Agricultural innovation and food security in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Tracing connections and missing links

Abstract

Grounded in research carried out by researchers investigating different aspects of technological and institutional innovation in agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this special issue seeks to make a contribution to empirical evidence and literature on agricultural innovation globally. The contributors explore the relationship between technology, policy and public engagement approaches and wider concepts of technology development and governance, and collectively argue for a broadened perspective on innovation towards generating new ways of thinking that can ultimately improve upon existing practices in the quest for sustainable solutions to food insecurity. Overall, this is not a negative story. Instead of the now common despair about the abilities of Africa to meet it is own food-security requirements, this issue presents articles which demonstrate how much is already in place, with reflections and suggestions on how such resources can be made to work together for the greater socio-economic good of the continent Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Welfare dynamics of innovations among agricultural households in Ghana: Implication for poverty reduction

“…By this, researchers who are part of the system are challenged to adopt new approaches to the concept. When the system perspective is recognized, it is shown to reflect the point that innovation is shaped by both institutional and social factors and not just structural factors that determine the trajectory of social and economic transformation [ 38 ].…”

“…Food poverty is one of the challenges faced by a rural population who are mostly agriculture-dependent and agricultural innovation could play a role in changing this trajectory [ 10 , 46 ]. Studies have shown that the adoption of various agricultural innovations, especially that of improved seeds, improved inputs, and good agricultural practices, have the potential of increasing food security at the household level for farm families [ [47] , [48] , [49] ].…”

Innovation and the Development Nexus: Prospects From Rural Enterprises in South Africa

“…The focus is generally on the introduction of new crop and livestock breeds, as well as the use of new technologies to improve and increase the output of produced commodities and the marketing thereof (Mugwagwa et al 2010;Spielman et al 2009). Other studies in this sector have considered the parallel activities of poorer smallholder farmers who attempt livelihood improvement through own innovation activities of invention, diffusion, adoption and adaption of technologies.…”

Understanding development trajectories for biotechnology governance frameworks in Sub-Saharan Africa: The policy kinetics model

“…There is a new and rising reality that new and old problems alike have become increasingly pervasive, defying disciplinary, sectoral, national or regional boundaries. Within these arenas exist opportunities and solutions to the problems, and avenues for magnification of the problems (Mugwagwa et al 2010). Challenges have increasingly become unusual in their magnitude, in the way they spread and in the way they combine with others to present even bigger challenges.…”