Do Leader and Organizational Characteristics Affect Scientist's Productivity? A Multilevel Analysis of Nigerian Agricultural Research System

Organizations offer employees with opportunities to cultivate their innovativeness and facilitate greater productivity. In this paper we analyze preconditions for individual productivity of agricultural researchers in Nigeria, measured in terms of the self-reported number of scholarly publications and technologies produced; presence of external collaborators; number of dissemination events for publications produced; and perceived adoption level of technologies developed. It utilizes a multilevel analysis to systematically examine what characteristics of individual scientists and organizations promote greater individual productivity. The statistically significant random-effect estimates show that there is considerable variance across the 47 organizations after adjusting for the effects of differences in individual characteristics. Moreover, several measures of organizational characteristics are statistically significant in explaining variations in individual productivity. This paper contributes to limited studies that systematically analyze the influence of organizational factors and the organization head’s characteristics on individual researcher’s performance.organizational culture, multilevel analysis, poisson, productivity, research, motivation, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q16, L32, D23,

Strengthening innovation capacity of Nigerian agricultural research organizations:

Strong agricultural research and development (R&D) is crucial for improving agricultural productivity and efficiency, which in turn both lead to agricultural development, food security, and poverty reduction. However, several studies have shown that in many developing countries, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa, there is persistent underinvestment in R&D and weak research capacity, both of which continue to undermine agricultural productivity and growth in these countries.research system, innovation system, Capacity development, organizational culture,

Contract farming, contract design and smallholder livelihoods

Contract farming has gained in importance in many developing countries. Previous studies analysed effects of contracts on smallholder farmers' welfare, yet mostly without considering that different types of contractual relationships exist. Here, we examine associations between contract farming and farm household income in the oil palm sector of Ghana, explicitly differentiating between two types of contracts, namely simple marketing contracts and more comprehensive resource-providing contracts. Moreover, we look at different income sources to better understand how both contracts are linked to farmers' livelihood strategies. We use cross-sectional survey data and regression models. Issues of endogeneity are addressed through measuring farmers' willingness-to-participate in contracts and using this indicator as an additional covariate. Farmers with both types of contracts have significantly higher household incomes than farmers without a contract, yet with notable differences in terms of the income sources. Farmers with a marketing contract allocate more household labour to off-farm activities and thus have higher off-farm income. In contrast, farmers with a resource-providing contract have larger oil palm plantations and thus higher farm incomes. The findings suggest that the two contract types are associated with different livelihood strategies and that disaggregated analysis of different income sources is important to better understand possible underlying mechanisms

Institutional reforms and agricultural policy process: lessons from Democratic Republic of Congo

Attaining food security for all requires well-functioning institutions and policy process that are effective in designing and implementing food and agricultural policies and programs. This paper assesses early stages of the decentralization and institutional reforms in the policymaking processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It develops a conceptual framework and adopts an innovative mapping tool to identify capacity and incentive challenges impeding the effective design and implementation of food and agricultural policy and institutional reform processes. We found that decentralized platforms for policy dialogues have the potential to improve civil society participation in local-level and national-level policy and planning processes. However, their success depends on organizational and human capacity strengthening, financial sustainability, effective participation of the civil society, and demonstrated impact of their participation

Policy issues and options in aquatic food systems: Review of frameworks, tools, and studies

Although policies can be critical constraining or enabling factors for aquatic food systems (AqFS) development, scarce evaluation of the impacts of existing policies means that decision-makers have limited understanding of how to improve the design and implementation of effective policies. This paper reviews key policy issues in AqFS and how they have been analyzed and assessed to provide context-tailored policy options and guidance. Our review shows that countries face many policy issues but have little analysis on them. Despite the availability of a wide variety of frameworks, concepts, tools, methods, and approaches, their application in empirical analysis to solve policy issues in AqFS has been limited. More research is available on local- and community-level governance of fisheries, but less on national or subnational policies and regulations in AqFS. The few available policy studies focus on developed countries, with fewer applications in developing countries where growth of the aquaculture and fisheries sectors is much stronger. The studies provide useful policy options and guidance, and this review highlights the need for more such studies to address policy-related issues in the sector

Stakeholder workshop report: Women’s empowerment in agrifood systems governance (WEAGov) technical workshop: Nigeria pilot study

Inclusive governance and policies can promote adaptation to climate change as well as resilience of women in the agrifood system. The Women's impowerment in Agrifood Governance (WEAGov) is a diagnostic tool developed by IFPRI to help evaluate the extent to which women are empowered across the policy cycle related to agrifood systems. WEAGov provides a way to identify gaps and opportunities to raise women’s voice and agency at different stages of the policy cycle, and provides a basis for monitoring progress in women’s empowerment in agrifood systems governance over time. The workshop described here took place on May 11, 2023 in Abuja, Nigeria and included policymakers, researchers, and private sector representatives. The workshop familiarized stakeholders with the WEAGov assessment framework and collected valuable inputs and feedback on a recent WEAGov pilot study conducted in Nigeria. While participants largely validated the WEAGov indicators, they recommended key areas for improved measurement which will be incorporated into the assessment framework

Engendering agricultural research

This paper makes a case for gender equity in the agricultural R&D system. It reviews the evidence on exactly why it is important to pay attention to gender issues in agriculture and why it is necessary to recognize women�s distinct food-security roles throughout the entire value chain�for both food and nonfood crops, marketed and nonmarketed commodities. The authors examine whether women are factored into the work of research institutions, and whether research institutions effectively focus on women�s needs. In short, are these institutions conducting research by and for women? The paper�s conceptual framework demonstrates the need to integrate gender into setting agricultural priorities; conducting the research itself; designing, implementing, and adopting extension services; and evaluating their impacts. It concludes with recommendations regarding how to make these suggested changes.Agriculture, extension services, Gender equity, nonmarket commodities, Priority setting, R&D, value chains,

Conceptualizing women’s empowerment in agrifood systems governance: A new framework

This paper develops a new framework to measure and track women’s empowerment in governance of countries’ agrifood systems. All too often, women’s needs, priorities, and voices are missing from the policy process, even when women may be disproportionately affected by shocks or have distinct policy preferences. The Women’s Empowerment in Agrifood Systems Governance (WEAGov) is an assessment framework to help countries and stakeholders measure the extent of inclusion and leadership of women in agrifood systems governance and to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. WEAGov looks across three stages of the policy cycle: policy design, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. At each stage of the policy cycle, WEAGov asks three questions central to women’s empowerment in governance: Are women considered? Are women included? And are women influencing? This paper describes the process of conceptualizing and developing the WEAGov assessment framework by drawing together evidence, experience, and lessons from the literature and from over 30 stakeholder consultations across several countries and sectors to develop a practical and theoretically grounded framework