This paper investigates Innovation Systems Concepts and Principles starting with an historical perspective. Then it analyzes their application to Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) and makes a comparison between the traditional Research and Development Systems Approaches and the Innovation Systems Approach.
The high prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency in Zambian population, particularly among the young children of rural areas, has been a consistent phenomenon in the country for a while. In response to this, several government’s policies have, since 1998, been formulated to promote increased intake of the vitamin while encouraging healthy food intake. This policy resulted in the establishment of National Pro- Vitamin A Orange Maize Steering Committee (NPASC), an Innovation Platform (IP) formed in 2010 to promote bio-fortification of maize following.
In Sub-Sahara Africa, adoption rates of improved crop varieties remain relatively low, which is partly due to farmers’ limited access to information. In smallholder settings, information often spreads through informal networks. Better understanding of such networks could potentially help to spur innovation and farmers’ exposure to new technologies. This study uses survey data from Tanzania to analyze social networks and their role for the spread of information about improved varieties of maize and sorghum.
Whereas Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a major staple food in many countries, it is one of the priority value chain crops under the Rwanda’s Crop Intensification Program (CIP). The crop is more important in the northern and northwestern than other parts of Rwanda. After plantain and cassava, potato is the third most important staple cultivated by 52.9% of the households in Rwanda.
This study considers what lessons might be learned from the cassava value chain in the context of CTA’s interest in the potentials of: digital financial services for agriculture, such as mobile payments for farmers’ products; other payment streams for financial inclusion of farmer; index based insurance services; digital services to support access to loans and credits. This research provides a comprehensive market study of cash usage behavioural practices and financial literacy among cassava farmers in Ghana and Nigeria.
Traditional approaches to innovation systems policymaking and governance often focus exclusively on the central provision of services, regulations, fiscal measures, and subsidies.
A growing variety of public and private agricultural advisory services are available today, leading to increasingly ‘pluralistic service systems’ (PSS) where advisory services are provided by different actors and funded from different sources. This is generally regarded as an important step forward, as it steers away from relying on purely state-led or privatised service systems. PSS hold the potential to overcome constraints related to funding, staffing and expertise, and to make advisory services more demand-driven.
The aim of this discussion paper is to ascertain the government of Lao's (GoL) current practices in negotiating, awarding, and managing land concessions; enhance GoL understanding and commitments to develop national capacities targeting improved land management, that will generate revenues for GoL, and ensure sustainable development as an urgent priority; and provide a basis for dialogue within the government to enable its determination of priorities to better address land development issues in Laos, to enable the achievement of sustainable, responsible economic development.
Land tenure security is crucial for women's empowerment and a prerequisite for building secure and resilient communities. Tenure is affected by many and often contradictory sets of rules, laws, customs, traditions, and perceptions. For most rural women, land tenure is complicated, with access and ownership often layered with barriers present in their daily realities: discriminatory social dynamics and strata, unresponsive legal systems, lack of economic opportunities, and lack of voice in decision making.
Nouvel instrument communautaire mobilisant la politique de recherche et la PAC, le PEI entend susciter des partenariats entre les acteurs du développement, de l’enseignement agricole, les agriculteurs, les chercheurs et les entreprises. En cela, il reflète l’évolution récente du cadre de pensée des institutions internationales, qui voient dans l’innovation agricole moins le produit de la recherche et du transfert de connaissances que le résultat d’interactions entre acteurs au sein de réseaux plus ou moins formels.