How to Design Agricultural Innovation for Smallholder Farmers | Dr. Gloria Adazebra
The Let's Talk Agriculture Podcast
This episode of the Let's Talk Agriculture Podcast features Dr. Gloria Adazebra, a plant breeder at CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Insti
Key takeaways
- Innovation in agriculture begins with understanding farmers' everyday realities, not just lab-based science.
- Participatory varietal selection ensures that new crop varieties meet actual farmer needs and priorities.
Main topics
- Agricultural innovation design
- Participatory plant breeding
Notable quotes
For every improved variety, it begins with a farmer's challenge and ends with a farmer's hope.
Conclusion
True agricultural innovation isn't about flashy technology but about listening,
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:01) Every story begins with the land, with people who dare to grow, to lead and feed the world. This is the Let's Talk Agriculture podcast, where Africa's voice in food and agribusiness meets the global stage. Speaker 3 (0:19) All right, so when we talk about agricultural innovation, most of us think about technology. We think about digital platforms, mechanization, or even AI. But what if innovation could be as simple as developing better seeds? A crop that cooks faster, survives drought, resists pests, or simply better meet the needs of the farmers who grow it. So today's conversation is about innovation. How does it begin? And of course, it starts by understanding the people. And my guest for today is Dr. Gloria Adazebra. a research scientist and plant breeder at CSIR Savannah Agricultural Research Institute in Ghana. And her work focuses on developing improved cow varieties. But beyond the science, she's helping us think differently about how agricultural innovation should be designed, you know, by listening to the farmers and understanding their realities. Welcome to the podcast, Dr. Gloria. I'm really excited to have you here today. Thank Speaker 1 (1:28) you very much, and I'm excited to speak with you. Speaker 3 (1:31) Great. So I would really love to start with the word innovation, you know, because sometimes this is something that we hear all the time, right? And when you think about agricultural innovation, what does that really, really mean to you? Speaker 1 (1:47) To me, as a researcher, as a plant breeder, Immediately you mentioned innovation or agricultural innovation. What comes to my mind first and foremost is the everyday realities of a farmer on the field and what solution I can bring or what solutions are available to such a farmer. So for me, agricultural innovation has to do with looking for the simple solutions that solves the everyday problem. a farmer faces on the field. It could be as simple as developing a crop variety that meets the specific needs of the farmer or bringing out a specific innovation or solution. It can be as simple as just changing a farming method that better suits the farmer's needs. So for me, agricultural innovation can be as simple as just looking for the best possible solution to a farmer's challenge that can help the farmer in his or her everyday life in his or her farming business. Thank you for sharing that. Speaker 3 (3:04) I think that's really interesting, right? Because you see, when I think many people immediately think about technology, what's come to their mind is innovation. I mean, many people immediately think that technology is just equivalent to innovation, right? But listening to you talk, it just really shows that innovation is really about solving problems. And that really brings me to ask this question that I have in mind, right? Because when you're developing a new crop variety, where do those problems actually come from? Speaker 1 (3:41) Yeah, so in a breeding program, before you even start thinking about developing a crop variety, your first and foremost thought is to think about the farmer. So when you think about the farmer, by talking to the farmer, to see the realities on the ground, what are the problems that they are facing, before you can think of formulating your goals or aims. So to bring out a variety, it is not about the researcher sitting down to think that, OK, if I bring these traits together in an improved variety or crop, it will help the farmer. It is about beginning at where the problem lies. So for me, talking to a farmer is the first point of being able to identify what you actually need to do. So we begin by involving the farmer right from the onset so that the farmer will give you his or her opinion about the challenges that they are facing on the ground, about the realities that they encounter each and every day. So for a breeding process, that is where the whole breeding programs begin. You talk to the farmer, you understand their realities. You take up what they are giving you, understand their priorities. For a farmer, the problems may be numerous, but they need to prioritize. Which one do you think that if we solve first, it will be of maximum help to you? Where will your greatest fulfillment come from if you prioritize your challenges on the farm? So for me, that is where the whole breeding process starts from. Before you think about now going to look at your goals, your aims, and going to the laboratory and developing whatever crop varieties that you want to bring out to the farmer. Speaker 3 (5:48) Thank you. I think that's a really good way to approach it. Right. I say this because of my conversations with different founders, especially agri-tech founders. Right. When they're trying to design a new product, they focus more on what they actually want to do and not speaking directly to the farmers, the people they're building the solutions for. And that's why you hear them talking about low adoption from the farmers. But then again, I always question, did you actually speak to these farmers before trying to design a solution for them? So hearing you talk about this just confirmed my thoughts around this whole developing solutions for farmers. And I think that's really an interesting approach. And I really, really wish, trust me, that lots of... businesses, especially agri-tech founders that are building solutions for the farmers would really take up this approach because, you know, many people sit behind designing fancy tools, I mean, for the farmers without actually talking to them. So thank you so much for really putting the farmers first, right, before going back to your lab. So. I like that because, you know, I think sometimes people imagine scientists, they spend all their time in the lab as well. But from what you're describing, there's actually a lot of listening involved, of which I really appreciate that. And that's why I shared my thoughts around what I see from many agri-tech founders. And so what does that listening process actually look like for you? Speaker 1 (7:27) So as I mentioned, our initial... point of contact is the farmer. It is not just about listening to the farmer, but being able to discover what the farmer is actually telling you. You need to help the farmer to be able to prioritize. So you have to have a listening ear, some sort of empathy about what challenges they are going through. Yes, we understand that most of the time you cannot solve every challenge that they are facing. But you need to make them understand that we have to prioritize which one comes first. Which one do you need to help me to be able to understand what you are going through? So with that, we first listen, we help them prioritize, we engage them frequently, not only at the beginning, but... during the whole process. So let me just give you a quick example. Initially, we have what we call focus group discussions with the farmers. That one helps us to be able to understand the challenges and the day-to-day needs of the farmer. Then when we are formulating our goals, priorities, they are equally involved. During the breeding process, we equally bring them in and work with them as the heir. participatory varietal selection. That is, if we are able to get their priorities, formulate our objectives and all that, and we begin the breeding process, you don't just, at the end, just push a product to them, but you have a list of products that you have, but you still need the farmer to come in and to look at what you have. Does it help them? Does it support? what they actually want. And all this goes to help you reprioritize whatever you are doing. So for a variety selection process, the farmer comes in, look at what you are offering, does it better suit them in their environment, in their everyday challenges. And at the end, the farmer will tell you that, okay, for this particular one, it meets my needs. Because it is high yielding, it is good for my environment, so I can easily cultivate this on my farm, which I think I will make a very good profit or I'll be able to feed my family. Equally, they will tell you, okay, I like this one, but it is sort of lacking in this area. Could you improve this? aspect of it. And that brings me to when you are dealing with a whole different types of people. So for example, in our everyday today activities with farmers, we deal with male farmers, female farmers, young farmers, old farmers. So what a group of farmers will be interested in