Agricultural development aimed at poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) requires greatly accelerated technological, organizational and institutional innovation. Emphasis on strengthening the demand side for agricultural service provision and the call for a separation of responsibilities for policy making, funding and implementation have resulted in alternative funding mechanisms for agricultural research and development (R&D) at national and local levels.

The new financing arrangements aim at enhancing multi-stakeholder resource control, increasingly involving research clients and the end-users of agricultural production and processing technology in decisions concerning the allocation of staff, money and infrastructure. It is envisaged that the reorganized funding mechanisms for agricultural innovation will combine greater efficiency in resource management with improved effectiveness in innovation development, through stronger client control, thus better addressing the agricultural and natural resource management needs, particularly of small-scale farmers and processors.