Sharing the latest news, resources, and events that grabbed our attention this week: 

RESOURCE | Integrating Low-Cost Video into Agricultural Development Projects (Toolkit & Webinar Recording)
Via FHI360 & The FACET Project: USAID projects and other implementing organizations provide training to farmers and other parties along the agricultural value chain on a wide range of topics. This toolkit is designed to help these projects and organizations use low-cost video to augment the traditional agricultural development activities and extension services they are providing. Watch the webinar recording here. 

NEWS | Capacity building, ICTs and gender issues in ag. value chains
Via GBI Portal: The main obstacle to food security…in most agricultural-based developing economies is lack of human, technical and institutional capacity to produce and distribute the food. Benjamin Kwasi Addom brings together two arguments as the basis for addressing the challenge of capacity building in agriculture through the emerging value chain approach, and the role Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) can play to increase food security in some of these economies.

BLOG | Market segmentation on farmers' valuation of laser land leveling: Notes from the April 25 Ag Sector Council Seminar
Via Agrilinks: At the April Agriculture Sector Council seminar, David Spielman and Nick Magnan of IFPRI presented results from a field experiment recently conducted in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India, as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). The experiment introduced a beneficial new technology to farmers – laser land leveling (LLL) – and analyzed demand variations among different market segments.

NEWS | Food fears feed global scramble for land
Via Alertnet: …Controversial projects are back in fashion in Africa and other parts of the developing world as investors - from foreign governments to wealthy individuals - hunt for land to grow food. Champions of the deals say they are good for agriculture and ultimately global food security…But critics describe them as secretive "land grabs" snatched at knockdown prices, which threaten to push smallholder farmers off their land and deprive countries struggling with chronic hunger of fertile, arable land they need for themselves.

NEWS | Interview: A business-like approach to foreign aid
Via Foreign Policy: A conversation with USAID administrator Rajiv Shah on expanding public-private partnerships and integrating development and emergency intervention.

NEWS | Ensuring food security: Traditional foods key to addressing poor nutrition and negative health effects
Via Ghana Business News: Officials at the launch of a new international project at the World Nutrition Rio de Janeiro Congress 2012 held on April 28, known as the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project, have asked for renewed emphasis to be placed on sustaining the natural variety of crops and animals contributing to agriculture, including neglected but nutritious traditional foods.