As with other countries, agricultural extension and advisory services (EAS) in Malawi are provided by public, private, and non-profit organisations. While it has become commonplace to refer to this collection of actors as a system, this claim is only valid in the loosest of terms, as many of the component parts do not functionally interact with others in an operational sense, tending rather to function as independent sub-networks within larger national, and international spheres of exchange.

Providing extension and advisory services is expensive. There are salaries to be paid, transporta­tion and operational funds to be provided, buildings to be rented or built, demonstration plots to maintain, and continued education to be offered to the extension staff. And then there is the need to continually invest in an overall functioning agricultural innovation system with strong research and teaching institutions, enabling policies, as well as to make capital investments in rural infrastructure that will not only benefit the farming population.

The aim of the “Management advice for family farms” (MAFF) approach is to strengthen the abilities of farmers to manage their farms and improve their economic and social autonomy. In Francophone Africa, this holistic concept has been applied successfully for almost two decades.

In many parts of Africa, formal education and training in agriculture is almost nonexistent. Swiss Biovision Foundation supports farmers via its Farmer Communication Programme. While it takes advantage of its close links with research institutions, the ideas and experiences of farmers also flow directly into its course contents.

Innovation takes place not only in laboratories, and disseminating knowledge need not depend on classrooms. The Cambodian GIZ project “Best Farmer 2012” is an example of how achievements of small-scale farmers can be appreciated and their co-farmers can simultaneously benefit from new insights.

“There is plenty of innovation. The trick is to get it to the farmers,” it is often said when technology transfer to farmers, and smallholders in particular, is referred to. In addition to the financial resources, they often lack the knowledge needed to be able to benefit from the new technologies. The ‘whole value chain approach’ of the Africa Harvest organisation shows how technology transfer can work.

German Development Cooperation has developed an approach for the sustainable production of charcoal that has proved to have a considerable impact in Northern Madagascar. Since both environmental and socioeconomic aspects are addressed in a very effective way, this approach has high potential referring to global challenges such as land degradation, rural poverty and climate change.

La présente loi autorise la ratification de la Convention portant création de l’Agence Panafricaine de la Grande Muraille Verte, adoptée par la Conférence des Chefs d’Etat et de Gouvernement de la Communauté des Etats sahélo sahariens (CENSAD) à Ndjamena, le 17 juin 2010.Cette Agence a pour mission la coordination et le suivi d’une barrière verte de protection contre l’avancée du désert et de contribuer au développement durable sur la bande sahélo saharienne comprise entre les isohyètes 100 et 400 mm sur une distance d’au moins 7000 km de long et 15 km de large, reliant Dakar et Djibouti.

A ministerial intergovernmental
conference in pursuit of these commitments was held in
August 2003 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The conference agreed to
the Almaty Programme of Action (APoA), calling for joint
efforts by transit and landlocked countries-with substantial
technical and financial assistance from other countries-to
revise their regulatory frameworks affecting trade movements
and to improve their trade-related infrastructure. The two

The Palestinian economy has experienced
strong growth in recent years. This report examines the
economic benefits of lifting the restrictions on movement
and access, as well as other administrative obstacles, to
Palestinian investment and economic activity in a region
known as Area C. This region constitutes about 61 percent of
the West Bank territory and was defined under the Oslo Peace
Accords as the area that eventually would be transferred to

The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, Raquel Rolnik, undertook an official visit to the World Bank Group from 26 October to 1 November 2010. In this 2013 report, she presents her observations and recommendations on the World Bank‟s safeguard policies, particularly on the right to adequate housing, in the context of its current two-year consultative process to review and update its environmental and social safeguard policies.