Making the link : agricultural research and technology transfer in developing countries

This book presents papers from 11 well-known specialists to provide a fresh, multidisciplinary approach to this problem. Chapter 1 discusses the concept, operations, and management of an agricultural knowledge and information system. Using examples from former British colonies in Africa and Asia, Chapter 2 shows how external pressure on research and technology transfer institutions from public and private entities can improve system performance. Chapter 3 traces the growth and increasing complexity of the demands placed on research and extension agencies by policymakers in Latin America and their effect on links between the two groups. Chapter 4 examines the linkage problem from the perspective of social psychology, while Chapter 5 looks at how on-farm, client-oriented research initiatives in nine countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America coordinated their activities with extension. Chapter 6 focuses on the research-technology transfer links within the private sector and between the private and public sectors, and on the lessons public managers can learn from their private counterparts. The final chapter summarizes the key points from the previous papers, grouping these points according to whether they are concerned with political, technical, or organizational factors.