Realizing the Promise and Potential of African Agriculture

  • AuthorInterAcademy Council
  • TitleRealizing the Promise and Potential of African Agriculture
  • Release Date30 June 2004
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Strengthening System Linkages
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As mentioned earlier, in most countries, research-extension linkages are problematic due (in part) to the collapse or the poor state of agricultural extension. The much-promoted training and visit approach has been disbanded in recent years, but no apparent promising alternative has yet emerged. There are quite a number of success stories on technology diffusion initiatives in African agriculture (e.g., Sasakawa-Global 2000, African Highlands Initiative, Agricultural Technology and Information Response Initiative), but the upscaling of such approaches tends to be difficult and often prohibitively expensive. Hence, there is currently little consensus of how to tackle the problem of technology diffusion; what is clear is that the traditional, government extension services have outlived their usefulness, and in particular the one-size-fits-all approach. Haug (1999) has undertaken a pertinent overview of agricultural extension. A greater diversity in technology delivery systems is being called for, as well as more stakeholder participation, as mentioned earlier. Some possible innovations are described in Box 5.2.
Document Date: June 30, 2004
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