Innovation in North African Agriculture and Food

Abstract

Innovation plays an essential role in addressing the interlinked environmental, social, and economic challenges facing the agri-food sectors in the North Africa region. This systematic review analyses the state of research on innovation in North African agri-food sector and investigates whether sustainabil-ity is addressed in the research strand. The analysis shows an increasing interest in the research field, although many publications are authored by scholars based in institutions outside North Africa. Most of the selected documents deal with crops and the production stage of the food chain. The focus is generally on technical innovations while social, organizational, and marketing ones are overlooked. There are growing attempts to connect innovation to sustainability and sustainable development by moving towards the concept of ‘sustainable innovation’. Factors hindering agri-food innovation relate to policy, research, institutional environment, extension, and human capital. The promotion of innovation in the North Afri-can agri-food sector is crucial to unlock the sector’s potential and improve its competiveness, resilience, and sustainability.

The effect of information technology (IT) on household income among farmers in Ghana: How does access to financial services serve as a mediator

“…Due to their incapacity of gaining knowledge, farmers are mostly prevented from adopting advanced farming methods (e.g., improved seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides). The challenge of inadequate information again restricts farmers from improving their sales through relatively higher prices, which hampers farm households' welfare and agriculture development (Ben Hassen and El Bilali, 2021;Ma and Wang, 2020;Zheng and Ma, 2021). Access to information technologies (such as mobile terminals, the Internet, radios, and television) can provide services that can help farmers adopt advanced technologies, increase their investment in farming inputs, and make the best sales decisions, resulting in increased farm income through improved production and marketing performance (Gaiani, 2008;Hudson et al, 2017;Siaw et al, 2020).…”

Inovação e sustentabilidade na agricultura do continente africano

“…Inovação e sustentabilidade estão estreitamente relacionadas com políticas públicas. Os princípios que impedem a inovação agroalimentar no Norte da África estão associados com ambiente político, de investigação científica, e de um ambiente institucional e de recursos humanos(Ben Hassen;El Bilali, 2021). Destacando que a principal barreira para o desenvolvimento e inovação no agro-processamento, no Leste da África, são as restrições estruturais e políticas(Virgin;Komakech;Kyambadde;Njau et al, 2017).…”