The role of institutions in sustaining competitive bioeconomy growth in Africa – Insights from the Nigerian maize biomass value-web

Can producer groups improve technical efficiency among artisanal shrimpers in Nigeria? A study accounting for observed and unobserved selectivity

“…4,5). This finding therefore goes hand in hand with the general purpose of producer groups in developing countries, which is to enhance the technical ability and performance of members (Fischer and Qaim 2012;Ma and Abdulai 2016), but it contradicts what was found in Ethiopia (Mojo et al 2017) and Nigeria (Adetoyinbo et al 2022), where some members were seen not to benefit from farm-based cooperatives and their decision-making processes.…”

“…Moreover, the functions of artisanal fisher groups need to be broadened beyond the current "production-oriented" activities. Policy measures should be coupled with efficient public-private support and extension services (Adetoyinbo et al 2022), as seen in Ethiopian agricultural cooperatives (Abate et al 2014) to incorporate marketing and cooperative functions (e.g., to raise capital, participate along the value chains and determine and/or negotiate prices) within the framework of current artisanal fisher groups (Barrett et al 2012;FAO 2007;FMARD 2011FMARD , 2016Grashuis 2018;Ragasa and Mazunda 2018;Sambuo et al 2020). The government can also deploy artisanal fisher groups as a medium to implement far-reaching interventions such as the distribution of subsidized shrimping inputs and technologies aimed at developing the fishery sector, upgrading local fishery supply chains, supporting smallholder access to international high-value food supply chains and driving inclusive agricultural and economic growth (AUC/OECD2019; FMARD 2011; Ngenoh et al 2019).…”

Contingent resource-based view of food netchain organization and firm performance: a comprehensive quantitative framework

“…The findings in the existing literature have been rather mixed for different plausible reasons (Otter et al , 2014; Wang et al , 2015). Extension agents and public agencies in many African agrifood systems face several institutional challenges, such as inconsistent financial support and training, that limit their capacity to support smallholders effectively (Adetoyinbo et al , 2022). These challenges could result in a misfit between smallholders’ contingencies and their lateral relationships since the overall innovation process and knowledge exchanges needed by smallholders to adapt their organizational strategies are inhibited.…”

“…While the role of SC external actors, such as extension agents and NGOs, in supporting smallholders, has been highlighted in earlier studies (Ragasa and Mazunda, 2018), the negative effects of lateral relationships observed in this study suggest that external actors are inefficient in improving smallholders’ activities and performance. Public policymakers should therefore take the results as new proof that public institutions in developing and transition countries still need overhauling and resetting (Adetoyinbo et al , 2022). This should entail adequate institutional support that enhances the human, physical and financial capacities of existing public extension outfits.…”

“…Policymakers should also facilitate strong institutional linkages (e.g. between research institutes and extension agents) and public–private partnerships to ensure that smallholder producers and processors have access to the necessary resources, such as inputs, technologies and business training, which are valuable and tailored to their contingency situations (Adetoyinbo et al , 2022; Ragasa and Mazunda, 2018).…”