innovation platforms as spaces for rural change – some experiences from ilri
TRANSCRIPT
Innovation platforms as spaces for rural change – some experiences
from ILRI
Alan Duncan
FAO West Africa Regional Workshop on Crop Residues, Dakar, 10-13 December 2012
What is an innovation
platform?Many definitions but one we like at ILRI:
An innovation platform is a needs-basednetwork bringing together stakeholders fromdifferent interest groups, disciplines, sectorsand organizations to exchange knowledge, generate innovation and develop joint action. Platforms are more than just places to talk; they create opportunities for stakeholders to test solutions to common problems (Cullen & Ergano, 2011)
Rural
farmer
Collector Processor
Consumer
Input
supplier
Coop
Research Extension
Conventional approach: research to
farmerInnovation Systems
Approach: research inside
Research Extension
Identify the focal issue
– In the case of the
Fodder Adoption
Project: feed for
livestock
– In the case of the
Nile Basin
Development
Challenge: rainwater
management
Identify relevant stakeholders –
these become potential IP members
R4D
project
Local
Research
NGO
Private
sector
Extension
Water
office
District
admin
Champion
farmers
Joint identification of
constraints and actions
Constraint Action Timescale Who is
responsible?
Seed supply Meet with
private seed
supplier
By next week Research
Institute
Lack of
improved
animals
Identify local
sources
By March Office of
Agriculture
Technical
know-how on
forage
cultivation
Develop
training
materials
By June NGO
Lesson 1
Demonstrating benefits of
technological options through on-farm
trials and other approaches proved to
be an effective means of stimulating
interest of farmers and other
stakeholders which then made
convening and establishing multi-
stakeholder networks easier.
Lesson 2
For actors to participate in multi-
stakeholder networks it is necessary
for clear, tangible incentives to exist.
Lesson 3
Linking fodder technologies to
livestock value chains is essential to
ensure their successful adoption.
Lesson 4
Diverse actors, including farmers,
researchers, extensionists, local
policy makers and the private sector,
are needed in networks to enable
knowledge to be turned into action
and benefits.
Lesson 5
To ensure fit with national policies
and to enable scaling up from local to
national levels, mechanisms need to
put in place to engage with policy
makers at different levels.
Links
http://ilriclippings.wordpress.com/cate
gory/innovation-systems/
http://fodderadoption.wordpress.com/
http://nilebdc.org/news/