Agricultural education, research, and extension can contribute substantially to reducing rural poverty in the developing world. However, evidence suggests that their contributions are falling short in Sub-Saharan Africa. The entry of new actors, technologies, and market forces, when combined with new economic and demographic pressures, suggests the need for more innovative and less linear approaches to promoting a technological transformation of smallholder agriculture. This paper explores methodologies that can help improve the study of agricultural innovation processes and their role in transforming agriculture. We examine methods that address three key issues: (a) how agents interact in the production, exchange, and use of knowledge and information; (b) how agents respond individually and collectively to technological, institutional, or organizational opportunities and constraints; and (c) how policy changes can enhance the welfare effects of these interactions and responses. Methods include social network analysis, innovation histories, cross-country comparisons, and game-theory modeling.
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve...
The purpose of this paper is to map some elements that can contribute to an IFAD strategy to stimulate and support pro-poor innovations. It is an initial or exploratory document that hopefully will add to an ongoing and necessary debate,...
L' étude de la Banque Mondiale a identifié des mesures d’atténuation pouvant apporter des solutions à court et à long termes aux problèmes du secteur agricole du Niger. Il s’agit, notamment de :
l’utilisation de variétés à haut rendement...
El objetivo principal del estudio es describir el escenario actual y contribuir a articular una posición común para el desarrollo de la juventud en el ámbito de la agricultura familiar. Por ello, las conclusiones planteadas se trasladaran al trabajo de...
The Synthesis Document provides a synthesis of concepts and principles of the Common Framework developed under the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP). The objective of the TAP Common Framework is to promote better coherence and greater impact of capacity development in...
