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Abstract
Recent studies have shown that agricultural research can have high payoffs in Africa, but impact
depends on how well technology fits with evolving needs and capacity in the agricultural sector
and the rest of the economy. Structural adjustment policies (e.g., market liberalization, currency
devaluation) and political change are transforming user demands for new technology and the
economic environment in which technology must perform. The challenge is how to design
agricultural research as a strategic input to promote broad-based economic growth, structural
transformation, and food security in the increasingly market-driven, but fragile, economies of
Africa.