'Innovation by with and for farmers in Africa is one of the major contemporary challenges of development. This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in these issues.' Professor Ian Scoones Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex UK 'This book takes the theme of innovation and its mainstreaming in research and extension a major step forward. I am impressed by the wide range of subjects and the diversity of authors.' Chris Reij Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands Agricultural research extension and education can contribute greatly to enhancing agricul.

This book contains a number of case studies that examine the nature and origins of emerging high-end innovation hubs in Africa. It analyses, highlights and draws lessons from some of the most promising and successful innovation cases in Africa today, exploring the key factors driving their successful emergence, growth and future prospects.

Innovation Ecosystems in Africa aims to deepen and broaden the visibility and interrogation of African innovation systems in practice by offering unique analysis of the emergence, growth and future prospects of endogenous innovation practices and lessons across the continent. The stories depict systemic innovations in a range of critical development areas from health and education to leadership and entrepreneurialism, and span from North to South, and East to West, covering more than a dozen different African cities and countries. In addition to sharing knowledge about exciting but rarely acknowledged cases of innovation in Africa, the book serves also as a work to inform policymakers and practitioners throughout Africa on how to learn from experiences towards developing more enabling innovation ecosystems to nurture creativity and solve the problems that we have. This book provides policymakers, business and opinion leaders both inspiration and useful policy takeaways that can guide strategies and support concrete measures to foster and speed up the pace of developmentally impactful innovation on the continent. Innovation Ecosystems in Africa builds upon the work of the African Innovation Summit (AIS), by further examining how the innovation systems environments in Africa function (or not) to address the most basic conditions of socio-economic and institutional development required on the continent. In this volume, learning case studies identified alongside the second Africa Innovation Summit (Kigali, June 2018) examine various sectoral exemplars and transversal dimensions to help inform insights about how policymakers and practitioners might develop more effective and impactful innovation-driven strategies, ecosystems and enterprises. This edited collection uses multi-country, cross-sectoral case studies to advance an empirically grounded, appreciative investigation of how innovation is being used to address fundamental development challenges on the continent, and how the African innovation ecosystems could be made more enabling into the future.

This book uncovers the many ways in which innovations and innovation system development policies have become crucial to development policy formation across Africa. As new instruments, actors and tools emerge in development cooperation, the role of innovation in the societal development of developing countries needs to be addressed fully. This book delves into subjects as diverse as the changing development policies between the Global North and South, the role of innovation in international aid and development policies, the role of public, private and non-governmental sectors, universities and other development actors, and the potential for inclusive innovation in local communities. In particular, the book asks who benefits from innovation-focussed development policies, and if and how practical innovation instruments include the global poor. Written in an accessible and engaging style, the book includes a range of discussion questions and further reading suggestions to suit a range of readers, from students right through to policy makers and practitioners, or anyone else looking for an introduction to innovation policies and development in Africa.

This book examines how disruptive technologies and innovation underpin the attainment of a broader development agenda in Africa. Contributors show how distinctive forms of technological innovation can impact critical development processes. For example, disruptive technologies can deepen the ongoing democratic and governance waves in Africa, specifically in the area of contested elections. Similarly, innovations in agriculture, the environment and energy promote changes in value chain agriculture, and the use of sensors to manage e-waste and sustainable energy conservation are also transforming established practices. Furthermore, the role of disruptive technologies and innovation in education, health, financial services and the nature of paid work cannot be ignored. Individually and collectively, the authors discuss and highlight the mechanisms and initiatives that can contribute to the realization of the development goals of African countries, especially in a period where disruptive technologies are rapidly changing how things are done. As a result, this book, which represents one of the most recent systematic efforts to bring together dialogue on disruptive technologies in Africa, will be of particular use and benefit to a wide and an eclectic audience.

This is one of a series of publications which assess the innovation system of individual OECD member and non-member countries, focusing on the role of government. They set out recommendations on how to improve policies which impact on innovation performance, including research and development policies, and identify good practices from which other countries can learn. This review assesses the governance of South Africa's innovation system and suggests the reforms needed to ensure that additional public investment in R&D will yield the expected economic and social benefits.