Food insecurity and the weak position of smallholders in food value chains are key challenges in many low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to increase food security and make agricultural value chains more inclusive, donors, governments and researchers increasingly stimulate partnerships between multiple actors, in which knowledge exchange, joint learning and knowledge co-creation play a central role in reducing the time lag between research findings and their translation into practical outcomes.
The quality of rural extension and advisory services is a crucial element in fostering innovation and rural development. This article aims to clarify the concept of quality of rural extension and to develop a preliminary theoretical framework. An ample literature review was conducted in search of articles on service quality and quality of rural extension and advisory services. The first part presents the main results of the literature search on quality of extension services. The definition of quality is not universal.
The building of sustainable innovation capabilities in Africa requires an innovation system capable of producing, disseminating and using new knowledge. This paper assesses the process of constructing the National Innovation System (NIS) in Rwanda. It is posited that consensus on and acceptance of the concept of NIS among stakeholders is crucial in the early process of constructing an efficient and dynamic innovation system. Primary empirical data are presented for the case of Rwanda and analyzed in a regional context.
Participatory research can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and scope of research processes, and foster social inclusion, empowerment, and sustainability. Yet despite four decades of agricultural research institutions exploring and developing methods for participatory research, it has never become mainstream in the agricultural technology development cycle. Citizen science promises an innovative approach to participation in research, using the unique facilities of new digital technologies, but its potential in agricultural research participation has not been systematically probed.
Private sector actors bring expertise, resources, and new perspectives to agricultural development, but the tendency to short-term approaches and market-based orientation has been unable to drive a systemic change in the development agenda. We explore how multi-stakeholder dialogues can capitalize on and trickle systemic change through private sector involvement. Analysis from the farmer-led irrigation development multi-stakeholder dialogue space (FLI-MDS) in Ghana shows the need for a physical and institutional space to cater for and merge different stakeholder interests.
Though extension services have long since proved their value to agricultural production and farmer prosperity, their record in sub-Saharan Africa has been mixed. To study the impact of such programs on farmers' learning about agricultural technologies, we implemented a quasi-randomized controlled trial and collected detailed panel data among Malawian farmers. Based on those findings, we develop a two-stage learning framework, in which farmers formulate yield expectations before deciding on how much effort to invest in learning about these processes.
Le Mali a quadruplé sa population entre 1960 et 2020. Cette croissance démographique implique des besoins d’accès à la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, à la santé, à l’éducation et à l’emploi pour les primo arrivants. C’est le secteur agricole qui est sollicité par les politiques publiques pour répondre à cette demande. Quelle est la tendance démographique dans la zone cotonnière du Mali ? Quelles ont été les réponses locales face aux implications de cette croissance démographique en termes d’accès à la santé et à l’éducation ?
Du 24 au 26 novembre 2020, s’est tenu à Ségou au Mali, l’atelier des acteurs régionaux pour le développement du profil de risque climatique de la région de Ségou. L’atelier a été organisé dans le cadre du projet de « développement de chaînes de valeur et paysage climato-intelligents pour accroitre la résilience des moyens de subsistance en Afrique de l’Ouest », financé par l’Union européenne (UE) et mis en œuvre par le CCAFS au Mali, Niger et Sénégal en partenariat avec les instituts de recherches agricoles nationaux (IER, INRAN, ISRA).
L’utilisation des services hydrométéorologiques et climatiques (SHMCs) constitue une opportunité pour le Mali dans ses efforts visant à réduire la pauvreté, renforcer la résilience et s’adapter au changement climatique. En effet, les SHMCs permettent de protéger les populations contre les risques climatiques à court terme ou à évolution rapide (inondations et tempêtes) et à long terme ou à évolution lente (p. ex. sécheresses et changement climatique durable).
Due to political conflict, hundreds of thousands of people had to leave their homes in northern Mali in the last decade. Many have since returned to their home but struggle to regain their livelihoods. In the Timbuktu region, food insecurity is very high and 15 percent of children under 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition. Goundam, one of the administrative districts of the Timbuktu region, is populated by livestock farmers. Among the previously displaced people, many have lost all their livestock, and with that their traditional means of livelihood.