If the science existed, why did it take so long to reach farmers?
Between 2021 and 2025, AICCRA (Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa) worked across six African countries and two regional programs to bridge the gap between climate science and farmers by strengthening institutions, partnerships, and systems that enable climate-smart agriculture at scale.
- Digital innovation
- Ethiopia
- gender
- Climate Action
- climate adaptation
If the science existed, why did it take so long to reach farmers?
Between 2021 and 2025, AICCRA (Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa) worked across six African countries and two regional programs to bridge the gap between climate science and farmers by strengthening institutions, partnerships, and systems that enable climate-smart agriculture at scale.
Africa is not short of climate science because the pipeline of proven innovations is long, like the drought-tolerant varieties, digital advisory tools, seasonal forecasts, and soil management practices among others. Yet for decades, the gap between what research produces and what farmers use has remained stubbornly wide. More pilots, more workshops, more dissemination campaigns. And still, at the end of most projects, the adoption numbers peak and quietly slide.
The standard explanation blames the last mile: poor extension coverage, low connectivity, and limited farmer awareness. Fix the delivery, the logic goes, and the science will flow.