A Harvest of Practical Insights

Abstract

This IFC SmartBook is a compilation of sixteen IFC SmartLessons that presents practical lessons learned by staff from across the IFC and the World Bank on approaches for engaging in agriculture that have led to success. Agribusiness is a crucial economic sector, for food security of course, for managing water stress and ecosystem services, but also as a source of employment in emerging markets. The report includes the following lessons. Sowing the seeds of sustainability : a case project with Unifrutti, IFC, and smallholder banana farmers in the Philippines, by Natalie Macawaris, Colin Taylor, and Carla Zamora-Galinato. Harvesting the fruits of your hard work, frustration, and patience : implementing an agribusiness project in Kandahar, Afghanistan, by Hazem Hanbal and Selcuk Tanatar. Taking Haitian agriculture to the cloud : implementing google apps for government at the ministry of agriculture, by Diego Arias and Nicolas Weber. Fish farmers meet new technology: raising the aquaculture productivity of small farmers in Assam, by Grahame Dixie and Manivannan Pathy. Grain by grain : from Punjab to global - lessons from the breadbasket of India, by Jay Lurie and Neeraj Gupta. From crisis response to sustainable strategy : addressing food security in Nepal, by Gayatri Acharya and Mirella Hernani. Adapting to climate change in Bangladesh : stress-tolerant seeds for stress-prone regions, by Anika Ali and Mrinal Sircar. Assessing the carbon benefits of improved land management technologies, by Ademola Braimoh. The fun and the defiance of innovation : going redd in the forests of Mexico, by Graciela Reyes Retana, María Carolina Hoyos, and Laurent Debroux. More than just hot air : carbon market access and climate-smart agriculture for smallholder farmers, by Johannes Woelcke. Go lite ! Increasing scale and impact by combining diagnostics and training lessons from the Ukraine food safey project, by sarah ockman. Keeping it fresh! : how new packaging and distribution improved the fruit and vegetable supply chain in Ukraine, by fedir rybalko and ebbe johnson. To WII or not to WII? : practical lessons from implementing weather index insurance for agriculture, by the Agricultural Risk Management Team of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank. Supporting smallholders while promoting farmer-controlled cooperatives in china, by Achim Fock and Jun Zhao. Connecting fruit suppliers and processors : a comprehensive approach in Ukraine, by Oksana Varodi. It's all about teamwork : unlocking opportunities for agribusiness in Ukraine, by Alberto Criscuolo and Shaela Rahman.