Agromisa: an independent organisation

Agromisa is a non-profit organisation that supports smallholder farmers, agricultural service providers and development workers by providing them with practical information on sustainable agriculture. Founded in 1934, Agromisa works closely with a wide network of partner organisations to develop and share knowledge and information relevant to improving productivity, income and welfare in the small-scale agricultural sector worldwide.
Agromisa’s approach is context specific with a strong emphasis on securing the productivity and sustainability of local resources while taking the gender implications of introducing new technologies into account.
Agromisa finances its work through donations and through its own services.

Our perspective on development cooperation

Agromisa believes that structural improvement of living conditions in the South can only take place through the initiatives and ideas of the local population. Agromisa wants to contribute to this indigenous development potential by making agricultural knowledge readily available. We understand that, to be effective, technological advice must be appropriate to the local context and must not lead to the depletion of locally available natural resources. It must also take gender aspects into account by considering the potentially different effects that the introduction of new technologies may have on men and women.

Knowledge sharing

As part of a large network of partners in the North and South, Agromisa is ideally placed to stimulate an active exchange of agricultural knowledge. We regularly add to our own ongoing series of publications, but also receive frequent requests from partners for support of local publications, many of which lead to formal co-publishing agreements. Our work includes the development of new publications, adaptation of information for specific target groups and support for translations in local/regional languages. We are also actively involved in the development of other information carriers like CD-ROMs, DVDs, posters and more integrated multimedia kits, which facilitate an increasingly interactive and dynamic exchange of information within our network.

Aims

By providing access to practical and sustainable agricultural knowledge, Agromisa aims to contribute to improving the livelihoods of those who are depending on small-scale agriculture in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Agromisa contributes to knowledge development, knowledge production and knowledge sharing for counterparts in small scale and sustainable agriculture, poverty alleviation and small scale entrepreneurial activities in developing countries by:

  • The development, publication and dissemination of Agrodoks
  • Contributing to curriculum development for counterparts in developing countries
  • Developing new means to disseminate knowledge and develop a form of a knowledge sharing platform in development cooperation
  • Strengthen the organisational capacity through stronger ties with our organisational network and deploying more (wo-)manpower in the core activities (volunteers, and part time employees)