6th GFRAS Annual Meeting

14-18 September 2015. Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan. The GFRAS Annual Meeting had both a thematic component (focused on content) and a functional component (focused on network strengthening).

After 5 years of existence, the GFRAS Annual Meeting 2015 symbolically focused on the exchange, discussion, and identification of global good practices in rural advisory services – both with regard to content as well as with regard to network functioning.

Concept Note (pdf 359KB) +  Detailed Agenda

The meeting’s objectives were the following

• Participants gain new ideas and learn how to apply a wide range of approaches, methods, and instruments to improve rural advisory services.
• Participants have a common understanding of salient features that render their work within rural advisory services more effective, inclusive, and sustainable.
• RAS fora learn and know how to apply best fit methods and approaches to improve and strengthen their functioning.

15 September. A parallel workshops took place for participants to exchange experiences regarding good practices on a.o. Challenges and Ways Forward for Rural Advisory Services to Enhance Effective Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). The workshop integrated different inputs to approach the subject and stimulate discussions on Agricultural Innovation Systems.

• To offer a theoretical and practical background on agricultural innovation systems through presentations and discussions of case studies and participants’ experiences 
• To provide an introduction to the Hanoi statement on Rural Advisory Services with focus on agricultural innovation systems (“Reaching the Millions” that took place in Hanoi, in March 2015.)
• To jointly elaborate practical recommendations on how to strengthen agricultural innovation systems through RAS 

Workshop Agricultural Innovation Systems (pdf 301KB)

Other resources:

• GGP Note #18: Using Radio in Agricultural Extension
• GGP Note #17: mExtension – Mobile Phones for Agricultural Advisory Services
• GFRAS GGP Note #16: Web Portals for Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services
• GGP Note #15: Social Media for Rural Advisory Services
• GGP Note #14: Community Knowledge Workers for Rural Advisory Services
• GGP Note #13: Agricultural Innovation Systems
• GFRAS GGP Note #12: The Role of Producer Organisations in RAS
• GGP Note #11: Navigating ICTs for Extension and Advisory Services
• GGP Note #10: Rural Resource Centres: A Community Approach to Agricultural Extension
• GGP Note #9: Integrating Nutrition into Rural Advisory Services and Extension
• GGP Note #8: Management Advice for Family Farms to Strengthen Entrepreneurial Skills
• GGP Note #7: Farmer-to-farmer Extension
• GGP Note #6: Videos for Agricultural Extension
• GGP Note #5: Enabling Rural Innovation
• GGP Note #4: Integrating Gender into Rural Advisory Services
• GGP Note #3: Mobile Based Bundled Services
• GGP Note #2: Farmer Field Schools
• GGP Note #1: Innovation Platforms