Strengthening Farmer Capacity to Harness Technological Innovation for Agricultural Commercialization

Written by Hannington Odame and Dawit Alemu

Innovation capacity presupposes capacity to harness science, technology, and innovation (STI) for agricultural commercialization. Agricultural commercialization requires an enabling policy environment on STI issues such as the impact of climate change, nutrition, improved seed and inputs, emerging technologies, infrastructure, research and extension, and financing. These issues are consistent with the Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) 2024 (African Union Commission undated). This paper uses three STI revolution storylines (case studies on rice, information and communications technology (ICT) and cocoa) to highlight the enabling factors that make STI a vehicle for agricultural commercialization.

Download working paper here