A Bridge for Delivering Innovations to Smallholder Farmers in Africa

Numerous previous attempts at technology development and transfer have not always sufficiently contributed to sustainable food security and rural poverty alleviation in SSA. It has become increasingly obvious that new approaches are needed to mobilize science and technology for innovative applications in Africa, a continent where 70% of farming is in the hands of resource–poor smallholder farmers. Such farmers, who on average own half an hectare of land, are inhibited to accessing agricultural innovations that could overcome challenges such as drought, soil fertility and elite crop cultivars. Thus delivery of appropriate technologies is critical in ensuring that farmers have the best planting materials and management practices for optimal productivity. Fortunately, sustained investment by the governments and the private sector in research and development, including biotechnology, has continued to generate technologies that address some of the monumental limitations to productivity. Such efforts are increasing developing technologies that come with Intellectual Property Protection regimes. As the paradigm shifts towards proprietar