MINI IN THE MEDIA
The latest news articles, podcasts and external blog posts on the MINI project
LONDON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (LIDC) PODCAST
How can horticultural aggregation schemes improve the distribution of fruits and vegetables (F&V) to small, relatively isolated markets in Bihar, India, whilst at the same time improving the livelihoods of participating farmers?
Prof. Bhavani Shankar (Uni. of Sheffield), Dr Suneetha Kadiyala (LSHTM), Dr Gregory Cooper (Uni. of Sheffield) and Rikin Gandhi (Digital Green) sat down with Charine John of the London International Development Centre (LIDC) to discuss a variety of agriculture, nutrition and health topics, including the importance of F&V consumption in locations such as Bihar, the market interventions which may help to improve F&V availability and affordability, and the need for researchers, practitioners and policymakers alike to consider the array of feedbacks and trade-offs operating across our food systems.
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PROF. BHAVANI SHANKAR'S THE CONVERSATION ARTICLE (1ST FEBRUARY 2021)
Since the passing of three controversial agricultural reform bills into law in September 2020, the northern states of India and the capital region of Delhi have witnessed ongoing and intensifying farmers' protests. While the national government maintains that the bills will help to diversify marketing options and stimulate competition for agricultural products, many hundreds of thousands ('lakhs') of farmers are concerned about the implications of market liberalisation on their ability to secure market sales and minimum support prices. Prof. Bhavani Shankar's article in The Conversation charts the background and development of these protests, as well as their complex implications for reform and regulation in Indian agriculture.
PROF. BHAVANI SHANKAR'S GEOGRAPHICAL ARTICLE (16TH APRIL 2020)
Prof. Bhavani Shankar (MINI co-PI) has published an article in the popular magazine Geographical discussing the links between food safety conditions in Indian wholesale markets and nutrition. The article comes in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic - a time when food safety across the globe has come under the scrutiny. You can read the article by following the link below.
MINI PROJECT BANGLADESH-FOCUSED DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP AND ASSOCIATED NATIONAL NEWS REPORT- DHAKA, BANGLADESH (17TH DECEMBER, 2019)
Following the meeting in Patna the week before, the MINI team held a second dissemination workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The workshop was very well attended by secretary members of the Bangladesh Planning Commission (Government of Bangladesh), Department of Agriculture and Marketing, and Department of Agriculture and Extension, as well as academic colleagues from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) and Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. The workshop provided a space to interact with high-level decision makers within the Bangladesh government setup, including feeding back some of the key findings from the rapid value chain analysis conducting on the horticultural value chain of Jessore district. A national news channel (Channel i) was also in attendance to capture the discussions, and you can watch the report from the day via the link below (report in Bangla)
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ILRI BLOG SERIES ON 'UNRAVELLINGÂ VALUE CHAINS THROUGH PARTICIPATORY MODELLING'
In July 2019, MINI contributed to a special series published by Judy Kimani of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) on the potential of using 'Spatial Group Model Building' (SGMB) to uncover deep qualitative and quantitative insights into agricultural value chains. Follow the links below to read about how Karl Rich and Greg Cooper discuss the insights gained from the participatory sessions in Bihar and Jessore, as well as some of the practical and conceptual challenges and unexpected findings!
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The panel image below is from our SGMB sessions in Jessore, Bangladesh, led by Mohammad Alam, Nazmun Ratna, Dipok Choudhury and Sadman Sadek.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE IN THE PATNA EDITION OF THE DAINIK JAGRAN
In early-December 2019, the Patna edition of the national newspaper The Dainik Jagran featured a short write-up about the work of the MINI project and Digital Green in Bihar. The article described our upcoming household surveys and 'spatial group model building' sessions which were to be held in Bhojpur and Muzaffarpur districts. The article also discussed the importance of both research projects like the MINI project and digital platforms such as Loop for understanding and enhancing the affordability of F&V supplies in rural areas of Bihar. See the image below for the Dainik Jagran article in Hindi; the featured photo is of Shailesh Tiwary (former Digital Green agent) and Greg Cooper in Rajgir, Nalanda.
MINI PROJECT FUNDERS
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