Farms that are used to teach agricultural techniques and technologies – known as demonstration farms – are a smart investment that can help accelerate the adoption of game-changing innovations. Farmers can learn new ways of doing things without having to do it on their farms.
Demonstration farms are used to teach various agricultural techniques and technologies, showcase new or improved crops. They also serve as a venue to research and test new methods alongside traditional ones.
Their sizes can vary widely, ranging from small to big farms. Depending on what’s being tested or showcased, the demonstration farm could have different types of crops and crop varieties, livestock or poultry breeds, fertiliser treatments or technology, such as drip irrigation. They are often owned and operated by universities, government or private research institutions, private industries or agriculture focused start-ups and non-governmental organisations.
But demonstration farms have the potential to do much more. There are still far too few of them in Africa. If carefully designed, they could help revolutionise African agriculture. They could help solve some of Africa’s most persistent challenges including degraded soils or the low adoption of irrigation technologies. Read more