This presentation for the Third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD3,Johannesburg, South Africa, 5-8 April 2016) illustrates the topic of competitiveness in Africa smallholders system, focusing on the Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) and Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) concepts and on the role of the innovation platforms.
The current study sought to analyse the livelihood impact of innovation platforms on small holders in the study areas based on the previous studies that identified successful Innovation Platforms in Eastern and Western Kenya. The study concentrated on four successful innovation platforms that were identified in a previous study In that study, fifteen innovation platforms were ranked based on a given criterion out of which the four innovation platforms were purposively chosen.