Technological Capability, Innovation Capacity and Agro-industry Development in Nigeria

This paper discusses the strategic role of building technological capability in the Nigerian agro-industry, and examines the prospects for expanding the technological base and the innovation capacity for agro-industrial development. Case studies of technological capability in the Nigerian agro-industry are used to illustrate the critical elements in the development of technological capability in agro-industrial processing, and the role of stakeholders in partnership arrangements especially with respect to public-private sector interaction. The analysis in the paper demonstrates that the technological trajectory in industrial innovation is still at the initial conditions of articulating the frameworks for technological learning, building infrastructure for R&D, and providing adequate and appropriate incentives for industrial innovation. Consequently, the existence of technological innovation in the Nigerian agro-industry has been limited to anecdotal incidence of industrial innovation. The discourse is concluded with specific suggestions stressing the need to integrate industrial and technology policies in an innovation policy that details specific sectoral strategies for stimulating a dynamic industrial innovation system with a focus on agro-industry.