Technological constraint and farmers’ vulnerability in selected developing countries (Nigeria and Vietnam)

The process of globalization has continued to generate controversy on its impact on groups that are vulnerable to poverty. In this respect, there is evidence that farmers in most developing countries are increasingly vulnerable to poverty due to a number of reasons. One possible reason could be the limited access to the technologies that assist farmers in improving their production and later in selling their products, or the capacity to introduce them in their productive processes, thus causing low productivity, post-harvest losses and persistently low household income. Using the sectoral innovation system approach applied in agriculture, the paper aims to map out key actors (governmental agencies, public R&D institutions and extension service institutions, etc), and to examine their roles and their interaction in enhancing farmers’ access to technologies in such selected developing countries as Nigeria and Vietnam. From each country’s standpoint and experiences in agricultural development the paper compares how the farmers access the technological innovations in agriculture and its impact on the reduction (or not) of their vulnerability to poverty. To achieve significant reduction in farmers’ vulnerability to poverty, the paper revealed that there is need to replace the existing linear models of agricultural innovation with an agricultural system of innovation with its distinctive feature of interactive learning that engenders active participation of framers and other important actors in the agricultural innovation process.