This report is the result of a study that was carried out for the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), to make an inventory of experiences with ‘market-oriented agricultural advisory services’ (MOAAS). Lessons learned have been drawn from the cases studied. These lessons are the basis for guidelines formulated for setting up market-oriented agricultural advisory services.

The present manual provides a reference framework for the strategic and operational work in the field of capacity development. It is addressed to all staff of ADC in Austria as well as in the coordination offices, to non-governmental and implementing organisations, to stakeholders in partner countries, other donors and members of the public interested in development policy. 

Market access has been identified as one of the foremost factors influencing the performance of small-scale producers in developing countries, and in particular least-developed countries. Smallholder access to markets for higher-value or differentiated agricultural and food products (hereafter HVAF) is recognized as a vital opportunity to enhance and diversify the livelihoods of lower-income farm households and reduce rural poverty more generally (World Bank 2007a).

This article presents a different dimension of the innovation systems approach, going beyond analysis and shedding light on how these processes can be facilitated in practice. This is based on 20 years' experience with innovations systems. The focus is on the role of facilitation in triggering the changes, as well as in integrating learning and knowledge management (KM) in the innovation process.

There have been numerous episodes of widespread adoption of improved seed and long-term achievements in the development of the maize seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This summary takes a circumspect view of technical change in maize production. Adoption of improved seed has continued to rise gradually, now representing an estimated 44 percent of maize area in Eastern and Southern Africa (outside South Africa), and 60 percent of maize area in West and Central Africa. Use of fertilizer and restorative crop management practices remains relatively low and inefficient.

Linking farmers to markets is widely viewed as a milestone towards promoting economic growth and poverty reduction. However, market and institutional imperfections along the supply chain thwart perfect vertical and spatial price transmission and prevent farmers and market actors from getting access to information, identifying business opportunities and allocating their resources efficiently. This acts as a barrier to market-led rural development and poverty reduction.