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Low income and lack of knowledge about child nutrition have been identified as key constraints to the use of Animal Source Foods (ASF) in the diets of young Ghanaian children. To improve ASF consumption among children in Ghana, the Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food Management (ENAM) project introduced an intervention that combined women’s microenterprise development activities with nutrition education on the importance of ASF in children’s diets. The present study assessed the effects of the intervention on the participants’ enterprise performance, their contribution to key household and child-related expenditures as well as their households’ purchases of ASF. Additionally, household ASF consumption was assessed in monetary terms (measured in Ghana cedis (GH¢):1GH¢ = US$ 0.92).A structured questionnaire was used to interview 80 caregivers who participated in the ENAM project activities in four intervention communities and 80 non-participant caregivers in four control communities. Information solicited included household characteristics, profits from microenterprises and contributions to household food and non-food expenditures. Significantly more participant caregivers expanded (P=0.004) and diversified (P=0.004) their enterprises and, as a result, tended to have higher average enterprise profits (GH¢19.3 ± 2.2 vs. GH¢12.2 ± 1.9; P=0.08) and significantly higher savings (GH¢62.9 ± 2.2 vs. GH¢26.3 ± 1.9; P

An exploratory study was conducted to identify opportunities to enhance innovation in the cocoa sector in Ghana. The specific objectives were to identify the key stakeholders in the cocoa industry, and elicit farmers and other stakeholders’ perceptions on cocoa production and marketing practices, as well as the inherent constraints and opportunities. The study involved literature review of published information and the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools such as focus group discussion, problem tree analysis, seasonal calendar, and ranking techniques to elicit information from the respondents and purchasing clerks in the Eastern and Western Regions of Ghana. The problem tree analysis indicated that low cocoa incomes were due to low cocoa yields which were in turn caused by high incidence of pest and diseases such as capsids/black pod/cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD), declining soil fertility and use of unapproved planting materials. The seasonal calendar analysis indicated that most cocoa farmers were financially constrained, experience high labour availability and cost from May to July during which farm activities are high. Based on the study, researchers recommend that the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) intensifies its efforts in implementing the opportunities such as crop/livelihood diversification, provision of crop insurance against risk, etc. identified to enhance farmers’ welfare and the development of the entire cocoa industry. Addressing these constraints requires collaboration among the various stakeholders in the sector, including the government, research and extension as well as smallholder farmers.

We carried out a study using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and individual interviews to explore opportunities to enhance innovation in the oil palm sector in Ghana. Current technical innovations at the farm level are insufficient to promote sustainable oil palm production and to alleviate poverty because of overriding institutional constraints at the larger-than-farm level. Oil palm was selected for the study for three main reasons: (1) It is considered a national priority crop because of its potential for reducing poverty, (2) It has a wide geographical coverage and (3) It is considered as both food and cash crop. Oil palm has evolved in the past 40 years from a public-sector to a private-sector crop. The study identified the following main actors in oil palm production: small private farms that produce about 80% of the crop; large-scale industrial estates with their network of smallholder and out-grower farmers who produce to supply their large-scale mechanized processing mills; small-scale semi-mechanized processing mills, medium-scale mechanized mills and secondary processors. Opportunities that will make it rational for farmers to invest in increased production and improved sustainability include: (1) creating institutional conditions that will enable small-scale processors to be integrated into the value chain; (2) organising farmers to be able to negotiate for better deals for themselves; (3) improve system of distribution of improved planting material in regions where accessibility to seedlings of the high-yielding tenera hybrid variety is difficult; and (4) developing new tenancy rules and arrangements that improve the income of tenant farmers and encourage them to invest in increased productivity.

Key words Livestock markets, technical and institutional constraints, innovation systems, veterinary services; smallholder farmers; structural adjustment, scaling out, co-learning, supplementary feeding, herd growth, food security, positive deviants, commercialization, Ghana. Smallholder livestock production systems in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries are very important because a large share of the rural poor keep livestock, livestock can contribute to improved soil fertility and household food security, and there is rapid growth in demand and market for livestock products. As elsewhere, almost 80% of smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana keep livestock, especially small ruminants (i.e. sheep and goats). The high demand for livestock products at the national level remains unexploited by the farmers. This thesis sought to examine 1) the salient technical and institutional constraints that hinder innovation with respect to improved production and market participation of smallholder small ruminant farmers in Lawra and Nadowli districts in Northern Ghana, and 2) how previous interventions and farmers themselves sought to address the constraints. The thesis proceeded from a broad diagnosis of the technical and institutional constraints to market participation. Then, detailed empirical studies were conducted on the emergent issues. Three main constraints were prioritized by farmers i.e. water shortage during dry season, high mortality and theft of livestock. The corresponding institutional limitations include weak structure of veterinary services delivery, and weak traditional and formal justice delivery structures. As a result of the constraints, a majority of farmers keep livestock to support crop production and consequently invest minimally in animal husbandry. Few farmers changed from minimal to moderate investment as a result of accumulated experiences and recorded significant herd growth, but then, did not enlarge the volume of their market share. The main conclusion was that household food security is the principal driver of smallholder small ruminant production and that market demand is only a marginal driver. The thesis also showed that self-organization of smallholder producers and the support systems in which they are embedded was quite effective in response to the different institutional constraints that these face, but that self-organisation has not been captured and built upon in interventions. Furthermore, farmers select or generate intervention elements that were useful to resolving the constraints they cared about. However, interventionists were often inflexible in the planning and implementation of projects and paid little attention to feedback and changes in the broader social and institutional surroundings. Among other things, the thesis recommended a more inclusive approach to livestock development and interventions to resolve the broader social and institutional conditions that hem in smallholder farmers to uncompetitive husbandry practices.

Ghana is a major producer of cocoa in the world and relies heavily on the crop for foreign exchange revenue. However, production levels declined from the mid 1960s reaching the lowest level in 1983. The decline in production was a result of decreasing areas under cultivation, and low yields. Pests and diseases are inadequately controlled, and the use of synthetic pesticides , applied on calendar basis, is recommended. However, due to the high cost of pesticides and low producer prices, farmers are not motivated to use the synthetic pesticides. Moreover, the sole reliance on synthetic pesticides may affect human health through inappropriate handling, causes environmental problems, and leads to resurgence of pests as natural enemies are destroyed.The objectives of this thesis were to explore: (i) more sustainable pest and disease management strategies; (ii) research and extension approaches which can facilitate the development of innovations that can be used widely by farmers; and (iii) how such approaches could be institutionalised. Theoretical inspiration and concepts orienting the thesis were derived from general systems theory, soft systems thinking, innovation theory,integrated pest management (IPM) concepts and theories about learning and social capital.The research was carried out in an action research mode, and as part of it, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in collecting and analysing data. Quantitative data were collected from experimental plots to evaluate the effectiveness of IPM practices in improving yield. They were also collected through a survey that was geared at gathering information about the demographic structure of the study area, and to gain insight in the perceptions of various actors about the existing research and extension system. Qualitative data were collected through participant observation, informal interviews and open-ended questionnaires.Based on the idea that current research and extension messages might insufficiently address farmers' problems, a diagnostic study was carried out to better understand farmers'views on the problems of cocoa production (chapter 2). The study was conducted in three villages in the Suhum-Kraboa-Coalter District of the Eastern Region of Ghana. The diagnostic study identified low productivity as the main problem and the causes were classified into socio-economic and biological factors. The biological factors include the incidence of insect pests and diseases, most of which have received extensive research attention in Ghana, and epiphytes which have been neglected. The socio-economic causes were indirect and include the low producer price, and the lack of amenities including electricity, which leads to migration of the youth to the cities resulting in labour shortages and high labour costs. From the diagnostic study, it was concluded that the biological and socio-economic causes of low productivity were inter-related in such a manner that tackling them separately would not help to overcome the problems.Experiments were carried out with farmers to find suitable solutions by tackling the factors contributing to low yields (chapter 3). An IPM package was composed and experimented with on farmers' fields with their active participation. The package included the use of aqueous neem ( Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) seed extracts to control insect pests and cultural practices to control diseases, weeds and parasitic plants. These measures improved yields significantly and increased profitability. In Achiansah, yields from IPM plots were three times that of the farmers' normal practice (1,881 compared to 650 kg ha-1) by the end of the second year and in Adarkwa, they were double (1,482 compared to 715 kg ha-1). During the same period economic returns on the additional investment in the IPM plots reached 307 and 261% in Achiansah and Adarkwa respectively. There were many constraints to adoption of the package by farmers because the practices are labour-intensive and the neem is not available in the community. Although the IPM package relied on minimum use of externalinputs,it still required some capital, therefore resource-poor farmers could only adopt them if the necessary economic, social, and organisational 'space' would be enlarged. Chapter 4 reports on how these constraints were tackled, and how, as a result, the technical package was transformed into a complete innovation. Such a complete innovation cons isted of a successful combination of the necessary 'hardware' (neem processing), 'software' (changed mindsets and goals) and orgware' (reciprocal labour; arranging for the collection and transportation of neem etc). In developing the complete innovation, it appeared useful to distinguish between regular and systems innovations. On the basis of the findings, we suggest that regular innovations can be realised at farmers' level and may be facilitated through extension agents, while system innovations require co-designing with other stakeholders to suit network-specific circumstances. Therefore, the role of extension agents, which currently emphasise technology transfer, require learning to include facilitation of social and economic network building around such technological packages. They also need to be involved in extending the principles underlying a particular innovation to other farmers.The outcomes and processes for developing the innovations in two villages (Adarkwa and Achiansah), as well as out-scaling the process to a third village (Ntumkum) were quite different. A study was therefore carried out to explain the factors responsible for the differential processes and outcomes (chapter 5). Taking the innovation trajectories in the three villages as case studies, a comparative analysis of the processes was made using sensitising concepts from theories of learning and social capital. It was concluded that the differences could be explained by the level of social capital, particularly in terms of group organisation, trust, and leadership, which influences the quality of learning required for developing innovations. An effective organisational capacity of farmers will facilitate learning and also make it easier for them to 'connect' with relevant networks. In this way it enables them create the necessary linkages between technical, social-organisational and economic elements to develop 'complete' innovations that are relevant and easily applicable under their conditions. Overall, this research had shown that it is possible to develop innovations with farmers using an interactive process. A remaining challenge, however, is to utilise the outcomes and the approach on a wider scale. The objective of the final chapter of this thesis, therefore, was to provide some thoughts and insights into what measures could be taken to institutionalise a research and extension system that goes beyond technology generation and transfer into one that can support a widespread development of innovations that are suitable to farmers' conditions. To this end the last chapter in the thesis examines the prevailing research and extension system for the cocoa sector with the help of ideas and concepts derived from Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems' (AKIS) thinking. The results from a survey carried out in the three research villages and among various actors in the cocoa sector suggest that present research and extension linkages are weak and are unlikely to support the development and uptake of appropriate technologies. Furthermore, that the current system is not well equipped for developing complete innovations . Using insights from AKIS and concepts system of innovation that is well co-ordinated and involves all the relevant stakeholders to facilitate the development of innovations that are suitable to the end-users. It is suggested that arriving at such a system requires an action learning process similar to that which the farmers went through, but this time in the domain of organisations that play or may play a role in supporting agricultural innovation.

The contribution of agricultural research to improving resource-poor farmers' livelihoods has remained sub-optimal. Explanations for this lack of impact are diverse and many approaches were proposed over time to address them, amongst others: transfer of technology to teach farmers the 'right technologies'; designing technological packages (high yielding varieties, fertilisers and pesticides), and facilitating access to input and credit; adapting to farmers' conditions through farming systems research and on-farm research; and participation of farmers in planning and evaluation. All these approaches did however not improve the situation inWest Africaas drastically as was hoped for. In the late 1990's, therefore, it was recognised that researchers alone cannot grasp the complexity and dynamics of the local situation and the need arose for researchers to join forces with farmers to explore and design viable innovations. The reason for the failure of agricultural research was sought in the methodology used. Alongside numerous approaches such as the facilitation of learning, Participatory Technology Development andFarmerFieldSchoolsemerged.The Convergence of Sciences (CoS) Programme squarely fits within this movement and builds on the achievements of these approaches.These approaches as well as the background of this study are extensively discussed in chapters 1 and 2 of this dissertation.We conducted ametaresearch on the pathway(s) of science thatCoSfollowed. Eight PhD researchers fromGhanaandBeninconducted in their respective countries research on integrated pest management, weed management, soil fertility and crop diversity with resource-poor farmers aimed at improving the livelihoods of the farmers. The PhD researchers used a social and biological science perspective and were supervised by supervisors from both the social and biological disciplines, both from West Africa and theNetherlands. The comparison of the field experiences formed the basis of ourmetaresearch on theCoSprogramme. The details of the methodology and the background of the PhD research programmes are explored in chapter 3. Before studyingCoS, in order to hone our approach and methodology, and to develop our conceptual framework with respect to the pathways for science, we first looked at two completed research programmes inWest Africawhich aimed at joining forces with farmers to explore and design viable innovations.In chapter 4 we discuss a cowpeaFarmerFieldSchoolproject implemented inNorthern Ghana. Whereas Farmer Field Schools are conceived to facilitate farmer learning, the researchers involved in the project had other objectives, namely increased adoption of improved cowpea varieties and better pest management practices. As a result, the curriculum was adapted to the researchers' objectives to push techniques and technologies that 'work'. In this example the method used -FarmerFieldSchool-was transformed into an instrument to transfer technologies. The case studied taught us that an approach, which has been proved successful, can be co-opted for other purposes.In chapter 5 we studied a project aimed at ameliorating the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers in centralTogothrough soil fertility improvement. The project engaged in extension activities for diffusion of technologies that 'worked' according to the scientists and experimentation to look at options for as yet unsolved problems. However, the pre-analytical choices made -the unavoidable choices made before engaging in project or research activities- hindered the development of dyadic relationships among farmers and researchers. Farmers were not involved in discussing the pre-analytical choices and as a result the project was not grounded in their needs and expectations. Scientists had a tendency to evaluate a technology based on whether it 'works', while the resource-poor farmers would use many other criteria (with a social, economical or institutional nature), based on what is acceptable to them. The project helped to increase yields and productivity, but did not assist in developing or identifying marketing channels and therefore left the farmers with surpluses they could not sell. The study showed us that it is not enough to develop systems that 'work'. Farm innovation need to be grounded in farmers' needs, be acceptable to them, allow for scaling up and to be embedded in macro-level opportunities.After studying the two completed projects, we improved the initial conceptual framework (developed in chapters 1 and 2) for an alternative pathway of science in an intermezzo chapter, based on a further analysis of the work of previous PhD researchers (Tekelenburg and van Schoubroeck). The framework proposes seven research functions that science has to address if it intends to improve resource-poor farmers' livelihoods. The functions are expected to generate the following outcomes: explanation and understanding of (causal) relationships, effective solutions to problems, optimisation of the local situation, satisfaction of local needs and aspirations, scaling up, opportunities identified and space for change established.To improve the impact of agricultural research and develop an alternative pathway of science as a dyadic relationship between farmers and researchers,CoSconsidered the following principles important:Democratisation of science through converging scientific and farmers' knowledge.Innovation comprising a mix of technical, economical, social, and institutional elements and therefore requiring an effective encounter of social and biological science.The CoS pathway(s) of science followed four steps, discussed in chapters 6 and 7:Pre-analytical choices were made with regard to, for example, the countries in which the studies would be conducted and the scientific disciplines involved. An attempt was made to keep the choices to a minimum, leaving as many degrees of freedom as possible for farmers and researchers to determine their priority needs and research agendas. In hindsight, even more choices could have included farmers' visions in order to enhance the likelihood that research would eventually benefit them. Donor requirements and time and funding constraints hampered such a procedure.Technographic Studies were conducted by senior CoS scientists inWest Africato determine promising innovation domains on a macro-level to assure that realistic opportunities within existing framework conditions would be addressed by the PhD researchers. In retrospect, the studies could have delivered more by making other (pre-analytical) choices, e.g., not (exclusively) a crop focus, and tapping from other existing approaches.Diagnostic Studies zoomed in on the village level and aimed at grounding the experiments in the needs and opportunities of the farmers. The Diagnostic Studies inGhanaandBenindiffered in a number of ways mainly due to experiences with a project previously undertaken and with many of the same stakeholders. It remained important, throughout the whole research sequence, to keep a diagnostic perspective, as the situation inWest Africais very dynamic.Experimenting with farmers represented a mix of laboratory, on-station, and on-farm applied research. Co-research accorded with the principles for Participatory Technology Development. The experiments deliberately included a combination of hardware (the technology), software (the idea) and orgware (organisational and institutional arrangements) to constitute viable innovations.In chapter 6 we discuss how the CoS PhD researchers fromGhanaandBenin, with their different backgrounds, conducted diagnostic studies as a first step of their research aimed at developing technologies together with farmers. Ourmetaresearch was conducted in a participatory manner and based on consultations with the researchers. The comparison revealed that diagnostic studies identified and established forums of stakeholders, especially of farmers, who were to play key roles in the co-construction of knowledge during the field experimental phase that followed the diagnostic studies. The diagnostic studies gave farmers a say in the design and conduct of the experimental phase. In addition, the diagnostic studies have led to transparent choices with respect to the selection of sites, farmers and experiments. Furthermore, the conditions for negotiation were created. Finally, the diagnostic studies played a crucial role in making the partners within the Convergence of Sciences programme aware of the importance of contextual framework conditions in determining the relevance of the project.Chapter 7 is based on the analysis of the work at eight pilot learning sites in the Convergence of Sciences (CoS) programme. Each site featured research fordevelopment with resource-poor farmers and other stakeholders. On the basis of literature review, we first built a perspective on the mix of research outcomes that seems necessary for agricultural research to be demand-driven and client-oriented. This perspective then served as the framework for analysis of the work at the learning sites. Adapted and consolidated on the basis of this empirical work, the framework represents a set of preliminary ideas for designing an effective pathway for agricultural science. The analysis shows thatCoShas, in a number of diverse contexts and with respect to different crops, demonstrated that it is possible to establish vibrant multi-stakeholder learning coalitions at the local and programme levels. It is further possible to identify promising opportunities that can be effectively addressed by agricultural research, if that research is multi-disciplinary, refrains from making constraining pre-analytical choices, pays attention to institutional aspects, and uses procedures that ensure that research is not only supply, but also demand-driven.In conclusion, the Convergence of Sciences Programme proposes an alternative pathway of science to enhance the likelihood that resource-poor farmers' livelihoods will improve. However, the PhD researchers had not finalised their analysis at the time of writing of this dissertation and therefore a final verdict of how the research impacted on the livelihoods of the farmers involved remains to be given and also many questions remain unanswered with regard to scaling up and institutionalising such an approach. The dissertation shows, nevertheless, that the preliminary results are promising and that relevant opportunities for farmers can be identified. Of special interest has been the development in theCoSproject of an approach that both looks at the technological and institutional components. Not all eight CoS researchers have been equally effective in experimenting with institutional framework conditions. However, theCoSexperience shows that it is possible.

The original entry point for this study was how to optimize long-term rotation strategies for addressing the problem of soil fertility decline inWenchi,Ghana. However, as the study progressed over time, it was realized that what we initially interpreted as soil fertility management strategies were closely intertwined with wider issues such as cropping systems, livelihood aspirations and land tenure relations. Exploration of farmers' soil fertility management practices revealed a link between tenure insecurity among migrant farmers especially, and limited attention for regeneration of soil fertility. The native farmers who own land tend to use rotations involving long-duration crops such as cassava and pigeonpea to improve their soils. In contrast, migrants who depend mostly on short-term rental or sharecropping arrangements, rely more on rotations with short- duration crops such as cowpea and groundnut to improve soil fertility. A study to examine diversity among farm households and their relevance and implications for orienting action research aimed at combating soil fertility decline revealed that historical, ethnic and gender dimensions of diversity provide additional insights in livelihood patterns and soil fertility management which are relevant for fine-tuning technical and social action research agendas. Relevant differences between farm households result from the interplay between structural conditions and the strategies of active agents. Five cowpea varieties were evaluated for their grain yield, Nsub>2 -fixation and their contribution to the productivity of subsequent maize crop grown in rotation. On both farmer and researcher-managed fields, there were no significant differences in grain yield among the different varieties. Using the 15 N natural abundance technique, the proportion of N 2 fixed by the different cowpea varieties ranged between 61 and 77%. On both farmer and researcher-managed fields, maize grain yield after cowpea without application of mineral N fertiliser was higher than maize after maize. Although farmers recognized the contribution of cowpea to soil fertility and yields of the subsequent maize crop, they did not consider this as an important criterion when selecting varieties for use in their own fields. The overriding criteria for selecting cowpea varieties were more related to their early harvest, seed quality in terms of taste and marketability and ease of production (low labour demand). The performance of maize under different cropping sequences was evaluated in both farmer and researcher-managed experiments. Yield of maize without N application was higher after cassava and pigeonpea compared to that after speargrass fallow, cowpea or maize in both researcher and farmer-managed experiments. A simple financial analysis performed to evaluate the profitability of the various rotational sequences showed cassava/maize rotation to be the most profitable rotational sequence while speargrass fallow/maize rotation was found to be the least profitable. Farmers' preferences for a particular practice were more related to accessibility to production resources and livelihood aspirations. An action research in the social realm was carried out to develop institutional arrangements beneficial for soil fertility. Initial efforts aimed at bringing stakeholders together in a platform to engage in a collaborative design of new arrangements were stranded mainly because conditions conducive for learning and negotiations were absent. The implementation of experimentation with alternative tenure arrangements initiated by individual landowners and tenant farmers too ran into difficulties due to intra-family dynamics and ambiguities regarding land tenure. Further investigations to find out how ambiguities could be tackled, revealed that the local actors themselves had worked towards institutional arrangements to reduce ambiguities. However, there is still considerable scope for further development of these self-organised innovations. The study stresses the need for continuous diagnosis and exploration in action research in order to steer research in a relevant direction.