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.

It would be difficult to imagine the diet of the local consumers around Lake Victoria without the silver cyprinid. The small fresh water sardine also plays an important role in women’s participation in Kenya’s fishery sector. However, in spite of intensive efforts, there is still a long way to go before they have achieved an equal role in the value chain.

In Kenya, smallholders are improving the health of their families by growing local cereal varieties and indigenous vegetables. The use of traditional foods is even helping people with HIV/AIDS.

Like in other areas of livestock keeping, the growing demand for fish raises the question of how the feeding of animals can be maintained without competing with the provision of food for humans. The use of insect proteins could help save natural resources while simultaneously making use of organic waste.

More than 30 years ago, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) started a post-harvest programme in Central America named “Postcosecha”. The significant impact that was still evident long after the project end also continues to exist after the cessation of external support. The current priority in SDC’s contribution to post-harvest management (PHM) is to use existing knowledge and experience to create conditions for scaling up the most appropriate PHM technologies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Secure tenure of farming and forest land is increasingly recognised as an important factor of household food security and nutritional status. This is borne out by a study by the Laotian Land Issues Working Group. It demonstrates mutual impacts, how government land-related policies affect the factors involved, and who the winners and losers are.

Biogas in Vietnam is chiefly the story of the success of small domestic digesters. However, a feed-in tariff for electricity generated by biogas plants could soon lead to larger scale use of the technology, and so provide new sources of income for farmers.

Aquaculture holds a big potential to satisfy the growing demand for aquatic food. Setting out from lessons learnt in past development projects, our author describes what fish farming systems must look like to fit the needs of smallholders and the environment.

In a long-term project in Kenya, the Swiss-based Research Institute of Organic Agriculture has examined the potential of organic and conventional agriculture regarding soil fertility, the occurrence of pests and diseases, and profitability. Initial results make a strong case to implement policy measures necessary for supporting the adoption of organic management practices on a large scale.

An ingenious combination of plant breeding, contract farming and processing has enabled smallholder tomato growers to tap new markets in Tanzania’s Arusha Region. Two improved tomato cultivars released from AVRDC lines are at the centre of this success story.

A project run by the WWF has set itself the goal of transforming Philippine tuna fisheries towards more sustainable practices, securing the livelihoods of the small-scale fishers in the long term. European buyers who have committed to source from them provide the necessary incentives.

A project in Burkina Faso has given a clear demonstration of what supporting family farms can achieve in terms of poverty alleviation and rural development. One important success factor was the transfer of land to farmers, accompanied by a secure land-tenure policy adapted to their needs.