Agromisa is a non-profit organisation founded in 1934 in the Netherlands that supports small-scale farmers and organisations working on their behalf by providing them with practical information on sustainable agriculture. Agromisa’s core activities are publishing (Agrodoks, AgroSpecials etc.) and the provision of expert advice through its Question & Answer Service.

Agromisa’s mission

Agromisa works to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, mainly in rural areas in the South, by improving their access to practical information about sustainable agricultural. It communicates either directly with the farmers or through intermediary organisations.

Activities

Agromisa’s two core activities are publishing and the provision of expert advice.

1. Publishing: Agromisa publishes primarily “best practice” booklets that make up its Agrodok series. These practical publications on small-scale agriculture are also available on CD-ROM. Our aim is to eventually publish all Agrodoks locally, to ensure that they are adapted as well as possible to local conditions and if necessary produced in the local language(s).

2.Advisory services: The Advisory Section runs the library and the Question & Answer Service. This service works through a network of individuals and organisations with expertise in specific fields and is provided free-of-charge to individuals and intermediary organisations in developing countries.

Agromisa: an independent organisation

Agromisa finances its work partially through donations, but mainly through its own services. These include the sale of its publications, as well as paid advisory services for partner organisations.

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 understands 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, "spoken books", posters and more integrated multimedia kits, which facilitate an increasingly interactive and dynamic exchange of information within our network.

History of Agromisa

In 2009 Agromisa has celebrated its 75th anniversary. Mr. Ed Verheij, one of Agromisa's longest serving volonteers who's trajectory includes the writing of Agrodoks and assisting the Q&A Service, has made a compilation of the 75 years history of Agromisa. The complete version is in Dutch. Read here. A summary in English can be found here .