Agriculture

Making the most out of a patch of land, smallholder farmers in Karnataka, India are adopting integrated farming systems to sustain themselves and the environment.

In East Africa, a "make-over" style reality television show is providing millions of farmers with top-notch agricultural information. In a recent episode, TechnoServe's own Charles Murage, a business advisor for the YieldWise program, made his TV debut, giving tips to reduce postharvest loss on mango farms.

In Bihar, India, TechnoServe is working with women smallholder farmers to build more transparent and prosperous agricultural value chains, and to access more decision-making roles, on their farms and across the sector.

TechnoServe is working with chocolate manufacturer CÉMOI to train cocoa cooperatives in the business and management skills they need to produce high-quality cocoa and generate profits for their farmer members.

In Ethiopia, TechnoServe is working with Nespresso’s AAA Sustainable Quality Program to build a coffee sector that is sustainable and prosperous for local farmers and ecosystems.

TechnoServe is helping to pave the way toward a drug-free Peru by supporting 10,000 coffee-farming families in former coca-growing regions to improve their productivity and access more profitable markets.

Recognizing that women make up more than half of Uganda's agricultural labor force, AB InBev partnered with TechnoServe to help women farmers access the agricultural and business knowledge they need to build profitable farms and a sustainable supply chain for AB InBev subsidiaries in the country.

How small commercial farmers in the highlands of Zambézia are driving adoption of improved techniques for soy seed production.

In Ethiopia, 75 percent of the work in the coffee value chain is carried out by women, whereas only 43 percent of the income is earned by those same women. Kebebushe is one of 79 agronomists working with Nespresso to support more than 40,000 coffee farmers with best farming practices, and to improve the status of women throughout the value chain.

Olga Velasquez is TechnoServe’s Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for the Better Coffee Harvests Program in Central America. For International Women’s Day, we talked with her about her experience as a woman at TechnoServe, and why good data is important for creating stronger, more gender-inclusive coffee economies.