Putting research into use: A market failure approach

This article explores innovation and technology development aid targeted at the African rural poor but often failing to deliver benefit. Using five cases of UK bilateral aid (current and historic) it suggests the prime importance of securing continuous knowledge interaction across the whole of the relevant value chain, combined with the need for institutional reform of science policy in this field. The article's approach emphasizes the underlying problem as an inherent tendency to failure in knowledge markets combined with often unsuitable institutional contexts.