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Annual losses of cocoa in Ghana to insect pests are significant. The use of integrated pest management (IPM) tools is critical for effective pest management. Previous studies on the subject have considered how farmers perceive the economic impact of insect pests on cocoa. These studies however did not investigate farmers’ ability to identify pests, associated damage symptoms and their implications for pest management. The current study, therefore, assessed farmers’ ability to correctly associate insect damage with the pest species that caused it. A total of 600 farmers were interviewed in the Eastern, Ashanti, Western, Brong Ahafo and Central Regions of Ghana with a structured open and closedended questionnaire. Most farmers (>85%) were unable to correctly identify and associate pests to their damage. The majority (>80%) of farmers also could not link the immature stages of insect pests to their adult stages. Wrong identification of the major pests (>85%) led to a wide variation in the timing of insecticide application amongst farmers. The majority of the farmers (60%) interviewed had not received training in insect pest identification. The study shows that 90% of the farmers, who had received some training, got it from the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). Almost all respondents (98%) agreed that correct pest identification is critical for effective pest control. The importance of pest identification and monitoring as a component of IPM is discussed.

Cocoa is an important foreign exchange earner and a major source of income for several households in Ghana. In 2018, a larval outbreak on cocoa pods was reported in Ghana. Although the origin is unknown, it was perceived to be a secondary pest outbreak. In this study, a survey was conducted in the outbreak areas to identify and determine the occurrence of the pest and its susceptibility to a commonly used insecticide. Field and laboratory studies were conducted to identify the pest, determine the level of infestation, insecticide susceptibility, and field management. The outbreak was mainly caused by larvae of Anomis leona (~96% infestation of cocoa trees in some communities) with extensive feeding damage (chewing channels/tunnels) on the pericarp of pods. Field populations of A. leona larvae from districts in the Central region subjected to bifenthrin were susceptible at the recommended field rate (0.0245%) for mirids after 48 h of exposure under laboratory conditions. The insecticide induced a median lethal concentration (LC50) of ≤0.0061% and ≤0.0018% on A. leona larvae from Jukwa and Twifo Praso in the Central region at 24 and 48 h of exposure, respectively. Field application of bifenthrin was able to suppress infestation. The findings show that Anomis larvae were responsible for the outbreak, inducing extensive damage on pods. Bifenthrin was toxic to the larvae and could be used to manage them on the field. The outbreak indicates the need to develop an integrated management and monitoring strategy for cocoa pests to minimize future outbreaks.

Farmers' knowledge of major insect pests and their occurrence in cocoa plantations in Ghana as well as common practices of farmers to control these pests were assessed. It was found that 52%, 41%, ...

Farming systems in cocoa over the last three decades have involved the use of new hybrid plant varieties, which produce pods throughout the year, intensified fertilizer use, and misguided pesticide applications by some farmers. Resource availability in terms of abundance of feeding and breeding sites and ecological disruption as a consequence of climate change and bad agronomic practices have increased the importance of insect pests on cocoa. Historically the major management tool for hemipteran pests has been calendar spraying with conventional insecticides. Considerable progress was made at the turn of the last century by replacing organochlorine insecticides for cocoa mirid control. But inappropriate timing and inefficient application is probably reducing the viability of otherwise acceptable products in some areas. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy for mirids and other insect control should involve great investment in pest surveillance, and be based primarily on the use of cultural practices of removal of excess chupons, shade management and Opinion Article Adu-Acheampong et al.; AJEA, 6(6): 416-423, 2015; Article no.AJEA.2015.099 417 host variety resistance. These practices must primarily aim at minimising mirid-associated dieback disease and stink bug deformation of pods, and should be supplemented in some cases by the use of insecticides (up to two applications in February to May at 28-days intervals) depending on the pest populations, damage levels as well as intensity of activity of pollinating insects, with additional two applications during September to December when pest problems may arise. Improved methods of monitoring and prediction should assist in early identification of specific problems in different farms. The rotational use of different active ingredients should also take into account factors such as application methods, compatibility and correct timing. Careful planning is necessary to formulate a flexible control system.

African smallholders face few opportunities that can be captured through new technologies alone. Analysis of the institutional context in which they work opens new pathways for innovation. This article synthesises nine studies that attempted such analysis. Using mixed appraisal methods, the studies identify institutional conditions that explain the, often unsatisfactory, outcomes of smallholders, as well as entry points for changing them. Instead of at the farm or community levels, Participatory Innovation System Analysis seeks at higher levels to identify actors, networks and mechanisms that maintain or can change the “pervasive bias against the small farm sector” in SSA.Defier le « biais omnipresent » a l'encontre des petits cultivateurs africains: identifier les points d'entree pour les changements institutionnelsLes petits cultivateurs africains ont a leur disposition peu d'opportunites qui puissent etre saisies par le seul biais des nouvelles technologies. Une analyse du contexte institutionnel dans ...

Cocoa is a major source of employment, smallholder farmers' incomes, and export revenue in Ghana. However, by 2010 institutional constraints throughout the value chain were failing to sustain bean quality and cocoa production. A national-level innovation platform, comprising key public and private actors in the cocoa sector, was established in 2010 to analyse and act to address this concern. The members' initial inquiries revealed that: farmers indirectly were paying for the national mass spraying and Hi-Tech input programmes, both provided free at the point of delivery. As the largest components in the cost structure, these programmes to a large extent accounted for the low price paid to farmers for their beans; a volatile exchange rate regime meant that often the prevailing rate was not equal to its equilibrium level; policies that heavily taxed cocoa were destroying farmers' expectation of long-term profitability. This paper draws on data recorded from the beginning 2009 to end 2013 by means of theory-guided process tracing 5(TGPT), to show how the platform contributed to increased prices for farmers, to subsequent reform of the input supply arrangements, and to changes to the mass spraying programme. The key causal mechanisms identified are policy learning and progressive amendment of existing institutions. The paper concludes by drawing lessons for the role of an innovation platform.

This paper discusses external influences on innovation platforms (IPs) and the options for effective responses. The platforms examined in this paper were conceived as vehicles for facilitating institutional change in support of innovation that benefits smallholders, in selected agro-enterprise domains in Benin, Ghana and Mali. They were designed and implemented in a manner that enabled experimentation with processes of change in the selected domains. A Research Associate in each case facilitated the work of the IPs and applied Theory-Guided Process Tracing (TGPT) methodology to document the innovation processes pursued by platform members. The recorded data allow analysis of the external influences on the IPs. This paper first presents a typology as derived from literature of the main external influences on the domains of interest, and then uses the typology to analyse the influences on and responses of the IPs. The main influences were found to emanate from global, sub-regional and national levels. The IPs' responses were diverse but generally included reconstitution of the membership, lobbying, capacity-building among smallholders, and empowerment of smallholders by organizing provision of new knowledge, skills or financial resources. The paper highlights lessons drawn by the platform members in addressing the challenges involved. It concludes that external influences are important in determining the direction of socio-technical and institutional innovation.

SUMMARYFusarium and Lasiodiplodia species invade feeding lesions caused by mirid bugs (Distantiella theobroma [Dist.] and Sahlbergella singularis Hagl.) and inflict serious damage and yield loss to susceptible cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) varieties in West Africa. As it is the fungal invasion rather than the physical feeding injury by mirids that cause dieback and tree death in cacao, a dieback resistance strategy in cacao crop must take into account resistance to these causal agents. Twenty-nine and 15 cacao genotypes were screened in the laboratory and the greenhouse, respectively, for resistance to isolates of Fusarium decemcellulare and Lasiodiplodia theobromae at Imperial College London's Biological Sciences Campus, UK. Resistance was assessed as the size of necrotic lesions, distance of fungal colonisation in the stem and the proportion of seedlings with dieback symptoms. Genotypic differences were found in both laboratory and greenhouse tests among various cacao genotypes, and the clones showed a wide range of disease reactions from highly resistant to very susceptible. The pathogenicity of F. decemcellulare and L. theobromae were similar in this study, which suggests that a breeding programme for controlling one of the pathogens can have benefit against the other. Direct significant correlations (r = 0.7) were obtained between visual dieback assessment scores and the percentage cross-sectional area of stem necrosis. Moreover, the response of inoculated stem segments corresponded to the reaction of intact plants despite the variation in the used methodology. Three cacao genotypes (CATIE 1000, T85/799 and MXC 67) were resistant or moderately resistant to F. decemcellulare and L. theobromae. These genotypes could be useful sources of resistance to both pathogens and other wilt causing pathogens in cacao.

The experiences synthesised in this article indicate how significant effects in two agricultural domains have been achieved by creating pathways for inter-dependent socio-technical and institutional changes, at a range of levels of action, governance and policy-making. The synthesis emphasizes the importance of co-learning, experimentation, and critical reflection among a wide network of ‘champions’ of transformational change on behalf of smallholder farmers and processors. It shows that innovation processes may involve actors along entire value chains, industry leaders at national level, or local level actors seeking to widen the space for change beyond their immediate circle of direct influence. While the research and development initiatives of the domains are shown to have been critical in identifying the constraints and opportunities of smallholders, and also to the effects documented, this was largely because the research effort converged around empirically grounded problems and opportunities identified. The information sought, and the solutions found useful, were determined by the members of innovation platforms that drove the processes of change.

Inspired by Innovation System theory, donors promote Innovation Platforms (IP) to enhance collaboration for development. However, the question arises whether this is the best approach to facilitate change. The article presents the experience of an action-research programme (2009-2013) on the value of IPs for creating institutional change for the benefit of smallholders, in various value chain contexts in West Africa. We analyse the cases from a dialectic perspective on institutional entrepreneurship. Results show: the open IP approach, with some clear principles and in-depth analysis of the antagonistic context, enabled the initiator-cum-facilitators to create a reasonably effective IP coalition that endorsed broker activities fit for the context. In a mature value chain, it was possible to mobilise incumbent actors, who perceived a mutual benefit in enhancing smallholder development. In the other cases, IPs were started at lower administrative levels, building discursive legitimacy and -appeal to mobilise smallholders and higher level authorities for institutional change. We note a researcher-initiated open IP approach is able to induce strategic action in-situ, but the approach has its limitation: In the time given, IPs could neither build a cooperative smallholder movement, nor interest private export companies to invest in smallholders; nor tackle misaligned political interests.

The concept of an innovation platform is increasingly used in interventions inspired by agricultural innovation systems thinking, as a way of bringing stakeholders from a sector together to enable transformative change. An essential role on such innovation platforms is thought to be that of the ‘innovation champion’, but this role has so far not been unravelled. In this paper, by applying insights from management science to analyse three innovation platforms in West Africa from the Convergence of Sciences – Strengthening Innovation Systems programme (CoS–SIS), different types of innovation champions are mapped. The authors conclude that making a distinction among different types of innovation champions can be useful in identifying members for innovation platforms, but that the specifics of agricultural innovation appear not to be adequately captured by roles attributed to existing categories of innovation champions. Further research is needed to ascertain whether other categories exist, and how different innovation champions interact over time on agricultural innovation platforms.