Interesting brief about Agricultural Research in Africa – Why CAADP should follow IAASTD

01st March 2013
by manager

Agrinatura News

The research policies and extent to which they address the needs of marginalized smallholder farmers

The brief analyses the agricultural research policies and priorities of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the extent to which they address the needs of marginalized smallholder farmers.

CAADP has a huge opportunity to promote good agricultural research by following the findings of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). However, CAADP is largely not following the IAASTD roadmap.

The brief analyses and highlits five key problems with CAADP´s approach to agricultural research:

1. Insufficient spending on agricultural research

2. Failure to prioritize women smallholder farmers

3. Promoting an outdated farming model (associated with the Green Revolution)

4. Promoting genetically modified crops and intellectual property protection

5. Weak participation of farmers and their support organizations in the research agenda.

You can read the whole brief here.