Search for cases of successful and innovative efforts that strengthen linkages between policy design and small-holder interests in different areas across the agriculture value chain.
The agriculture sector has received little attention from the African governments as reflected in the budget allocation, albeit its importance in the fight against poverty and for economic transformation. To reverse the trend, African governments made a pledge to earmark at least 10% of their budget to agriculture sector—often dubbed as Malabo Declaration.
Over the last two decades, agricultural research organisations in West Africa have produced new varieties of crops, mostly cereals, but adoption by farmers has been rather low. Farmers continue to favor traditional varieties. Increasingly, scientists are driven to involve farmers in the process to improve uptake.
Participatory processes in policy making have been touted as critical for designing and promoting agricultural strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa. But such approaches have been criticized as not being inclusive enough or having limited scope. This case examines why some participatory approaches to agricultural research and policy have yielded little or no tangible results and discusses a range of measures to overcome this conundrum.
With agriculture in Ethiopia increasingly characterized by new policies, actors, and relationships that influence how smallholder famers access and use information and knowledge, it is critical to understand how best to support farmers access and build networks with such actors thus providing them with greater opportunities to promote pro-poor processes of rural innovation.
The policy environment was not favourable to the informal dairy market in Kenya and urban agriculture in Kampala, Uganda. Urban agriculture in Kampala was viewed as inconsistent to the overarching urban development objective and as a public health risk.