The Role of Agribusiness Innovation Incubation for Africa's Development

Abstract

The global economic crisis coupled with increases in food and fuel prices and the looming impacts of climate change have necessitated that Africa should urgently rise up to these challenges and opportunities by promoting growth, food security, employment, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. A unique strategy for realizing Africa's potentials for development in the wake of these challenges is through agribusiness innovation incubation. The strategy seeks to turn the challenges into opportunities by harnessing the knowledge and information infrastructures as underlying mechanisms to encourage demand-driven research and for-profit entrepreneurship in Africa's rich agricultural sector. This paper examines the economic, social and knowledge management opportunities offered through agribusiness innovation incubation for Africa's sustainable development. This paper further provides various models and prerequisites for realizing this objective.