Secretary General; Consultant for International Development and Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. 

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AIS
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:45:44 +0000
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My name is Nkwah Azinwi Ngum. I am an Msc holder in environmental economics, rural development and agrifood from the University of Yaounde II, Cameroon. I am a Commonwealth respondent  and freelance community worker with focus on issues of rural women and business development manager at Union Farms of Africa. 

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AIS
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:27:38 +0000
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I am Julian Policetti, founder and director of Mother Teresa Rural Development Society, in the district of Nalgonda, Telangana state, India. I am glad to take part in the FAO e-mail conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition."

We are working for poverty alleviation through rural development programs like women empowerment and sustainable agriculture as main activities. We form the groups of women and farmers and train them in agriculture to grow various crops. These women and farmers are working as small associations and cooperatives providing various services to the individual and

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AIS
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 14:56:18 +0000
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Hello everyone, nice to share my experiences. I am Arbab Ghulam Qadir, an Agri. Economist (M.Sc.) and a community development professional with variety of over 16 years working experience. Currently, I am working with Management & Development Centre as Senior Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator and am mainly responsible for conducting agriculture/livelihood based baseline surveys & end project evaluations. I am also doing my Ph.D in economics with a research focus on livelihood opportunities and issues of elderly people in Pakistan. 

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AIS
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 13:10:38 +0000
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[Thanks to Nchendeh Valentine from Cameroon for this first message in the FAO e-mail conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition". All messages will be numbered chronologically. If during the conference you notice that you are missing any messages, just contact me at [log in to unmask] ...Moderator]. 

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AIS
Fri, 7 Oct 2016 12:25:57 +0000
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Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to all of you who have subscribed so far to this FAO e-mail conference on "Exploring the contribution of small farms to achieving food security and improved nutrition"!!

I am sending you here the Background Document to the e-mail conference. It provides information that you will find useful for the e-mail conference.

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