The increasing complexity of technology development and adoption is rapidly changing the effectiveness of scientific and technological policies. Complex technologies are developed and disseminated by networks of agents. The impact of these networks depends on the assets they command, their learning routines, the socio-economic environment in which they operate and their history.
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.
Managers and policy makers have struggled to develop effective monitoring systems to track the evolution of research organizations. This paper presents the first components of a novel monitoring system for monitoring such organizations. These components can be used to generate detailed static pictures of the actual activities and partnerships of a large research program or organization, in other words, what the organization is actually doing, with whom, where, how and for what purpose.
El presente trabajo se realizó en el 2008 y tuvo como objetivo determinar las necesidades de investigación en la cadena de alfalfa en Hidalgo. Se utilizó el enfoque de cadenas productivas y además se realizaron las siguientes cinco etapas: i) Caracterización de la cadena, ii) Identificación de los factores críticos, iii) Identificación de las demandas de investigación, iv) Identificación de la Oferta de la investigación, e v) Identificación de las necesidades de investigación
Con el objetivo identificar los factores que inciden en la innovación y la eficiencia de las unidades de producción bovinas de doble propósito en el estado de Veracruz, se integró información de 91 ranchos que participaron en un programa de asistencia técnica, se capturó información sobre uso de 17 componentes tecnológicos y sobre producción de leche por vaca, también se integró información de factores socioeconómicos. Se aplicó un análisis de varianza para la identificación de factores.
Este es uno proyecto de investigación de visión prospectiva para influir en la concientización de los tomadores de decisión en la visión estratégica de la investigación de los sectores público y privado para el fortalecimiento de sus acciones en materia de agregación de valor a los productos vegetales y animales del sector agropecuario y forestal, utilizando para la valoración, el juicio de 58 expertos (método Delphi) de distintas instituciones dedicadas a la investigación agropecuaria y forestal, mediante la respuesta de un cuestionario estructurado, la medida estadística utilizada fue la
Agriculture Innovation System (AIS) thinking and approaches are largely perceived as a sine-qua-non for the design and implementation of effective and sustainable agriculture development programmes. AIS has gained popularity in the agriculture innovation literature and has been embedded in policy documents of agriculture sector institutions in many countries. However, there is much less evidence of AIS thinking influencing the behaviours of research and extension institutions and staff ‘on the ground’.
Recently, a new approach to extension and climate information services, namely Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) has been developed. PICSA makes use of historical climate records, participatory decision-making tools and forecasts to help farmers identify and better plan livelihood options that are suited to local climate features and farmers’ own circumstances.
This paper seeks to understand what influences research and extension professionals’ intentions to use AIS approaches and to explore how this can inform implementation and design of more effective AIS. We applied the Reasoned Action Approach through focus groups and structured questionnaires with research and extension professionals from government and non-government organisations in Sierra Leone, where AIS approaches are not widely used although increasingly institutionalised in policy.
This paper examines the role of postsecondary agricultural education and training (AET) in sub-Saharan Africa in the context of the region’s agricultural innovation systems. Specifically, the paper looks at how AET in sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to agricultural development by strengthening innovative capacity, or the ability of individuals and organisations to introduce new products and processes that are socially or economically relevant, particularly with respect to smallholder farmers who represent the largest group of agricultural producers in the region.