Revitalizing African Agriculture Through Innovative business models and organisational arrangements: Promosing developments in the traditional crops sector. pp.143 - 169

Abstract

Within the last four years, a number of high profile reports outlining new strategies for pulling African agriculture out of is current impasse have emerged. These include the Comprehensive African Agriculture Devleoplment programme of NEPAD, and the InterAcademy Council Report commissioned by UN Secretary General Koffi Annan. Whilst these strategies are a welcome improvement on those that have characterised African agriculture in the pas, it is argued here that like their predecessors, they fail to focus on business-competitive approaches as an integral part of the reform package needed to stimulate African agricultural productivité and development. This paper draws on innovation, business and organisation literature to highlight some of the approaches. It focuses on three concepts: value innovation, lead user focus and organisational value logic.