Innovations for development

This book has three keywords: (1) innovation (2) learning from abroad, and (3) human capital investment. The Asian Green Revolution, which is a major innovation in agriculture, occurred by learning from abroad and investing in the human capital of researchers, extension workers, and farmers. The transformation of subsistence agriculture toward high-value agriculture requires innovation based on learning from abroad and investment in the human capital of farmers and agroprocessors. The engine of growth in industrial clusters is always innovation based on learning from abroad and human capital investment in entrepreneurs. The fundamental sources of development among staple crop farming, high-value agriculture, and industrial clusters consisting of micro-, small-, and medium-sized firms (MSMEs) look the same. There are, however, significant differences in the nature of technological and managerial information in the different economic sectors. The purposes of this chapter are to provide an integrated view of the characteristics of these economic sectors and to propose principles of effective development strategies for agriculture and industry.