Innovation Africa

Agricultural research, extension and education can contribute greatly to enhancing agricultural production in a sustainable way and to reducing poverty in the developing world, but achievements have generally fallen short of expectations in Africa. In recent years, growing economic and demographic pressures'coupled with the entry of new market forces and actors'have created a need and an opportunity for more interactive approaches to development. Understanding the existing innovation processes, recognizing the potentials for catalyzing them and learning how to support joint innovation by different groups will be the key to success. This book covers new conceptual and methodological developments in agricultural innovation systems, and showcases recent on-the-ground experiences in different contexts in Africa. The contributions show how innovation is the outcome of social learning through interaction of individuals and organizations in both creating and applying knowledge. It brings examples of how space and incentives have been created to promote collaboration between farmers, research, extension and the private sectors to develop better technologies and institutional arrangements that can alleviate poverty. In 25 broad-ranging chapters, the book reflects cutting-edge thinking and practice in catalyzing and supporting innovation processes in agriculture and management of natural resources.

Pascal Sanginga is a Senior Programme Specialist in Rural Poverty and Environment at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Kenya. Ann Waters-Bayer is an agricultural sociologist in the EcoCulture unit of the ETC Foundation, The Netherlands and a member of the International Support Team for Prolinnova (Promoting Local Innovation in Ecologically-Oriented Agriculture and Natural Resource Management). Susan Kaaria is a Program Officer for Environment and Economic Development in the Eastern Africa Office of the Ford Foundation in Kenya. Jemimah Njuki is a Senior Scientist with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Zimbabwe. Chesha Wettasinha is an agriculturist in the EcoCulture unit of the ETC Foundation and a member of the International Support Team for Prolinnova.

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes	p. xi
Foreword	p. xv
Acknowledgements	p. xviii
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xx
Innovation Africa: An Introduction	p. 1
Innovation Concepts and Methods
Conceptual and Methodological Developments in Innovation	p. 9
Comparison of Frameworks for Studying Grassroots Innovation: Agricultural Innovation Systems and Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems	p. 35
Applying the Innovation Systems Concept in the Field: Experiences of a Research Team in Uganda	p. 57
Developing the Art and Science of Innovation Systems Enquiry: Alternative Tools and Methods, and Applications to Sub-Saharan African Agriculture	p. 72
Strengthening Social Capital in Agricultural Innovation Systems
Harnessing Local and Outsiders' Knowledge: Experiences of a Multi-Stakeholder Partnership to Promote Farmer Innovation in Ethiopia	p. 89
An Innovation System in the Rangelands: Using Collective Action to Diversify Livelihoods among Settled Pastoralists in Ethiopia	p. 104
Social Networks and Status in Adopting Agricultural Technologies and Practices among Small-Scale Farmers in Uganda	p. 120
From Participation to Partnership: A Different Way for Researchers to Accompany Innovation Processes - Challenges and Difficulties	p. 135
Policy, Institutional and Market-Led Innovation
Participatory Analysis of the Potato Knowledge and Information System in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda	p. 153
Enabling Rural Innovation: Empowering Farmers to Take Advantage of Market Opportunities and Improve Livelihoods	p. 167
Doing Things Differently: Post-Harvest Innovation Learning Alliances in Tanzania and Zimbabwe	p. 186
Alternative Funding Mechanisms for Local Innovation Systems	p. 203
Tracking Outcomes of Social and Institutional Innovations in Natural Resource Management	p. 220
Local Innovation Processes
Recognizing and Enhancing Processes of Local Innovation	p. 239
Building Institutions for Endogenous Development: Using Local Knowledge as a Bridge	p. 255
Village Information and Communication Centres in Rwanda	p. 267
Farmer Field Schools for Rural Empowerment and Life-Long Learning in Integrated Nutrient Management: Experiences in Eastern and Central Kenya	p. 278
From Strangler to Nourisher: How Novice Rice Farmers Turned Challenges into Opportunities	p. 297
Building Capacity for Joint Innovation
Strengthening Inter-Institutional Capacity for Rural Innovation: Experience from Uganda, Kenya and South Africa
Building Competencies for Innovation in Agricultural Research: A Synthesis of Experiences and Lessons from Uganda	p. 326
Shaping Agricultural Research for Development to Africa's Needs: Building South African Capacity to Innovate	p. 333
Going to Scale with Facilitation for Change: Developing Competence to Facilitate Community Emancipation and Innovation in South Africa	p. 340
Building Capacity for Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation: Integrating Stakeholders' Perspectives	p. 358
Innovation Africa: Beyond Rhetoric to Praxis	p. 374
List of Contributors	p. 387
Index	p. 394
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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