This presentation on the innovation system approach was presented to the Oromiya BoARD meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 26 July 2007.
This presentation was made at the GCARD3 conference (third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development), jointly organised by the Global Forum on Agriculture Research (GFAR) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in April 2016. The presentation focuses on the results achieved by FONTAGRO, a mechanism for agricultural innovation in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC).
The main cash crop of The Gambia is groundnuts. The country is primarily a agricultural country with 80 percent of the population of just over 2 million depending on agriculture for its food and cash income. The farming economy is the only means of income creation for the majority of rural families most whom live below the poverty line. The agricultural sector is the most important sector of the Gambian economy, contributing 32% of the gross domestic product, providing employment and income for 80% of the population, and accounting for 70% of the country's foreign exchange earnings.