Comparison of frameworks for studying grassroots innovation: Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) and Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS)

The history of agricultural research and development (R&D) has never been static. Its philosophies, concepts and principles continue to change and to impact on present-day practices. It is imperative to understand and draw lessons from the old and new perspectives, which inform agricultural R&D processes and policy formulation in developing countries. The interest of this paper is, therefore, to draw relevant lessons that can explain the dynamics,of the innovation systems at the grassroots in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. It analyzes the adequacy of two widely known,agricultural R&D perspectives and examines,how,those perspectivescould be applied to the grassroots innovation systems in sub-Saharan Africa, which are often characterized by subsistence agriculture, complex issues around the notion of poverty, environmental problems, and limited access to national and international markets.