Most cocoa farmers in Ghana do not adopt research recommendations because they cannot afford the cost, therefore, yields are low. Integrated pest management (IPM) technologies that rely on low external inputs were tried with a group of farmers. The technologies included using aqueous neem seed extracts to control capsids; removing diseased pods to reduce blackpod incidence; controlling mistletoes, epiphytes, weeds; and managing shade. Although yields increased significantly, adoption was constrained by technical, social and economic factors. The objective of this action research was to organize relevant social and technical arrangements necessary to overcome the constraints. The study concludes, that an IPM package which is labour-intensive and also requires some capital, can only be adopted by resource-poor farmers when the necessary economic, social, and organizational ‘space’ is enlarged to develop them into complete innovations. On the basis of the findings, it is suggested that regular innovations can be realized at farmers' level and may be disseminated through extension agents, while system innovations require co-designing with other stakeholders to suit network-specific circumstances. Therefore, the role of extension agents, which currently emphasize technology transfer, must be broadened to include facilitation of social and economic network building around such technological packages to address the constraints to adoption.
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve...
The focus of this paper is on how the institutional arrangements within the on-farm sector of the New Zealand dairy industry influence industry participants and encourage them to be innovative, in the context of industry productivity goals. The authors will...
This report provides a synthesis of all findings and information generated through a “stocktaking” process that involved a desk study of Prolinnova documents and evaluation reports, a questionnaire to 40 staff members of international organizations in agricultural research and development (ARD),...
The Tanga Dairy Platform, created in 2008, is an informal forum of different stakeholders involved in the dairy industry of Tanzania’s Northeastern Tanga region. The platform’s objective is to exchange knowledge and develop joint actions to common problems. Six years...
This paper draws lessons from selected country experiences of adaptation and innovation in pursuit of food security goals. It reviews three cases of systems of innovation operating in contrasting regional, socio-economic and agro-ecological contexts, in terms of four features of...
