Agricultural Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Experiences from Multiple Stakeholder Approaches

Although agriculture is Africa’s largest employer and underpins the livelihoods of two thirds of Africa’s poor, it has been stagnating for years. The impact of agricultural research has been disappointing, due in large part to the manner in which it is conducted. To redress this, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) promotes the integrated agriculture research for development (IAR4D) approach within an innovation system framework. This approach creates a network of actors that provides an environment for actors to identify problems and innovate to find solutions. This study explores how IARD and the innovation system approach can be used to meet the needs of sub-Saharan Africa by providing case studies of research conducted with the multi-stakeholder approach.