IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/ifprid/736.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Strengthening agricultural education and training in Sub-Saharan Africa from an innovation systems perspective: Case studies of Ethiopia and Mozambique

Author

Listed:
  • Davis, Kristin
  • Ekboir, Javier
  • Mekasha, Wendmsyamregne
  • Ochieng, Cosmas M.O.
  • Spielman, David J.
  • Zerfu, Elias

Abstract

"This paper examines the role of postsecondary agricultural education and training (AET) in Sub-Saharan Africa in the context of the region's agricultural innovation systems. Specifically, the paper looks at how AET in Sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to agricultural development by strengthening innovative capabilities, or the ability to introduce new products and processes that are socially or economically relevant to smallholder farmers and other agents in the agricultural sector. Using AET in Ethiopia and Mozambique as case studies, the paper argues that while AET is conventionally viewed in terms of its role in building human and scientific capital, it also has a vital role to play in building the capacity of organizations and individuals to transmit and adapt new applications of existing information, new products and processes, and new organizational cultures and behaviors. The paper emphasizes the importance of improving AET systems by strengthening the innovative capabilities of AET organizations and professionals; changing organizational cultures, behaviors, and incentives; and building innovation networks and linkages. The paper draws on two main sources of information: the emerging literature on innovation systems in developing-country agriculture, and data gathered from secondary sources and semi-structured key informant interviews conducted in Ethiopia and Mozambique in late 2006. The paper offers several recommendations that can contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of AET's contribution to agricultural innovation and development. Key reforms include aligning the mandates of AET organizations with national development aspirations by promoting new educational programs that are more strategically attuned to the different needs of society; inducing change in the cultures of AET organizations through the introduction of educational programs and linkages beyond the formal AET system; and strengthening individual and organizational capacity by improving incentives to forge stronger linkages between AET and diverse user communities, knowledge sources, and private industry." - from authors' abstract.

Suggested Citation

  • Davis, Kristin & Ekboir, Javier & Mekasha, Wendmsyamregne & Ochieng, Cosmas M.O. & Spielman, David J. & Zerfu, Elias, 2007. "Strengthening agricultural education and training in Sub-Saharan Africa from an innovation systems perspective: Case studies of Ethiopia and Mozambique," IFPRI discussion papers 736, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:ifprid:736
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifpri.org/cdmref/p15738coll2/id/125253/filename/125254.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Birner, Regina & Davis, Kristin & Pender, John & Nkonya, Ephraim & Anandajayasekeram, Ponniah & Ekboir, Javier & Mbabu, Adiel & Spielman, David & Horna, Daniela & Benin, Samuel & Cohen, Marc J., 2006. "From "best practice" to "best fit": a framework for designing and analyzing pluralistic agricultural advisory services worldwide," FCND discussion papers 210, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Birner, Regina & Davis, Kristin & Pender, John & Nkonya, Ephraim & Anandajayasekeram, Pooniah & Ekboir, Javier M. & Mbabu, Adiel N. & Spielman, David J. & Horna, Daniela & Benin, Samuel & Kisamba-Muge, 2006. "From "best practice" to "best fit": a framework for designing and analyzing pluralistic agricultural advisory services," Research briefs 4, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Jan Fagerberg, 2003. "Innovation: A Guide to the Literature," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20031012, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    4. Markus Balzat & Horst Hanusch, 2004. "Recent trends in the research on national innovation systems," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 197-210, June.
    5. Fagerberg, Jan & Mowery, David C. & Nelson, Richard R. (ed.), 2006. "The Oxford Handbook of Innovation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286805.
    6. Mark Blackden & Sudharshan Canagarajah & Stephan Klasen & David Lawson, 2006. "Gender and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issues and Evidence," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-37, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Soete, Luc & Verspagen, Bart & ter Weel, Bas, 2010. "Systems of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1159-1180, Elsevier.
    8. International Monetary Fund, 2005. "Republic of Mozambique: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper: Economic and Social Plan for 2005," IMF Staff Country Reports 2005/312, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Giovanni Dosi & Christopher Freeman & Richard Nelson & Gerarld Silverberg & Luc Soete (ed.), 1988. "Technical Change and Economic Theory," LEM Book Series, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy, number dosietal-1988, March.
    10. Markus Balzat & Horst Hanusch, 2003. "Recent Trends in the Research on National Innovation Systems," Discussion Paper Series 254, Universitaet Augsburg, Institute for Economics.
    11. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    12. Udo Zander & Bruce Kogut, 1995. "Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 76-92, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peterman, A., 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IWMI Working Papers H043605, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Laurens Klerkx & Andy Hall & Cees Leeuwis, 2009. "Strengthening agricultural innovation capacity: are innovation brokers the answer?," International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(5/6), pages 409-438.
    3. Anwar Naseem & David J. Spielman & Steven Were Omamo, 2010. "Private-sector investment in R&D: a review of policy options to promote its growth in developing-country agriculture," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 143-173.
    4. Mastewal Yami & Shiferaw Feleke & Tahirou Abdoulaye & Arega D. Alene & Zoumana Bamba & Victor Manyong, 2019. "African Rural Youth Engagement in Agribusiness: Achievements, Limitations, and Lessons," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, January.
    5. David Spielman & Kristin Davis & Martha Negash & Gezahegn Ayele, 2011. "Rural innovation systems and networks: findings from a study of Ethiopian smallholders," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(2), pages 195-212, June.
    6. Spielman, David J. & Ekboir, Javier & Davis, Kristin & Ochieng, Cosmas M.O., 2008. "An innovation systems perspective on strengthening agricultural education and training in sub-Saharan Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 1-9, July.
    7. Spielman, David J. & Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework & Alemu, Dawit, 2012. "Seed, fertilizer, and agricultural extension in Ethiopia," IFPRI book chapters, in: Dorosh, Paul A. & Rashid, Shahidur (ed.), Food and agriculture in Ethiopia: Progress and policy challenges, chapter 4, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Spielman, David J. & Byerlee, Derek & Alemu, Dawit & Kelemework, Dawit, 2010. "Policies to promote cereal intensification in Ethiopia: The search for appropriate public and private roles," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 185-194, June.
    9. repec:jso:coejss:v:2:y:2013:i:1:p:73-80 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Davis, Kristin & Swanson, Burton & Amudavi, David & Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew & Flohrs, Aaron & Riese, Jens & Lamb, Chloe & Zerfu, Elias, 2010. "In-depth assessment of the public agricultural extension system of Ethiopia and recommendations for improvement," IFPRI discussion papers 1041, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Gêmo, Hélder & Davis, Kristin E., 2015. "Addressing human capital development in public agriculture extension in Southern Africa: Assessing Mozambique’s experience:," IFPRI discussion papers 1466, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Renkow, Mitch & Slade, Roger, 2013. "An assessment of IFPRI's work in Ethiopia 1995-2010: Ideology, influence, and idiosyncrasy," Impact assessments 36, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Peterman, Amber & Behrman, Julia & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IFPRI discussion papers 975, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    14. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Bernier, Quinn & Haglund, Eric, 2013. "The six "ins" of climate-smart agriculture: Inclusive institutions for information, innovation, investment, and insurance," CAPRi working papers 114, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Maria G. BOTSIOU & Stavriani KOUTSOU & Vassilios DAGDILELIS, 2014. "Innovation And Success: Perceptions, Attitudes And Practices Of Young Farmers," Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences, University of Pitesti, vol. 13(2), pages 12-21.
    16. Bushra Rehman & Mehreen Faiza & Tabinda Qaiser & Dr. M. Azeem Khan & Dr. Akhtar Ali & Saima Rani, 2013. "Social Attitudes towards Kitchen Gardening," Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), , vol. 2(1), pages 27-34, January 2.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bryan K. Ritchie, 2010. "Systemic Vulnerability and Sustainable Economic Growth," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13731.
    2. Swati Mehta, 2018. "National Innovation System of India: An Empirical Analysis," Millennial Asia, , vol. 9(2), pages 203-224, August.
    3. Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner & Alfred Greiner & Thomas Kuhn (ed.), 2009. "Recent Advances in Neo-Schumpeterian Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12982.
    4. Nasierowski Wojciech, 2016. "Composite Indexes Economic and Social Performance: Do they provide Valuable Information?," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 8(1), pages 167-174, January.
    5. Havas, Attila & Weber, K. Matthias, 2017. "The 'fit' between forward-looking activities and the innovation policy governance sub-system: A framework to explore potential impacts," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 327-337.
    6. Pettus, Michael L. & Kor, Yasemin Y. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2007. "A Theory of Change in Turbulent Environments: The Sequencing of Dynamic Capabilities Following Industry Deregulation," Working Papers 07-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    7. Dodgson, Mark & Hughes, Alan & Foster, John & Metcalfe, Stan, 2011. "Systems thinking, market failure, and the development of innovation policy: The case of Australia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1145-1156.
    8. Zhang-Zhang, YingYing & Rohlfer, Sylvia & Varma, Arup, 2022. "Strategic people management in contemporary highly dynamic VUCA contexts: A knowledge worker perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 587-598.
    9. Milorad M. Novicevic & M. Ronald Buckley & Michael G. Harvey, 2000. "The Changing Role of Managers within the Supply Chain Networks: Theory and Practical Implications," American Journal of Business, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 15(2), pages 33-42.
    10. Fagerberg, Jan, 2018. "Mobilizing innovation for sustainability transitions: A comment on transformative innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1568-1576.
    11. Renzl, Birgit, 2008. "Trust in management and knowledge sharing: The mediating effects of fear and knowledge documentation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 206-220, April.
    12. Aldas Kriauciunas & Prashant Kale, 2002. "The Impact of Socialist Imprinting and Search for Knowledge on Resource Change: An Empirical Study of Firms in Lithuania," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 446, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    13. Attila Havas & Doris Schartinger & Matthias Weber, 2010. "The impact of foresight on innovation policy-making: recent experiences and future perspectives," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 91-104, June.
    14. Margit Osterloh & Bruno Frey, 2006. "Shareholders Should Welcome Knowledge Workers as Directors," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 10(3), pages 325-345, September.
    15. Attila Havas, 2016. "Social and Business Innovations: Are Common Measurement Approaches Possible?," Foresight-Russia Форсайт, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики», vol. 10(2 (eng)), pages 58-80.
    16. David J. Teece, 2008. "Firm organization, industrial structure, and technological innovation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 11, pages 265-296, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Margit Osterloh & Bruno S. Frey, "undated". "Shareholders Should Welcome Employees as Directors," CREMA Working Paper Series 2005-02, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    18. Mewes, Lars & Broekel, Tom, 2022. "Technological complexity and economic growth of regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(8).
    19. Marjolein C. J. Caniëls & Henny A. Romijn, 2005. "What drives innovativeness in industrial clusters? Transcending the debate," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 29(4), pages 497-515, July.
    20. Pérez-Nordtvedt, Liliana & Babakus, Emin & Kedia, Ben L., 2010. "Learning from international business affiliates: developing resource-based learning capacity through networks and knowledge acquisition," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 262-274, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural education and training; Innovation systems; Sub-Saharan Africa; case studies; Small farmers; agricultural sector;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fpr:ifprid:736. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.