The CGIAR Research Program on Integrated System for the Humid Tropics, or Humidtropics, works towards transforming the lives of the rural poor in several action sites in Asia, Africa and Tropical America. In doing so, different technologies and innovations were implemented and while at first the capacity development was going on almost intuitively, as an integrated part of the implementation process, it has soon become clear that such groundbreaking activities and ideas require a more organized and supervised approach.
Utilization of systems approach using multistakeholder process as modality of intervention has been increasingly experimented in agricultural research in tropical zones. Recent research findings indicated strong evidence of the positive contribution of research for development (R4D) and innovation platforms (IP) in increasing the impact of research for development interventions. However, specific factors of the process leading to higher impact yet to discovered.
This is the first chapter of the book "Innovation platforms for agricultural development: Evaluating the mature innovation platforms landscape". It introduces the background, case study competition process, case study characterization and readers’ guide, and book outline. Characterization of the case studies includes their geographical spread, age and life stage of the platforms, and specific information on the multi-stakeholder processes, the content matter, platform support functions, and outcomes and impacts.
This paper reportson the implementation of a conceptual framework to carry out an impact evaluation of multi-stakeholder innovation systems using the NLA as the object of study. The assessment focused on the business relationship constructs of trust and capacity development. Survey interviews, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions collected data from agribusiness stakeholders linked with the NLA and from a control group of stakeholders involved with other networks. The quantitative data were analysed through factor and regression analyses
The Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) was established in the year 1963 by former President Dr. Cheddi Jagan. It became a state corporation in 1964 offering the Diploma in Agriculture and the Certificate in Agriculture Programmes, and graduated the first batch of 15 students in 1966. Agricultural diversification has become an important mechanism for economic growth by providing opportunities that facilitate technological advancement and demand driven government policy.
The study focuses on how levels of innovation, measured by complexity and investments requirements of the adopted technologies, relates to innovative behavior and complying with social responsibility practices, as two indicators of the farmer's behavior towards innovation. A typology of farmers with different technological
levels was constructed based on multivariate techniques, according to the adoption of seven technologies. The main objective of the study was to relate SR and innovative behavior to the technology clusters
The paper is based on the analysis of cooperation in two different German case studies: One case deals with the development of a sustained value chain for ethical poultry production while the other case aims at the combination of different niche innovations for cultural landscape conservation. The empirical analysis is based on the categories ‘goals of the innovation and motives of cooperation’, ‘actors and their resources’, ‘distribution of costs and benefits’, ‘cooperation structure and management’.
This paper traces the evolution of the innovation systems framework within the agricultural sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, and presents a conceptual framework for agricultural innovation systems. The difference between innovation ecology/ecosystems and intervention-based innovations systems is highlighted, given that these two concepts are used at different levels in promoting and sustaining agricultural innovations.
This document examines the macroeconomic and sectoral context and the trends and outlook for crops, livestock, fisheries, forests and rural well-being, as well as the public policies and institutional framework for these sectors. Based on an analysis of the trends and prospects, each chapter offers a series of recommendations for the consideration of decision-makers, in an effort to help address the challenges posed by the global economic dynamics and to take advantage of opportunities.
This edition of “The Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas,” covering 2015-2016, is divided into the following four chapters:
Chapter I: Macroeconomic Context: The author analyzes the evolution and outlook for financial and macroeconomic markets, which determine the conditions in which agriculture in the Americas will have to operate.