Women often have less access to agricultural information than men, constraining their participation in decision-making on crops, technologies, and practices. In the design of agricultural extension programs, women may be viewed as insignificant actors in agricultural production. Moreover, even if their role is recognized, valuable information on production does not flow freely within the household from men to women.
The number of theories of innovation systems has grown considerably over the past two decades and several innovation system approaches have been developed. The focus of most has been on the development of technological innovations which create economic value.However, addressing macro-level societal problems – sociotechnical and environmental challengesin which the production, dissemination and use of social and technical knowledge and technology can potentially resolve the problem – has been overlooked.
Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) is a collection of institutions enabling agricultural and food system transformation in a country. Any attempt to engage in emergency interventions by institutions and bounce back with higher levels of resilience requires strong organizational and human capacity as a prerequisite. What role do these institutions play in emergencies such as COVID-19 and how can they bounce back after such a crisis is over? What can be done to help these institutions build resilience capacity for such recovery?
In this perspective paper the authors consider the implications of a digital transformation for agricultural knowledge, a subject which hitherto has received limited attention. They raise critical questions about how digital agriculture will intersect with established modes of knowing and decision-making.
This study examines interventions in two agricultural development projects in Ghana which aimed to build competitiveness of selected value chains to generate growth and reduce poverty – the Northern Rural Growth Project, implemented between 2009 and 2016, and the Market Oriented Agriculture Programme, which began in 2004 and is still in place.
This case study demonstrates how change agents can utilize networked learning communities (NLCs) with shared leadership to provide the structural supports for learning and influence the implementation of innovations within a social system. Our focus is the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), a large school system operating 164 accredited schools domestically and internationally.
Sustainable intensification (SI) is promoted as a rural development paradigm for sub-Saharan Africa. Achieving SI requires smallholder farmers to have access toinformation that is context-specific, increases their decision-making capacities, andadapts to changing environments. Current extension services often struggle toaddress these needs. New mobile phone-based services can help.
Rainfed agriculture accounts for more than half of the world’s food production but is facing increasing precipitation variability, driven by climate change. Achieving zero hunger will require improvements in rainwater management to increase productivity. About 45 percent of global rainfed cropland is still under low-input production systems. These are concentrated mostly in lower-income countries, which face multiple challenges in addressing the growing water shortages. Improved water management practices must be combined with the best agronomic practices for enhanced effectiveness.
The development and scaling of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) during the past 25 years is a case study of a disruptive innovation to address a pressing need – the high levels of vitamin A deficiency among children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. When the innovation was introduced consumers strongly preferred white or yellow-fleshed sweetpotato, so it was necessary to create a demand to respond to that need. This was at odds with the breeding strategy of responding to consumers’ demands.
Food security is predicted toface considerable challenges in the upcoming period. This couldbe more profound in developing countries due to rapid societal change and ecological pressure in theseregions. Concerted efforts to deal with these challenges areof great importance, including accelerating th euse of improved agricultural input technology (IAIT) such as high yield varieties of seeds and improved fertilizer formulas. This type of innovation is more suitable to being introduced amongst developing countries farmers in order to increase their productivity.