Biotech Updates

Researchers Identify Strategies on How to Scale out Agri Technologies

December 3, 2014

Researchers from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and HarvestPlus convened in Johannesburg, South Africa to identify possible strategies on how to scale out agricultural innovations and create impact at the farm level. They said that application of innovative communication and dissemination approaches such as enabling champions and use of new information and communication tools (ICT) could be adopted to achieve the target. Other measures raised include the following:
  • encouragement of counterpart support/funding by partners to get buy-in and to sustain interest and continuity;
  • development of an exit strategy at the start of project for continuity and sustainability; and
  • understanding what the beneficiaries really want and need because agricultural innovations should be based on the beneficiary audiences' requirements and on local knowledge and context.

The meeting also marked as the 15th anniversary of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).

For more information, visit http://www.africasciencenews.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1403:researchers-proffer-recipe-on-how-to-scale-out-agricultural-technologies&catid=49:food&Itemid=113.