Themeda triandra Forssk. is one of the most widespread grasses in the dry to mesic prairie ecosystems of Africa, Asia and Australia. It is of particular interest due to its high value as a forage species for wildlife and livestock, and its potential use in landscaping practices. In this review we have collated information from the many studies that have been devoted to this species since the 1960s to provide information about the species' distribution, taxonomy, morphology, ploidy and reproduction, and to describe its vegetation and germination and their relationship with the most important ecological aspects of its preferred habitats. Agronomic aspects are considered in detail, with particular focus on the role of T. triandra as a forage species and the relative importance of grazing, fire and rainfall regimes for its management. We also explore how this species can help with the rehabilitation of degraded areas, soil and water conservation, countering exotic species invasion and landscaping in general. We conclude with a brief discussion of the as yet unresolved taxonomic relationship between the African species T. triandra and the Australian species Themeda australis.

In the last few decades, characterized by intense environmental, landscape and socio-economic-financial changes, unexpected issues concerning the primary sector are arising and require researchers an urgent and deep reformulation of both the conceptual and technological tools used in the applied research. The concept of innovation is now radically changed, starting from a prevailing formula of linear top-down technology transfer, which has characterized the green revolution of the 1960s, to the nowadays approach that is characterized by the innovation of a complex system, and it is aimed at creating sustainable and shared opportunities through economic and institutional development. Those who now work in public or private bodies oriented to research for innovation are struggling to maintain their specific study area, but within integrated schemes where technical and scientific aspects are in interaction with organizational, institutional and political issues. Innovation can tackle several issues: new products, new technologies, new markets, new procedures (institutions) and new policies. The series of scientific and conceptual tools framed into the Agro-ecology domain seems appropriate to plan development initiatives of which the primary objective is ensuring a sustainable management of all the resources involved in agricultural production processes, while promoting food security and sovereignty, as well as protecting the rural landscape. By studying a target agroecosystem it is possible to identify and characterize the relationships between both the internal components and the system structures and functions at different levels of complexity of plot, farm and country, without neglecting the interactions among scientific, technological and socio-economic factors, and ultimately tending towards a science aimed at conflict resolution. Given the challenges that agricultural development is going to face in the next decades, it is indeed essential to support the planning and implementation of sound agro-ecological policies through an appropriate set of advanced tools. Particularly, a key aspect to empower all the stakeholders involved in the research, development, dissemination and application of new methods and technologies is the identification of information and communication systems that farmers and policy makers need in order to cope with fast-changing conditions in a complex system. University and research centers can act as institutional facilitators of dialogue and development policies among different stakeholders, catalyzing participation and promoting participatory problem-solving strategies for agricultural development and cooperation. The evolution of innovation in agricultural research and cooperation for developmentInnovation is generally regarded as a solution of continuity with the past, i.e. a process of significant change and improvement of individual or social conditions. As written by Goldstone (1987) (Valery, 1999). Moreover, the article stated that it was difficult to say what innovation...

In the last few decades, characterized by intense environmental, landscape and socio-economic-financial changes, unexpected issues concerning the primary sector are arising and require researchers an urgent and deep reformulation of both the conceptual and technological tools used in the applied research. The concept of innovation is now radically changed, starting from a prevailing formula of linear top-down technology transfer, which has characterized the green revolution of the 1960s, to the nowadays approach that is characterized by the innovation of a complex system, and it is aimed at creating sustainable and shared opportunities through economic and institutional development. Those who now work in public or private bodies oriented to research for innovation are struggling to maintain their specific study area, but within integrated schemes where technical and scientific aspects are in interaction with organizational, institutional and political issues. Innovation can tackle several issues: new products, new technologies, new markets, new procedures (institutions) and new policies. The series of scientific and conceptual tools framed into the Agro-ecology domain seems appropriate to plan development initiatives of which the primary objective is ensuring a sustainable management of all the resources involved in agricultural production processes, while promoting food security and sovereignty, as well as protecting the rural landscape. By studying a target agroecosystem it is possible to identify and characterize the relationships between both the internal components and the system structures and functions at different levels of complexity of plot, farm and country, without neglecting the interactions among scientific, technological and socio-economic factors, and ultimately tending towards a science aimed at conflict resolution. Given the challenges that agricultural development is going to face in the next decades, it is indeed essential to support the planning and implementation of sound agro-ecological policies through an appropriate set of advanced tools. Particularly, a key aspect to empower all the stakeholders involved in the research, development, dissemination and application of new methods and technologies is the identification of information and communication systems that farmers and policy makers need in order to cope with fast-changing conditions in a complex system. University and research centers can act as institutional facilitators of dialogue and development policies among different stakeholders, catalyzing participation and promoting participatory problem-solving strategies for agricultural development and cooperation.

This chapter investigates the way rice farmers in the north-eastern territory of Sierra Leone access different kinds of information across the agricultural season through a multiplicity of channels, including but not limited to mobile phones. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the main demographic variables linked to adoption and use of mobile phones and the related services that can be accessed through these devices. The study highlights a very dynamic behaviour of farmers, and identifies a high diffusion of mobile phones and relatively high access to the internet among rice farmers in the area of study. Variables such as income were correlated with factors such as availability and type of use of ICT products and services among rice farmers, but in common with other studies, face-to-face interaction was not found to have been diminished significantly due to the advent of ICT-based tools.