Traditional approaches to innovation systems policymaking and governance often focus exclusively on the central provision of services, regulations, fiscal measures, and subsidies.
The article provides a conceptual framework and discusses research methods for analyzing pluralistic agricultural advisory services. The framework can also assist policy-makers in identifying reform options. It addresses the following question: Which forms of providing and financing agricultural advisory services work best in which situation? The framework ‘disentangles’ agricultural advisory services by distinguishing between (1) governance structures, (2) capacity, (3) management, and (4) advisory methods.
This paper takes a closer look at innovation systems, including the various actors involved, their interrelationships, and governance mechanisms. Innovation systems operate at different levels, in terms of structure, functioning, and performance at the national level, and from two different angles: as a macrostructure that involves different functions and key organizations working on these functions, and as the composite of different innovation networks comprising individuals and local and national organizations.
Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters.
The aim of the paper is to evaluate the impact of value-webs as an innovation in agricultural production on welfare of cassava smallholders in Nigeria. The estimation procedure involved the alternative process of multivalued treatment models when treatment units have multiple values. The study thus extends previous impact studies which focused on estimating causal effects from binary treatment units. The treatment units were determined from the extent of utilization of cassava which informed the classification of households into value-web groups.
This paper analyzes the status of Pakistan’s agriculture in the world and quantifies the potential of improving productivity and quality of value chain at its different nodes. A great potential of expansion in the value chain of large number of agricultural commodities produced in Pakistan are observed. Just bringing the average crop yield levels at par to the world average yield can generate over US$11 billion additional revenues to the producers. Despite lower yield, majority of commodities have lower prices compared to the world average prices at the farmgate.
This study examines the price transmission mechanisms in the Bloemfontein beef market using the producer price and retail prices at four retail outlets collected over a period of 3 years. It further estimates the causality links between the producer and retail prices. The traditional (Engle-Granger) and standardized (Enders & Siklos) Augmented Dickey- Fuller procedures were used to test for co-integration and asymmetry in price transmission
This paper analyzes the integration of coffee producers into potential sustainability-oriented market segments. The analysis is presented through the lens of value chains by mapping the different coffee chains present in a predominantly coffee growing region, Kodagu, district, India as well as the governance structures that influence interactions and strategies for upgrading
The study analyzed the value chain of natural rubber in Nigeria. The study specifically mapped the natural rubber value chain and identify the functions performed by the respondents in the chain; identified the existing marketing channels and estimated the marketing margin at each value addition point. Data for the study were collected using a well-structured questionnaire administered to 425 respondents selected using a two–stage sampling process involving random and purposive sampling techniques
This paper examines innovations for bridging gender gaps in agricultural value chains in Africa. It focuses on innovative platforms for addressing gender gaps, considering women contribute up to 40 percent of labor in agricultural production. Women remain at the bottom of value chains and face gender-specific constraints attributable to gender and social norms, discriminatory beliefs and practices, gender-blind designs and delivery of technologies and innovations which impede women s participation in value chains.