Innovative Biomass Conversion in Africa

Transforming the African agroprocessing sector so that it effectively adds value to the primary production and converts waste to valuable products in an environmentally friendly manner will be central in improving agricultural productivity in Africa. Applied modern bioscience is slowly but surely penetrating the agricultural and agroprocessing sector in Eastern Africa improving its sustainability and productivity. The purpose of this paper is to describe a selection of agroprocessing technology cases in Eastern Africa and their corresponding emerging innovation systems. On the basis of these technological innovation systems, the paper identifies barriers and enabling conditions for developing and adopting agroprocessing innovations in Eastern Africa. The public sector has a central role in adopting and disseminating promising bioscience innovations to agricultural and agroprocessing actors in Eastern Africa. A strong public sector research base is therefore a crucial condition for knowledge development, innovation and deployment. The study shows that structural and policy constraints, rather than scientific and technical knowledge, are the main barrier to bioscience technologies contributing to a more dynamic agricultural and agro-processing sector. The main structural and policy constraints are: i) unfavourable conditions for entrepreneurship, both in the private and public sector; ii) weak markets and ineffective or absent market incentives; iii) unfavourable and disconnected policy regimes; and iv) severe lack of access to affordable financing and credit.