Opportunities for commercialization and research

Opportunities for commercialization and research under the banana, coffee, and sorghum value chains in Kenya and Uganda
Hannington Odame, Joseph Methu, Elosy Kangai, Doris Akishule, Willis Owino and Christine Alokit

Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) 2014. 

Date Published: Friday, 19 June 2015, 140 pages

In the quest to make the transfer of agricultural innovations and management practices from research to end-users easier, ASARECA has released a new book listing existing agricultural technologies with the potential to be commercialized.
This inventory of best bet technologies also includes innovations that are still in the pipeline, but have the potential to be adopted for incubation.

Background:
UniBRAIN is executed by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). The programme is supported with a total budget of 130 million DKK (2010-2015). A UniBRAIN Facility has been set-up within FARA’s premises in Ghana, Accra which it is tasked with the responsibilities of programme implementation, programme development and liaisons with partners of the programme.

The programme has enabled the creation and establishment of incubator consortia in the following five countries: Ghana, Mali, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya. The consortia have developed and established the following six incubators:

1. Creating Competitive Livestock Entrepreneurs in Agribusiness (CCLEAr), Ghana. This incubator is dedicated to promote commercialization of smallholder livestock (poultry, small ruminants and grass cutter).
2. West African Agribusiness Resource Incubator (WAARI), Mali. The focus is on non-timber agro-forestry products, cereals and fruits.
3. The Agribusiness Incubation Trust (AgBIT), Zambia. The incubator is concerned with value-chains related to tropical fruit and vegetables.
4. Afri Banana Products Limited (ABP Ltd), Uganda. The focus is on staple food and cash crops - initially within the specific value chain of banana.
5. Consortium for Enhancing University Responsiveness to Agribusiness Development (CURAD), Uganda. The incubator’s value proposition is on plantation and cash crop value-chain enhancement with an initial focus on coffee.
6. Sorghum Value-Chain Development Consortium (SVCDC), Kenya. The incubator works with smallholder dry land food grains focusing on sorghum.