agrl_innovations_in_ssa.pdf?utm_content=buffercb41d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

A comparative analysis
of the case studies
Contrasting cases
The case studies offer a series of contrasts including different commodities, operational levels
at national or district level, and success drivers, institutional, technical or policy innovations.
At the same time comparisons have been possible between planned or opportunity-driven
innovation and the stage reached, be this at initiation, or assessment, or achieved sustainability.
Other contrasts include the challenges and opportunities addressed; i.e., how stakeholders
have interacted to stimulate innovation. This has allowed success factors and key lessons to
be identified.
The case studies were broadly classified into five development groups, (Table 2 in the second
section). These included successful innovation based on:
1. Traditional crops – cassava in Ghana and Nigeria, legumes (including seed, climbing beans
and groundnuts) in Malawi and Rwanda, and vegetables in Niger.
2. Export cops – bananas in Cameroon, cotton in Malawi, horticulture in Kenya, pineapples
in Ghana.
3. Niche crops – Sidama coffee in Ethiopia and garlic in Cameroon, both also export crops.
4. Livestock – beef in Botswana and dairying in Kenya and Uganda.
5. NRM in Malawi and Zambia for both staple and export crops.
Scale, type and phase of the innovation process
Of the 21 cases, 12 were instigated at national and 9 at district or local government level, 13 were
planned and led by the public sector, while 9 were opportunistic, with the private sector or NGOs
taking the lead. 11 cases have reached a stage where sustainability has or is being reached, while
the remaining 10 are in the latter stages of learning and assessing from the process.
Challenges and opportunities
Each case study experienced a wide range of challenges with which it was faced before the
innovation process was triggered. These have been grouped under six broad categories: policy;
infrastructure; institutions; markets; support services; and farming systems. Policy challenges
included both lack of, or poor policy and regulation. Poor infrastructural development includes
82 Agricultural Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa