Agrifood system transformation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals requires increased attention to developing, adapting and diffusing impactful science, technology and innovation (STI). Current levels and patterns of STI uptake are inadequate to facilitate needed agrifood system transformations, especially in today's low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, the descriptive and evaluative evidence on current and emergent STI is also insufficiently well understood to permit intentional management of STI to meet the multiple objectives of future agrifood systems: efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. This report introduces the vision, rationale, scope and methods for new knowledge products FAO will launch as part of a new Agrifood System Technologies and Innovations Outlook (ATIO). ATIO's objective is to curate existing information on the current, measurable state of STI and upcoming changes, as well as their transformative potential, to inform evidence-based policy dialogue and decisions, including on investments.
The capacity-focused problem tree pinpoints a core capacity issue, along with its causes and effects. It helps clarify the precise capacity-development objectives that the intervention aims to achieve. The focus should be on functional capacity, but room should be left to acknowledge technical capacity issues too.
This factsheet is part of a series outlining tools and approaches to promote capacity development projects for agricultural innovation systems (AIS). The tools described in these pages are designed with a view to the practical implementation of the principles of the Common Framework of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20 initiative. They have been applied in the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO in collaboration with national partners in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, tLaos and Rwanda.
The timeline tool is generally put to use when stakeholders embark upon the self-assessment phase of their innovation partnership. Stakeholders are asked to recall moments they feel were significant for the partnership, from its beginning to the present and to reflect upon how the partnership has evolved since it began.
This factsheet is part of a series outlining tools and approaches to promote capacity development projects for agricultural innovation systems (AIS). The tools described in these pages are designed with a view to the practical implementation of the principles of the Common Framework of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20 initiative. They have been applied in the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO in collaboration with national partners in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos and Rwanda.
This training manual was prepared under the EU-funded project Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS), a global partnership (Agrinatura, FAO and 8 pilot countries) that aims to strengthen the capacity of countries and key stakeholders to innovate in complex agricultural systems, thereby achieving improved rural livelihoods. CDAIS uses a continuous learning cycle to support national agricultural innovation systems in eight countries in Africa (Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Rwanda), in Asia (Bangladesh and Laos), and Central America (Guatemala and Honduras). CDAIS brings together key partners and actors to address commonly identified challenges and opportunities in specific regions or within particular value chains. Together they develop and implement national capacity development plans to strengthen agricultural innovation. This manual is a resource for the training of National Innovation Facilitators (NIFs) across all 8 countries. The objective of the training is to strengthen the NIFs’ facilitation skills and their ability to carry out Capacity Needs Assessments (CNAs) in agricultural innovation niche partnerships. The training is intended to be delivered by the Agrinatura Focal Persons (AFPs) and the Country Project Managers (CPMs) in each country, with the help of various other support personnel from Agrinatura and FAO. These trainers have themselves gone through a Training of Trainers process to familiarise them with the training manual, the interactive and participatory approach required and the use of the various facilitation tools that are contained within it.
The Global Innovation Index (GII) aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of innovation by providing a rich database of detailed metrics for 127 economies, which represent 92.5% of the world’s population and 97.6% of global GDP. As Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, noted at the UN Economic and Social Council in 2013, the GII is a ‘unique tool for refining innovation policies . . . for providing an accurate picture on the role of science, technology and innovation in sustainable development’.
The GII 2017 marks the 10th edition of the GII, providing data and insights gleaned from tracking innovation across the globe for more than a decade. The GII was created to measure and understand which economies and regions respond best to the challenges of innovation, and has helped to shape the innovation agendas of nations since 2007. For more than 10 years, the agriculture and food sector has faced growing global demand and increased competition for limited natural resources. Within the agricultural and food systems, innovation is indispensable to achieving sustainable productivity growth; this innovation must be a priority and include organizational change, cooperation along the value chain, public and private investment in R&D, adaptation and adoption of new innovations, and education. A review of how innovation and technology trends and the enabling environments in which these systems operate and evolve will be essential to the success of this endeavour, creating an urgent need for improved metrics and indicators. The analysis in this year’s edition, The Global Innovation Index 2017: Innovation Feeding the World, is dedicated to this theme, paving the way for improved strategies and policy making to foster innovation in food systems.
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This report includes the article on innovation systems "The Potential of a Global Diagnostic Tool for Agricultural Innovation Systems" , by Christian Grovermann, Samy Gaiji, Karin Nichterlein, Abdoulaye Saley Moussa, Sónia Dias, Andrea Sonnino, and Delgermaa Chuluunbaatar.
This publication provides a collection of papers, commentaries, expert opinions and reflections on state-of-the-art innovation systems thinking and approaches in agriculture. It is the direct output of a CTA and WUR/CoS-SIS collaboration which had its genesis in an expert consultation on ‘Innovation Systems: Towards Effective Strategies in support of Smallholder Farmers’. Practitioners and scholars involved in academic, research, training and development programmes came together to map the diversities and commonalities in applying the concept in agriculture and chart the way forward for informing policy and practice.
This report summarizes the international symposium organized on 21 June 2016 by the Tropical Agricultural Platform (TAP) to discuss capacity development for food security and nutrition in Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). In addition, the symposium aimed to present the findings of the e-conference on "Innovation systems for food security and nutrition: understanding the capacities needed" that took place between 18 April and 13 May 2016.
Agricultural innovation in low-income tropical countries contributes to a more effective and sustainable use of natural resources and reduces hunger and poverty through economic development in rural areas. Yet, despite numerous recent public and private initiatives to develop capacities for agricultural innovation, such initiatives are often not well aligned with national efforts to revive existing Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). In an effort to improve coordination and responsiveness of Capacity Development (CD) initiatives, the G20 Agriculture Ministers requested the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to lead the development of a Tropical Agricultural Platform (TAP), which is designed to improve coherence and coordination of CD for agricultural innovation in the tropics. This paper presents a summary of the results obtained from three regional needs assessments undertaken by TAP and its partners. The findings reveal a mismatch in all three regions between the external supply of primarily individual CD and the actual demand for institutional CD. The misalignment might be addressed by strengthening south-south and triangular collaboration and by improving the institutional capacities that would render national AIS more demand-oriented and responsive to the needs of smallholders in domestic agriculture.
This handbook has been developed to guide assessment teams through the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), or any part of it. The handbook has been developed for three main target groups: • those who are commissioning an assessment, e.g. senior-level government officials, who need to know what it will entail and what outputs to expect; • those who are conducting an assessment, i.e. members of the core team, who need to know how to do it; and • those who are contributing to an assessment, e.g., experts and stakeholders at the national or regional level, who need to know what it involves. This ‘road-test’ edition of the handbook is being circulated to engage others in the process of learning about – and improving – the methodology. A revised version of the handbook will be published at a later date in order to integrate learning from the road-testing process (see page 7 for more details on roadtesting ROAM).
This guide to Investing in Locally Controlled Forestry (ILCF) is an outcome of the Growing Forest Partnerships initiative that engaged The Forests Dialogue to co-ordinate 11 wideranging dialogues involving investors, rights-holders, governments, donors and others on this topic. It is primarily a tool for practical action and its advice draws on strong evidence showing that locally-controlled forestry enterprises can be successful, sustainable and profitable for all stakeholders. It offers a market-based view of development, rooted in an understanding of the globalised, free-market economy, and concentrates on a role for SMEs – the ‘missing middle’ of many developing economies.
This document provides practical guidance on the establishment and implementation of FFS combining local innovations and AESA for trainers and FFS facilitators in introducing and promoting improved land and water management. Agroforestry systems are introduced for fodder trees, fodder crops, their management and utilization. The set of exercises includes diagnostic tools for resource mapping; transect and soil walks; identification of local innovations; exploration of market options; matrix assessment as ranking; livelihoods analysis; seasonal calendar; stakeholder analysis; gender and socio-economic analysis; problem analysis in different seasons; individual matching and pairwise ranking. The ASEA presents indicators for monitoring soil experiments and ideas for rotating when visiting different farms.
The global food supply is increasingly facing disruptions from extreme heat and storms. It is also a major contributor to climate change, responsible for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.This tension is why agriculture innovation is increasingly being elevated in international climate discussions.
At present, agriculture provides enough food for the world's 8 billion people, although many do not have adequate access. But to feed a global population of 10 billion in 2050, croplands would need to expand by 660 000 to 1.2 million square miles (171 million to 301 million hectare) relative to 2010. That would lead to more deforestation, which contributes to climate change. Further, some practices widely relied on to produce sufficient food, such as using synthetic fertilizers, also contribute to climate change.
Simply eliminating deforestation and these practices without alternative solutions would decrease the world's food supply and farmer's incomes. Fortunately, innovations are emerging that can help.
Agriculture is a vital sector that will feed a projected global population of 9.5 billion by 2050. Smallholder farmers produce more than 70 percent of the world's food. Globally, there are approximately 570 million smallholder farmers, who own less than two hectares of land. However, smallholders in most developing countries face challenges such as access to finance and insurance, unfair wages, access to agricultural resources and lack of market access.
In this context, improving the productivity, yield and nutritional content of food produced by smallholder farmers is critical. Agritech, empowered by artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things and drones has the potential to deliver a significant impact across the agriculture sector.
Empowering technologies can make agriculture more agile, data-driven, efficient and focus on farmers' well-being and income. While acknowledging the potential agritech holds, there is a need for a systematic and collaborative approach.
Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and transitioning the planet to an equitable climate and nature-positive future by 2050 will require systemic shifts in how food is produced and consumed.
With the current realities of the food systems, the fusion of innovation with purpose becomes not just a choice but a necessity.
Taking a solutions approach, new leaders are emerging in food systems, offering technologies and innovative models of engagement. The potential for innovation is game-changing – from digital services, climate-smart technologies, biologicals, artificial intelligence, earth observation, novel foods, precision nutrition and others.
The World Economic Forum's UpLink and Food Innovation Hubs Global Initiative platforms aim to drive cooperation and a global movement to deliver on the promise of innovation to the more than 8 billion people depending on sustainable and resilient food systems.
Food security is a critical challenge – the World Bank includes it among the eight global challenges to be addressed at scale in 2024. Climate shocks, economic instability and geopolitics have significantly impacted crop yields and food supply chains.
A fundamental shift in the way we produce and consume food is necessary. Technology and innovations are powerful enablers and catalysts of change. When coupled with the right collaboraion models and investments, these innovations could make food systems one of the most hopeful solutions on climate action, improving water security, reducing equity and nourishing all.
This document presents the set of thirty Food System Regional Reports developed within WP3 of the SALSA project. This is the first out of the three deliverables planned for this WP.
The Food System Regional reports provide an overview of the regional food systems and the role of small farms within them. They synthesise findings about the production, trade, and consumption of key products, and present a summary of surveys with small farm and small business owners. The data used in these reports was gathered in four major steps: Step 1 provided the first overview of the regional food system and involved the selection of key products for further analysis; it was based on available statistical information and key informat interviews (KIIs) in each region. Step 2 provided direct information on small farms and small food businesses from interviews to small farm and small food business owners. In step 3 the food system maps were further validated and refined using inputs from focus group discussions. Finally, in step 4 the draft regional reports were prepared, peer-reviewed, and revised.
Each Food System Regional reports has eight sections: 1) a socio-economic and agricultural profile of the reference region; 2) a presentation of the key products and regional food balance sheet 3) food system maps for each key product, showing the main actors and flows within the system, and identifying the role of small farms and small food businesses; 4) a typology of small farms in the reference region 5) a discussion on governance reflecting on the wider mechanisms that shape the practices within the reference regions; 6) a description of small farms and their particular livelihoods; 7) presents a discussion on the role of Small Food Businesses within the food system; and 8) an analysis on the future of small farms and small food business.
The results presented in this deliverable 3.1. will be used to complete deliverables 3.2. and 3.3 of WP3, but they will also feed the analysis made in WP4, 5 and 6.
The aim of the SALSA 'Living Document' is to document the main outcomes that have emerged throughout the four years of the SALSA research project and to associate them with key messages.
Originally, the idea was to "open" the Living Document for a limited amount of time after one of the identified key deliverables had been finalised. This in order to allow SALSA partners and the Expert Stakeholder Panel (ESP) to provide insights and perspectives and thereby learn from each other.
The elaboration of the Living Document follows the research progress assimilating the lessons learned from the various Work Packages. The document represents a mechanism for consolidation of key results, ultimately feeding into the final report.
SALSA Deliverable 6.3 is described in the project Description of Action (DoA) as a single Policy Brief but has been delivered as a set of five documents. These consist of:
The current deliverable (D6.2) is divided into two parts each corresponding to one of its two main audiences, namely:
Part 1 – Scientific Methodology
The aim of D6.2 is to provide policy makers with a strategic framework for guiding their decisions regarding the choice of appropriate support instruments (see Section 1). The SALSA Strategic Framework is based on a synthesis of the following data: (1) SALSA project outputs (WP1-WP6); (2) SALSA participatory processes with policy stakeholders and SALSA experts (concluded in D6.1 on enabling conditions for small farms and other SALSA expert sessions); and (3) Secondary sources stemming from both academic and practitioners' literature, which were used to triangulate findings (see Section 2). The Discussion and Conclusions chapter (see Section 3) provides answers to the three research questions of the deliverable.
Part 2 – SALSA Strategic Framework
The resulting SALSA Strategic Framework is also composed of three parts:
In the context of the SALSA project, the overall aim of WP6 is to identify, develop and disseminate policy tools and other support mechanisms that are most appropriate for maintaining and enhancing the contribution of small farms to sustainable FNS in the European and African context (SALSA Objective 4).
The current deliverable (D6.1) is divided into two parts, each corresponding to one of its two main audiences, namely:
Part 1 – Scientific Methodology
The current document D6.1 offers a synthesis and discussion of priority small farm needs for enabling conditions in each of SALSA's four macro-regions (Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Nothern Europe and SALSA's African countries). The needs identified in D6.1 form the basis of policy recommendations in Deliverable 6.2 detailing the SALSA Strategic Framework.
Part 2 – SALSA Strategic Framework
Part 2 of the current deliverable serves as a macro-regionally based prioritization of small farmer needs and enabling conditions. Their purpose is to inform policy makers in prioritizing interventions according to the real needs of small farms in the selected territories.
Deliverable 5.3 is based on an internal report produced under Task 5.3 'Enabling governance frameworks' (UPV team), and Task 5.4 'Governance Framework analysis'. Task 5.3 provided further analysis of 3 governance forms that were identified in Deliverable 5.1. (The Governance of Small Farms and Small Food Businesses to support food and nutritional security) as most enabling small farms and small food business to contribute to food and nutrition security. These were: 1. Cooperative arrangements and associations; 2. State subsidies and financial assistance; and, 3. Climate adaptation frameworks.
As part of the analysis carried out in T5.3, researchers investigated evidence of these three governance forms in the Regional Reports on Foresight Analysis produced in Work Package 4., which had not been produced at the time of the D.5.1 delivery. They also revisited the Regional Workshop Reports produced in Work Package 3. to conduct further analysis of the three governance forms to identify a) additional information, and b) actions, practices, and models already evident in the three domains of governance.
Given the research findings of D.5.1., and the focus of T5.3 on '(a) collective action and availability (technological change, sustainable intensification and natural resources sustainable management); (b) collective action and access (self-provisioning and mutual food support, particularly in remote rural' areas) it made sense that T5.4 and D5.3 would follow from these findings to produce a practice brief that gave an overview of: 1. The 3 most enabling governance forms identified in D.5.1 and further analysed in T5.3 and 5.4; 2. Specific practices that were identified as successful under the three domains of governance; and, 3. Specific actions identified as needed to support the 3 domains of governance. This minor deviation from the relevant Tasks and Deliverable, as outlined in the Grant Agreement, was agreed with the project leader ahead of time.
This report represents findings on the role of women in small-scale farming (defined as farms up to 5 ha or 8 ESU), particularly in relation to governance frameworks associated with food and nutrition security. It follows SALSA Deliverable 5.1, which assesses the governance arrangements which impact upon small-scale farms and small food businesses. Both reports utilise the data collected in SALSA WP3 (In-depth assessment of food systems in 30 regions). A further deliverable is forthcoming on the particular types of small-scale farming which contribute to food and nutrition security (SALSA D5.3).
The aim of WP5 is to answer the question: What governs Small Farm and Small Food Business activities? The specific aim of this report (and the related task 5.2) is to consider the way in which institutional arrangements condition the access of women to assets (e.g. land, capital), services and markets, as well as the role of women in small farmers' organisations. Women in small-food businesses are not addressed in this deliverable.
The aim of WP5 is to answer the question: What governs Small Farm and Small Food Business activities? The specific aim of this report (and the related task 5.1) is to identify and assess the forms of governance that influence, both positively and negatively, the contribution of small farms and small food businesses (SF/SFB) to Sustainable Food and Nutritional Security (FNS). In doing so, the work proceeds around the following objectives:
This final Deliverable of SALSA's WP4 'Participatory foresight analysis' aims to make a reflection precisely about the participatory character of the activities undertaken and the outcomes obtained in this WP. Namely, the objective of this deliverable is twofold: (i) to assess the engagement of stakeholders in these participatory scenario planning activities, and (ii) to discuss the legitimacy of the scenario planning method adopted in this research. In total, the regional foresight workshops held as part of this WP involved 243 participants, with women representing 42%. These workshops were facilitated by 67 researchers linked to SALSA, of which 35 were women. Overall, more than 300 persons have been directly involved in these science-policy-society foresight activities.
The analysis is based on the 13 regional reports elaborated by the research teams and the close follow-up carried out by the coordinating team in the process of refinement and adaptation of the common protocol to the regional circumstances. The analysis of stakeholder interaction draws upon the practical framework proposed by Schonoover et al. (2019) who identify three key elements of stakeholder interaction: creating space, aligning motivations and building trust. We also draw upon the approach of Duckett el al. (2017) to consider the legitimacy of our participatory scenario planning analysis.
The present document is the second deliverable from SALSA's Work Package 4. It contains the comparative analysis carried out from the 13 regional reports (collected in D4.1) that were gathered from the outcomes of the participatory foresight workshop conducted in 13 different regions in Europe and Africa.
One of the main results is the identification of key outcomes to be achieved in order to enhance the potential contribution of small farms (SF) and small food businesses (SFB) to regional food and nutrition security (FNS). These outcomes can be grouped as follows: (1) SF and SFB have knowledge and access to inputs, technology and innovations; (2) SF and SFB have access to value-addition processes; (3) SF and SFB produce a significant share of the regional food supply and are well connected to diverse markets; (4) consumers are aware and value regional SF products; (5) SF and SFB are empowered (politically, economically and socially) and receive financial and technical support from the public sector, and (6) SF and SFB contribute to environmental protection and climate change adaptation through sustainable production, diversification and preservation of genetic heritage. A second finding stems from the assessment of the role of SF and SFB in regional food systems under alternative future scenarios, defined by a diversity of drivers that shape more enabling or constraining settings for these holdings.
Finally, after the assessment of the action plans that were developed to achieve the previously identified objectives, this deliverable summarises a number of key messages: (i) Local and regional administrations have in their hands tools to facilitate the integration of local SF and SFB into regional and local markets by means of a diversity of public-private partnerships; (ii) De-bureaucratisation and the simplification and tailoring of administrative requirements are essential to eliminate barriers that are preventing SF and SFB to access markets, public support and business opportunities; (iii) Agricultural cooperatives should professionalise and reinforce their capacity to respond to changing market demands, as well as provide advice and training to SF, and (iv) SF and SFB should explore diverse forms of collective action and networking along the food value chain to strengthen their position, defend their interests and promote –in cooperation with public administrations- locally SF/SFB sourced food.
The present document is the first deliverable from SALSA's Work Package 4 which includes, after an introductory section that explains the methodological approach and the workshops' preparatory process, a compilation of 11 reports from each region where the foresight analysis was undertaken. Each regional report contains the main outcomes from these foresight activities on the future potential role of small farms and small food businesses in food and nutrition security.
The objectives of WP4 (Participatory foresight analysis) are: (i) to produce a foresight assessment (2030, 2050) in selected reference regions of what the significance and potential role of small farms might be in terms of future regional food production and supply, and the linkages to food consumption, (ii) to identify the preconditions for an increased role of small farms and small food businesses in regional FNS and (iii) to analyse the potential role of the resilience of small farms and small food businesses in different types of regions in Europe and Africa, and in the face of shocks and forseen climate changes.
For this purpose, regional foresight workshops were organised in 11 countries, covering a wide diversity of geographical and structural settings. These workshops consisted on scenario-based participatory planning that combined: the development of regional adapted scenario narratives from a common scenario framework, the identification of concrete objectives from visioning exercises and the creation of action plans to achieve those objectives.
In the next stages of the project, the regional reports included in this Deliverable 4.1 will be the object of a comparative analysis to produce a synthesis report (Deliverable 4.2). Moreover, the participatory foresight processes that have taken place regionally will be jointly assessed to evaluate the achievements and shortcomings of this stakeholder interaction. This assessment will be included in the Deliverable 4.3.
This document presents an in-depth comparative assessment of the local and regional food systems analysed in SALSA. Its aim is to improve the understanding of the current and potential role of SF in regional Food and Nutrition Security (FNS). This deliverable is a synthesis report on the main insights gained from the analysis completed for the 30 reference regions.
The data used in this report was gathered in five major steps from WP3, combined with the different steps of the work in WP2, described in the respective Deliverables. The results are divided into 6 different subsections, each providing a different analysis contributing to answer SALSA's main research questions: first, a summary of the key socio-economic and agricultural profiles of the regions analysed is provided; second, the production estimations obtained in WP2 are compared to official statistics; third, an innovative approach to quantifying SF' contribution to their regional food and nutrition security (availability dimension) is presented; fourth, a comparative analysis of SF' market linkages is provided and the key patterns discussed; fifth, the key actors shaping food systems are identified; and finally, the small farm typologies obtained in D.3.2. are contrasted against the key characteristics of their particular regional food systems. At the beginning of each section, the key highlights are provided.
Our results bring new insights to the current debate around SF and their contribution to FNS, which argues that SFs are still a key element of global FNS. Our results are in line with these arguments and bring a much needed focus on European small farm, evidencing that there are still many SF in Europe supporting regional FNS with locally supplied and produced food.
Thus, this specific report aims to analyse, precisely, the contribution of SF to the availability dimension of regional FNS. This is done by looking from a regional level perspective at the activities and flows activated by SF, or in other words, small farm's market linkages, through the analysis of different key food products in 30 reference regions in Europe and Africa, which in total lead to 109 food products systems (being each product in general analysed in more than one region).
This document presents the small farm typologies developed from SALSA's sample (n=892) and provides a detailed comparative analysis on the key characteristics and livelihood strategies of each of the types, identifying similarities, differences and trends.
WP3 data collection was done through 5 major steps described in D.3.1. and D.3.3. The data used in this report was gathered through the second step of this process: small farm interviews. Step 2 provided direct information on small farms and small food businesses from a survey based on questionnaires to a diversified sample of small farms in each region.
The data analysis consisted of a multivariate analysis which includes ordination and clustering methods. Multivariate and cluster analysis are used to identify explanatory variables (discriminating variables) and to group farms in homogeneous types. Through this method, five maine types –or clusters—of small farms have been identified.
The results are divided into two main sections. The first one provides a description of the typologies obtained through the cluster analysis, and the second one, shows a deeper comparative analysis of the main attributes characterising each of the types.
The development of typologies allows to improve our understanding on small farms and their role on food and nutrition security, as it is a tool that reduces complexity and allows is to make sense of their diversity. The variability and differences between the types will alow for improved research outcomes and policy recommendations.
In the face of the climate emergency, around 140 countries, which emit close to 90% of the global greenhouse gas emissions, are planning to reduce their emissions to as close to zero as possible (known as net zero) in the upcoming decades. Around a third of these are low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the countries most affected by climate change. So how can countries in the Global South achieve a socially-just transition? One key element is innovation, and potentially mission-oriented innovation.
Missions are measurable, ambitious and time-bound targets. One example is the mission for at least 100 cities across the European Union, supported by the EU Commission, to become climate-neutral. Across OECD member states, mission-oriented innovation (MOI) is becoming increasingly popular, and a growing number of countries are experimenting with MOI to reach net zero targets. An MOI approach is a co-ordinated package of policy and regulatory measures specifically tailored to mobilise diverse forms of innovation. These can be technological, social, or regulatory to help make progress against a measurable objective, such as a carbon-neutral economy.
Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies (MOIPs) are one approach that can advance the required transformations. As our colleague Philippe Larrue noted in a 2021 paper, MOIPs are "a co-ordinated package of policy and regulatory measures tailored specifically to mobilise science, technology and innovation in order to address well-defined objectives related to a societal challenge, in a defined timeframe".
As MOIPs gain considerable traction across the European Union, they may also be a key piece of the puzzle that produces thriving economies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In light of our planet's boundaries and the need to address social development challenges, the objective cannot be to grow for growth's sake. Instead, the aim should be to achieve a certain type of economic advancement that simultaneously pursues environmental sustainability and improvements in the standard and quality of people's lives. In this context, MOIPs create a new paradigm: from governments seeking to simply fix failing markets to one in which the public sector actively encourages the innovation process by shaping and creating technologies, sectors and markets.
The OECD InDeF team developed a portfolio approach to innovation. A portfolio approach takes a balcony view on innovation which helps organizations align innovation processes, resources and performance with organizational objectives and enables them to track innovation with a view to scaling. Coached by the OECD team, Enabel colleagues in Benin, Morocco and Palestine piloted this portfolio approach by reviewing their current innovation supporting activities and investments against a set of key criteria. This helped Enabel get a better understanding of how much, where and how we invest in innovation in these countries.
Addressing 21st century development challenges requires investments in innovation, including the use of new approaches and technologies. Currently, many development organisations prioritise investments in isolated innovation pilots that leverage a specific approach or technology rather than pursuing a strategic approach to expand the organisation's toolbox with innovations that have proven their comparative advantage over what is currently used.
This Working Paper addresses this challenge of adopting innovations. How can development organisations institutionalise a new way of working, bringing what was once novel to the core of how business is done? Analysing successful adoption efforts across five DAC agencies, the paper lays out a proposed process for the adoption of innovations. The paper features five case-studies and concludes with a set of lessons and recommendations for policy makers on innovation management generally, and adoption of innovation in particular.
The Newsletter of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) provides regular updates on activities by TAP and its partners, on the projects and on upcoming events. This issue specifically refers to the period from August 2023 to February 2024.
The EU-funded Horizon 2020 “Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security” (SALSA) project has brought together 16 partners, from European and African countries and the UN system, who have a unique blend of multidisciplinary expertise and experience from a wide range of geographical and socio-political realities.
SALSA has aimed to provide a better understanding of the current and potential contribution of small farms and food businesses to sustainable Food and Nutrition Security (FNS).
The project is supported by a high-profile international Expert Stakeholder Panel (ESP), whose members include experts and key stakeholders in the area of small farms and food and nutrition security.
This document serves to summarise the main results of the SALSA project.
Africa–Europe Cooperation and Digital Transformation explores the opportunities and challenges for cooperation between Africa and Europe in the digital sphere.
Digitalisation and digital technologies are not only essential for building competitive and dynamic economies; they transform societies, pose immense challenges for policymakers, and increasingly play a pivotal role in global power relations. Digital transformations have had catalytic effects on African and European governance, economies, and societies, and will continue to do so. The COVID-19 pandemic has already accelerated the penetration of digital tools all over the globe and is likely to be perceived as a critical juncture in how and to what purpose the world accepts and uses new and emerging technologies. This book offers a holistic analysis of how Africa and Europe can manage and harness digital transformation as partners in a globalised world. The authors shed light on issues ranging from economic growth, youth employment, and gender, to regulatory frameworks, business environments, entrepreneurship, and interest-driven power politics. They add much-needed perspectives to the debates that shape the two continents’ digital transformation and innovation environments.
This book will interest practitioners working in the areas of innovation, digital technologies, and digital entrepreneurship, as well as students and scholars of international relations. It will also be relevant for policymakers, regulators, decision-makers, and leaders in Africa and Europe.
If the world is to transition towards agrifood systems that are more sustainable and equitable, small-scale production systems will be key to progress. Large parts of the world depend on small-scale systems for maintaining food security and nutrition (Lowder, Sánchez and Bertini, 2021; Herrero et al., 2017). Despite this centrality, neither small-scale production systems nor small-scale producers have received due recognition under predominant agrifood systems paradigms.
This paper analyzes the diversity of small-scale producers and demonstrates how understanding small-scale production can have consequences for how policies and investments are directed and how they impact small-scale producer livelihoods. The diverse roles and functions of small-scale production are presented as being essential to realizing sustainable agrifood systems transformations and respecting its social, environmental and economic dimensions. Constraints faced by small-scale producers in accessing the assets, financial and knowledge services and market positioning that can support profitable livelihoods are examined.
This publication provides recommendations for expanding the potential of small-scale producers for sustainable agrifood systems transformations across the following areas:
The Newsletter of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) provides regular updates on activities by TAP and its partners, on the projects and on upcoming events. This issue specifically refers to the period from May 2022 to July 2022.
Innovation for sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) is challenging. Changing agricultural systems at scale normally means working with partners at different levels to make changes in policies and social institutions, along with technical practices. This study extracts lessons for practitioners and investors in innovation in SAI, based on concrete examples, to guide future investment.
Three country case studies were commissioned by CoSAI and led by Agroicone (Brazil), CEEW (India) and Resource Plan (Kenya). They systematically review SAI innovation success stories at scale in three types of agriculture: small-scale, medium- to large-scale, and urban and peri-urban. The reports examine which factors led to success and how the cases measure up in terms of meeting environmental, social and economic objectives, and managing the trade-offs between them.
This free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Open Data Management in Agriculture and Nutrition was first created in 2016. The course was delivered 5 times between November 2017 and November 2018, reaching over 5000 people globally, before being made available for unrestricted use
GODAN would like to thank GODAN Action partners, including Wageningen Environmental Research (WUR), AgroKnow, AidData, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the Land Portal, the Open Data Institute (ODI) and the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA).
The course is also available in English, DOI registered through Zenodo, in Gitbook format.
The Newsletter of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) provides regular updates on activities by TAP and its partners, on the projects and on upcoming events. This issue specifically refers to the period from February 2022 to April 2022.
As the COVID-19 pandemic turns into a global crisis, countries are taking measures to contain the pandemic. Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now. But a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, which is a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more. The shipping industry is already reporting slowdowns because of port closures, and logistics hurdles could disrupt the supply chains in the coming weeks. This policy brief provides recommendations on measures to consider in order to keep the supply chain alive in these times of crisis
This brochure summarizes key results of the work done by the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the center (1970-2020).
This brochure gives an overview of the work of of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). It illustrates history, main objectives and medium to long-term plan of JIRCAS for the period 2021-2025. The three main programs of JIRCAS - focused, respectively on Food, Environment and Information - are also presented.
Participatory research can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and scope of research processes, and foster social inclusion, empowerment, and sustainability. Yet despite four decades of agricultural research institutions exploring and developing methods for participatory research, it has never become mainstream in the agricultural technology development cycle. Citizen science promises an innovative approach to participation in research, using the unique facilities of new digital technologies, but its potential in agricultural research participation has not been systematically probed. To this end, we conducted a critical literature review. We found that citizen science opens up four opportunities for creatively reshaping research: (i) new possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration, (ii) rethinking configurations of socio-computational systems, (iii) research on democratization of science more broadly, and (iv) new accountabilities. Citizen science also brings a fresh perspective on the barriers to institutionalizing participation in the agricultural sciences. Specifically, we show how citizen science can reconfigure cost-motivation-accountability combinations using digital tools, open up a larger conceptual space of experimentation, and stimulate new collaborations. With appropriate and persistent institutional support and investment, citizen science can therefore have a lasting impact on how agricultural science engages with farming communities and wider society, and more fully realize the promises of participation.
The quality of rural extension and advisory services is a crucial element in fostering innovation and rural development. This article aims to clarify the concept of quality of rural extension and to develop a preliminary theoretical framework. An ample literature review was conducted in search of articles on service quality and quality of rural extension and advisory services. The first part presents the main results of the literature search on quality of extension services. The definition of quality is not universal. Quality cannot be conceptualized only as farmers’ satisfaction or as extension results. It has different dimensions or components and stakeholders have different points of view about it. The second part of this article discusses the definition of service quality and the concept of Total Quality Management and underlines that the concept of quality varies according to industry types or contexts and is the result of complex negotiation among different stakeholders. Finally, a comprehensive theoretical framework for addressing quality of rural extension and advisory services is presented that differentiates among enablers that limit or facilitate the delivery of quality rural extension and advisory services, the production and delivery processes, and results obtained. Here, the key role played by quality self-assessment and organizational learning is highlighted.
Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. This book provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.
The agricultural industry is getting more data-centric and requires precise, more advanced data and technologies than before, despite being familiar with agricultural processes. The agriculture industry is being advanced by various information and advanced communication technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT). The rapid emergence of these advanced technologies has restructured almost all other industries, as well as advanced agriculture, which has shifted the industry from a statistical approach to a quantitative one. This radical change has shaken existing farming techniques and produced the latest prospects in a series of challenges. This comprehensive review article enlightens the potential of the IoT in the advancement of agriculture and the challenges faced when combining these advanced technologies with conventional agricultural systems. A brief analysis of these advanced technologies with sensors is presented in advanced agricultural applications. Numerous sensors that can be implemented for specific agricultural practices require best management practices (e.g., land preparation, irrigation systems, insect, and disease management). This review includes the integration of all suitable techniques, from sowing to harvesting, packaging, transportation, and advanced technologies available for farmers throughout the cropping system. Besides, this review article highlights the utilization of other tools such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for crop monitoring and other beneficiary measures, such as optimizing crop yields. In addition, advanced programs based on the IoT are also discussed. Finally, based on our comprehensive review, we identified advanced prospects regarding the IoT, which are essential tools for sustainable agriculture.
The latest comprehensive research agenda in the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension was published in 2012 (Faure, Desjeux, and Gasselin 2012), and since then there have been quite some developments in terms of biophysical, ecological, climatological, social, political and economic trends that impact farming and the transformation of agriculture and food systems at large as well as new potentially disruptive technologies. These may also have an impact on education and advisory systems. Thus, when I was asked to provide the opening keynote address at the 24th European Seminar on Extension and Education (ESEE 2019) held at Acireale, Italy, this seemed a pertinent topic to reflect on and offer some ideas on what would be the questions that should form part of a new research agenda for agricultural education and extension studies. This editorial elaborates on that presentation, with the purpose of sharing the reflections presented as well as the suggested questions for future research. The proposed research agenda focuses on advisory services rather than formal agricultural education (at technical, vocational and university levels), but obviously there are links between the two.
Agricultural innovation systems has become a popular approach to understand and facilitate agricultural in-novation. However, there is often no explicit reflection on the role of agricultural innovation systems in food systems transformation and how they relate to transformative concepts and visions (e.g. agroecology, digital agriculture, Agriculture 4.0, AgTech and FoodTech, vertical agriculture, protein transitions). To support such reflection we elaborate on the importance of a mission-oriented perspective on agricultural innovation systems. We review pertinent literature from innovation, transition and policy sciences, and argue that a mission-oriented agricultural innovation systems (MAIS) approach can help understand how agricultural innovation systems at different geographical scales develop to enable food systems transformation, in terms of forces, catalysts, and barriers in transformative food systems change. Focus points can be in the mapping of missions and sub-missions of MAIS within and across countries, or understanding the drivers, networks, governance, theories of change, evolution and impacts of MAIS. Future work is needed on further conceptual and empirical development of MAIS and its connections with existing food systems transformation frameworks. Also, we argue that agricultural systems scholars and practitioners need to reflect on how the technologies and concepts they work on relate to MAIS, how these represent a particular directionality in innovation, and whether these also may support ex-novation.
This brochure presents the five-year TAP-AIS project (2019-2024) funded by the European Union under the DeSIRA Initiative and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The project has the main objective to strengthen capacities to innovate in national agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in the context of climate-relevant, productive, and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific.
Sustainable food systems are fundamental to ensuring that future generations are food secure and eat healthy diets. To transition towards sustainability, many food system activities must be reconstructed, and myriad actors around the world are starting to act locally. While some changes are easier than others, knowing how to navigate through them to promote sustainable consumption and production practices requires complex skill sets.
This handbook is written for “sustainable food systems innovators” by a group of innovators from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe who are leading initiatives to grow, share, sell and consume more sustainable foods in their local contexts. It includes experiences that are changing the organizational structures of local food systems to make them more sustainable. The handbook is organized as a “choose your own adventure” story where each reader – individually or in a facilitated group – can develop their own personalized learning and action journeys according to their priorities. The topics included in this handbook are arranged into four categories of innovations: engaging consumers, producing sustainably, getting products to market and getting organized.
The publication is a part of the FAO work to assist the member countries in reforming their national Extension and Advisory Services (EAS). It highlights the main elements and provides concrete guidelines for the policy makers to make EAS demand-driven, i.e. responsive to diverse needs and demands of rural producers, including the most vulnerable groups, women and youth etc.
This study systematically explores, analyses, reports on and synthesises research on the topic of sectoral innovation systems related to agriculture and agri-food in OECD countries. It is based on systematic mapping of the literature (academic papers published in scientific journals) in the period 1997-2017. The aim is to show the state of current knowledge on sectoral innovation systems in agri-food, in order to identify knowledge gaps and future areas for research and provide methodological and theoretical perspectives. Abstracts for a total of 320 papers were analysed, using a qualitative approach. Key elements of agricultural innovation systems identified were organised into 8 main themes/topics: agents, basic technologies, knowledge and learning processes, mechanisms of interaction, institutions, end-users, system transition and contextual variables. Areas identified as requiring research included making the sector more consumer- and market-oriented, increasing interactions outside conventional system boundaries, including the consumer perspective and societal changes, and determining the role of gender in innovation in agri-food systems.
Theoretically, improved food security can be achieved through (a) increased availability – by extending staple food production area, higher productivity, good post harvesting practices; (b) enhanced access – as a result of more stable prices, improved farmer income, or even rural income; and (c) increased stability - through improved and sustained competitive advantage of the member firms, which eventually contribute to sustainable industry including in agriculture. Nonetheless, there has been a limited study linking the concept of food security and the necessity of managing competitive advantage of the agricultural supply chains. This paper links the theoretical foundations of supply chain management the concept of food security policy. Through a review of literature, a concept of how sustainable competitive advantage can be achieved through supply chain management, which in a development context, can improve food security by bringing together the concepts of food availability as well as improved people access to sufficient food is further explored
The use of digital technologies has been recognized as one of the great challenges for businesses of the 21st century. This digitalization is characterized by the intensive use of information technologies in the different stages of the value chain of a sector. In this context, smart agriculture is transforming the agricultural sector in terms of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. In some countries, cooperatives, as the most common legal form of the incumbent companies, in this rather traditional low-intensive technology sector, are going to develop a relevant role in the process of adoption of these technologies. In this context, this paper provides, first, a review of the evolution of the main digital technologies, such as Internet of Things, robots, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Blockchain, among others. Second, a description of the digital innovation process in agri-cooperatives in order to help them in the decision-making process, and third, a digital diagnosis tool for measuring cooperatives’ digital innovation. This tool is initially applied to two cases of agri-cooperatives in Spain. All of this contributes to a better understanding of digitalization of agri-cooperatives in the context of smart agriculture
Today, technological global agri-food economies dominated by vertically integrated large enterprises are failing in meeting the challenge of feeding a growing global population within the limits of the “Planetary Boundaries”, and are characterised by a “triple fracture” between agri-food economies and their three constitutive elements: nature, consumers, and producers. In parallel to this crisis, new eco-ethical-driven agri-food economies are built around new farming and food distribution practices to face the challenge of food system transition to sustainability. By exploring these new emerging agri-food economies in both developing and developed countries, this Special Issue aims to develop a multidisciplinary discussion on “re-territorialisation” as a strategy to face the existing global agri-food economies crisis. These new agri-food economies are built starting from the farm level, involve the construction of innovative supply chains and markets and are developed through the support of public policies
This article surveys the trends in agricultural extension programmes and services found across the world, including privatization, decentralization, and pluralism. The general movement from top-down extension services to demand-driven programmes is explored along with its impact on the skills needed by extension professionals. Process skills and competencies required of modern extension professional programme planning and development, programme implementation, written and spoken communication, educational and informational technology, facilitative leadership, diversity and multiculturalism, public relations, and applied research and evaluation are explained and linked to relevant skill sets. In-service training of current extension agents and improvements to the facilities, faculty, and curricula used in the education of future agents are proposed as solutions to the challenges facing agricultural extension programmes and services. In-service training would raise knowledge, skills and attitudes of extension agents to meet changing contexts and needs. The changing nature of professional extension work requires that university training programmes respond with new courses and experiences for students. Practical education through fieldwork, internships, or practicums and techniques for adult learning, technology and communication skills, and leadership development are all possible solutions for closing the gap between the agricultural and extension education training programmes and the competencies required of professional extension agent
The concept of resilience gained traction in academic, policy, and development discourse in recent years, yet its conceptualization and application at the farm level has received little attention. For instance, recent policy recommendations present farm resilience as a silver bullet in dealing with agricultural risks and uncertainty, and in achieving sustainable agri-food systems. Yet, the question of what determines farm resilience in a smallholder farming set-up remains fuzzy. To address this knowledge gap, we firstly develop a novel conceptual framework based on determinants of farm resilience and farmer adaptive capacity as a pathway through which farm resilience is strengthened. The emphasis on adaptive capacity responds to a conceptual weakness inherent in studies that present socio-ecological systems as static systems. Secondly, based on a literature review, we propose mechanisms through which farmer entrepreneurship, membership in farmer organization, and farmer–buyer relationships may influence farmer adaptive capacity and thereby farm resilience. Based on our conceptual understanding of the determinants of farm resilience, we recommend approaches that augment farmer entrepreneurship, support farmer organizations, and strengthen farmer–buyer relationships
The issue 1 of the 2020 Capacity Development Newsletter of the International Livestock Research Institute, brings the news regarding short training courses, research and travel grants, fellowships and scholarships as well as all capacity development oportunities lead by the Institute.
The issue 3 of the 2020 Capacity Development Newsletter of the International Livestock Research Institute, brings the news regarding short training courses, research and travel grants, fellowships and scholarships as well as all capacity development oportunities lead by the Institute.
Facing the challenges of the 21st century, into the agricultural sector have been designing strategies focused on the management of ecosystem resources, risk management associated with crops and the promotion of sustainable growth of agricultural communities. These strategies have been configured considering functional and competitive levels for open agricultural production systems, and usually based on low-cost technologies such that Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), Internet of Things (IoT), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Cloud Computing, and Computational Algorithms. This approach allows the configuration, planning, and implementation of technological strategies for the agricultural sector, impacting in a positive way, generating higher production levels and intensive production cycles to strengthen the smallholder farmers
The research programme URBAL (Urban-driven Innovations for Sustainable Food Systems) (2018–2020), funded by Agropolis Fondation (France), Fondation Daniel & Nina Carasso (France/Spain), and Fundazione Cariplo (Italy), and coordinated by CIRAD (France) and the Laurier Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada), seeks to build and test a participatory methodology to identify and map the impact pathways of urban-driven innovations on all the dimensions of food systems sustainability. By testing this methodology through various case studies internationally – Urban Food Innovation Labs (UFILs), including sites in the Global South and North – this project aims to provide decision makers with information on how innovations can contribute to, or work against, building more sustainable food systems, thus assisting them to determine which actions should or should not be taken. This chapter presents the general framework for the URBAL project as well as the main interwoven considerations and approaches that are the backbone of the methodology. Please note that this is an ongoing project and that it has evolved since the chapter has been written. We will point out some changes in the methodology as the chapter proceeds
Technological influence was a great support for judgment-making in various fields, especially in agriculture. Agriculture production has been on the rise over recent years due to a lack of knowledge of agriculture and ecological shifts. The main goal of this system is to accomplish farmers in e-Agriculture of their wakefulness, usage, and observation. The study used a technique of numerical study design to collect data from farmers for their e-commerce awareness The data gathered indicate there is less understanding that there is a need for help for e-agriculture. E-Agriculture is a chance to promote the advertising of farm products. Agriculture efficiency requires fast-priced latest technologies which are only possible in intensive agriculture systems. Participation in things to do in e-commerce needs that any customer and retailer have internet access and that they can efficiently use the necessary hardware and software program for the producer, user, negative individual. The objective of product traceability is to impose specific requirements for all stakeholders in the creation and income process and then remove faulty goods from the markets to restrict hazardous consumer influences and thus prevent consumers from providing safe products. This device can improve the self-confidence of customers in products and establish a credible relationship between buyers and producers, and the disposal of waste / extra meals in separate functions of the rest of the food is distributed to the poor NGOs
Agriculture 4.0 is comprised of different already operational or developing technologies such as robotics, nanotechnology, synthetic protein, cellular agriculture, gene editing technology, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning, which may have pervasive effects on future agriculture and food systems and major transformative potential. These technologies underpin concepts such as vertical farming and food systems, digital agriculture, bioeconomy, circular agriculture, and aquaponics. In this perspective paper, we argue that more attention is needed for the inclusion and exclusion effects of Agriculture 4.0 technologies, and for reflection on how they relate to diverse transition pathways towards sustainable agricultural and food systems driven by mission-oriented innovation systems. This would require processes of responsible innovation, anticipating the potential impacts of Agriculture 4.0 through inclusive processes, and reflecting on and being responsive to emerging effects and where needed adjusting the direction and course of transition pathways
In this perspective paper the authors consider the implications of a digital transformation for agricultural knowledge, a subject which hitherto has received limited attention. They raise critical questions about how digital agriculture will intersect with established modes of knowing and decision-making. They also consider the implications for the wider Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), specifically the roles and capabilities of those who provide advice to farmers, as well as those responsible for data analytics, and the organizations and institutions that link and support them. They conclude that new data driven processes on farm, as well as the changing AKIS dynamic under digital agriculture, bring new demands, relations and tensions to agricultural decision-making, but also create opportunities to foster new learning by harnessing synergies in the AKIS
At the 5th Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture in Bali, CCAFS, IFAD and USDA-FAS organized the Side event “Accelerating innovation development and scaling climate-smart agriculture to drive a transformation in food systems”. High-level representatives of > 20 governments, research, donor, financial and policy institutions, civil society and private sectors discussed their previously shared insights and agreed to act as an “Insight Group” for further related CCAFS research and action. This Info Note summarizes the groups’ first findings, along with a short proposal for next steps
Since global issues (i.e. disruption technology and sustainability) attracted the attention of agricultural system researchers and company, innovation system plays a significant role in the development of agricultural downstream supply chain, in order to make agriculture business sustain. Hence, researches in innovation system for agricultural downstream supply chain are very important in dealing with these challenges. The aim of this paper is to investigate the current state of researches, current development, gaps and provide guidance for future research of innovation system and agricultural downstream supply chain research field. A systematic literature review was conducted to achieve the research goal. After applying some relevant keywords filter and including some relevant papers published in the field, 110 papers addressing the innovation system in agricultural downstream supply chain are identified for review analysis. Afterwards, the selected papers are categorized according to the topic and keyword considered. From this classification, current research and gaps in the existing literature are analysed and derived to make a current research state of innovation system (IS) and its development-relationship with agricultural downstream supply chain (ADSC) research area. Then, Potential areas guidance for future research are suggested for the development of technology diffusion and stakeholder interaction through innovation system, in order to make ADSC facing technology disruption
Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) is a collection of institutions enabling agricultural and food system transformation in a country. Any attempt to engage in emergency interventions by institutions and bounce back with higher levels of resilience requires strong organizational and human capacity as a prerequisite. What role do these institutions play in emergencies such as COVID-19 and how can they bounce back after such a crisis is over? What can be done to help these institutions build resilience capacity for such recovery? This artcile focus on extension and advisory services (EAS), a key component of AIS, to address these questions
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Innovation System research, this paper presents an extensive literature review on this large field of innovation research. Building on an analytical basis of the commonalities “system” and “innovation”, the authors analyze the four main Innovation System approaches: National Innovation Systems (NIS), Regional Innovation Systems (RIS), Sectoral Innovation Systems (SIS) and Technological Innovation Systems (TIS). The analysis is structured systematically along ten comprehensive criteria. Starting with the founder(s) of each theory and the research program within each Innovation System approach was developed (1), the basic thoughts of each Innovation System approach are explained (2). For five case studies most cited (3), spatial boundaries are examined (4) and units of analyses are derived (5). By comparing the underlying theoretical concept and empirical results, the authors show patterns in the evolution of Innovation System research overall. By studying the basic components (6) and a functional analysis (7), each Innovation System approach is broken down into structural pieces and functional processes. If available, the authors present one or several taxonomies (8) for each Innovation System approach and summarize similar approaches (9), in order to classify and integrate the approaches into the ongoing innovation research. The identification of further research (10) shows which steps will need to be taken in the next years in order to evolve Innovation System research further and deeper. After the conclusion, the extensive table of comparison is presented which can serve as a guideline for academics and practitioners from basic and applied science, industry or policy that need to understand which Innovation System approach may be best for their specific analytical purposes
Innovation is important for development in the private sector, but inevitably public sector also needs innovation to enhance services and processes, with research on employee-driven digital innovation in public organizations being limited. Was proposed a study in a public organization based on action design research (ADR) methodology to enhance theoretical knowledge and develop practice in relation to employee-driven digital innovation. This research-in-progress study follows the divided stages of ADR, where the stage of problem formulation is to be conducted through semi-structured interviews. Findings from stage 1 will provide knowledge about the phenomenon with a public organization as a context and make up the problem definition within ADR. The stage of building, interventions and evaluation is to be conducted with interventions in focus groups where we will investigate how to increase adoption of employee-driven digital innovation and how introducing digital tools can support employee-driven digital innovation as an innovation practice. The study aims to contribute by creating general solution concepts about employee-driven digital innovation
The integration of ethics into the day-to-day work of research and innovation (R&I) is an important but difficult challenge. However, with the Aachen method for identification, classification and risk analysis of innovation-based problems (AMICAI) an approach from an engineering perspective is presented that enables the integration of ethical, legal and social implications into the day-to-day work of R&I practitioners. AMICAI appears in particular capable of providing a procedural guidance for R&I practitioners based on a method established in engineering science, breaking down the object of consideration into partial aspects and prioritizing the innovation-based problems in dependence of potential risk. This enables the user to apply AMICAI continuously during all stages of the research and development (R&D) process and to analyze and choose between certain sociotechnical alternatives. In this way, problems that affect ethical, legal, and social aspects can be understood, reflected and considered in the mostly technically focused R&D process. The paper gives a general guidance about AMICAI by describing principles and assumptions, providing the steps of analysis and application aids, giving an example application, explaining the necessary adjustments of AMICAI compared to the methodical basis of failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis and discussing the advantages and limits. AMICAI’s simple applications can stimulate interdisciplinary cooperation in the R&D process and be a starting point for the development of an “open RRI risk analysis platform” allowing society to evaluate innovation-based problems.
In organizations, mandated adoption contexts are the rule rather than the exception. Individuals, who are denied the choice between adopting and rejecting an innovation, are more likely to engage in opposition behavior, particularly if the innovation conflicts with their held beliefs. Interestingly, neither the construct of forced adoption nor its consequences have received much research attention. To address this gap, was conducted a systematic literature review and provide theoretical rationales for the emergence of innovation resistance and opposition behaviors in organizations. Was then developed an innovation decision model of individual adoption behavior that localizes negative outcomes of the secondary adoption process along the different process stages, providing insights into their emergence and potential consequences for the organization. Furthermore, was identified important avenues for future research and show how our innovation decision model can be used to advance theory development on forced adoption
This article proposes a novel conceptualization of knowledge-intensive innovative entrepreneurship, which can capture the main characteristics of a vital phenomenon in the modern economy. Our conceptualization is based upon the integration of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship, evolutionary economics, and innovation systems approach. It consists of a theoretical definition and a stylized process model. According to this view, knowledge-intensive innovative entrepreneurs are involved in the creation, diffusion, and use of knowledge; introduce new products and technologies; draw resources and ideas from their innovation system; and introduce change and dynamism into the economy. In the article, we also offer an empirical definition of knowledge-intensive innovative entrepreneurship, which we then use to identify its key characteristics and relevance. We conclude with recommendations for a future research agenda
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will vary for different groups of rural population, with the highest impact expected to be on farmers and other vulnerable groups, especially women and youth. Targeted support is feasible only by activating a network of actors or organizations within agricultural innovation systems (AIS) and promoting customized technologies and practices suitable for location specific contexts.
AIS actors include experts engaged in agricultural education, research (public and private), business enterprises (agricultural value chain actors, agricultural marketing committees, regulated markets, input suppliers, procurement arrangements), formal and informal bridging institutions (public extension and advisory services, farmers organizations, private extension agents, commodity groups etc.,) and enabling the environment (government policies and programmes to respond to COVID-19 pandemic). AIS actors can readily access technologies and practices from existing knowledge portals, guidelines and manuals available at national and/or global levels and quickly adapt to local contexts to improve the effectiveness of their response. This brief illustrates the extensive repository of good practices and technologies provided by FAO as part of its online knowledge portals. These practices and technologies can be easily adopted to respond to the needs of the smallholders, rural youth and women affected by lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, improve their food security and create income-generating opportunities. They have been applied and tested on the ground and packaged for the benefit of various AIS actors
This paper seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the complex dynamics that shape the contribution of research to policy and innovation processes that address ‘competing claims’ on natural resources and their management. Research in the context of competing claims requires strategies that: (1) can cope with high uncertainty and unpredictability; (2) are concerned with understanding the multiple dimensions of the issue at stake; (3) can facilitate change across different scales and levels; (4) include collaboration with different actors and stakeholders; and (5) may imply new roles for research and researchers. This paper reviews and builds upon research approaches to address these challenges. These research approaches are combined in a framework for dynamic research configurations that aims to stimulate reflection among researchers and to promote more embedded, context-sensitive and flexible research strategies
Innovation Platforms are increasingly being proposed and used in agricultural research for development project and programs. Innovation Platforms provide space to farmers, agricultural service providers, researchers, private sector and other stakeholders to jointly identify, analyse and overcome constraints to agricultural development. Although innovation platforms have been successful in addressing agricultural challenges, there is a risk that they are promoted as a panacea for all problems in the agricultural sector... which would clearly be a big mistake. “We need to think more critically about when, how and in what form Innovation Platforms can meaningfully contribute to agricultural development impacts.” These guidelines support development funders and project developers in thinking about when and in what form innovation platforms can contribute effectively to achieving research and development objectives. It provides information on key design and implementation principles, the financial and human resources that need to be made available, and it makes suggestions for more effective monitoring, evaluation and learning. The guidelines also contain reference materials, Frequently Asked Questions and a decision support tool for research, development and funding agencies
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is increasingly seen as a promising approach to feed the growing world population under climate change. The review explored how institutional perspectives are reflected in the CSA literature. In total, 137 publications were analyzed using institutional analysis framework, of which 55.5% make specific reference to institutional dimensions. While the CSA concept encompasses three pillars (productivity, adaptation, and mitigation), the literature has hardly addressed them in an integrated way. The development status of study sites also seems to influence which pillars are promoted. Mitigation was predominantly addressed in high-income countries, while productivity and adaptation were priorities for middle and low-income countries. Interest in institutional aspects has been gradual in the CSA literature. It has largely focused on knowledge infrastructure, market structure, and hard institutional aspects. There has been less attention to understand whether investments in physical infrastructure and actors' interaction, or how historical, political, and social context may influence the uptake of CSA options. Rethinking the approach to promoting CSA technologies by integrating technology packages and institutional enabling factors can provide potential opportunities for effective scaling of CSA options
Intermediary actors have been proposed as key catalysts that speed up change towards more sustainable socio-technical systems. Research on this topic has gradually gained traction since 2009, but has been complicated by the inconsistency regarding what intermediaries are in the context of such transitions and which activities they focus on, or should focus on. This study briefly elaborates on the conceptual foundations of the studies of intermediaries in transitions, and how intermediaries have been connected to different transition theories. This shows the divergence – and sometimes a lack – of conceptual foundations in this research. In terms of transitions theories, many studies connect to the multi-level perspective and strategic niche management, while intermediaries in technological innovation systems and transition management have been much less explored. The authors aim to bring more clarity to the topic of intermediaries in transitions by providing a definition of transition intermediaries and a typology of five intermediary types that is sensitive to the emergence, neutrality and goals of intermediary actors as well as their context and level of action
Recently, increasing attention has been paid to intermediaries, actors connecting multiple other actors, in transition processes. Research has highlighted that intermediary actors (e.g. innovation funders, energy agencies, NGOs, membership organisations, or internet discussion forums) operate in many levels to advance transitions. The authors argue that intermediation, and the need for it, varies during the course of transition. Yet, little explicit insight exists on intermediation in different transition phases. It is integrated existing conceptual models on transition dynamics and phases and a typology of transition intermediaries to examine how intermediaries advance transitions in different phases. Tha authors illustrate their conceptual insights through examples from car clubs, heat pumps and low-energy housing. We conclude that intermediation is paramount from predevelopment to stabilisation of a transition. Intermediary functions change from supporting experimentation and articulation of needs in pre-development, to the aggregation of knowledge, pooling resources, network building and stronger institutional support and capacity building in acceleration
This presentation sets out a future research agenda for research on agricultural extension and advisory services, under influence of sustainability transitions and disruptive technologies such as digital agriculture technology, and synthetic foods. For a recording of the presentation see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03V7zSD63pw
This chapter reports on the different functions fulfilled by existing mechanisms for supporting collective innovation in the agricultural and agrifood sectors in the countries of the Global South in order to identify the potential contributions the research community can make to strengthen them. The authors show that a variety of mechanisms are needed to create enabling conditions for innovation and to provide a step-by-step support to innovation communities, according to their capacities and learning needs. Researchers are encouraged to move beyond their traditional roles of knowledge producers or trainers and work more closely with actors involved in supporting innovation. They can then generate new knowledge about innovation mechanisms themselves, helping to design and organize the support for collective innovation in a variety of situations
The purpose of the study was to try and get a snapshot of broad patterns and trends, identify emerging issues that warrant further investigation and, more importantly, use these initial findings to start a wider discussion on business-led innovation and the SDGs, and the pathway for accelerating this.The survey was sent out to all members of Global Initiatives Responsible Business Forum (RBF) Network in November 2016. Members include both large and small companies, business support agencies and platforms and partner agencies working in the Southeast Asia region from a diversity of sectors, including health, manufacturing, services, food and agriculture, etc. A total of 121 organisations responded to the survey, of which 73 completed the full list of questions. Where possible the results of the survey have been disaggregated to illustrate similarities and differences between (i) the food, beverage and agriculture sector and other sectors; and (ii) large and micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), the latter classified for the purposes of this survey as businesses with less than 50 employees. Before presenting the survey results this report presents a contextual section, which offers a brief orientation on innovation and current thinking on enablers and bottlenecks that are often encountered. This section informed the design of the survey. The report then presents the main trends observed from the survey and discusses on the meaning and significance of these. The full survey results are presented in Annex 1
The CSIRO Agriculture and Food & the CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) Secretariat are collaborating to explore the nature of agri-food systems innovation and impact. This workshop report is a record of the key outcomes from a workshop held on the 14-15 December 2016 in Canberra, Australia
The CGIAR is currently in a state of transition from its historical role in addressing defined agricultural technology problems, to engagement with strategic partnerships addressing systemic change challenges of the type defined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This review explores good practice in multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs). Its purpose is to assist the CGIAR in identifying effective practices and strategies in the rapidly evolving context of stakeholders and global development initiatives. Part of the context is that the CGIAR has recently linked its System-Level Outputs (SLOs) to the achievement of the SDGs. This has implicitly signalled the need to embed its work within the wider architecture of partnership, platforms and networks that will be required to tackle global scale challenges
Agricultural innovation invariably involves a whole range of partnerships, alliances and network-like arrangements that connect together knowledge users, knowledge producers and others involved in enabling innovation in the market, policy and civil society arenas. There is now a very large conceptual and empirical literature that reveals agricultural innovation not as process of invention driven by research, but as a process of making novel use of ideas (old and new) with the specific intention of adding social, economic and/or environmental value. This chapter brings the discussion of the entrepreneural capacities needed for the innovation systems of the future
RIU is a research and development programme designed to put agricultural research into use for developmental purposes and to conduct research on how to do this. The programme is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). It follows earlier investments by DFID in agricultural and natural resources research, supported through its renewable natural resources research strategy (RRNRRS). While this strategy delivered high-quality research, the uptake of this research and its impact on social and economic progress was modest. RIU seeks to address this both by supporting activities that put RNRRS research products into use, but also by investigating the wider question of the relationship between agricultural research and innovation. This wider investigation of the topic responds to extensive evidence that suggests that agricultural innovation is very often not the result of simply transferring research products to farmers, entrepreneurs and policymakers. More usually, research promotes innovation only when it is embedded in the wide set of relationships and processes involved in diffusing, combining and adapting ideas and putting them into use. Understanding the configurations of actors, policies and institutions that allow agricultural research to contribute to innovation and development in different circumstance is the central research task of RIU. The programme’s research design is largely inductive, seeking to learn from an analysis of RIU’s own experiments in putting research into use. This paper will be coupled with contrasting comparator case studies as well as case studies of other promising research-into-use type approaches not covered by RIU
This paper sets out an analytical framework for doing research on the question of how to use agricultural research for innovation and impact. Its focus is the Research Into Use programme sponsored by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). This is one example of a new type of international development programme that seeks to find better ways of using research for developmental purposes. The main analytical approach draws on contemporary innovation perspectives and focuses on understanding the ways in which the process of research is used, rather than only on how research products are transferred and adopted. It argues that there is a diversity of ways of organising innovation appropriate to different market, social, technological, institutional and policy niches. The framework developed in the paper is used to frame questions that will help RIU in its quest to provide practical policy with selection guidance in choosing the right sort of innovation support strategies for particular requirements of different niches at different points in the innovation trajectory
Agricultural research and extension systems are central to unlock the potential of agricultural innovation and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Public agricultural research, extension and advisory services are essential for increasing productivity and promoting sustainable agricultural growth and alleviating poverty.
FAO supports its member countries by providing policy advice and technical assistance, sharing knowledge and developing institutional and technical capacities so that they can transform their agricultural research systems and extension and advisory services, thereby unlocking the full potential of agricultural innovation.
This booklet contains a brief introduction to the subject and then provides the background to FAO’s support to its member countries in seven inter-related focus areas, including specific highlights of FAO’s work: transforming agricultural research systems; transforming extension and advisory services; strengthening the agricultural innovation system; developing capacities for agricultural innovation; agricultural biotechnologies; providing a platform for knowledge exchange/sharing; and partnerships in agricultural research and extension and advisory services.
The publication highlights the work of the Tropical Agriculture Platform in developing capacities for agricultural innovation.
Developed within the context of Tropical Agriculture Platform (for more information see the next paragraph), TAPipedia is an information sharing system designed to enhance knowledge exchange in support of Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems.
TAPipedia mainly targets researchers and practitioners in the field of development and cooperation and aims to be a global information system for capacity development practices, innovation systems analysis, success stories, participatory and multi-stakeholder approaches, policy analysis and lesson learned in the context of agricultural innovation.
Este trabajo examina varios campos de investigación usados para abordar el fenómeno de la intermediación tecnológica en innovación, en los cuales hay argumentos a favor y en contra del desarrollo de tales agentes, siendo la dificultad de medir el impacto de la intermediación la principal barrera para llegar a un acuerdo. Este es un tema complejo dadas las dificultades de atribución del impacto, lo que explica la aparición de estudios que buscan contribuir a resolver este problema metodológico. Sin embargo, los resultados muestran que aún no existe una evaluación del impacto que sea longitudinal y describa el desempeño y co-evolución de los diferentes agentes que conforman el sistema en el que operan los intermediarios. Este trabajo propone una metodología para hacer frente a este problema, mediante el modelado de los intermediarios como parte de un Sistema Complejo Adaptable (SCA) que puede ser simulado mediante la Modelación Basada en Agentes (MBA)
Small actors in agricultural value chains are tied to markets through a series of forward and backward business linkages, which incorporate various types of business models. The complexity of these business models varies according to the commodity, number of actors involved, local context and market structure. Aimed at designers of agricultural value chain projects, rural development projects and enterprise development projects, together with grassroots NGOs that implement smallholder commercialization projects, these guidelines have been developed to facilitate the design and implementation of interventions that strengthen business models linking smallholders to value chains. An important contribution of this publication to existing literature on agricultural value chains is the guidance it provides on designing business model strategies that do not only link smallholders to markets, but that also encourage practitioners to consider the quality of market inclusion and its impact on poverty reduction
The purpose of this publication (part of the FAO series on sustainable food value chain development) is to facilitate the systematic integration of gender equality dimensions into value chain development programmes and projects. It raises awareness on gender inequalities and discusses the importance of addressing these dimensions in value chain development, while also building a common approach for work on gender-sensitive value chain development. It achieves this by bringing together key concep ts from value chain development and gender and by providing concrete guiding principles for the integration of gender concerns into value chain development projects and programmes. This conceptual framework has a companion publication, Developing gender-sensitive value chains: Guidelines for practitioners, which provides specific tools to support practitioners in designing, implementing and monitoring gender-sensitive value chain programmes
This briefing note sets out, at the start of this collaborative learning journey, the authors understandings of collaborations and capacity development and how these relate to activities within the network. The final section outlines the main elements of our approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL)
What efforts need to be made to effectively mainstream gender in agrifood value chain projects and programmes? When can a value chain intervention be considered ‘gender-sensitive’? What actions can be implemented to address gender inequalities along the chain?
These guidelines aim to respond to these questions and support practitioners in translating the Gender-Sensitive Value Chain Framework, developed by the FAO into action. Building on FAO’s comparative advantage on gender in agriculture and food security, these guidelines are primarily intended to assist practitioners in designing and implementing interventions that provide women and men with equal opportunities to benefit from agrifood value chain development. They offer practical tools and examples of successful approaches to foster a more systematic integration of gender equality dimensions in value chain interventions in the agricultural sector and enhance the social impact of these interventions.
The guidelines are targeted to practitioners in a wide range of organizations and institutions, including national governments, international and NGOs, research institutes and the private sector, in particular:
Food sustainability transitions refer to transformation processes necessary to move towards sustainable food systems. Digitization is one of the most important ongoing transformation processes in global agriculture and food chains. The review paper explores the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to transition towards sustainability along the food chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption). A particular attention is devoted to precision agriculture as a food production model that integrates many ICTs. ICTs can contribute to agro-food sustainability transition by increasing resource productivity, reducing inefficiencies, decreasing management costs, and improving food chain coordination. The paper also explores some drawbacks of ICTs as well as the factors limiting their uptake in agriculture
CCAFS-MOT is a tool to support farmers, policy advisors and agricultural extension services on the choice of management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) without risking food security. It is an Excel-based tool which brings together several empirical models to estimate GHG emissions in rice, cropland and livestock systems, and provides information about the most effective mitigation options. Greenhouse gas emissions are estimated in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent per hectare (kg CO2eq ha− 1) and carbon dioxide equivalent per unit of product (kg CO2eq kg− 1). Baseline management practices are chosen by the user and a set of mitigation options are ranked according to their mitigation potential. The tool allows different levels of input to be specified from an introductory to detailed level, depending on objectives and issues like to accommodate users with different backgrounds and details concerning input data
Rather than merely supporting R&D and strengthening innovation systems, the focus of innovation policy is currently shifting towards addressing societal challenges by transforming socio-economic systems. A particular trend within the emerging era of transformative innovation policy is the pursuit of challenge-based innovation missions, such as achieving a 50 % circular economy by 2030. By formulating clear and ambitious societal goals, policy makers are aiming to steer the directionality and adoption of innovation. In the absence of suitable frameworks to understand and enhance the impact of missions, this study introduces the notion of Mission-oriented Innovation Systems (MIS). MIS consists of networks of agents and sets of institutions that contribute to the development and diffusion of innovative solutions with the aim to define, pursue and complete a societal mission. The paper provides several promising research avenues, including how MIS come into existence, how they are governed and how the interactions taking place in a MIS may influence directionality and technological variety
This article conceptualizes the diffusion of user innovations from a service ecosystem perspective. With the focus on sustainable innovations, the service ecosystem is evaluated, along with other systemic innovation concepts, as a possible theoretical basis for explaining the first adoption and diffusion of user innovations. It is proposed that an ecosystem perspective contributes three assumptions that help to better understand the (non)diffusion of sustainability-oriented user innovations: (1) innovation diffusion is a multi-level and -actor phenomenon; (2) an actor-to-actor orientation integrates user innovators into the ecosystem; (3) the service perspective defines innovation diffusion as an evolving co-created process. The assumptions are translated into policy implications and future research requirements for moving towards an innovation infrastructure that considers the role and contribution of users in sustainable innovation
This paper discusses ICT for Open Innovation (OI) from a capabilities perspective. The study distinguish two types of capabilities for OI: strategic, which need to be developed so that the organization can take advantage of an OI strategy proactively, and operational for the efficient implementation of OI processes. ICT at the strategic level supports dynamic capabilities and related cognitive processes of managerial staff for developing and using the appropriate level of absorptive capacity and active transparency, whereas ICT as part of operational capabilities aims at enhancing the day-to-day performance of OI activities. Through analysis of capabilities, we associate specific ICT with the functionalities required in the entire OI process. Paying particular attention to the issues of collaboration and sophisticated data analysis, we also comment on the seamless integration of these technologies and their embedment in OI-related organizational processes
Science, technology and innovation (STI) policy is shaped by persistent framings that arise from historical context. Two established frames are identified as co-existing and dominant in contemporary innovation policy discussions. The first frame is identified as beginning with a Post-World War II institutionalisation of government support for science and R&D with the presumption that this would contribute to growth and address market failure in private provision of new knowledge. The second frame emerged in the 1980s globalising world and its emphasis on competitiveness which is shaped by the national systems of innovation for knowledge creation and commercialisation. STI policy focuses on building links, clusters and networks, and on stimulating learning between elements in the systems, and enabling entrepreneurship. A third frame linked to contemporary social and environmental challenges such as the Sustainable Development Goals and calling for transformative change is identified and distinguished from the two earlier frames. Transformation refers to socio-technical system change as conceptualised in the sustainability transitions literature. The nature of this third framing is examined on this paper with the aim of identifying its key features and its potential for provoking a re-examination of the earlier two frames
While national governments are the main actors in innovation policy, it is observed a proliferation of challenge-oriented innovation policies both at the subnational and the supranational level. This begs the question about subsidiarity: what innovation policies for societal challenges should be organized at subnational, national and supranational levels? This paper provides arguments that innovation policies aimed to solve societal challenges, such as climate change or aging, are best pursued at subnational levels given the contested nature of problem identification and the contextual nature of problem-solving. Regional innovation policy, then, should formulate concrete societal goals tailored to the local context, while the transnational context promotes inter-regional learning and provides the complementary policies in the realms of basic research, regulation and taxation. In addition, the supranational level can set overall goals that are made more concrete and operational at the subnational level
There is sufficient evidence, drawn from surveys of innovation in the public sector and cognitive testing interviews with public sector managers, to develop a framework for measuring public sector innovation. Although many questions that are covered in the Oslo Manual guidelines for measuring innovation in the private sector can be applied with some modifications to the public sector, public sector innovation surveys need to meet policy needs that require collecting additional types of data. Policy to support public sector innovation requires data on how public sector organizations innovate and how a strategic management approach to innovation can influence the types of innovations that are developed. Both issues require innovations surveys to delve deeply into the innovation processes and strategies that are used by public sector managers.. This paper provides a framework for measuring public sector innovation through representative surveys, with a goal to guide policy to support public sector innovation and facilitate policy learning. After a brief overview of experience with surveys to measure innovation in the public sector, this paper evaluates the appropriateness to the public sector context of the Oslo Manual’s definition of innovation and its guidelines for measuring innovation inputs, activities, and outcomes
The concept of innovation ecosystems has become popular during the last 15 years, leading to a debate regarding its relevance and conceptual rigor, not the least in this journal. The purpose of this article is to review received definitions of innovation ecosystems and related concepts and to propose a synthesized definition of an innovation ecosystem. The conceptual analysis identifies an unbalanced focus on complementarities, collaboration, and actors in received definitions, and among other things proposes the additional inclusion of competition, substitutes, and artifacts in conceptualizations of innovation ecosystems
The objective of this article is to increase the understanding of the indicator landscape and to complement the various stages of the innovation process with relevant indicators. In doing so, this study categorizes the identified indicators into company-specific and contextual dimensions. Furthermore, this study analyzes the indicators in terms of their potential for ex-ante and ex-post evaluation and investigates the characteristics of relevant publications. The analysis finds that more process rather than product indicators exist in the literature. The review identifies 82 unique indicators to evaluate innovations including 26 indicators for the early stages. The results can help managers, researchers, and policymakers to better understand the innovation process and the indicator landscape. However, more concrete indicators are needed to improve front-end innovation decisions
This paper assesses how institutional interactions can strengthen effectiveness, by focusing on three multi-stakeholder partnerships for renewable energy. Based on an expert survey and semi-structured interviews, the study provides both theoretical and empirical contributions to understanding institutional interactions in relation to effectiveness. Moreover, it provides insights on how to strengthen the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder partnerships for renewable energy
Agricultural extension in the Global South can benefit greatly from the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICT). Yet, despite two decades of promising experiences, this potential is not fully realized. Here, it is reviewed the relevant research literature to inform future investments into agricultural information services that harness the full potential of digital media.The study describes a recently emerging innovation agenda that is, in part, a response to the eventualfailure of many new agro-advisory initiatives. One important cause of failure has been a focus on pushing certain technologies, rather than responding to the particular communication challenges of potential users. To avoid such bias in designing new services, the new innovation agenda rests on two major foundations: strong user-centredness and problem-orientation. In this review, it is first described how user-centred design methods help in specifying both problems and (digital) solutions in agricultural extension. To inform responses to the communication challenges defined by that analysis,it is described eight emerging aspects of using ICT for development, and how they can address common deficiencies of agricultural extension. Practical examples from the literature highlight the possibilities and limitations of these innovation directions.Beyond digital design, however, technological innovation requires enabling institutions
Researches on agri-food supply chain coordination have been gaining public attention due to their critical relevance to food availability, security, and safety. Still, the research focus is considerably in its early stage of development. This study was aimed at reviewing a holistic understanding on agri-food supply chain, particularly on issues related to coordination. This review was conducted by analyzing selected articles from peer-reviewed journals and proceedings. The articles are classified based on three important categories for researches on agri-food supply chain coordination, i.e., interdependencies, coordination mechanism, and methodology. Based on an analysis on the current state of research, a future research on agri-food supply chain coordination should be encouraged. Besides, the spectrum of coordination mechanism taken to deal with different levels of interdependencies and quality requirements is presented. The spectrum is useful for any member in an agriculture supply chain who is willing to coordinate its actions with other members for improving supply chain performance. Then, the results of analysis suggest that a further research on the adoption of value co-creation in the coordination process is required to deliver benefits not only for participating actors but also for end consumers
Smallholder farmers across the Global South increasingly need to adapt their farming activities to fast-paced changes, for example, in climate, policy and markets. In many places, public and private agricultural extension services support technological change through trainings and the dissemination of information. The effectiveness of extant ex-tension (advisory) methodologies is, however, challenged by the difficulty of reaching a large and growing clientele with highly diverse information needs. In recent years, the increasing penetration of modern information and communication technology (ICT) has created new opportunities for disseminating agricultural information more widely. In ad-dition, modern ICT may allow harnessing the existing heterogeneity of farmers and farms in a positive way. Through digital communication, large numbers of farmers can be in-volved not only as recipients of advice, but also in the creation of knowledge and infor-mation. By collecting well-defined data inputs from farmers through digital channels, and processing these data in systematic ways, agricultural advisory services can potentially improve their overall performance towards a large and heterogeneous clientele. This dissertation intends to explore these emerging socio-technological opportunities. Through three proof-of-concept studies, it delivers empirical evidence on the feasibility of different ways of employing modern ICT to harness large-scale farmer participation in agricultural extension. Subsequently, it discusses potential practical implications for the ability of extension services to serve large numbers of farmers, working in heterogeneous conditions, with individually adequate advice. The dissertation follows a three-pronged approach. It focuses on three selected, but common shortcomings of agricultural exten-sion, all of which are due to the inherent scale and complexity of the smallholder farming context that needs to be served. To each shortcoming, one research paper explores a novel concept of enabling large-scale farmer participation through modern ICT, as a potential solution
The diversity of knowledge and skill is an important element of a national system of innovation. This study proposes a theory of how certain labor market institutions affect diversity, and through that route affect levels of innovation. Specifically, unemployment protection (UP) encourages diversity by reducing the risk burden of a broad range of learning, or human capital investment; for that reason, UP fosters innovation. Employment protection (EP) reduces the risk burden of a much narrower range of learning; for this reason, it will not enhance diversity to the extent UP does, and it may actually depress overall diversity and innovation. These approach differs from previous research on labor market insurance and skill formation, much of which has dealt with a distinction between general and specific skills, and which has treated the effects of UP and EP as similar. Estimating the effects of UP and EP on patenting for 25 OECD countries over 24 years, the authors found a positive effect from UP, a negative effect from EP, and evidence that the UP effect is mediated by diversity of skill
The drylands of the Global South are facing challenges from human population growth, unsustainable land-management practices, and climate change. Such problems are complex and can no longer be adequately addressed using traditional, top-down means. Rather, increased reliance on public participation is needed to better identify key research questions and interventions that promote positive change. Major actors in these approaches would include communities, applied researchers, outreach agents, policy makers, and planners working in tandem. The process involves embracing “engaged research” within a framework of an “innovation system”—referred to here by the acronym ERIS. Such concepts have recently gained acceptance, and now is the time to implement them. Project donors are key to this transformation of applied research and professional practice because they can provide incentives. ERIS projects must be long term with a diversity of pragmatic and transdisciplinary scholarly achievements. An ERIS platform for inter-project coordination could be part of a comprehensive Agadir platform. The main option to institutionalize ERIS approaches is via policies that alter how government agencies and their stakeholders work together
Change in Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is not easily understood in terms of Western innovation discourses. In fact, innovations in the sense of modern and growth-oriented technologies are common sources for the erosion of TEK. This article brings together current literatures on TEK and innovation studies in addressing questions about the governance of socio-ecological change
Diffusion of innovations has gained a lot of attention and concerns different scientific fields. Many studies, which examine the determining factors of technological innovations in the agricultural and agrifood sector, have been conducted using the widely used Technology Accepted Model, for a random sample of farmers or firms engaged in agricultural sector. In the present study, a holistic examination of the determining factors that affect the propensity of firms to innovate or imitate, is conducted
In direct agri-food chains (DAFCs), farmers and consumers are brought together with the aim of shortening, localizing and synergizing an agri-food chain. As food moves from the farm to the fork, all the economic activities are performed by farmers/producers or consumers, and none intermediary is required to handle an agri-food product before it is consumed. Any DAFC form provide a sort of liminal space for social learning and for local lay knowledge exchange, through face-to-face interactions. In this paper, it is investigated the relationship between face-to-face interaction attributes and the learning opportunity domain of DAFCs that exhibit a same basic form. This study is mainly based on qualitative data obtained from case studies reported in literature, field observations and informal interviews to various DAFC actors
The chapter presents a research for development program’s shift from a Logframe Approach to an outcome and results-based management oriented Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is designing an impact pathway-based MEL system that combines classic indicators of process in research with innovative indicators of change. The chapter presents the approach to theory of change, impact pathways and results-based management monitoring, evaluation and learning system
Rural growth is seen as an engine to drive the economy of developing countries and the use of Agriculture Market Information Services (AMIS) is believed to enable this growth. This paper is based on a literature study and investigates the spread and use of AMIS in the least developed countries (n=49) in terms of users, management, funding, infrastructure, and data. This paper investigates success as well as failure aspects, and discuss the role of new technologies. Findings show that while new technologies can improve dissemination of information, collecting data economically and meeting high quality requirements remains major challenges. The study contributes by providing a comprehensive view of the challenges of AMIS in developing countries and an AMIS project evaluation matrix (IS-PEM) based on the findings, which together contribute to improving the design of future projects
The efforts to adapt to climate change in developing countries are in their infancy, and hopefully CSA will be a major contributor to these efforts. But CSA itself is evolving, and there is a growing need to refine and adapt it to the changing realities. This section of the book focus on the implications of the empirical findings for devising effective strategies and policies to support resilience and the implications for agriculture and climate change policy at national, regional and international levels. This section is built upon the analysis provided in the case studies as well as short “think” pieces on specific aspects of the policy relevance issues from policy makers as well as leading experts in agricultural development and climate change. The case study provided concrete illustrations of the conceptual and theoretical framework, taking into account the high level of diversity in agro-ecological and socioeconomic situations faced by agricultural planners and policy-makers today
The objective of this paper is to review both supply- and demand-side measures for climate-smart agriculture and discuss their interlinkages, trade-offs, and context- and site-specific validity. The literature reviewed focuses on studies during the last decade (2008–2017) addressing food- and feed-related measures. Based on the literature review, potentials for different measures are identified and mapped across the globe using representative datasets. Therefore, this paper does not only aim to provide a broad overview of measures but also to identify areas with high opportunities for implementing these measures
Digital Agriculture is an “intelligent” computer management and application system that includes many high technologies of, such as infomationization, digitization, network, automation and more so on. On the basis of analyzing the main content and meaning of “Digital Agriculture”, this paper designs the system construction of “Digital Agriculture” based on Internet, and discusses the function and structure of main core modules of System of Digital Agriculture in detail. Finally, this paper also analyzes the developing trend about system of “Digital Agriculture”
The development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has to meet the needs of farmers and sustainably support the competitiveness of agriculture in a rapidly changing digital world. Under certain conditions of use, digital tools could facilitate the application to agriculture of the historical, methodological and socio-economic principles defining agroecology. This chapter is composed of four sections. In the first section we define a framework to study agricultural IC tools. The second section considers how ICT should be used during the design phase of the territorial agroecological transition – an example of which is the TATA-BOX project –, before its actual implementation. The third section sets out the four types of IC tools that can usefully be applied during this transition, and provides several examples. Finally, the last section shows the various barriers that ICT specialists will have to overcome in order to provide effective support to food systems. It also discusses the contradiction that can exist between high energy-consuming technologies and an agroecological production paradigm in which a drastic reduction of the reliance on fossil energy is essential
This book is an informative volume written by international experts in the fieldPresents recent advances in sustainable agriculture research and development focuses on environmentally sustainable and profitable food production systems. This volume is a ready reference on sustainable agriculture and reinforce the understanding for its utilization to develop environmentally sustainable and profitable food production systems. It describes ecological sustainability of farming systems, present innovations for improving efficiency in the use of resources for sustainable agriculture and propose technological options and new areas of research in this very important area of agriculture
This chapter presents an analytic framework to identify agricultural innovations that are sustainable and suitable for the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the population. The framework contains a set of tools to collect and evaluate information on appropriate innovations based on relevant criteria. It considers the dimensions of environmental resilience, economic viability, and social sustainability, as well as technical sustainability considering important properties of the innovation itself. Information on already available agricultural innovations was collected in ten countries in South and Southeast Asia, as well as from the national and international agricultural research communities. A composite sustainability indicator was constructed to compare the collected innovations and radar charts were computed to visualize their performance in each sustainability criterion
Development processes, economic growth and agricultural modernization affect women and men in different ways and have not been gender neutral. Women are highly involved in agriculture, but their contribution tends to be undervalued and overseen. Sustainable agricultural innovations may include trade-offs and negative side-effects for women and men, or different social groups, depending on the intervention type and local context. Promising solutions are often technology-focused and not necessarily developed with consideration of gender and social disparity aspects. This paper presents cases of gender and social equity trade-offs related to the promotion and diffusion of improved technologies for agricultural development.The analysis is followed by a discussion of opportunities and pathways for mitigating potential trade-offs
In this special issue teh authors will investigate, from the perspective of agricultural ethics (e.g. animal welfare, agricultural and food ethics, environmental ethics etc.) the potential to develop a Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) approach to agriculture, and the limitations to such an enterprise. RRI is an emerging field in the European research and innovation (R&I) policy context that aims to balance economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspects in innovation processes. Because technological innovations can contribute significantly to the solution of societal challenges like climate change or food security, but can also have negative societal consequences, it is assumed that social and ethical aspects should be considered during the R&I process. For this reason, the emerging concept of RRI calls for ethical reflection on the nature, scope and applicability of responsibility and innovation in innovation practices in general, and the way social–ethical issues can be applied and addressed in agriculture.
The need of Farmer Producer organizations (FPo) was felt to overcome the problems of unorganized small farmers who lack access to resources and services. FPos emerged as an interface between small farmers and the external world by providing forward and backward linkages, giving them required voice, market access, bargaining power, economy of scale and better prices. Among different tangible and intangible benefits, marketing related benefits like access to different market channels, decrease in risk, decrease in transaction cost, economy of scale etc. were reported prominently by different studies. Some studies recommended formation of women FPo, as male dominance in mixed type of FPo reduces women’s chance of equal participation. Structure and organization of FPo vary from country to country depending upon the legal and policy framework of the country. Ability of FPo to create and maintain linkages outside is linked to success of the FPo in long run. Articulation of demand, service provision, capacity building and financing are the important Extension and Advisory functions performed by FPOs. Weakness related to organization and group dynamics featured prominently in many studies, which can be overcome by enabling policy, ethics, professionalism and linkages creation for success and sustenance of FPo
Agricultural value chains can be understood as the systems of people, organizations and activities needed to create process and deliver agricultural products from producers to consumers. Over time and due to huge changes that have happened in the surroundings, agricultural value chains have become very integrated and complex. Small farmers can prosper by joining in modern higher-level agricultural value chains, but there are numerous obstacles, as well. The work presents the typology of organizational models for agricultural production that consists of the models organised by producers, agribusiness companies (processors, retail chains, and intermediaries), facilitators (governments, non-governmental organisations) and completely integrated models, established by some big companies. None of these models provides ideal solutions from the perspective of small producers. However, they say that the institutions, such as cooperatives and small farmers' organisations, present important mechanisms for including small producers in modern value chains and realizing the cooperation with agribusiness companies and other important players. This is also important for decision-makers and governmental bodies that should create a suitable environment and provide support so that small farmers and their organisations can integrate in modern value chains in a successful way
Developing competitive agro-industries is crucial for generating employment and income opportunities. It also contributes to enhancing the quality of, and the demand for, farm products. Agro-industries have the potential to provide employment for the rural population not only in farming, but also in off-farm activities such as handling, packaging, processing, transporting and marketing of food and agricultural products. There are clear indications that agro- industriesare having a significant global impact on economic development and poverty reduction, in both urban and rural communities. However, the full potential of agro-industries as an engine for economic development has not yet been real-ized in many developing countries, especially in Africa.To address these issues, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) organized the first Global Agro-Industries Forum (GAIF) in New Delhi, India, from 8 to11 April 2008. The Forum developed a shared vision on the factors critical to the future development of agro-industries, the key factors affecting their competitiveness, and potential priority action areas. The objectives of the Forum were threefold: to learn lessons from previous efforts and successes to develop competitive agro-industries in the developing world; to ensure stronger collaboration and joint activities among multi-lateral organizations working on agro-industrialization; and to clarify the distinctive roles of the public sector, multi-lateral organizations and the private sector in agro-industrial develop-ment. A related objective was to engage international organizations and finan-cial institutions into launching initiatives at national and regional levels to foster agro-industrial development
Livestock is significantly contributing to livelihood and food security of more than a billion people in different parts of the world. However, the performance has been poor in many developing countries, due to various reasons. This paper reviews the distribution of different species of large and small ruminants and their status of production in different countries. The Indian experiences of improving cattle and goat husbandry to generate sustainable livelihood, has been very successful in empowering the poor, which has also been presented. Significant factors which have contributed to the success were genetic improvement, promotion of suitable technologies, development of infrastructure to strengthen the value chain and mentoring of small livestock owners to address their technical and business related problems. This review on status of livestock in different countries, demand for various products of livestock origin and impact of various interventions on performance will help to set priority for investment on development of different species
The analysis of the concept of resilience in supply chain management studies mostly focuses on the downstream side of the value chain and tacitly assumes an unlimited supply of raw materials. This assumption is unreasonable for agricultural value chains, as upstream disruptions clearly have a material impact on the availability of raw materials, and indeed, are a common source of supply problems. This paper aims to present a framework for the operationalisation of the concept of socioecological resilience in agricultural value chains that incorporates upstream activities. A citation network analysis was adopted to review articles. A conceptual framework is then advanced to identify elements of resilience and indicators relevant to tropical agricultural value chains. Results show that there are limited studies that assess resilience in the food chain context. Flexibility, collaboration, adaptability and resourcefulness are key elements for assessing resilience at the individual chain actor level. However, the paper argues that adaptability is the relevant element for the assessment of resilience at an aggregate food system level because it considers the alteration of a system’s state of resilience. The proposed framework and propositions accommodate stakeholder interactions in the value chain and could serve as a tool to guide the assessment of resilience in agricultural value chains. This paper is one of the few to extend resilience to cover the socioecological interaction aspects for supply chains that yield the raw materials needed for continuity in channel-wide value creation processes
The agricultural Internet of Things (Ag-IoT) paradigm has tremendouspotential in transparent integration of underground soil sensing, farm machinery,and sensor-guided irrigation systems with the complex social network of growers,agronomists, crop consultants, and advisors. The aim of the IoT in agriculturalinnovation and security chapter is to present agricultural IoT research and paradigmto promote sustainable production of safe, healthy, and profitable crop and animalagricultural products. This chapter covers the IoT platform to test optimizedmanagement strategies, engage farmer and industry groups, and investigate newand traditional technology drivers that will enhance resilience of the farmersto the socio-environmental changes. A review of state-of-the-art communicationarchitectures and underlying sensing technologies and communication mechanismsis presented with coverage of recent advances in the theory and applications ofwireless underground communications. Major challenges in Ag-IoT design andimplementation are also discussed
Innovation is often presented as one of the main catalysts for more sustainable and inclusive development. In the agricultural and food sectors, innovation is characterized not only by specificities arising from its relationship to nature, but also from the wide diversity of its stakeholders, ranging from farmers to consumers, and including intermediaries such as the research community and advisory services. Innovation emerges from interactions between these actors, who mobilize resources and produce knowledge in collaborative mechanisms in orderto generate changes. It encompasses domains as varied as production practices, market organization, and eating habits. Innovation is closely tied to major development challenges in its various forms: agroecological innovation, social innovation, territorial innovation, etc. This book casts a look atinnovation in agricultural and food systems. It focuses in particular on supporting innovation, by examining methods and organizations, and on evaluating innovation using different yardsticks. The book is based on reflections and research originating from various scientific disciplines, on fieldwork carried out both in France and in many countries of the Global South, and finally on the experiences gained by accompanying and supporting innovative actors. It combines theoretical contributions on innovation with iconic case studies to illustrate its observations and discussions. This book is intended for teachers, professionals, students, and researchers
All over the world, one of the main purposes of extension is to increase the level of living standards of the rural family through non-formal education. Extension has a very crucial role to play in sustainable development and organic agriculture. For that reason, extension activity is implemented by different institutions. Extension systems worldwide are operated by governmental (86%) and non-governmental (14%) organizations. In this paper, allelopathy is accepted as a technology to implement for weed control and biological control of other useful traits. Allelopathy can be defined as a component of biological control in which plants are used to reduce the vigor and development of other plants. Allelopathy also covers the direct or indirect chemical effects of one plant on the germination, growth, or development of neighboring plants. Many crops have been reported as showing allelopathic properties at one time or another. For that reason, in this study, we investigate important allelopathic traits for agricultural extension, the possibilities of improving allelopathy extension, and the adoption and diffusion of allelopathy
ecause the climate has been rapidly changing and undermining the sustainability of the agriculture sector, Agricultural Extension and Rural Advisory Services (AERAS) need to rethink their contemporary roles and initiatives. Although enhancing agricultural innovation is considered a key process to increase farm income and ensure sustainability under complex climate-affected development conditions, little is known how AERAS can support the process in the said context. A broad range of literature was reviewed and a deductive coding approach was followed to analyze the literature. The findings suggested numerous transformative roles of AERAS providers supporting agricultural innovation. AERAS providers should extend their mandates and broaden their scopes by connecting and working with multiple actors and groups within and beyond the agriculture sector. They need to support interactions and learning among diversified actors to develop complementary understanding and approaches for collective action for climate change adaptation. The findings highlight the importance of enhancing innovation by AERAS providers for climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector
Agricultural innovation happens at different scales and through different streams. In the absence of a common global research agenda, decisions on which innovations are brought to existence, and through which methods, are taken with insufficient view on how innovation affects social relations, the environment, and future food production. Mostly, innovations are considered from the standpoint of economic efficiency, particularly in relationship to creating jobs for technology-exporting countries. Increasingly, however, the realization that innovations cannot be successful on their technical prowess alone calls for a broader investigation The aim of this chapter is to address this lack of attention concerning fairness by focusing on three major stages of agricultural innovation: goal setting, research and development, and empowerment strategies. To do this, was analyzed two approaches for an ethical assessment of innovation systems: one using the insights from Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and the other applying theories of justice. To compare both perspectives, the study shows their contributions to addressing five major social challenges we have identified and which are manifest in the agricultural concerns that are worsened by climate change: (i) availability, (ii) accessibility, (iii) participation in science, (iv) arbitration and rectification measures, and (v) long-term sustainability
Encouraging the adoption and diffusion of low-carbon agricultural technology innovation is an important measure to cope with climate change, reduce environmental pollution, and achieve sustainable agricultural development. Based on evolutionary game theory, this paper establishes a game model among agricultural enterprises, government, and farmers and analyzes the dynamic evolutionary process and evolutionary stable strategies of the major stakeholders. The impact of innovation subsidies, carbon taxes, and adoption subsidies on low-carbon agricultural innovation diffusion is simulated using Matlab software. The results show that the government’s reasonable subsidies and carbon taxes for agricultural enterprises and farmers can increase the enthusiasm of agricultural enterprises and farmers to participate in low-carbon agriculture. This study can be used as a basis for the government to formulate more targeted policies to promote the diffusion of low-carbon agricultural innovation
Synergy among the various components of national agricultural innovation systems (AISs) promotes agricultural development. This paper investigated the innovation synergy among the various innovation elements of national AISs. First, the authors developed a synergy analysis model consisting of three innovation variables (innovation allocation, innovation output, and innovation potentiality) and one control variable (government policy supports). Secondly, a broad set of innovation indicators was selected to describe the innovation variables and the control variable, and the solutions of the order parameter equation were then calculated to investigate the self-organized synergistic patterns of a panel of the Group of Twenty (G20) countries. The empirical results indicated the following. (1) All of the G20 countries’ national AISs had the potential to evolve into more advanced self-organized synergistic states under current government policy support. Furthermore, all of the developing countries were in the active period of synergy, showing stronger synergistic rising powers. However, most of the developed countries were in the stable or general period of synergy, in which synergistic rising powers were relatively weaker; (2) Stronger government policy supports played a positive role in promoting the interaction and collaboration among innovation elements and promoted the national AIS to evolve into a more advanced self-organized synergistic state. This study has important implications for understanding the complex innovation synergy of national AISs, as well as for the design and implementation of agricultural innovation strategies for policy-makers
Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) approach, arise as tool for better understanding dynamics and complexity of agricultural innovation. The objective of this article is present a framework for AIS capability development, taking as a scientific reference, emerging economy countries experiences. A multi-dimensional methodology of literature review and content analysis is implemented, supported in bibliometric and data mining techniques. The development of capacities in the context of agricultural innovation systems is mediated by the existence of links between actors, which enable social learning processes through networking. AIS, as an approach for the improvement of innovation capacities, emerge in developed countries, with consolidated institutional capacities and constitute an opportunity for the strengthening of the agricultural sector in countries with emerging economies. The analysis of networks, the non-linear perspective of the innovation process and the initiation of research, training, policy and intermediation are the main common themes between AIS and capability building
The usual linear top-down approach of the innovation process has been transformed into an 'ecological vision' in which regions make up the appropriate scale for the elaboration of agricultural innovation systems (AIS). Interfaces such as institutional arrangements have been created in industrial countries. However, there is still a lack of interaction among parties involved in innovation for the agricultural sector, especially in the outermost regions and in developing countries. Agronomic research institutes have proposed an original approach supported by information and action support tools to pave the way for the transition to coinnovation
Agricultural innovation is an essential component in achieving the SDG and accelerating the transition to more sustainable and resilient farming systems across the world. Innovations generally emerge from collective intelligence and action, which requires effective agricultural innovation systems (AIS). An AIS perspective has been widely adopted, but the analysis of AIS, especially at country level, remains a challenge. The need for and potential of a diagnostic tool for AIS analysis is currently receiving attention in the global agricultural policy debate. To a limited extent country-level data on AIS properties are available, but considerable gaps exists for systematic and comprehensive assessments. Existing aggregated data are often unspecific and fail to capture more system-and action-oriented properties. This requires that a tailored tool needs to be developed, which can enable countries to robustly and accurately assess characteristics of their AIS, while being relatively simple and low-cost to use. In this context, existing tools in other domains can provide important lessons. Mature assessment protocols exist for the evaluation of sustainability in agriculture, such as for example FAO's guidelines for Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) and the corresponding diagnostic tool called Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART). On that basis, the prospects of a multi-criteria scorecard methodology for the diagnosis of AIS are examined more closely
This paper was presented at the Conference of the International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR) at The World Bank, Washington DC
Climate change and climate variability are creating negative impacts to agriculture. It affects both food security and crop and livestock production. In the process, it affects the livelihood of communities. Climate-smart agriculture is seen as an alternative to mitigate the challenges of climate change. Literature studies were obtained from journal articles on capacity development. The problem investigated is that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is a recent concept which needs to be understood with climate change, and the extension advisors do not have requisite skills. Ethical tea partnership singles out tea farmers and advisors in the tea sector. The findings included the definition of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and the linkage with climate change. It further identified key issues involved in CSA, adaptation and mitigation, and identified the technologies that need to be scaled up in order to mitigate against climate change. The study recommended the area of competency required to serve farmers by advisory services by showing the needed factors that will serve as strategies in order to scale up the needed technologies useful in manag-ing climate-smart agriculture. The chapter recommends capacity development for extension advisors and concludes with a series of mitigation steps
The LIVES project works to increase adoption of value chain interventions through use of improved knowledge and capacity by value chain actors and service providers. Knowledge management and capacity development are important components of the project to fill gaps in knowledge and capacity of value chain actors and service providers. Capacity is defined as the capabilities (knowledge, skills, experience, values, motivations, organizational processes, and linkages) that determine how well value chain actors and service providers utilize resources, market opportunities, and relationships. Capacity development is the process of facilitating change through strengthening the capacities and relationships of value chain actors and service providers to develop sustainable livestock and irrigation value chains. It is the process of strengthening the abilities of individuals, organizations and systems through a variety of engagedknowledge and learning processes to perform value chain development functions sustainably and to continue to improve and develop over time. Change happens through facilitation of strategic linkages and exchange of experiences among value chain actors and service providers as well as transfer of improved knowledge and skills through training, coaching and mentoring activities. It is necessary to develop a capacity development toolkit to provide a structure and guidance for the planning, implementation and documentation of LIVES capacity development and knowledge management interventions. The toolkit provides a general step-by-step guidance as well as links to resources for further reading. It is intended to be used by project and partner staff
he agricultural sector is under increasing pressure to bridge a growing concern for hunger and economic deprivation. At the centre of discussion is increase in agricultural productivity at a scale increasingly complex. This complexity challenges the capacity of both extension workers, farmers, farming systems and even the environment. This means that what matters for agricultural development and achieving the above situation is the capability of people to be effective and productive economic agents. It is here that capacity building comes in. Therefore, building and strengthening organizational and institutional capacity is seen as the heart of development practice. There is hardly anybody who is a fully-fledged adviser having completed a technical school, college or university course. And throughout the persons life, innovations and changes of all kinds mean that additional or different knowledge, skill, and attitudes are required to face the new challenges posed by our changing environmental conditions. It is therefore crucial for any extension organization to think about how to qualify its staff for the tasks ahead of them. Enhanced food production is essential to food security. Human capacity building is key to efficient food production as well as rural development, especially for developing countries. Solving the problem of food security needs a forceful infusion of developed human resources, otherwise food production will be hindered. Extension professionals are increasingly required to have well developed technical skills across a broad range of farming systems, well developed socio-political perspectives on the place of farming in society through constant building process. This paper outlines the importance of capacity building to rural development and agricultural extension, capacity building methods for agricultural extension workers
More and more, development organizations are under pressure to demonstrate that their programs result in significant and lasting changes in the well-being of their intended beneficiaries. However, such "impacts" are often the product of a confluence of events for which no single agency or group of agencies can realistically claim full credit. As a result, assessing development impacts is problematic, yet many organizations continue to struggle to measure results far beyond the reach of their programs
Outcome Mapping recognizes that development is essentially about people relating to each other and their environment. The originality of this approach lies in its shift away from assessing the products of a program to focus on changes in behaviour, relationships, actions, and activities in the people, groups, and organizations it works with directly. In doing so, Outcome Mapping debunks many of the myths about measuring impact. It will help a program be specific about the actors it targets, the changes it expects to see, and the strategies it employs and, as a result, be more effective in terms of the results it achieves. This publication explains the various steps in the outcome mapping approach and provides detailed information on workshop design and facilitation. It includes numerous worksheets and examples
This editorial paper brings together different streams of research providing novel perspectives on co-design and co-innovation in agriculture, including methods, tools and organizations. It compares empirical experiences and theoretical advances to address a variety of issues (e.g., innovation ecosystems, collective design management, participatory design methods, affordances of system analysis tools and network leadership) that shed new light on co-design and co-innovation in support of sustainable agriculture and more broadly transitions towards a diversity of food systems and a circular bioeconomy. This introductory paper presents crosscutting insights and distills from these three directions for future research and practice in agricultural design and innovation: 1) Further opening design and innovation techniques and tools to better account for visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory expressions in evolving designs and what they afford users; 2) Further opening innovation networks in view of creating and stimulating integrative niches that can foster sustainability transitions, which also requires network managers instilling a reflexive stance of network members and broader awareness of power structures attached to organizational, sector and paradigmatic silos in agricultural systems; and 3) Further opening the range of innovation actors to include non-human actants to better account for the agency of the material and ecological
The language of co-creation has become popular with policy makers, researchers and consultants wanting to support evidence-based change. However, there is little agreement about what features a research or consultancy project must have for peers to recognise the project as co-creative, and therefore for it to contribute to the growing body of practice and theory under that heading. This means that scholars and practitioners do not have a shared basis for critical reflection, improving practice and debating ethics, legitimacy and quality. While seeking to avoid any premature fixation of orthodoxy, this article offers a framework to support researchers and practitioners in discussing the boundaries and the features that are beginning to characterise a particular discourse, such as the one that is unfolding around the concept of cocreation. The paper is the outcome of an online and face-to-face dialogue among an international group of scholars. The dialogue draws on Critical Systems Heuristics’ (Ulrich 1994) questions concerning motivation (revealing assumptions about its purpose and value), power (interrogating assumptions about who has control and is therefore able to define success), knowledge (surfacing assumptions about experience and expertise) and legitimacy (disclosing moral assumptions). The paper ends by suggesting important areas for further exploration to contribute to the emerging discourse of co-creation in ways that support critical reflection, improved practice and provide a basis for debating ethics and quality
Expertise in research integration and implementation is an essential but often overlooked component of tackling complex societal and environmental problems. We focus on expertise relevant to any complex problem, especially contributory expertise, divided into ‘knowing-that’ and ‘knowing-how.’ We also deal with interactional expertise and the fact that much expertise is tacit. We explore three questions. First, in examining “when is expertise in research integration and implementation required?,” we review tasks essential to developing more comprehensive understandings of complex problems, plus possible ways to address them. Also, there are tasks necessary for supporting implementation of those understandings into government policy, community practice, business and social innovation, or other initiatives. Second, in considering “where can expertise in research integration and implementation currently be found?,” we describe three realms: 1) specific approaches, including interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, systems thinking and sustainability science; 2) case-based experience that is independent of these specific approaches; and 3) research examining elements of integration and implementation, specifically considering unknowns and fostering innovation. We highlight examples of expertise in each realm and demonstrate how fragmentation currently precludes clear identification of research integration and implementation expertise. Third, in exploring “what is required to strengthen expertise in research integration and implementation?,” we propose building a knowledge bank. We delve into three key challenges: compiling existing expertise, indexing and organizing the expertise to make it widely accessible, and understanding and overcoming the core reasons for the existing fragmentation.
This paper addresses the under-researched issue of stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions. A concise framework to aid critical reflection in the design and reporting of stakeholder identification and engagement is proposed. This is grounded in a critical-systemic epistemology, and is informed by social identity theory. We illustrate the utility of the framework with an example of a problem structuring workshop, which was part of a green innovation project on the development of a technology for the recovery of rare metals from steel slag. The workshop was initially going to be designed to surface stakeholder views on the technology itself. However, it became apparent that a range of other strategic issues concerning the future of the site were going to impact on decision making about the use of steel slag. It therefore became important to evolve the agenda for the problem structuring, and this is where the critical-systemic approach made a difference. It enabled the workshop to be reframed as a community-based event looking at how the former steelworks site could be developed for new purposes. Evaluation of this problem structuring intervention revealed significant stakeholder learning about the issues needing to be accounted for, and a range of possible options for the development of the steelworks site were explored
The term ‘systemic innovation’ is increasing in use. However, there is no consensus on its meaning: four different ways of using the term can be identified in the literature. Most people simply define it as a type of innovation where value can only be derived when the innovation is synergistically integrated with other complementary innovations, going beyond the boundaries of a single organization. Therefore, the term ‘systemic’ refers to the existence of a co-ordinated innovation system. A second, less frequent use of the term makes reference to the development of policies and governance at a local, regional or national scale to create an enabling environment for the above kind of synergistic, multi-organizational innovations. Here, ‘systemic’ means recognition that innovation systems can be enabled and/or constrained by a meta-level policy system. The third use of the term, which is growing in popularity, says that an innovation is ‘systemic’ when its purpose is to change the fundamental nature of society; for instance, to deliver on major transitions concerning ecological sustainability. What makes this systemic is acknowledgement of the existence of a systems hierarchy (systems nested within each other): innovation systems are parts of economic systems, which are parts of societal systems, and all societies exist on a single planetary ecological system. Collaboration is required across organizational and national boundaries to change the societal laws and norms that govern economic systems, which will place new enablers and constraints on innovations systems in the interests of sustainability. The fourth use of the term ‘systemic innovation’ concerns how the people acting to bring about an innovation engage in a process to support systemic thinking, and it is primarily this process and the thinking it gives rise to that is seen as systemic rather than the innovation system that they exist within or are trying to create. It is this fourth understanding of ‘systemic’ that accords with most of the literature on systems thinking published between the late 1970s and the present day. The paper offers an overview of what systems thinkers mean by ‘systemic’, and this not only enables us to provide a redefinition of ‘systemic innovation’, but it also helps to show how all three previous forms of innovation that have been described as systemic can be enhanced by the practice of systems thinking
The concept of inclusive business has gained a central place in development policy and practice. that the underlying premise is that by making small scale farmers part of their business model, companies can increase their profitability and at the same time contribute to farmers’ livelihoods. Despite a wealth of positive anecdotal evidence, it remains unclear whether and how a company can do this. This paper examines how agri-business should become (more) inclusive in contributing to food security. Based on literature on pro-poor market linkages, I draw a list of lessons for companies to consider when investing. I plea for approaches that take into account the diverse livelihood strategies of farm households, the diversity in farm types at community level and the longer term effects of a companies’ activities
Global population growth, an increasing demand for animal products and scarcity of conventional feed ingredients drive the search for alternative protein sources for animal feed. Extensive research indicates that insects provide good opportunities as a sustainable, high quality and low-cost component of animal feed. Here, we discuss how insect farming can promote inclusive business for smallholder farmers in the agribusiness value chain. Inclusive business models involving insects as ingredients in feed may contribute to solving socio-economic and environmental problems in developing countries, aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. With low initial capital investments, smallholder insect farmers have good opportunities to increase productivity, improve their livelihood and contribute to food security and a circular economy. This review focusses on how the value of insects as feed component can contribute to improving livelihood of smallholder farmers through IB models and reshaping food systems into efficient, climate resilient and nutrition-driven elements of a circular economy. In doing so, we will emphasise how and why IB models in this area align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The mergers of some of the world's largest agribusinesses have led to speculation about what sort of global citizens the new companies will become and whether vulnerable rural populations, especially smallholder men and women farmers, will be negatively impacted. As innovation leaders in the agriculture industry, these new companies will be expected to play key roles in finding solutions for major agricultural challenges facing the world today. The private sector has a unique voice and responsibility to help bridge the innovation gap and ensure that good science reaches those countries where public investment in agricultural research is a low priority. In this paper, the paper review the obstacles facing agriculture over the next few decades, the role of agricultural innovation in overcoming those obstacles, and the need for greater public funding for agricultural research. The authors discuss how science-based solutions that drive revenue for industry can also advance agriculture in developing economies. Expediting agricultural innovation as well as increasing access to those benefits requires a different way of thinking about the sharing of technology to improve the lives of smallholder farmers and create a more equitable playing field for women in agriculture
The framework is designed to assess resilience to specific challenges (specified resilience) as well as a farming system's capacity to deal with the unknown, uncertainty and surprise (general resilience). The framework provides a heuristic to analyze system properties, challenges (shocks, long-term stresses), indicators to measure the performance of system functions, resilience capacities and resilience-enhancing attributes. Capacities and attributes refer to adaptive cycle processes of agricultural practices, farm demographics, governance and risk management. The novelty of the framework pertains to the focal scale of analysis, i.e. the farming system level, the consideration of accumulating challenges and various agricultural processes, and the consideration that farming systems provide multiple functions that can change over time. Furthermore, the distinction between three resilience capacities (robustness, adaptability, transformability) ensures that the framework goes beyond narrow definitions that limit resilience to robustness. The methodology deploys a mixed-methods approach: quantitative methods, such as statistics, econometrics and modelling, are used to identify underlying patterns, causal explanations and likely contributing factors; while qualitative methods, such as interviews, participatory approaches and stakeholder workshops, access experiential and contextual knowledge and provide more nuanced insights
The aim of this paper is to identify opportunities to strengthen food system policy for nutrition, through an analysis of the policies relevant to the external food environment for fruit and vegetables in India. We conducted interviews based on policy theory with 55 stakeholders from national and state level, from within government, research, private sector and non-government agencies, and from health, agriculture and economic sectors. Specific strategies identified in this study to improve consumers’ external food environment for fruit and vegetables in India were: development of strategic Public-Private Partnerships to increase access to diverse expertise across the supply chain; linking health and economic/agricultural policy agendas; and strengthening surveillance of policy impacts on consumer access to fruit and vegetables. This study demonstrates the usefulness of ‘policy learning’-oriented qualitative policy analysis in identifying ‘points of entry’ for food policy change, and extends understanding of political dynamics in engendering agricultural policy change for nutrition. Improving access to affordable fruit and vegetables is a global priority, and given common global food supply challenges, the findings from this study are also likely to be relevant for other low and middle income countries.
While there is a lot of literature from a natural or technical sciences perspective on different forms of digitalization in agriculture (big data, internet of things, augmented reality, robotics, sensors, 3D printing, system integration, ubiquitous connectivity, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and blockchain among others), social science researchers have recently started investigating different aspects of digital agriculture in relation to farm production systems, value chains and food systems. This has led to a burgeoning but scattered social science body of literature. There is hence lack of overview of how this field of study is developing, and what are established, emerging, and new themes and topics. This is where this article aims to make a contribution, beyond introducing this special issue which presents seventeen articles dealing with social, economic and institutional dynamics of precision farming, digital agriculture, smart farming or agriculture 4.0. The main contributions of the special issue articles are mapped against these thematic clusters, revealing new insights on the link between digital agriculture and farm diversity, new economic, business and institutional arrangements both on-farm, in the value chain and food system, and in the innovation system, and emerging ways to ethically govern digital agriculture
Crowdsourcing, understood as outsourcing tasks or data collection by a large group of non-professionals, is increasingly used in scientific research and operational applications. In this paper, we reviewed crowdsourcing initiatives in agricultural science and farming activities and further discussed the particular characteristics of this approach in the field of agriculture. On-going crowdsourcing initiatives in agriculture were analysed and categorised according to their crowdsourcing component. The authors have identified eight types of agricultural data and information that can be generated from crowdsourcing initiatives. Subsequently it is described existing methods of quality control of the crowdsourced data. The authors analysed the profiles of potential contributors in crowdsourcing initiatives in agriculture, suggested ways for increasing farmers’ participation, and discussed the on-going initiatives in the light of their target beneficiaries
The purpose of Working with Smallholders handbook is to enable the development of more sustainable, resilient and productive supply chains for agribusinesses and to illustrate the substantial development impact. Smallholder farmers are both an opportunity and a challenge for food and agribusiness companies. The predominance of smallholders in many frontier and emerging markets makes them an integral part of agribusiness supply chains. Many firms source from smallholders or are actively seeking to source from them. Calls for fairer, more inclusive supply chains will hasten this trend. Yet the development and strengthening of smallholder supply chains remains a key challenge for many IFC agribusiness clients. Working with Smallholders handbook compiles innovative solutions and cutting-edge ideas for these challenges. The handbook incorporates a diverse collection of hands-on case studies from across the world regions covering wide variety of agribusiness sectors
Enabling the Business of Agriculture 2019 presents indicators that measure the laws, regulations and bureaucratic processes that affect farmers in 101 countries. The study covers eight thematic areas: supplying seed, registering fertilizer, securing water, registering machinery, sustaining livestock, protecting plant health, trading food and accessing finance. The report highlights global best performers and countries that made the most significant regulatory improvements in support of farmers
The integration of male and female smallholders in high-end value chains (e.g. those for tree crops like cocoa, oil palm, avocado, and mango), has been promoted throughout the global South as a strategy for poverty alleviation, economic growth, employment generation, gender equality, and improved wellbeing. More critical literature, however, questions the inclusiveness of farmers’ value chain engagement. Despite rapid mainstreaming of inclusiveness in policy discourse, remarkably little literature sheds light on the operationalization of the concept. This paper addresses this gap. Based on a comprehensive review of three bodies of literature with the prefix ‘inclusive’ (inclusive business, inclusive value chain, and inclusive development) it unravels economic, social, relational and environmental dimensions as a basis for analysing and enhancing the inclusiveness of smallholders’ value chain engagement
Digital technologies such as sensors, drones, satellites and blockchain are seen as a promising developments for value chain transparency. These technologies are often envisioned to enable more detailed, objective, and complete information collection, and to create secure, transparent and democratic ways of information sharing. The development of such digitally-enabled modes of information collection and analysis leads to what we term the rise of ‘hyper-transparency’. Hyper-transparency is a digitally-enabled, real-time, and often automated mode of data collection and analysis for management and governance of global value chains (GVCs). In the field of agriculture and sustainable development a number of organisations and companies are proclaiming the benefits of hyper-transparency for smallholder farmers. However, it is still unclear how the use of these technologies influences transparency, and what effects it may have on the sustainability and inclusiveness of global value chains. The aim of this paper is to describe how hyper-transparency can enhance smallholder market inclusion. There are a number of ways to define ‘inclusive business’. They generally refer to businesses that integrate smallholders into markets such that activities benefit the business community while enabling the poor to move out of poverty. In this paper the authors extend the definition beyond smallholders’ access to markets, such that inclusiveness enables farmers to become competitive in local or international markets
Applying the field of knowledge management to supply chain management through a knowledge management theoretical framework, this paper provides future research inquiries pertaining to how scholars can utilize the largely ignored areas of supply chain digitisation as well as the growing areas to explain how the human dimension of supply chain management can be further explored for the purposes of optimizing supply chain digital performance
Collaborative co-development of decision tools by researchers and corporate and financial actors, that draws upon their distinct needs and knowledge sets, can improve the utility of these tools for real-world application (e.g. assessing non-financial returns; mitigating reputational risk).This paper proposes new requirements and strategies for the scientific community to contribute to co-development of science-based indicators and other decision tools that better enable agri-sector companies and investors to integrate food system sustainability considerations into management and capital allocation. It will present early lessons from multi-sector engagement in construction of indices, such as the Agrobiodiversity Index (ABDI), and review new modes for research institutions to engage with private sector partners
The present essay aims to present a partial view of the evolution of thought on business management and economics of organizations applied to agriculture and identifies perspectives for empirical studies. The paper contains four topics. Following this introduction, the second part revisits the concept of agribusiness systems, the third part presents the institutional/property rights perspective and contractual approach, and part four suggests research issues in the field of economics of organizations
This paper explores possible pathways for different types of farmers, considering where they might be in the future, beyond 2030 and the era of the SDGs. It outlines some of the necessary interventions, risks and trade-offs associated with these different pathways, for farmers operating in a variety of agricultural systems globally, including cropping, livestock and tree (silvopasture) systems. It also considers the impacts of different disruption scenarios that could radically alter anticipated pathways and offers a range of possible interventions. Investigating possible pathways for different farmers allows us to better identify necessary levers for transformation
Traditional approaches addressing hunger, typically based on agricultural development, are deemed insufficient alone to address the problem and attention is now being directed to food value chains, although experience is currently limited. To assess the state of science and identify knowledge gaps, an integrative review of the broad topic of value chains and diet quality was undertaken, with particular focus on interventions and their related impact pathways. Interventions were classified according to their primary orientation: to increase the availability, accessibility, or desirability of nutritious food. This paper identified 24 separate interventions associated with 10 different impact pathways, demonstrating the numerous entry points and large potential for value chain interventions to influence diet quality. However, case study evidence regarding effectiveness remains scant. Most studies addressed individual nutrient-rich commodities that could address a nutritional deficiency in the community of interest. Rarely was overall diet quality assessed, and future studies could benefit from taking a wider perspective of dietary patterns and food substitutions. The value chain analytical approach was deemed valuable due to its consumer orientation that seeks to understand how food products are used and what motivates their choice. The systems perspective is also important as it considers the roles of actors involved in food production, distribution, marketing, and regulation
The worldwide importance of crop production is undisputed due to its function for basic nutrition of billions of people. Yet, the emergence of global forces implies severe consequences for the organization of crop value chains. These forces particularly include processes of liberalization and deregulation, the dominance of large retail groups as well as ever-changing consumer demands, leading to continuous reconfigurations of crop value chains. Based on a literature review, this paper aims at thematically ‘organizing’ and differentiating the key findings of relevant empirical studies on global crop value chains, with a particular focus on South-North relations. Thereby, current shifts and challenges are identified and analysed with special attention paid to spatio-relational dimensions. The spatial perspective is important since crop value chains both shape and are shaped by specific geographical settings which is, among others, considered in the growing literature on food geographies. Overall, the sudy could extract three strands of literature on global crop value chains: the integration of smallholders; the role of food standards; and the effect of ‘hidden’ dynamics. These issues especially reveal the interdependencies between the Global South and the Global North as a crucial feature of contemporary crop production and distribution systems. These are A further outcome of the literature analysis is the derivation of suggestions regarding future research and areas of needed progress
Although agricultural value chain resilience is a crucial component to food security and sustainable food systems in developing countries, it has received little attention. This paper synthesizes knowledge from the social-ecological systems (SES), supply chain management, and value chain development literature to make three contributions to this research gap. First, it is conceptualized the agricultural value chain resilience and relate it to overall food system resilience. Second, it is identified seven principles that are hypothesized to contribute to SES resilience, relate them to supply chain management theory, and discuss their application in agricultural value chains. A key insight is that the appropriateness of these principles are important to assess on a case-by-case basis, and depend in part on trade-offs between resilience and other dimensions of value chain performance. Third, the paper integrates two common tools, the Resilience Alliance’s assessment framework and value chain analysis techniques, to outline an adaptable participatory approach for assessing the resilience of agricultural value chains in developing countries. The objectives of the approach are to cultivate a chain-wide awareness for past and potential disturbances that could affect food security and other essential services provided by the value chain, and to identify upgrades that can build resilience against these key disturbances
There is a blossoming of voluntary certification initiatives for sustainable agro-food products and production processes. With these certification initiatives come traceability in supply chains, to guarantee the sustainability of the products consumed. No systematic analysis exists of traceability systems for sustainability in agro-food supply chains. Hence, the purpose of this article is to analyze the prevalence of four different traceability systems to guarantee sustainability; to identify the factors that determine the kind of traceability systems applied in particular supply chains; and to assess what the emergence of economic and market logics in traceability mean for sustainability
Valuation of nature (biodiversity: BD) and in particular ecosystem services (ESS) are important prerequisites for the design of cultural landscapes as well as in agricultural policy and the generation of BD as public interest. Designs should be built on valuation and valuation is usually seen as market assignment of prices. Yet, there is a problem with market failure. BD and ESS can be characterized as public goods, both being non-rival and non-exclusive, thus demanding public provision. Largely due to public pressure, nature provision and planning has received increased attention. Especially as a means to create values i.e. in conservation projects and specifically to add value and income to farmers’ value chains. Governments seek to promote BD and landscape provision by farmers, but money is scarce. Planners frequently do not know what the public wants and contingent valuation results are often regarded as insufficient because of missing vehicles of payment. There is scope for a more workable coordination process (institutional innovation) between interests in nature provision projects (being oriented at BD and corresponding ESS) and willingness to pay WTP (for foods related to nature). It is the objective to show that value chains of food products which are strongly related to nature and landscapes are a venue to go under multi-functionality for BD. The issue addressed is to offer a BD which creates WTP in value chains and serves as source of finance for BD provision. Hereby, the public is represented by an ecological management.
This paper will primarily provide an analytical framework which merges public good provision theory with farm behavior modelling as well as draws on modeling of bargaining as solutions from social power theory. Provision is set by valuing through BD management and foods contain ESS by which the value chain improves at private good markets. Food is marketed through a special value chain and consumers help to finance public management of ESS. We distinguish the process of public preference formation from those of individual formation and can reckon a concept of social power. 1. An introduction to preference detection highlights the need for a public approach. 2. Interest group preferences are modeled. 3. A manager will be entitled to charge fees to beneficiaries and guarantee compensations. 4. Bargaining for BD indicating ESS is outlined
This study reviews the available literature on processed non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in order to comprehensively identify relevant factors enabling or constraining their potential to contribute to rural development. Background and Objectives: NTFPs, such as wild foods, medicinal plants, and raw materials for handicrafts, make significant contributions to rural livelihoods. NTFPs can help fulfil households’ subsistence and consumption needs, serve as a safety-net in times of crises, and provide cash income. In particular, the processing of NTFPs has often been suggested to positively influence sustainable economic development in rural areas. However, despite rising interest and recognition of the potential contributions of such industries as key sources of employment and their strategic role in overall growth strategies of developing countries, many NTFP processing enterprises remain in the informal sector and an in-depth understanding of the underlying factors is lacking. This review aims to identify enabling and constraining factors affecting NTFP processing enterprises
Forests are intrinsically linked to water – forested watersheds provide 75 percent of our accessible freshwater resources (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005) – and both forest and water resources are relevant to the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the important interlinkages, the forest-water nexus is often unaccounted for in policy and planning. For example, three quarters of forests are not managed for soil and water conservation, which poses a fundamental challenge to achieving sustainable and resilient communities and ecosystems.
It is paramount to employ an integrated approach to forest and water resources in management and policy that takes into account the complexity and contextual nature of forest-water relationships. To achieve this, we must improve our understanding of forest-water relationships within local contexts and at different scales, as well as our ability to design, implement, and learn from landscape approaches that both rely on these forest-water relationships, and impact them.FAO’s Forest and Water Programme has developed a module-based capacity development facilitation guide for project and community stakeholders involved in forest, water and natural resource management to ensure we apply our knowledge to better manage forests and trees for their multiple benefits, including water quantity, quality and the associated socio-economic benefits that people within and outside forests so heavily depend on
Mountain agricultural systems (MASs) are multifunctional and multidimensional sociocultural systems. They are constantly influenced by many factors whose intensity and impacts are unpredictable. The recent Hindu Kush–Himalayan Assessment Report highlighted the need to integrate mountain perspectives into governance decisions on sustaining resources in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan region, emphasizing the importance of sustainable MASs. This reflective literature review identified 3 barriers to advancing the agenda for sustainable MASs: (1) the disconnect of normative orientations for sustainability at differen scales, (2) inadequate alignment between stakeholders' sustainability orientation and scientific evidence, and (3) weak integration of scientific evidence into the formulation of mountain specific solutions for sustainability. To address these barriers, we propose a conceptual, regional (mountain specific), transdisciplinary framework with an interscale science–policy interface
Exclusion of Indigenous and local communities' connections to the rest-of-nature is a typical problem in policy-decision making. This paper highlights the key attributes of these connections and suggests evaluation pathways to mainstream them into policy development. For this, we integrate and apply the ecosystem services (ES) and human capability concepts. Five socio-cultural and economic values relating to peoples' well-being are identified as the core attributes for developing policy tools: (1) livelihoods; (2) social values; (3) cultural values; (4) spiritual values; and (5) capabilities. For policy tools, common ES frameworks and the relevant ES evaluation techniques that can be applied along with community participatory approaches, are considered. We recommend that developing a pluralistic policy platform is essential to appropriately comprehend Indigenous and local communities' connections with nature for enhancing well-being, not just sustaining livelihoods. A three-step process: (1) identifying attributes of natural systems that are vital for peoples' well-being (beyond their livelihoods); (2) developing locally-specific integrated frameworks; and (3) evaluating identified attributes (monetary and non-monetary), is clearly described in this paper to inform the policy-makers
This scoping review synthesizes the literature on government agricultural policy and production in order to 1) present a typology of policies used to influence agricultural production, 2) to provide a preliminary overview of the ways that impact is assessed in this literature, and 3) to bring this literature into conversation with the literature on food and tobacco supply.
This review analyzes the literature on government agricultural policy and production. Articles written in English and published between January 1997 and April 2018 (20-year range) were included. Only quantitative evaluations were included. Studies that collected qualitative data to supplement the quantitative analysis were also included. One hundred and three articles were included for data extraction. The following information was extracted: article details (e.g., author, title, journal), policy details (e.g., policy tools, goals, context), methods used to evaluate the policy (e.g., outcomes evaluated, sample size, limitations), and study findings. Fifty four studies examined the impact of policy on agricultural production. This review provides initial extrapolative insights from the general literature on the impact of government policies on agricultural production. This review can inform dialogue between the health and agricultural sector and evaluative research on policy for alternatives to tobacco production and unhealthy food supply
Agriculture 4.0 is comprised of different already operational or developing technologies such as robotics, nanotechnology, synthetic protein, cellular agriculture, gene editing technology, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning, which may have pervasive effects on future agriculture and food systems and major transformative potential. These technologies underpin concepts such as vertical farming and food systems, digital agriculture, bioeconomy, circular agriculture, and aquaponics. In this perspective paper, we argue that more attention is needed for the inclusion and exclusion effects of Agriculture 4.0 technologies, and for reflection on how they relate to diverse transition pathways towards sustainable agricultural and food systems driven by mission-oriented innovation systems. This would require processes of responsible innovation, anticipating the potential impacts of Agriculture 4.0 through inclusive processes, and reflecting on and being responsive to emerging effects and where needed adjusting the direction and course of transition pathways
Agricultural research for development has made important contributions to poverty reduction and food security over the last 40 years. Nevertheless, it is likely that both the speed of global change and its impacts on natural and socio-economic systems are being under-estimated. Coupled with the moral imperative to justify the use of public resources for which there are multiple, competing claims, research for development needs to become more effective and efficient in terms of contributing towards longer-term development goals. Currently there is considerable debate about the ways in which this may be achieved. In this paper is described an approach based on theory of change. This includes a monitoring, evaluation and learning system that combines indicators of progress in research along with indicators of change aimed at understanding the factors that enable or inhibit the behavioural changes that can bring about development impacts
We assess a new method for assessing AC at a sectoral level and operationalize AC measurement based on an SLA to assess the ability of the European agricultural sector to adapt to extreme droughts. We create a set of indicators which highlight areas of high or low AC, forecast to estimated times the world will reach 2° of warming using Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) and Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios to drive AC indicator projections based on a fixed effects model.
Narrowing the food supply-demand gaps between urban and rural areas within a regional space has today become a serious challenge due to the growing urban population. Resultantly, urban markets are increasingly being dominated by industrial food chains, despite their negative socio-environmental impacts. To address this issue, this paper discusses the need and significance of ‘Collaborative Food Alliances’ (CFAs), which promote the direct supply of food products from rural farmers to urban residents through improved producer–consumer relationships. Based on the literature survey, this study underlines that the current CFAs are confronted with several challenges including the small scale of functioning and limited financing. While the current research on CFAs is focused on theoretical place-based studies, this paper argues that institutionalization of CFAs at a large scale is highly important for enhancing food security in urban areas. It mainly deliberates on two key aspects: (a) The process of institutionalizing CFAs and (b) A feasible financing mechanism to support CFAs. This paper emphasizes that urban local governments have a central role to play in institutionalizing CFAs, either as a lead agency or as a facilitator. It concludes with specific suggestions on three key determinants of multi-stakeholder engagement, financial constraints and policy coordination at a regional level
Multi-stakeholder participation (MSP) has become a central feature in several institutions and processes of global governance. Those who promote them trust that these arrangements can advance the deliberative quality of international institutions, and thereby improve the democratic quality, legitimacy and effectiveness of both the institutional landscape, as well as decisions made within it. This paper employs a heuristic framework to analyze the deliberative quality of MSP. Specifically, it applies Dryzek’s deliberative systems framework to the case of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The assessment shows that the CFS improves the deliberative quality of food security governance by including and facilitating the transmission of discourses from the public to the empowered spaces
In this paper, is described the market and social forces which influence the emergence of social innovations through various processes. The authors then look into the evolutionary pathways for social innovations , to avoid inertia and spur initiatives to bridge the social gap in an inclusive manner through mobilization of youth in particular. The ecosystem for social open innovations provides scope for connecting corporations
and communities. Following the theory of reciprocal and responsible open innovation systems, we explore the way barriers are overcome on the way to reach the base of economic pyramid [BOEP] customer. Technological adaptability and institutional or market adaptability are explored to understand how communities get empowered to deal with corporations through an open innovation platform. The corporations need to be empowered to understand the decision heuristics followed by grassroots and community frugal innovators. Just as communities need to be empowered to negotiate fair and just exchange relationship with corporations
Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) are a form of private governance sometimes used to manage the social and environmental impacts of supply chains. This work argue that there is a potential tension between input and output legitimacy in MSIs. Input legitimacy requires facilitating representation from a wide range of organizations with heterogeneous interests. This work, however, faces collective action problems that could lead to limited ambitions, lowering output legitimacy. Was found that, under the right conditions a relatively small group of motivated actors, who we call institutional stewards, may be willing to undertake the cost and labor of building and maintaining the MSI. This can help reconcile the tension between input and output legitimacy in a formal sense, though it also results in inequalities in power. We test this claim using a case study of organizations’ activities in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We find that a small group of founding members—and other members of long tenure—account for a disproportionate level of activity in the organization
Innovations play a significant role in the primary sector (i.e., agriculture, fisheries and forestry), ensuring a greater performance towards bioeconomy and sustainability. Innovation is being progressively applied to examining the organization of joint technological, social, and institutional modernizations in the primary sector. Exploring the governance of actor relations, potential policies, and support structures is crucial in the phase of innovation, e.g., during research activities, often applied at the national or sectorial scale. However, when opposing normative guidelines for alternative systems of agriculture arise (e.g., the industrial agriculture paradigm), modernizations in agricultural and forestry may contribute to outlining more sustainable systems. To date, innovations in the primary sector do not seem as advanced as in other sectors, apart from industrial agriculture, which sometimes appears to be the most encouraged. The present review aims to shed light on innovations that have been identified and promoted in recent years in the primary sector, including agriculture and forestry. The need to pursue sustainable development in this sector requires the inclusion of a fourth dimension, namely energy. In fact, energy sustainability is an issue that has been much discussed in recent years. However, the need for progressive technological progress is indispensable to ensure long-lasting energy efficiency. The aim is to understand what innovations have been implemented recently, highlighting opportunities and limitations for the primary sector
This study explores the properties of innovation systems and their contribution to increased eco-efficiency in agriculture. Using aggregate data and econometric methods, the eco-efficiency of 79 countries was computed and a range of factors relating to research, extension, business and policy was examined. Despite data limitations, the analysis produced some interesting insights. For instance public research spending has a positive significant effect for emerging economies, while no statistically significant effect was found for foreign aid for research. However, foreign aid for extension is important in less developed economies. These and other results suggest the importance of context-specific interventions rather than a “one size fits all” approach. Overall, the analysis illustrated the potential of a macro-level diagnostic approach for assessing the role of innovation systems for sustainability in agriculture
This publications is a review and compilation of technologies and management practices for smallholder organic farmers. This manual is a joint activity between the Climate, Energy and Tenure Division (NRC) and the Technologies and practices for smallholder farmers (TECA) Team from the Research and Extension team AGDR of FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. This manual provide practical information for farmers to implement organic agricultural management practices and is divided in the following sections: introduction to organic agriculture; considerations for conversion to organic agriculture; step by step conversion to organic agriculture; mulching in organic agriculture; water management in organic agriculture; crop planning and management in organic agriculture; nutrient management in organic agriculture; pest and disease management in organic agriculture; weed management in organic agriculture; plant propagation in organic agriculture and animal husbandry in organic agriculture
The literature reviewed in this document is global in its focus to attend to broad trends in the field and practice of agricultural extension. We do not aim for an extensive literature review but to identify implications for not including gender, ways to do so, and means to move forward. The aim of this report to highlight the importance of gender integration into agricultural extension programs in various parts of the world in order to raise much needed awareness on the subject
This methodological framework is based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and multi-criteria assessment methods. It integrates CSA-related issues through the definition of Principles, Criteria and Indicators, and involves farmers in the assessment of the effects of CSA practices. To reflect the complexity of farming systems, the method proposes a dual level of analysis: the farm and the main cash crop/livestock production system. After creating a typology of the farming systems, the initial situation is compared to the situation after the introduction of a CSA practice. In this case, the practice was the use of compost made from coffee processing residues
This article summarizes current research on public entrepreneurship and presents a detailed case study of a successful entrepreneurial change in a public sector organization. A five-step change process used to enhance entrepreneurial behaviors was implemented in a public sector organization and the qualitative and quantitative results demonstrated substantial performance improvements over 4 years (i.e., quantitative performance in some areas was more than 10 times greater). It is explained key steps that produced successful outcomes and how to avoid common challenges in the implementation of ongoing entrepreneurial behaviors in public sector contexts
Drawn from numerous sources, including papers in this journal, this concluding paper synthesizes evidence on the relationship between agricultural research for development and poverty reduction, with particular emphasis on agri-food systems perspectives in shaping programs aimed at rural prosperity. Following the introduction in section 1, we revisit the ex ante set of 18 pathways in section 2 (which were laid out in our introductory paper for this SI), posing some critical questions: Can a manageable set of impact pathways be identified? How are they inter-related? Rather than independent linear pathways, is it better (both conceptually and for clarity of communication) to represent these as impact networks rather than linear pathways? These insights lead to very different and more inclusive partnerships and contain their own implications for program design in section 3. The challenges facing the world today are complex, and no single organization or sector can hope to effectively confront these issues alone. Not only is partnership increasingly seen as a multi-stakeholder phenomenon rather than a bilateral one, but there also is a discernible move towards a network framing (e.g., as “innovation systems” or “boundary spanning”). This change is driven by the progressive inclusion of agricultural research goals as part of the wider development agenda, where complexity and systemic change are central. In turn, this requires more appropriate strategies for knowledge creation, innovation, and partnership. Section 4 presents implications for program design and priority-setting that follow from foregoing insights on the interplay of pathways and partnerships
This review paper responds to the following questions: 1) can existing adaptation options confer useful responses to various degrees of climate change; 2) have certified coffee programs already implemented adaption options; 3) what (additional) implementation steps are required to adapt coffee production to climate change; and 4) which social-institutional changes are additionally required to enable smallholders to adapt to climate change at farm and landscape scales. The paper starts with a short review on the effectiveness of adaptation measures for climate change adaptation at farm and landscape scale and we evaluate the extent to which existing certification criteria provide opportunities for climate adaptation. Then describe possible implementation steps using the technical innovation system framework. Finally, is discussed the implementation of adaptation options in relation to possible social-institutional changes that might be required
The present chapter outlines a descriptive analysis of the sorghum value chains across the globe, the identified major constraints of the sorghum value chain, the business service provisions, and suggested specific areas of interventions for upgradation of the value chain. Considering the VC of sorghum, it is very new and value addition is limited up to harvesting and marketing of whole sorghum grain. The value added by processing of sorghum grain in a large scale is limited at the initial stage. The present chapter outlines a descriptive analysis of the sorghum value chains across the globe, the identified major constraints of the sorghum value chain, the business service provisions, and suggested specific areas of interventions for upgradation of the value chain
This paper used systematic literature network analysis to review the state-of-the-art blockchain technology including its recent advances, main applications in agri-food value chain and challenges from a holistic perspective. The findings suggest that blockchain technology together with advanced information and communication technology and internet of things have been adopted for the improvement of agri-food value chain management in four main aspects: traceability, information security, manufacturing and sustainable water management. Six challenges have been identified including storage capacity and scalability, privacy leakage, high cost and regulation problem, throughput and latency issue, and lack of skills
This work has largely focused on the developed world, yet the majority of people and future economic growth lies in the developing world. Further, most research examines micro data on consumers or firms, limiting what is known regarding the role of macro factors on diffusion, such as social systems. Addressing these limitations, this research provides the first high-level insights into how green building adoption is occurring in developing countries. Utilizing a hand-collected dataset of all green building certification activity in 97 emerging market countries over fifteen years, was examined the relationship between economic development and green building adoption. The use of international certification programs is far more common than domestic programs, and that domestic programs have only been originated in advanced emerging economies. Additionally, was observed a relationship between foreign direct investment into emerging markets countries and the proliferation of green building, and that in most cases, domestic certification programs only originate after international certification activity has been introduced to the local economy. The findings carry economic and policy implications, worthy of consideration by both those interested in offering and attracting foreign investment in emerging market countries
This study proposes a modelling digital marketplace with FinTech enabled especially crowdfunding and payment system in order to support agriculture’s sustainability. The model connects all actors (farmers, landowners, investors, and consumers) into a platform that can promote transparency, empowerment, resourcefulness, and public engagement in agriculture
This report presents a framework for strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation of forestry and related sectors. It strives to identify and reduce regulatory burdens on private firms active in the forestry sector, while not compromising the objectives of government regulation. Illegal logging and deforestation, especially in developing countries, has significant impact on national and global forestry product markets, leading to increasingly heavy regulation of forestry sectors-including downstream markets and processing industries. Heavy regulation places a disproportionate burden on SMEs and frequently leads to regulatory failures, including corruption and reduced competition. The report is the first to assess the forestry sector from a cross-cutting global regulatory governance perspective. It draws upon and synthesizes key thematic issues and lessons from available materials on forestry, and develops practical solutions based on problem-driven adaption and good practices documented in regulatory governance literature. Based on this, it also creates a framework and toolkit using a selected and appropriate regulatory governance reform tools for application and further development.
FAO and the Centre de Cooperation Internationale pour la Recherche et le Developpement Agricole (CIRAD) organized an expert consultation workshop on developing a methodology for assessing agricultural innovation systems. The meeting was held on 13–15 June 2018 at CIRAD Headquarters in Paris. It brought together 30 experts from academia, research, extension, the private sector, development agencies and government representatives. The general objective of the meeting was to provide insights to design and develop a methodology for AIS assessment and the output was an outline of an AIS assessment methodology including key recommendations, framework, components, indicators, methods, tools, steps and processes for data collection. This report is a summary record of the expert workshop.
This guide on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning was prepared under the project Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS), a global partnership (Agrinatura, FAO and eight pilot countries) that aims to strengthen the capacity of countries and key stakeholders to innovate in complex agricultural systems, thereby achieving improved rural livelihoods. CDAIS uses a continuous learning cycle approach to support national agricultural innovation systems in eight countries in Africa, in Asia and Central America. CDAIS brings together key partners and actors to address commonly identified challenges and opportunities in specific value chains and in key organizations providing innovation support services.
CDAIS introduced a partecipatory monitoring, evaluation and learning system which combines elements of the outcome mapping approach and semi-quantative approaches (scoring of innovation capacities).
This guide serves as a resource for national facilitators and for other project stakeholders, as well as for other capacity development and monitoring experts to i) implement a MEL system and to be able to track the main outcomes (behavioural changes) resulting from the project.
These guidelines are produced by FAO as part of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems Project (CDAIS). The objective of this document is provide practical guidelines to implement marketplace events to strengthen agricultural innovation. A marketplace is an event organized to facilitate matching of demand and supply and to promote learning, sharing and exchanging of information, knowledge and practical experience on specific topics. In the context of the CDAIS project, the Marketplace proposed aims to broker partnerships for effective capacity development (CD) for agricultural innovation. These guidelines include practical steps to follow and provide suggestions for organizing successful marketpalce events. This guide serves as a resource for facilitators, project managers, other project stakeholders and other capacity development experts to learn how to organize and facilitate marketplace events in similar projects/initiatives.
Innovation is the process whereby individuals or organizations bring new or existing products, processes or ways of organization into use for the first time in a specific context. Innovation in agriculture cuts across all dimensions of the production cycle along the entire value chain - from crop, forestry, fishery or livestock production to the management of inputs and resources to market access. This book represents the proceedings of the first International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers which FAO organized at its headquarters in Rome, on 21–23 November 2018. FAO convened the symposium to provide inspiration for innovation actors and decision makers to unlock the potential of innovation to drive socio economic growth, ensure food and nutrition security, alleviate poverty, improve resilience to changing environments and thereby achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It was attended by 540 participants, including 286 delegates from 92 member countries. The proceedings provide a record of the main highlights of the symposium, including the opening plenary session; high-level ministerial segment; innovation fair, with 20 success stories of agricultural innovation; and six highly interactive parallel sessions and two special events dedicated to youth and to chefs and family farmers. During these different sessions, participants shared their experiences, knowledge and examples of agricultural innovation in different sectors; they also discussed the drivers and key factors contributing to success, as well as the main constraints for agricultural innovation.
Although agricultural innovation systems (AIS) have recently received considerable attention in academic and development circles, links between an AIS's regional specifications and structural-functional analysis have been neglected. This paper aims to understand how regional and structural dimensions determine systemic problems and blocking mechanisms that, in turn, hinder a regional AIS's function. From the basis of a qualitative data set, it presents an analysis of an AIS in Vietnam's Northern Uplands using an integrated regional-structural-functional framework. Results indicate that the existing AIS has six unique problems that are linked to seven blocking mechanisms, mainly belonging to three structural components: infrastructure, actors and institutions. Addressing these blocking mechanisms needs systemic instruments that help stimulate and balance investments, creating spaces for the development of actors' capability, and facilitating the institutional shift towards enabling region-oriented agriculture and demand-driven innovation processes. First, this study contributes an analysis of the integration of regional dimensions and technologies captured as a structural entity into the structural-functional framework, providing novel insights into the functioning of a regional AIS. Second, it deepens the literature on structural-functional innovation systems analysis by looking at the interconnections between structural and regional dimensions and how they create blocking mechanisms. It concludes that the regional-structural-functional analysis allows the design of integrated coherent sets of systemic instruments for a regional AIS.
This document is accompanyng the volume Public Agricultural Research in an Era of Transformation: The Challenge of Agri-Food System Innovation (available in TAPipedia here), which provides some of the groundwork in answering the question of how the CGIAR system and other public agricultural research organisations should adapt and respond to an era of transformation framed by the SDGs.
The case studies presented in full in this accompanying document are based on secondary information (journal articles, grey literature, published evaluations). The emphasis in the case studies is the description of events and the presentation of evidence rather than interpretation through any particular conceptual perspective. The preparation of each case study was guided by an outline with the following sections: introduction, challenge or opportunity being tackled, description of the innovation, innovation pathway, impact evidence and consequences.
Case studies:
The purpose of this report is to provide some of the groundwork in answering the question of how the CGIAR system and other public agricultural research organisations should adapt and respond to an era of transformation framed by the SDGs. It does this by exploring the way in which this transformation agenda reframes agricultural research and innovation. Building on an earlier study of multi-stakeholder partnership and the SDGs (ISPC, 2015), this report draws together the results of a two-year study conducted by CSIRO and the CGIAR ISPC Secretariat on innovation and transformation of agrifood systems. The study’s activities also included a system-wide dialogue on the reframing of the common narrative on agri-food system innovation, supported by two multi-stakeholder workshops held at CSIRO, Canberra, in December 2016 and at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, in June 2017 (CSIRO and CGIAR ISPC Secretariat, 2016, 2017). The core of the work is a set of 16 in-depth case studies that offer historical accounts of agricultural innovation processes. The case studies are used to illustrate transformation processes, highlighting key features. These accounts are used to develop insights into the role of research and innovation in transformational processes and to frame a broader discussion on the implications for public agricultural research organisations and specifically the CGIAR.
Innovation platforms are fast becoming part of the mantra of agricultural research and development projects and programs with an innovation objective. Their basic tenet is that stakeholders depend on one another to achieve agricultural development and innovation outcomes, and hence need a space where they can learn, negotiate, and coordinate to overcome challenges and capitalize on opportunities through a facilitated innovation process. Innovation platforms do not provide a solution to all agricultural research or development problems, and critical reflection is needed on questions of when, where and for what issues innovation platforms form an appropriate intervention approach.
Well-designed and supported innovation niches may facilitate transitions towards sustainable agricultural futures, which may follow different approaches and paradigms such as agroecology, local place-based food systems, vertical farming, bioeconomy, urban agriculture, and smart farming or digital farming. In this paper we consider how the existing agricultural innovation systems (AIS) approach might be opened up to better support the creation of innovation niches. We engage with Innovation Ecosystems thinking to consider the ways in which it might enhance efforts to create multi-actor, cross-sectoral innovation niches that are capable of supporting transitions to sustainable agricultural systems across multiple scales. While sharing many similarities with AIS thinking, Innovation Ecosystems thinking has the potential to broaden AIS by: emphasizing the role of power in shaping directionality in innovation platforms or innovation communities that are connected to niches and their interaction with regimes; highlighting the plurality of actors and actants and the integral role of ecological actants in innovation; and offering an umbrella concept through which to cross scalar and paradigmatic or sector boundaries in order to engage with a variety of innovation systems affecting multifunctional agricultural landscapes and systems. To this end, an Agricultural Innovation Ecosystems approach may help design and support development of transboundary, inter-sectoral innovation niches that can realize more collective and integrated innovation in support of sustainability transitions, and help enact mission oriented agricultural innovation policy.
The report introduces 30 young innovators, 21 featured with full stories, and nine other "innovators to watch". They come from countries including Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Jamaica, Senegal, Tanzania. The publication presents a multidimensional picture of the emerging field of ICT entrepreneurship in agriculture in developing countries. It describes challenges but also successes already achieved. It contains advice for aspiring agtech entrepreneurs as well as recommendations from youth on how to support their ventures.
This book collects 24 stories of change from the EU-funded CDAIS project. Launched in 2015, the overall objective of CDAIS is to make agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. The stories are about the eight pilot countries - in Africa, Asia and Latin America - in which CDAIS operates. Countries and title of the 24 stories are provided below, with date of last update for each story.
Angola:
01) From farm to agri-business (February 2018)
02) From knowing needs to sowing seeds (March 2018)
03) Growing hope from a new crop (April 2018)
Bangladesh:
04) From green to silver (December 2017)
05) New markets for mangos (November 2017)
06) Pineapples – putting plans into action (September 2018)
Burkina Faso:
07) A marketplace of innovative ideas (September 2018)
08) Organic certification takes root (January 2018)
09) Women lead the way in rural enterprises (June 2018)
Ethiopia:
10) Feed Safety – change through learning (September 2017)
11) The need for seed – subtle changes (December 2017)
12) Innovating with chickpea cluster farming (September 2018)
Guatemala:
13) Better beans mean better nutrition (April 2018)
14) Avocados – from annual to tree crops (June 2018)
15) Moving to modern beekeeping (August 2018)
Honduras:
16) From potato pests to policy processes (April 2018)
17) Improving coffee by collaboration (June 2018)
18) New markets for cacao producers (June 2018)
Laos:
19) Seeds of an organic future (December 2017)
20) Pig farmers building bridges to success (June 2018)
21) Cattle producers blazing new trails (June 2018)
Rwanda:
22) Cooperation in cassava production (September 2018)
23) Challenges in the milk chain (September 2018)
24) Resolving conflicts in water use (September 2018)
The goal of this tool is to help facilitators examine the roles that women and men play in an innovation partnership and to better integrate their specific needs and priorities in the interventions planned for the innovation partnership. Gender analysis of the innovation partnership can also be done throughout project implementation to monitor how men and women are integrated and benefit from the project and to reduce the gender gaps. In addition, after the interventions are carried out, this tool might can be used to assess the possible impacts of the intervention on both men and women and whether the expected results (improvements of functional capacities) are gender-responsive.
This factsheet is part of a series outlining tools and approaches to promote more effective capacity development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). These tools and approaches put to use the principles of the Common Framework of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20 initiative. Some of these tools are applied through the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO in collaboration with national partners in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos, Rwanda. New tools are proposed to be used at different stages of the CD for AIS cycle in similar CD for AIS projects. Since 2018 FAO implements a Capacity Development for AIS project in El Salvador, funded by the Italian Government.
The Outcome mapping factsheet provides a series of steps to gather information on the outcomes of the process initiated by capacity development for agricultural innovation. This tool provides an overview of the outcome mapping methodology used for planning and assessing projects/programmes oriented towards change and social transformation. A simplified version (three stages and 10 steps) is proposed, based on the original IDRC methodology and experiences from the application in the CDAIS project.
This factsheet is part of a series outlining tools and approaches to promote more effective capacity development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). These tools and approaches put to use the principles of the Common Framework of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20 initiative. Some of these tools are applied through the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO in collaboration with national partners in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos, Rwanda. New tools are proposed to be used at different stages of the CD for AIS cycle in similar CD for AIS projects. Since 2018 FAO implements a Capacity Development for AIS project in El Salvador, funded by the Italian Government.
The multi-stakeholders Assessment Form is a tool to enable the different actors creating a partnership to ask systematic questions to a potential partner to ensure a good fit with the goal, vision and needs of the partnership. This tool can be used at the development/ starting point phase of the partnership to explore a potential relationship. It can also be used later on, after the assessment of capacity gaps is done, to assess how new organizations or institutions can be integrated into the innovation partnership and provide innovation support services which are relevant to the needs of the partnership.
This factsheet is part of a series outlining tools and approaches to promote more effective capacity development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). These tools and approaches put to use the principles of the Common Framework of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20 initiative. Some of these tools are applied through the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO in collaboration with national partners in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos, Rwanda. New tools are proposed to be used at different stages of the CD for AIS cycle in similar CD for AIS projects. Since 2018 FAO implements a Capacity Development for AIS project in El Salvador, funded by the Italian Government.
This tool helps the design of comprehensive capacity development interventions aimed at strengthening mainly functional capacities. The purpose of this tool is to provide an overview of the different options in terms of capacity development modalities that an innovation partnership can consider while developing the action plan. The interventions proposed are based on the CDAIS experience and the FAO CD materials and include a mix of diverse activities, actions and processes aimed at addressing the three levels of capacity development (i.e. individual organizational enabling environment) as well as both functional and technical capacity gaps.
This factsheet is part of a series outlining tools and approaches to promote more effective capacity development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). These tools and approaches put to use the principles of the Common Framework of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20 initiative. Some of these tools are applied through the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO in collaboration with national partners in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos, Rwanda. New tools are proposed to be used at different stages of the CD for AIS cycle in similar CD for AIS projects. Since 2018 FAO implements a Capacity Development for AIS project in El Salvador, funded by the Italian Government.
The Newsletter of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) provides regular updates on global activities by TAP and its partners, on the EU funded CDAIS project (jointly implemented by FAO and Agrinatura) and on upcoming related events. This issue specifically refers to the period from June to October 2018.
This brief illustrates the different forms of knowledge, and the ways to create and manage it.
Networks and organizations need to find ways to be more effective in pursuing their objectives and thus seek to “learn” to be able to respond, innovate and adapt to complex, changing social and environmental conditions, thus bringing about social change. An essential capacity for ARD (Agricultural Research for Development) partnerships is therefore the ability to reflect and learn. Learning is not simply about increasing knowledge and skills or changing attitudes; it is about making sense of complexity to act more effectively. Commitment to learning, however, requires time, effort, and resources. That is, ongoing learning, whether in an organization, long-term partnership or network, requires allocating time to come together with the clear purpose of learning, as well as adequate planning and preparation. Reflection in groups allows individuals and the group to learn from the experience and perspectives of its diverse members. Safety, trust, personal expression and team building are important for creating the right group learning environment. Key to effective group learning is facilitation — whether by a designated member of the group or a skilled external person or group. Effective facilitation creates the safe and participatory space that encourages members to adhere to agreed ground rules and maintains a high energy level and positive approach. Facilitators also help participants identify and articulate key points; encourage open expression of opinion allowing diverse voices to be heard and ensuring inclusive participation.
Although it is not always acknowledged, power differences between partners fundamentally affect Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) partnerships. In referring to its African-European ARD partnerships, PAEPARD has often alluded to aspects of power without naming them as such. The project was established to create “equitable and balanced partnerships” between: a) researchers and research users, and b) African and European partners. It referred to a focus on “inclusive” issues, the need for partners to “recognize and value each other’s uniqueness and cultural differences”; “co-learning”; “co-ownership”; “mutual trust”; “mutually beneficial collaboration”. All of these terms have something to do with relative power between partners.
The success of multi-stakeholder ARD (Agricultural Research for Development) partnerships is often attributed to stakeholder interaction and knowledge exchange, collective learning and establishment of mutual trust between the partners involved. Achieving these outcomes depends very much on the leadership of the partnership, and how this leadership relates to partnership facilitation and also project coordination and/or management. This brief explores the different skills and attitudes required by leaders of ARD partnerships, and how these relate to different contexts.
The nature of the issues around which Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) partnerships are formed requires a different way of conceptualizing and thinking to that commonly found in many agricultural professionals. This brief clarifies the components of a system of interest to an ARD partnership.
Despite efforts over recent years to improve the status of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, little change has been noted, due partially to the fact that efforts have come from individual entities, which had short-term funding or lacked the necessary expertise to scale up research outputs. Disconnect between researchers and end-users has further hindered the success of such efforts. The Platform for Africa-Europe Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD), therefore designed a multi-stakeholder partnership approach to overcome existing shortcomings in agricultural research for development (ARD). Through a variety of brokerage mechanisms, PAEPARD has supported the formation of consortia made up of multi-stakeholder partners from the public and private sectors, which are intended to address priority research issues and respond to user needs. The public sector can be represented by government ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture or Ministry of Industry and Trade; regional and locallevel government representative offices; state banks involved in financing rural development; state-owned enterprises, such as seed companies and agroprocessing facilities; and publicly funded research institutions, marketing boards and universities. On the other hand, the private sector encompasses all for-profit businesses that are not owned or operated by the government, as well as independent non-profit organizations, such as non-governmental organizations (NGO) and charities. The private partners involved in PAEPARD consortia include farmer organizations, agro-processing enterprises, input supply companies and NGO.
The paper takes a critical look at two key interventions identified to deliver the PAEPARD capacity strengthening strategy. Firstly, the training of a pool of agricultural innovation facilitators (AIF) to broker relations between relevant stakeholders for the consolidation of effective consortia. PAEPARD envisaged the role of AIF as to support both the face-to-face and virtual (via skype, email or social media) engagement of partners in capacity strengthening processes. The second key capacity strengthening intervention examined in this paper, is the instrument of “writeshop” to support consortia to produce “bankable” proposals in response to identified funding opportunities.
In 2011, the Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD) launched the Users-led Process (ULP) to better articulate users’ needs in a multi-stakeholder research and innovation (R&I) partnership. The ULP comprises six critical steps: (1) Identification of a federating theme; (2) Desk review; (3) Introduction workshop; (4) Multi-stakeholder research question inception workshop; (5) Concept note development; (6) Full proposal development. In this study, we reviewed the evolution of the ULP as implemented by five organisations (EAFF1 , PROPAC2 , ROPPA3 , COLEACP4 , FANRPAN5 ), identified the ULP stage at which European partners become engaged, and evaluated their contribution. The assessment involved the analysis of both secondary and primary data obtained through literature reviews, interviews and online questionnaires, as well as social network analysis. The following is a summary of the lessons learned.
The organisation of sector and multi-stakeholder consultations was an integral part of the first phase of the PAEPARD II programme, covering the period 2009–2013. These consultations contributed to the overall objective of the programme, the reorientation of scientific and technical collaboration between Africa and Europe in the area of agricultural research for development (ARD), in order to promote thecreation of multi-stakeholder partnerships that are demand-oriented and mutually beneficial. These consultations aimed in particular to guide the PAEPARD programme by drawing up recommendations for the establishment of partnerships that would be innovative, balanced and demand-driven.
Wthin the context of ARD, capacity strengthening is seen as a process of continual development, as opposed to one-off training. It enhances interaction, builds trust and creates synergy between research institutions and public and private sector actors, smallholder farmers and development organizations. Strengthening the capacities of these different actors for collaboration enables them to address a whole range of activities, investments and policies, and take advantage of opportunities to make change happen. The process of building strong stakeholder relations based on commitment and trust is often as important as the specific solutions developed to address research and development challenges.
Most agencies supporting agricultural research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) provide funds for discrete projects over specific periods of time, usually a maximum of three years. Research topics identified for calls for proposals are not always well aligned with users’ needs. In particular, research topics may not reflect the priorities of organizations - such as farmer organizations and private agribusinesses, with interests in the research outcomes; they are not generally supported to play a significant role as project partners. The failure to include relevant stakeholders inproject decision making, among other factors, impacts the quality of research and severely limits the uptake of research outputs, thereby reducing the potential development impact. The Platform for an Africa-Europe Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD) has sought to overcome these shortcomings by mobilizing and supporting multi-stakeholder research consortia to address priority research issues that respond to users’ needs. In implementing this user-led approach, some key lessons have been learned about funding agricultural research for development (ARD).
The lessons and recommendations outlined in this paper were captured at a PAEPARD Capitalization Workshop with all partners, held in Cotonou, Benin, on 2-6 October 2017. The workshop was key to the overall evaluation of PAEPARD II, as it encouraged participants to analyse and reflect on their experiences of the AfricanEuropean MSP for ARD processes facilitated by PAEPARD over the last 7 years. During discussions, the partners reflected on the way forward for PAEPARD activities and the sustainability of its achievements, with recommendations for a potential ‘new era’ and promoting the MSP structure at both policy and ground levels. The main objective of the workshop was to draw specific lessons (both successes and failures) from the ULP, CRF-IF and consortia, which are outlined below.
As the PAEPARD project is complex and multi-faceted, ensuring that appropriate information is made available to users in a timely manner and in a form that can be easily understood and used has been a major challenge.
This document presents a summary of the main findings of sector and multi-stakeholder consultations conducted by the Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD) during 2010-2012. It provides recommendations for the sustainable establishment of partnerships in agricultural research for development (ARD), between African and European partners in particular, to be innovative, balanced and demand-driven. From the consultations all PAEPARD partners agreed that, while the cultures and interests of each sector are often different, points of view need to converge and expertise be put at the disposal of all partners if a multi-stakeholder partnership in ARD is to be successful.
PAEPARD supports/facilitates three aflatoxin-related research consortia: (a) Stemming aflatoxin pre- and post-harvest waste in the groundnut value chain in Malawi and Zambia; (b) Developing strategies to reduce fungal toxins contamination for improved food sufficiency, nutrition and incomes along the maize value chain in the arid and semi-arid lands of Eastern Kenya; and (c) Developing feed management protocols for dairy farmers in high rainfall areas in Kenya.
This paper highlights lessons learned from the development of PAEPARD-supported consortia, which illustrate various impacts of brokerage. The preliminary conclusions and recommendations may appear obvious at first sight, but will be useful for informing the implementation of brokerage activities until PAEPARD activities come to an end in December 2017.
International partnership to carry out collaborative research and development programs has been implemented for a long time. However, with globalization, the economic, social, political and cultural diversity of interacting partners reached levels where this variety of collaborators often has shown some weaknesses in issues like governance. Strong and sound partnerships must be manageable in order to ensure the achievement of the set objectives. Embrapa, as a Brazilian public agricultural research and development institution that coordinates the Brazilian National Agricultural Research System (NARS), has acquired some experience in strengthening the inter-institutional relationship across continents. Recently, Embrapa was involved in a new research program focusing participatory and adaptive research to improve the production and marketability of small ruminants in arid areas of Latin America. The program is supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and coordinated by a CGIAR-Center - the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The program was started at the end of 2003 with the participation of two countries, Brazil and Mexico. Brazil is being represented by Embrapa and Mexico by the National Research Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock (INIFAP). The program has a Steering Committee, where all involved institutions have a representative member, including the donor (IFAD) and research institutions (CGIAR/ICARDA, Embrapa for Brazil and INIFAP for Mexico). The so far obtained results show the viability of international collaborative research programs to improve fund raising and to optimize the use of available human resources.
This document consists of the proceedings of the 4th Internation Symposium-cum-Workshop Red Cientifica Alemania Lationamericana (RECALL) on International Scientific Cooperation in Higher Education: Participation, Partnership and Perspectives healt in Talca, Chile, Nov. 28 to Dec., 4, 2005.
Over the past decades, Brazilian agriculture has played an important role in the international market, in response to growing global demand for products, services and food security. This achievement was in a large extent powered by the ability to generate knowledge and the actions promoted by science and technology institutes. This article aims to describe the model of knowledge generation in agriculture, assuming that the knowledge cycle is responsible for the capture, identification, selection and share of informal and formal information, through practices in the workplace and outside it, in personal and institutional networks. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this research deals with a multi-case study on three Brazilian science and technology institutes dedicated to agricultural research. Using both, qualitative and quantitative approaches, and collecting data through semistructured interviews applied to seniors researchers, as well as questionnaires answered by 410 scientists holding masters and doctoral degrees in natural sciences. Results indicate the existence of a knowledge generation model in agriculture research focused innovation, whose process starts from capturing ideas on how to solve a problem using the technological competence developed, through formal research projects.
Les recommandations de cet atelier sont organisées en trois parties. La première propose un état des lieux des interactions qu’entretient l’agriculture familiale avec les acteurs du système alimentaire mondial. La seconde relate les principaux débats et controverses ayant structuré l’atelier. La troisième explore Le rôle de la recherche dans l’évolution de l’agriculture familiale en tant qu’élément du système alimentaire ?
The second Action plan of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) covers the period 2018-2021. The draft Plan was presented at the fifth TAP Partners Assembly in Laos in September 2017, at which partners appointed a task force to finalise the Action Plan for review by the TAP Steering Committee and final approval by the TAP Partners’ Assembly. The goal of the second TAP Action Plan is to strengthen agricultural innovation capacities at country level. It has a strong focus on improving TAP governance, expanding the political mandate of TAP at international, regional and national level, greater involvement and commitment of TAP Partners in all aspects of implementation, financial sustainability and country ownership of the agricultural innovation agenda.
This tool will enable stakeholders in the countries’ organic agriculture movements to assess the functioning of national control systems (NCSs) for organic production and, with the assistance of IICA, to collaborate on the development of action plans to strengthen institutions and agencies involved in organic production control at a national level, thereby providing consumers in national and international markets with greater quality assurance for these types of products.
Presenting an annual report of the work carried out by IICA is more than a commitment to transparency and accountability; it is also a way of acknowledging the progress made by our Member States on behalf of their peoples. What they achieve thanks to the Institute’s contributions gives them continued confidence in an organization that, in fact, belongs to them. This report is entitled Harvest Times, reflecting the Institute’s achievements since it adopted a resultsbased technical cooperation model in 2014.
These guidelines have been elaborated by the CDAIS project to organize policy consultations at innovation partnership level. They can be used by project teams (e.g. project managers, facilitators, policy consultants) to plan and conduct workshops with representatives of the innovation partnership to discuss policy related issues that hinder the innovation process in a particular partnership.
These guidelines have been elaborated by the CDAIS project to organize policy consultations at national level. In particular, they can be used by project teams (e.g. project managers, facilitators, policy consultants) for the planning of national policy dialogue events to discuss policy related issues emerged during the local consultations at innovation partnership level and require attention of national policy makers.
This article gives insights about collaboration and how this process can help agricultural innovation in Africa.
CDAIS is a global partnership that aims to strengthen the capacity of countries and key stakeholders to innovate in the context of complex agricultural systems, to improve rural livelihoods. The goal of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project is to promote innovation that meets the needs of small farmers, small and medium-sized agribusiness, and consumers. To do so, it is bringing together key stakeholders in agricultural innovation systems around selected niche partnerships in eight pilot countries (Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos and Rwanda), assessing their needs and elaborating and implementing national capacity development plans. Globally, CDAIS is using the lessons learnt in those countries to support the global Tropical Agriculture Platform to promote, coordinate and evaluate capacity development to strengthen demand-driven agricultural innovation as a catalyst of sustainable agricultural growth. Launched in 2015, the initiative is being implemented by Agrinatura, a grouping of European universities and research organizations supporting agricultural development and FAO in close collaboration with national partners, with the financial support of the European Union (EU).
The present report offers a global overview of the activities carried out at global and country level in 2017. It also offers shared perspectives and jointly developed approaches. The information provided in this report has been compiled by Agrinatura, thanks to the contribution of FAO, CDAIS Country Teams, and National Innovation Facilitators.
This document is intended to serve as a resource for assessing capacity needs in a project or programme. A capacity needs assessment (CNA) is a process for identifying a project’s perceptions (through staff, partners and stakeholders) on various capacity areas that impact the work they do. The process helps identify challenges and opportunities for enhancing key skills thereby enhancing the project’s ability to achieve its objectives. The overall goal of a CNA is to determine the gap between required and existing capacities.
This report provides an overview of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) since its inception in 2012, when it was officially launched by FAO at the first G20 Meeting of Agriculture Chief Scientists (MACS) in September 2012 in Mexico, until December 2017. The G20 Agriculture Deputies agreed on this stock taking exercise that started under the 2018 Argentinian G20 Presidency.
Purposes of the exercise are the following:
The report includes information on TAP Partners, achievements, challenges and next steps, key documents produced and major advocacy and awareness raising events.
This document aims to guide a small team tasked to assess the capacity for agricultural innovation in a multi-stakeholder context. The context might be an actual or potential “innovation platform” such as the three commodity-based platforms selected for the piloting capacity assessment methods, or it might be a project or programme that is more generally focused on strengthening of innovation within a subsector of agriculture within a country, such as livestock or horticulture. The guidance note is not intended as a blueprint, but offers pointers and a framework for undertaking a capacity assessment.
This review is an information resource for development practitioners, development agencies and funders of development activities who have an interest in assessing capacity for agricultural innovation in developing countries, including the developing regions of sub-Saharan Africa. In the context that further investment in the agricultural capacity of developing countries is recognised as a development priority, the review explores what is known about the “tools” (i.e. concepts and methods) which are available to guide assessment of innovation capacity in these countries. Given the perceived limitation of past investments focused mainly on developing agricultural research capacity, the review specifically explores tools for assessing the capacity of multi-stakeholder initiatives which include a wider range of “innovation actors”, including agricultural researchers.
This course aims to guide actors in member countries in effectively enhancing country capacity and to ensure that programmes and projects lead to truly effective and sustainable change. It consolidates existing knowledge, tools and lessons learned from FAO’s work.
The course is designed for country actors who prepare, implement, manage and evaluate capacity development interventions, particularly those who are involved in change processes in organizations. Country actors include state and non-state actors such as line ministries, academic & research institutions, training institutions, cooperatives, community-based and civil society organisations.
The course consists of 7 lessons and has a duration of 2 hours:
Unit 1 About capacity development
•Lesson 1.1 Why capacity development?
•Lesson 1.2 A country’s responsibility
Unit 2 Making it happen
•Lesson 2.1 Capacity development process
•Lesson 2.2 Capacity Assessment
•Lesson 2.3 Developing individual capacities
•Lesson 2.4 Improving organizational performance
•Lesson 2.5 Bringing it all together
As part of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation System Project (CDAIS) a Policy Dialogue process is being implemented in the 8 pilot countries.
The purposes of the Policy Dialogue is to contribute to the improvement of the process of development or implementation of policies that promote agricultural innovation through improved dialogue and interaction among key stakeholders and, ultimately to contribute to the enhancement of the enabling environment for agricultural innovation.
The Concept note illustrates concepts, objectives, proposed process and logistical considerations for the Policy Dialogue Process.
This brochure is on the Virtual Extension and Research Information and Communication Network (VERCON), a conceptual model that any country can use and adapt to improve access to agricultural information and knowledge sharing and to strengthen the linkages between rural institutions and individuals, using information and communication technologies.
This brochure presents the Programme on Bridging the Rural Digital Divide, that begun in 2003 under the implementation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The programme highlighted innovative approaches to knowledge exchange that were taking advantage of new (at that time) digital technologies, and that were based on synergies between information management and communication for development. At the time this was referred to as "information and communication for development"(ICD).
Following their first formation in Indonesia over 25 years ago, Farmer Field Schools (FFS) have served as a “proof of concept” of how transformative learning can help governments, donors and development stakeholders achieve development objectives. The FFS approach, which has now been used in more than 90 countries by more than 12 million small farmers (FAO, 2016), not only creates a space in which the practical needs of smallholders to solve production-related issues can be addressed but also fosters personal and community-level transformation through empowerment.
The presentation was delivered to a conference entitled "Science Protecting Plant Health" in Brisbane on September 26th 2017 and then in private policy briefings to ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) and DAWR (Australian Government Department of Agriculture) in Australia. The presentation includes description of the role of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) and case study examples from CABI’s work to describe capacity building at the levels of individual, organisation and enabling environment.
Automation of essential processes in agriculture is becoming widespread, especially when fast action is required. However, some processes that could greatly benefit from some degree of automation have such difficult characteristics, that even small improvements pose a great challenge. This is the case of fish disease diagnosis, a problem of great economic, social and ecological interest. Difficult problems like this often require a interdisciplinary approach to be tackled properly, as multifaceted issues can greatly benefit from the inclusion of different perspectives. In this context, this paper presents the most recent advances in research subjects such as expert systems applied to fish disease diagnosis, computer vision applied to aquaculture, and image-based disease diagnosis applied to agriculture, and discusses how those advances may be combined to support future developments towards more effective diagnosis tools. The paper finishes suggesting a possible solution to increase the degree of automation of fish disease diagnosis tools.
One of the most important challenges for the researchers in the 21st Century is related to global heating and climate change that can have as consequence the intensification of natural hazards. Another problem of changes in the Earth's climate is its impact in the agriculture production. In this scenario, application of statistical models as well as development of new methods become very important to aid in the analyses of climate from ground-based stations and outputs of forecasting models. Additionally, remote sensing images have been used to improve the monitoring of crop yields. In this context we propose a new technique to identify extreme values in climate time series and to correlate climate and remote sensing data in order to improve agricultural monitoring. Accordingly, this paper presents a new unsupervised algorithm, called CLIPSMiner (CLImate PatternS Miner) that works on multiple time series of continuous data, identifying relevant patterns or extreme ones according to a relevance factor, which can be tuned by the user. Results show that CLIPSMiner detects, as expected, patterns that are known in climatology, indicating the correctness and feasibility of the proposed algorithm. Moreover, patterns detected using the highest relevance factor is coincident with extreme phenomena. Furthermore, series correlations detected by the algorithm show a relation between agroclimatic and vegetation indices, which confirms the agrometeorologists' expectations.
This review aims to identify key issues and opportunities needed to bring current Agricultural Education and Training (AET) systems up to the needed capacity. This paper first looks at the opportunities identified in the preliminary research. Next the paper looks at some of the many pitfalls learned from previous AET work that should be avoided moving forward. Lastly the paper gives a brief explanation for some of the key areas that the preliminary research identified as requiring further research and study in a modern day context.
USAID’s Bureau for Food Security (BFS) commissioned this literature review to identify evidence or evidence gaps on innovation diffusion and the related field of market strategy for scaling up new technologies, particularly in the context of agriculture markets in relevant developing countries. The review is expected to inform the design of future BFS programming related to the scaling of agricultural innovations.
This review focuses on the literature in the marketing and technology diffusion field related to how innovations scale up through forms of diffusion and places it in the context of agriculture markets relevant to development in select countries. Its first part provides an overview of innovation diffusion modeling and the primary models associated with that field of study, along with a definition of relevant terms. Part II discusses the relevant findings based on a review of literature, organized into six sub-sections. The third and final part summarizes the most relevant topics and conclusions derived from the findings that are of relevance for BFS.
The youth crisis has recently received much attention from the global community, particularly in how it intersects with the future of agriculture. Causes of the youth crisis include univeral youth disinterest in agriculture, deskilled youth populations, lack of access to resources, gender disparity and lack of reliable data regarding youth in agriculture.
Agricultural education and training (AET) models and initiatives have a unique opportunity in the nexus of the youth crisis and food security to deploy effective best practices to reengage youth in the agricultural sector. AET can address these challenges and work to ensure a future stable and employed youth population by the following steps that are targeted directly for agriculture education and training initiatives, programming and policy: 1) taking an integrated approach; 2) gathering more data on determinants, proximate causes and effects, disaggregated by sub-population, locality and region; 3) increasing access to resources available to youth; 4) facilitating soft skill development for youth; 5) increasing youth awareness of opportunities within and knowledge of the agricultural sector and (6) addressing gender disparity within the agricultural sector.
Funded by USAID’s Bureau of Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade and implemented by Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), the RAISE SPS Project (“Assistance for Trade Capacity Building in Relation to the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures”) is Task Order 14 under the RAISE (“Rural and Agricultural Incomes with a Sustainable Environment”) Indefinite Quantity Contract with DAI as Prime Contractor.
RAISE SPS assisted farmers, processors, exporters, retailers and other participants in agribusiness supply chains to enhance their competitiveness through achievement of international market standards. Concurrently, RAISE SPS assisted regulatory, scientific, technical, and donor institutions better understand the effect of SPS issues and private sector-driven standards on economic growth and poverty reduction.
During 2002-2007, RAISE SPS conducted research and provided technical assistance that not only helped clarify the nature of the challenge but which also pointed to appropriate development responses. This summary report describes the project structure, management and evolution, relates original project design objectives with actual delivered work products (Section 2), summarizes the objectives and achievements of each of the individual RAISE SPS project activities in five topical areas (Section 3), and provides a thematic results–based discussion of the five topical areas (Section 4). The report concludes with a discussion of key project successes and shortcomings, and makes some recommendations for future project funding in the area of SPS (Section 5). Key SPS literature references are also provided (Section 6).
To ensure that Feed the Future impact evaluations are well-conceived, build on existing evidence, and fill critical evidence gaps, the Bureau for Food Security of USAID is supporting a comprehensive assessment of existing evidence and gaps in knowledge for each of six themes covered by the Feed the Future Learning Agenda. This paper summarizes available evidence that relates to key questions for the Feed the Future Learning Agenda theme on improved gender integration and women’s empowerment.
This study first reviews key concepts, definitions, and recent development practice relating to women’s empowerment. It then examines evidence of impact of agricultural production interventions and productivity-nutrition interventions on women’s access to assets, for value chain commercialization interventions on women’s employment opportunities, and for capacity building interventions on women’s participation in leadership roles. Finally, it documents evidence of the impact of women’s empowerment on the reduction of poverty and hunger.
This assessment has been conducted over December 2015 to May 2016 under the Powering Agriculture Support Task Order (PASTO). PASTO is funded by USAID and implemented by Tetra Tech ES, Inc. PASTO provides support services to the Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) and its Founding Partners to enable their effective management, monitoring and evaluation of the program.
The PAEGC is a partnership between USAID, the Government of Sweden, the Government of Germany, Duke Energy Corporation and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (the Founding Partners). The goal of PAEGC is to support new and sustainable approaches to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy solutions for increasing agriculture production and/or value in developing countries.
This document describes the results of the mid-term performance assessment of the innovators selected and funded as a result of PAEGC first global innovation call in 2013 and presents findings, conclusions and recommendations.
This white paper is intended to summarize the key insights gleaned from prior work applying information and communication technologies (ICTs) in support of agriculture and food systems, identifying approaches and opportunities that hold promise for enhancing global food security, and to identify important knowledge gaps that remain, offering guidance for new work that investigates how to apply information and communication technologies in agriculture.
Following the introduction, section 2 of this white paper examines the basic state of the ICT infrastructure in the developing world, with a primary focus on the state of internet and mobile access. Section 3 provides a broad overview of recent ICT in agriculture projects. Section 4 examines research on the effectiveness of ICT for agriculture implementations. Section 5 contains the results of a field assessment of small farmers' use of mobile phones and market information services conducted by the Global Center for Food Systems Innovation researchers in Kenya in June of 2013. Based on the literature review and field assessment, section 6 outlines a set of problem definitions to help guide future work and concluding remarks are provided in section 7.
This gender and social inclusion strategy is designed to support the sustainable and equitable delivery of Bioversity International’s institutional vision and mission. It will promote gender-responsive and socially inclusive practices into all research-for-development practices in the organization, to contribute to narrowing the gender and equity gaps in the management of and benefit sharing from agricultural and tree biodiversity.
This summary is a condensed version of the June 2011 Agriculture and Climate Change: A Scoping Report developed by a team of expert authors, in consultation with UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiators and other key stakeholders, and facilitated by Meridian Institute. The aim of that report was to provide independent, objective analysis on many complex issues related to agriculture and climate change. This summary provides key points for policymakers, focusing on the unique aspects of agriculture when considered in the context of climate change. It recommends actions that can be taken when considering agriculture s multiple objectives, from providing adequate food for growing populations to protecting the environment, and ensuring resilience to future climatic change. Finally, it briefly describes needs related to finance, technology, and capacity building; options for measuring mitigation and adaptation activities; and trade dimensions.
The development of effective agricultural monitoring networks is essential to track, anticipate and manage changes in the social, economic and environmental aspects of agriculture. The authors welcome the perspective of Lindenmayer and Likens (J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 1559) as published in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring on their earlier paper, “Monitoring the World's Agriculture” (Sachs et al., Nature, 2010, 466, 558–560). In this response, they address three main critiques labeled as ‘the passive approach’, ‘the problem with uniform metrics’ and ‘the problem with composite metrics’. They expand on specific research questions at the core of the network design, on the distinction between key universal and site-specific metrics to detect change over time and across scales, and on the need for composite metrics in decision-making. They believe that simultaneously measuring indicators of the three pillars of sustainability (environmentally sound, social responsible and economically viable) in an effectively integrated monitoring system will ultimately allow scientists and land managers alike to find solutions to the most pressing problems facing global food security.
Since 2004, the Institutional Knowledge Sharing (IKS) Project, managed by CIAT, has focused on scaling up project activities in CGIAR Centers and Programs, with the aim of mainstreaming knowledge sharing (KS) principles and tools. The overall objective is to contribute to organizational development, and improve CGIAR effectiveness by promoting collaborative learning and innovation, and supporting effective use of KS approaches and tools throughout the CGIAR.
The module aimed to identify and examine the main features and characteristics of complex agricultural problems, explore innovative solutions to address complex agricultural problems, and examine the circumstances under which innovative solutions emerge.
Global climate change and food security are complex and closely intertwined challenges. A key requirement for dealing with them successfully is that agriculture becomes more eco-efficient. As researchers work toward this goal, they must always ask, “Efficiency for whom?” Finding answers to this question requires that research be conducted from a systems perspective in a broadly participatory manner involving complex collaborative arrangements. In recent decades, training and other efforts to strengthen the capacity of national partners in such collaboration have declined because of funding scarcity. As a result, key links in the chain that connects research with development have been weakened, thus diminishing the ability of research to reach end users effectively. Many approaches, backed by practical experience, have been developed in an effort to reduce the gaps between research and development. Among these approaches are new partnership styles, participatory research methods, novel strategies for strengthening agricultural value chains, qualitative monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management and sharing. All of them contribute broadly to capacity strengthening by empowering stakeholders and by fostering joint learning rather than reinforcing unidirectional technology transfer. These approaches can contribute importantly to mainstreaming eco-efficiency in agricultural research for development, particularly if currently separate and isolated interventions are combined under a comprehensive strategy.
This film describes the role of capacity development in accelerating adoption of new technologies and innovations in the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics.
This is an internal document for the phase I of CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The phase II capacity development strategy can be found here: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/82591. Capacity enhancement is a central priority for CCAFS. There is strong institutional support for this prioritization in the mandate of the ESSP, which has an explicit strategy agenda to make sure that capacity enhancement is more than just a tool for implementation of scientific research, and CGIAR, for which collaboration and capacity enhancement are likely to have a high profile within the post-reform agenda.
The presentation was given in January 2009 and introduced why a new approach for livestock development for poverty alleviation was desirable, innovation, innovation systems and value chains, building of innovation platforms, learning-oriented monitoring and evaluation, and scaling up and out.
The poster briefs the introducing and utility of tools and training materials to help to mainstream gender in Humidtropics activities, how they work, results and outputs and who the legacy products are useful for.
The poster briefs the introducing and utility of education materials and teaching notes on multi‐stakeholder innovation processes and how they work, results and outputs and who the legacy products are useful for.
This guide is the second in a series of documents designed to support agencies implementing participatory agroenterprise development program operating within defined geographical areas. It provides a systematic means to select and evaluate an area, establish an overall working group to support inter-institutional agroenterprise development, profile client groups to implement enterprises, and agree area plans for joint activities. This guide has the following sections: basic principles of livelihood development; agroenterprise working group development; selection and diagnosis of an area; profiling of clients; planning for action; making decisions on pilot testing; designing a system for monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
Esta guía está dirigida principalmente a aquellos actores que desempeñan el rol de facilitadores de procesos entre los vendedoresy los compradores que se han mencionado anteriormente. Puede ayudarle a usted y a su organización a facilitar un proceso sistemático de aprendizaje entre actores de una cadena de valor seleccionada, y está diseñada para acompañarlo en un proceso de innovación basado en la aplicación de un juego de 4 herramientas participativas:1. El mapeo de la cadena de valor (para entender el contexto macro donde se mueven los negocios que vinculan a los productores rurales con compradores).
2. La plantilla del modelo de negocio (para entender en detalle cada negocio que vincule a productores rurales con compradores). 3. Los principios para modelos de negocio incluyentes (para determinar si es realmente inclusivo cada negocio que vincule a productores rurales con compradores). 4. El ciclo del prototipo (para mejorar continuamente, en términos de inclusividad, cada negocio que vincule a productores rurales con compradores). Terminado el proceso, llegará a entender mejor la relación entre los modelos de negocio específicos de cada actor (vendedor y comprador) y el funcionamiento de la cadena de valor en general, habrá identificado áreas críticas para escalar procesos, y habrá logrado diseñar, implementar, evaluar y mejorar un prototipo de innovación para el modelo de negocio que haya trabajado; además de haber evaluado los efectos de los cambios sobre los pequeños productores y sobre el negocio en sí
Research, extension, and advisory services are some of the most knowledge-intensive elements of agricultural innovation systems. They are also among the heaviest users of information communication technologies (ICTs). This module introduces ICT developments in the wider innovation and knowledge systems as well as explores drivers of ICT use in research and extension.
This brief is part of a series of ‘Legacy Products’ developed under the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics – www.humidtropics.org ) to help CGIAR Research Programs integrate key ‘capacity development in systems’ concepts into their work. It introduces the rationale of capacity needs assessment, frameworks/steps and requirements.
Rapid appraisal of agricultural innovation systems (RAAIS) is a participatory, diagnostic tool for integrated analysis of complex agricultural problems. RAAIS facilitates interaction between different groups of stakeholders in collecting and analysing data. The poster briefs what RAAIS is, when to use it, what is available and where it has been used.
The CGIAR Research Program on Integrated System for the Humid Tropics, or Humidtropics, works towards transforming the lives of the rural poor in several action sites in Asia, Africa and Tropical America. In doing so, different technologies and innovations were implemented and while at first the capacity development was going on almost intuitively, as an integrated part of the implementation process, it has soon become clear that such groundbreaking activities and ideas require a more organized and supervised approach. Thus, in 2014 the Humidtropics Capacity Development (CapDev) unit was formed to have a team of experts focused on delivering the necessary training, supervise the development of new tools and think of new, innovative ideas to implement across the flagships.
This report brings together all the stories behind the greatest Humidtropics CapDev achievements, from building a learning management system to going beyond traditional on-site workshops, scaling up existing methodologies and tools, as well as developing new ones, introducing fun and exciting projects and activities the rural poor feel excited to use or participate in. It is a summarized overview, introducing the crucial key points related to each achievement, one that can be used as an infinite source of inspiration for researchers, farmers, research organizations, privately held companies and governments.
This paper describes the learning selection approach to enabling innovation that capitalizes on the complexity of social systems at different scales of analysis. The first part of the paper describes the approach and how it can be used to guide the early stages of setting up a “grassroots” innovation process. The second part of the paper looks at how the learn selection model can be used “top-down” to guide research investments to trigger large-scale systemic change.
As calls for bolstering environmental services on croplands have grown more insistent during the past two decades, the search for ways to foster sustainable, reduced input agriculture has become more urgent. In this context authors re-examine by means of a meta-analysis the argument, first proposed by Robert McC. Netting, that small scale, mixed crop – livestock farming, a common livelihood among poor rural peoples, encourages environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. As predicted, mixed crop – livestock farms exhibit more sustainable practices, but, contrary to predictions, a small scale of operation does not predict sustainability. Unsustainable practices occur on small farms characterized by degrading, input scarce agriculture and on large farms characterized by industrialized, high chemical input agriculture. Sustainable practices occur on small farms that mix crops with livestock production, and they occur on large farms characterized by minimum tillage. The strength and pervasiveness of the link between mixed crop –livestock farming and sustainable agricultural practices in both developed and developing countries argues for agricultural policies that promote mixed crop – livestock livelihoods.
This is a chapter of the book Innovation platforms for agricultural development edited by Iddo Dror, Jean-Joseph Cadilhon, Marc Schut, Michael Misiko and Shreya Maheshwari. The concluding chapter will first provide a brief summary of three important factors of success of innovation platforms (IPs), namely vision, enabling environment and a research for development orientation, and then offer some final thoughts on the ‘landscape’ of mature IPs covered in this book, and some of the implications this holds for the future of IPs as a vehicle for agricultural development.
Background: Opportunities to use data and information to address challenges in international agricultural research and development are expanding rapidly. The use of agricultural trial and evaluation data has enormous potential to improve crops and management practices. However, for a number of reasons, this potential has yet to be realized. This paper reports on the experience of the AgTrials initiative, an effort to build an online database of agricultural trials applying principles of interoperability and open access. Methods: Our analysis evaluates what worked and what did not work in the development of the AgTrials information resource. We analyzed data on our users and their interaction with the platform. We also surveyed our users to gauge their perceptions of the utility of the online database. Results: The study revealed barriers to participation and impediments to interaction, opportunities for improving agricultural knowledge management and a large potential for the use of trial and evaluation data. Conclusions: Technical and logistical mechanisms for developing interoperable online databases are well advanced. More effort will be needed to advance organizational and institutional work for these types of databases to realize their potential
Communications and knowledge management are essential activities to help the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) achieve its development outcomes. Strategic and complementary communication helps highlight success stories, support a change in behaviour in next-users while expanding the program’s reach. This in turn will help Flagships and regions follow impact pathways and reach outcomes. This is CCAFS Program Approach to Communication.
There is an ongoing debate on what constitutes sustainable intensification of agriculture (SIA). In this paper, we propose that a paradigm for sustainable intensification can be defined and translated into an operational framework for agricultural development. We argue that this paradigm must now be defined—at all scales—in the context of rapidly rising global environmental changes in the Anthropocene, while focusing on eradicating poverty and hunger and contributing to human wellbeing. The criteria and approach we propose, for a paradigm shift towards sustainable intensification of agriculture, integrates the dual and interdependent goals of using sustainable practices to meet rising human needs while contributing to resilience and sustainability of landscapes, the biosphere, and the Earth system. Both of these, in turn, are required to sustain the future viability of agriculture. This paradigm shift aims at repositioning world agriculture from its current role as the world’s single largest driver of global environmental change, to becoming a key contributor of a global transition to a sustainable world within a safe operating space on Earth.
The biodiversity of food plants is vital for humanity's capacity to meet sustainability challenges. This goal requires the rigorous integration of plant, environmental, social and health sciences. It is coalescing around four thematic cornerstones that are both interdisciplinary and policy relevant.
Growing local and informal markets in Asia and Africa provide both challenges and opportunities for small holders. In developing countries, market failures often lead to suboptimal performance of the value chains and limited and inequitable participation of the poor. In recent years, innovation platforms have been promoted as mechanisms to stimulate and support multistakeholder collaboration in the context of research for development. They are recognized as having the potential to link value chain actors, and enhance communication and collaboration to overcome market failures. Despite the increased use of innovation platforms in research for development projects and programs, a monitoring and evaluation framework that encompasses the dynamic nature of innovation systems and value chains is not available. In this paper, the authors aim to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for understanding and assessing the performance of innovation platforms in the context of pro-poor value chains, based on a discussion of various approaches.
Innovation platforms are advocated as a promising way to find solutions to complex problems, such as those in agriculture and natural resource management. As social, economic and environmental problems grow ever more complex, researchers need
to engage more actively with stakeholders such as farmers, development practitioners and policymakers to explore, design and implement solutions. Innovation platforms offer them an opportunity to do so.
The brief discusses how research can contribute to innovation platforms and how innovation platforms can support research. It is available in Chinese, English, Hindi, Thai and Vietnamese.
An innovation platform is a space for learning and change. It is a group of individuals (who often represent organizations) with different backgrounds and interests: farmers, traders, food processors, researchers, government officials etc. The members come together to diagnose problems, identify opportunities and find ways to achieve their goals. They may design and implement activities as a platform, or coordinate activities by individual members. This brief explains what innovation platforms are and how they work, and it describes some of their advantages and limitations. The brief is available in Chinese, English, Hindi, Thai and Vietnamese.
This report highlights the great potential of the agribusiness sector in Africa by drawing on experience in Africa as well as other regions. The evidence demonstrates that good policies, a conducive business environment, and strategic support from governments can help agribusiness reach its potential. Africa is now at a crossroads, from which it can take concrete steps to realize its potential or continue to lose competitiveness, missing a major opportunity for increased growth, employment, and food security. The report pursues several lines of analysis. First, it synthesizes the large body of work on agriculture and agribusiness in Africa. Second, it builds on a diagnosis of specific value chains. As part of this effort, the value chain for Africa's largest and fastest-growing food import, rice, is benchmarked in Senegal and Ghana against Thailand's rice value chain. Third, 170 agribusiness investments by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) in Africa and Southeast Asia are analyzed to gain perspective on the elements of success and failure. Fourth, the report synthesizes perspectives from the private sector through interviews with 23 leading agribusiness investors and a number of other key informants. In conclusion, the report offers practical policy advice based on the experience of countries from within and outside Africa. The huge diversity of Africa's agro-ecological, market, and business environments, however, necessarily means that each country (and indeed regions within countries) will need to adapt the broad guidance provided here to the local context. Annex 1, concerning the rice value chain, was authored by John Orchard, Tim Chancellor, Roy Denton, Amadou Abdoulaye Fall, and Peter Jaeger. Annex 2, containing interviews with 23 leading agribusiness players in Africa, was authored by Peter White.
This report demonstrates that financial cooperatives can be sustainable providers of financial services in rural areas and development assistance needs to consider supporting them as a means to enhance access to rural finance. It does not suggest that financial cooperatives are the only providers or the preferred channel in all circumstances. For financial cooperatives to function as sustainable institutions, governments need to provide an enabling environment, not exercise excessive control that restricts growth and consolidation, and not use them as channels to provide subsidized credit. Integration into networks has wide-ranging benefits for financial cooperatives, ranging from improved governance to the ability to provide a wide range of services.
This paper presents a literature review of issues related to recent subsidies and investments in the financial sector that have been designed to address the immediate effects of the crises and to develop the financial institutions necessary to modernize agriculture. Section two of the paper discusses the impact of recent food, fuel, and financial crises on developing countries and the emergency actions taken by countries and international agencies to reduce the suffering inflicted on poor people. It also discusses the challenge of finding a balance between pragmatic immediate responses and longer-term objectives. The third section discusses the role of finance in agricultural development and poverty alleviation. Section four deals with the challenge of creating credit markets in developing countries. The fifth section covers shifts in the paradigm used to intervene in credit markets and summarizes the main features of the old directed-credit and the new financial systems paradigms. This is followed by a sixth section that summarizes highlights in the development of the microfinance industry. It covers guidelines created for developing microfinance, microfinance penetration into rural areas and agriculture, innovations and prospects for future agricultural lending, and insights gained about the impact of finance on poor households. The seventh section addresses topics related to the demand for credit, including rates of return earned in agriculture and in microenterprises, and research results analyzing sensitivity of loan demand to interest rates. Section eight describes major interventions by international agencies and points the way forward for agricultural credit. It reviews the debates about the use of grants and subsidies, especially in the food, fertilizer, and credit markets, and the rationale for smart subsidies. It then describes experiences in five major areas of international agency activities: micro-insurance and weather-index-based insurance, credit guarantee funds, warehouse receipts, specialized agricultural development banks, and agricultural investment funds. Section nine summarizes the main conclusions based on literature consulted for this review. It identifies major lessons learned with suggestions for priorities that Improving Capacity Building in Rural Finance (CABFIN) members might consider supporting in their projects and programs.
The Tugi Silvo-pastoral Project (TUSIP) is a South-South Cooperation between the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) and the Akwi Memorial Foundation (AMF) based in the North West Region of Cameroon. The main goal of TUSIP was to assess the environmental benefits of a set of silvo-pastoral practices and to empower traditional livestock farmers in Tugi Village by enhancing their capability to manage available crop-animal systems and natural resources in a sustainable manner. TUSIP made efforts in the rehabilitation of degraded pasturelands to ensure adequate year-round availability of forages to increase animal productivity in a sustainable manner, consequently contributing to improving the livelihoods of rural families who depend on livestock activities in Tugi. The project put emphasis on (1) modifying the traditional crop-livestock systems through the implementation of silvo-pastoral options, which helped to diversify income sources, and (2) improving soil fertility, while (3) restoring ecosystem services that were affected by the change in land use from forests to degraded pastures. The project applied participatory methodologies to build the capability of the Tugi population to replicate the technological innovations introduced by TUSIP.
The objective of this paper is to identify the possible role and opportunities for the private sector to participate with governments and farmers in developing and managing irrigation and drainage (I&D) infrastructure. Over the last 50 years, irrigated agriculture has been vital to meeting fast-rising food demand and has been key to poverty reduction. In the coming years the strong demographic demand for food is expected to continue, and intensified irrigated agriculture will have to provide close to 60 percent of the extra food. However, in recent years, the pace of irrigation expansion has been slowing, there has been less improvement in productivity, and water availability for irrigation is increasingly constrained. Governments have long led the expansion of large-scale irrigation, but performance has been suboptimal, and reforms that have been introduced have proved slow to improve efficiency and water service. Faced with this challenge, the I&D sector has been wrestling with three deep-seated problems: low water use efficiency, a high reliance on government financing, and poor standards of management and maintenance. Much of the search for improved investment and institutional models in I&D has been driven by the need to resolve these three problems. One solution that has been tested over the last two decades has been Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) involving water user associations (WUAs) in the financing and management of schemes. This solution had its logical culmination in irrigation management transfer, the handover of responsibility for scheme operation and maintenance (O&M) to farmers and their organizations. This solution promised to relieve governments of both the fiscal burden and the responsibility for asset management and maintenance and to improve efficiency by empowering farmers. PIM has made impressive strides. However, efficiency has risen only marginally, and there are many schemes where O&M is beyond farmers' capacity.
There have been numerous episodes of widespread adoption of improved seed and long-term achievements in the development of the maize seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This summary takes a circumspect view of technical change in maize production. Adoption of improved seed has continued to rise gradually, now representing an estimated 44 percent of maize area in Eastern and Southern Africa (outside South Africa), and 60 percent of maize area in West and Central Africa. Use of fertilizer and restorative crop management practices remains relatively low and inefficient. An array of extension models has been tested and a combination of approaches will be needed to reach maize producers in heterogeneous agricultural environments. Yield growth overall has been 1 percent over the past half-century, although this figure masks the high variability in maize yields, as well as improvements in resistance to disease and abiotic pressures that would have caused yield decline in the absence of maize breeding progress. The authors argue that conducive policies are equally, if not more, important for maize productivity in the region than the development of new technology and techniques. Currently popular, voucher-based subsidies can "crowd out" the private sector and could be fiscally unsustainable.
The objective of this report is to identify and evaluate best practices in smallholder private irrigation in West Africa. The report is based on a comparative assessment of the smallholder private irrigation subsector in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria, which included a literature review, field visits, and workshops at both national and regional levels. The task lists for the assessment is provided in annex one. This report first presents the main features of smallholder irrigation and the development projects that have promoted its use in West Africa in chapter two. The authors then describe the low-cost technologies available for this type of irrigation, including drilling, pumping, and water distribution in chapter three. Chapter four reviews the successes and remaining challenges of the development projects involving smallholder private irrigation in West Africa. Chapter five draws the lessons learned from these experiences and proposes recommendations for future investments, including more support to the development of a supply-chain for low-cost irrigation technologies, the adoption of a programmatic approach, and the necessity for a comprehensive investment package including environmental impact mitigation to sustainably support smallholder irrigators.
Agricultural investments made by developing countries and multilateral development banks (MDBs) have declined in recent decades. This decline is associated with a slowdown in the growth of agriculture productivity. Most development institutions have recognized the damage caused by this past neglect, in part evident in rising food prices, and renewed attention to agriculture and agribusiness is emerging. But this renewed interest will need to deliver results, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the MDBs have had the least success but where the needs and opportunities are enormous. This paper synthesizes recent work by the independent evaluation agency members of the Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG) and incorporates lessons from related research by MDBs and from the academic literature on agriculture and agribusiness. The objectives of the paper, in addition to distilling evaluative lessons for agriculture and agribusiness, are to examine the key constraints on the sector and to provide evaluators, operational staff, and policy makers with an evaluative perspective on interventions in countries at different stages of development.
The purpose of this Guidance Note is to help countries to assess the quality of public spending on science, technology, and innovation (STI). It adopts a results-oriented framework, combining the consolidation of STI expenditures with the analysis of their main outputs, intermediate outcomes, and developmental impact. The framework proposes the analysis of three main sources of deficiencies: (i) program design/implementation; (ii) institutional conditions; and the (iii) composition and level of public expenditure. The main product of this exercise is an integrated set of actionable measures combining institutional reforms with changes in the policy mix (the composition and level of public spending) and strategic investments. This note is one of a larger set of products—including policy notes, firm-level surveys, and a joint global platform with the OECD (the Innovation Policy Platform)— developed by the World Bank Group to meet the demands of our client countries in this field of innovation policy.
This publication presents the GEF-6 biodiversity strategy for 2014-2018. As the financial mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) the GEF provides funding to help countries implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, 2011-2020, and achieve the Aichi Targets. I am pleased that donors during the recently completed replenishment pledged $1.296 billion towards the biodiversity focal area for GEF-6, making it the largest individual focal area within the GEF. Consistent with the CBD Strategic Plan, the goal of the GEF’s biodiversity strategy is to maintain globally significant biodiversity and the ecosystem goods and services that it provides to society. To achieve this goal, the strategy encompasses four objectives: 1) improve sustainability of protected area systems; 2) reduce threats to biodiversity; 3) sustainably use biodiversity; and 4) mainstream conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into production landscapes/seascapes and sectors. The GEF-6 biodiversity strategy is composed of ten programs that, through a continuum of measures, address the most critical drivers of biodiversity loss across entire landscapes and seascapes. The programs include direct conservation/protection, threat-reduction, sustainable use, and biodiversity mainstreaming approaches. Each program provides a focused and calibrated response in a specific ecosystem or location in a landscape or seascape. In addition, for the first time, the strategy addresses the most critical underlying driver of biodiversity loss; the failure to account for and price the full economic value of ecosystems and biodiversity. Achieving the Aichi Targets will require more than money. To have transformational results will require landscape-level and sector-wide approaches that integrate the sustainable management of biodiversity into multiple sectors and that require engagement and ownership with stakeholders beyond the environment sector. GEF’s new biodiversity strategy acknowledges this reality and provides ample opportunities for countries to pursue new biodiversity management solutions that are systems-oriented, that address underlying drivers and direct pressures of biodiversity loss, and that engage all sectors of Government and society. We look forward to supporting a new generation of biodiversity investments that match the scope of the challenge and the aspirations inherent in the Strategic Plan and we commit to work together with the CBD, donors and recipient countries, GEF agencies, and civil society towards the joint achievement of the Aichi Targets.
By 2050, it is estimated that the world s agricultural system will need to produce approximately 50 percent more food to feed an estimated 9 billion people. In emerging markets, agriculture is the most important economic sector and source of employment; more specifically, 75 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their incomes. With volatility in food prices putting additional pressure on social and political systems, increasing global demand for scarce resources, widespread droughts, and rising concerns over food safety issues, sustainable agricultural development is an urgent priority. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) combines investment and advisory services to offer commercially viable solutions to agribusiness companies and their supply chains. IFC also contributes to transforming agribusiness at the country level by working with groups of smallholders and industry associations. For instance, IFC has helped to upgrade the operations of Cambodian rice farmers and millers so that their national industry can compete on an international level. In the following pages, there will be numerous illustrations of the work that we do with our private sector clients, typically combining finance and advice. This powerful combination of money and knowledge helps our clients not only sustain but also grow their businesses, thereby paving the way for robust job creation, growth, and positive environmental and social benefits.
This report summarizes the findings of the study on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa (CCAA). The objective of the CCAA study was to explore the feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and growth in African agriculture through the identification of products and production systems that can underpin rapid development of a competitive commercial agriculture. The CCAA study focused on the agricultural potential of Africa's Guinea Savannah zone, which covers about 600 million hectares in Africa, of which about 400 million hectares can be used for agriculture, and of which less than 10 percent are cropped. The African Guinea Savannah is one of the largest underused agricultural land reserves in the world. In terms of its agro climatic features, the land is similar to that found in the Cerrado region of Brazil and in the Northeast Region of Thailand, with medium-to-high agricultural potential but also significant constraints in the form of infertile soils and variable rainfall. Based on a careful examination of the factors that contributed to the successes achieved in Brazil and Thailand, as well as comparative analysis of evidence obtained through detailed case studies of three African (Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia) countries. This report argues that opportunities abound for farmers in Africa to regain international competitiveness, especially in light of projected stronger demand in world markets for agricultural commodities over the long term.
The objective of this paper is to: (a) review World Bank's pest management activities during 1999-2004; (b) assess those in view of the changes in the external and internal contexts; (c) identify appropriate opportunities of engagement on pest and pesticide issues; and (d) suggest means to further promote sound pest management in the World Bank operations. The importance of sound pest management for sustainable agricultural production is being recognized by many developing countries. Many countries have adopted sound pest management and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policies authorizing plant protection services to coordinate the promotion of good practices. These policies provide the institutional framework for the planning and implementation of pest management.
The report analyses the contribution to date of agricultural water management to poverty reduction and growth in the in sub-Saharan Africa region, the reasons for its slow expansion and apparently poor track record, as well as the ways in which increased investment in agricultural water management could make a sustainable contribution to further poverty reduction and growth. The first chapter places agricultural water management in the context of the millennium development goals and paths to poverty reduction through agricultural growth. The second to fifth chapters contain a regional diagnostic that looks at the role of agricultural water management in sub-Saharan Africa, examines the contribution that investment projects have made, reviews the changing institutional context, and assesses the potential for further development. The sixth and the final chapter then summarizes the lessons and recommendations for increasing the contribution of agricultural water management to poverty reduction and growth in the region.
In Ethiopia, village surveys were conducted in six villages and two expert workshops were organized to discuss the organization of the study and to evaluate the draft results. Based on household surveys, focus group discussions, and institutional stakeholder interviews, we assessed household vulnerability, analyzed the strategies households adopt to reduce the hazards faced, and evaluated the assistance households receive from institutions. Vulnerability profiles were formulated, which show that household vulnerability differs substantially among and within villages. The size and diversity of income and the ability to flexibly decide on alternative measures to mitigate the adverse climate effects, which depends on, for example, level of education and dependency ratio, have effects on the adaptation options households adopt and the type of institutional assistance they receive. This report presents the results of the World Bank-funded project on Costing Adaptation through Local Institutions (CALI). The objectives of the CALI-project are: (1) to identify the costs of adaptation through local institutions, and (2) to investigate the institutions that support households in adapting to climate variability, the efforts and costs required to realize the adaptation options, and how they facilitate adaptation to climate variability. The study has been carried out in Ethiopia, Mali, and Yemen. This report discusses the results for Ethiopia.
The Development Marketplace 2009 focused on adaptation to climate change. This paper identifies lessons from the Marketplace and assesses their implications for adaptation support. The findings are based on: statistical tabulation of all proposals; in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis of the 346 semi-finalists; and interviews with finalists and assessors. Proposals were fuelled by deep concerns that ongoing climate change and its impacts undermine development and exacerbate poverty, migration and food insecurity. Proposals addressed both local poverty and climate change challenges, and offered a wide range of approaches to render local development more resilient to current climate variability. Therefore, support to community-based adaptation should: exploit its strong local grounding and synergies with development; help connect local initiatives to higher levels; and use complementary approaches to address policy issues.
Livelihoods, food security, and development processes in Sub-Saharan Africa are highly dependent on land management practices to generate natural ecosystem goods and services. Out of a total population of about 717 million people, almost 60 percent depend for their livelihood on agriculture, hunting, fishing, or forestry. However, unsustainable land management already is leading to large-scale land degradation trends, which pose a threat to food security and poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change threatens to exacerbate and add to the existing vulnerabilities. Evidence has shown that the number of people affected by climate variability, through floods and droughts, is already increasing. Much-needed increases in agricultural production have, as a result, been unrealized. These outcomes place smallholder farmers, who depend largely on rainfed agriculture, in highly vulnerable circumstances under climate-change predictions. The objective of this work is to improve practical knowledge resources for Sub-Saharan African countries, regional institutions, and development practitioners at the World Bank and other partner institutions to help them make informed decisions about: (i) the risks posed by climate variability and change to land-resource-dependent livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa; and (ii) Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLWM) approaches and practices that are best suited for meeting development objectives while also addressing the challenge posed by climate-change adaptation and mitigation.
The development objective of the Sustainable Management of Agricultural Research and Technology Dissemination Project is to improve the institutional capacity and performance of the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD) to develop and disseminate relevant and demand-driven innovative technologies, meeting the needs of producers and of the agri-food system. There are four components to the project. The first component of the project is human resource development and management. This component aims at strengthening the scientific skills and research capacities of IAARD's professional staff. This objective will be achieved through a number of different programs and activities designed to enhance the academic and technical skills of IAARD staff and meet quantitative targets in terms of trained personnel. The second component of the project is improvement in research infrastructure and facilities. The objective of this component is to rehabilitate, improve and upgrade the physical infrastructure of some of the operational units within IAARD in terms of laboratory equipment, upgrading of experimental farms, and rehabilitation/construction of additional research facilities. The third component of the project is research management and policy support. The objective of this component is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness in the use of research resources through the implementation of improved research management strategies, processes and instruments. The fourth component of the project is project management and monitoring and evaluation. This component includes activities that will facilitate project implementation, provide the necessary administrative support, and carry out monitoring and evaluation activities related to project implementation.
This report is a product ofthe World Bank's Rural Development and Environment (EASRE) Sector Unit ofthe Sustainable Development Department in the East Asia and Pacific Region.
Interest in farmland is rising. And, given commodity price volatility, growing human and environmental pressures, and worries about food security, this interest will increase, especially in the developing world. One of the highest development priorities in the world must be to improve smallholder agricultural productivity, especially in Africa. Smallholder productivity is essential for reducing poverty and hunger, and more and better investment in agricultural technology, infrastructure, and market access for poor farmers is urgently needed. When done right, larger-scale farming systems can also have a place as one of many tools to promote sustainable agricultural and rural development, and can directly support smallholder productivity, for example, throughout grower programs. However, recent press and other reports about actual or proposed large farmland acquisition by big investors have raised serious concerns about the danger of neglecting local rights and other problems. They have also raised questions about the extent to which such transactions can provide long-term benefits to local populations and contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development. Although these reports are worrying, the lack of reliable information has made it difficult to understand what has been actually happening. Against this backdrop, the World Bank, under the leadership of Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, along with other development partners, has highlighted the need for good empirical evidence to inform decision makers, especially in developing countries.
This report is based on a broad review of actual land transfers, global agroecological suitability of land, and country-level policy and institutional frameworks.
The objective of this report is to assess the usefulness of providing guidance for scaling up good practices in core ARD business lines, and to test the prospects for doing so. The output of the document is a guide for a systematic discussion on scaling up of Competitive Grant Schemes (CGSs) for agricultural research and extension at key decision points during the life of an ARD project. This report addresses the other end of the state-of-practice spectrum - good practices and beyond. The preparation of this report entailed five main activities: An overview of scaling up concepts and approaches; the selection of a particular sub-area within one of ARD s core business lines - scaling up CGS for agricultural research and extension; application of the IFAD/Brookings framing questions to five World Bank projects that were identified as addressing that business line - using information provided by the project's task team leaders (TTLs) or other member of the project team; the development of sub-area specific guidance for a systematic discussion on scaling up based on the findings from a series of five case studies; and validation of the scaling up guidance for CGSs for agricultural research and extension by World Bank practitioners and other internal consultations.
Extension services are a keystone of information diffusion in agriculture. This paper exploits a large randomized controlled trial to track diffusion of a new technique in the classic Training and Visit (T&V) extension model, relative to a more direct training model. In both control and treatment communities, contact farmers (CFs) serve as points-of-contacts between agents and other farmers. The intervention (Treatment) aims to address two pitfalls of the T&V model: i) infrequent extension agent visits, and ii) poor quality information. Treatment CFs receive a direct, centralized training. Control communities are exposed to the classic T&V model. Information diffusion was tracked through two nodes: from agents to CFs, and from CFs to others. Directly training CFs leads to large gains in information diffusion and adoption, and CFs learn by doing. Diffusion to others is limited: other males adopt the technique perceived as labor saving, with an effect size of 75 percent.
Disasters are increasing worldwide, with more devastating effects than ever before. While the absolute number of disasters around the world has almost doubled since the 1980s, the average number of natural disasters in Middle East and North Africa (MNA) has almost tripled over the same period of time. In the MNA, the interplay of natural disasters, rapid urbanization, water scarcity, and climate change has emerged as a serious challenge for policy and planning. Projections by climatologists and United Nations specialists suggest that MNA economies and livelihoods will be the second most affected by climate change. Governments across the region have seen a progressive increase in demand for comprehensive disaster risk management (DRM) services. Since 2007, a range of country-level programs have been launched in Djibouti, Morocco, and the Republic of Yemen to increase their resilience to disasters due to Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). Decentralization of the DRM agenda has progressed slowly, although some countries are making a progressive shift. This report aims to take stock of progress in risk management in MNA, while identifying gaps for future interventions, to broaden the dialogue for a more proactive and collaborative management of risks. This report builds on the strategic vision, principles, and goals of the MNA region's countries; the Islamic Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (ISDRRM); the MNA strategic framework for climate action; and the World Bank's strategy update for MNA. This report aims to establish a more strategic and collaborative framework between the World Bank and its international partners, particularly United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and UN Development Program (UNDP), in order to assist MNA countries to shift from disaster response to proactive risk management.
Urban agriculture contributes to local economic development, poverty alleviation, the social inclusion of the urban poor and women, as well as to the greening of the city and the productive reuse of urban wastes. Urban agriculture encompasses a wide variety of production systems in both urban as well as peri-urban areas. This study examines the contribution of urban agriculture to livelihoods, food security, health, and the urban environment through an assessment of existing urban agriculture activities among poor households in four selected cities. Another important benefit from urban agricultural production is in the cash savings from self-produced food that would otherwise have to be purchased. The role and importance of urban agriculture will likely increase with urbanization and climate change, so the integration of urban agriculture into development strategies and policy decisions would be important for long-term sustainability. This report is structured according to the basic framework mentioned above. Chapter two then summarizes the key findings from the four city case studies, analyzing the profiles of urban agriculture in each city, including the agricultural practices pursued, access to and use of urban land, as well as examining the available data for evidence of the importance of urban agriculture for livelihoods and food security. Chapter two also discusses the main findings from the case studies on the constraints facing urban agriculture. Chapter three then provides various recommendations for strengthening urban agriculture and addressing these constraints, recognizing that these need to be considered in light of the broader urban development agenda and the many competing priorities that cities face. The annexes to this report describe the methodology used for the city case studies, and provide detailed information on each city, including a general city profile, the urban agricultural practices in each city, the inputs used and outputs produced, and the income, expenditure, dwelling and food consumption profiles of residents.
This paper explores how a 'conflict and violence sensitive' framework in project assessment, design and implementation facilitates early identification and mitigation of negative consequences of competition and dispute, and promotes sustainable development over the longer term. It discusses the role of renewable resources in perpetuating conflict and violence, and distills lessons from selected development programming experiences in managing conflict risks associated with these dynamics. The study emphasizes that building capacity to productively address conflict and to improve community resilience to ecological change decreases vulnerability to violence, and improves livelihoods particularly for the world's poorest communities. The study draws on a range of development experience and specifically examines six case studies: three from the World Bank portfolio and three external to the Bank. Of the World Bank projects, the paper considers Andhra Pradesh Community Forest Management Project (India), Land Conflict and Vulnerability Pilot Project (Afghanistan), and Second Fadama Development Project (Nigeria). The paper also studies three external cases: conservation of managed indigenous areas (Ecuador) and Building the Capacity of Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) to Resolve and Manage Environmental Conflicts in Virunga National Park (DRC), both financed by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); and the Community Development Component of German Technical Cooperation's (GTZ's) Palestinian Water Program (West Bank). The concluding chapter outlines good practice and lessons learned from experience, emphasizing principals for building institutional and organizational capacity that support constructive conflict management.
This new Africa Region Sustainable Development Series aims to focus international attention on a range of topics, spur debate, and use robust, evidence-based, informed approaches to advance policy dialogue and policy-making. This new Series synthesizes a large body of work from disparate sources, and uses simple language to convey the findings in an easily-digestible format. Ultimately, we want to seed solutions that can help accelerate the fight to end poverty in Africa. Across Africa, south of the Sahara, agriculture is the predominant sector in the economies of most countries, accounting for between 30 to 40 percent of gross domestic product, and the sector is a leading source of jobs for over two-thirds of Africa’s population. A country’s economic, environmental and social well-being is intricately linked to a healthy, wellperforming agricultural sector. Increasing investments in the farm economy can deliver high-impact development returns such as increasing rural incomes, boosting food security, making cheap and more nutritious food available to Africa’s bustling cities and protecting the environment through innovations such as climate smart agriculture. This is the overarching message of this publication, which explores how the World Bank can help Africa take advantage of a unique confluence of factors that creates a great opportunity for the region to make agriculture the engine of development that it rightfully should be. By publishing the Sustainable Development Series ahead of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, we seek to inform, indeed persuade, the international community about the significant development challenges confronting Africa, and the new opportunities to overcome them for a better future for all.
Many experts believe that low-cost mitigation opportunities in agriculture are abundant and comparable in scale to those found in the energy sector. They are mostly located in developing countries and have to do with how land is used. By investing in projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), countries can tap these opportunities to meet their own Kyoto Protocol obligations. The CDM has been successful in financing some types of agricultural projects, including projects that capture methane or use agricultural by-products as an energy source. But agricultural land-use projects are scarce under the CDM. This represents a missed opportunity to promote sustainable rural development since land-use projects that sequester carbon in soils can help reverse declining soil fertility, a root cause of stagnant agricultural productivity. This paper reviews the process leading to current CDM implementation rules and describes how the rules, in combination with challenging features of land-use projects, raise transaction costs and lower demand for land-use credits. Procedures by which developed countries assess their own mitigation performance are discussed as a way of redressing current constraints on CDM investments. Nevertheless, even with improvements to the CDM, an under-investment in agricultural land-use projects is likely, since there are hurdles to capturing associated ancillary benefits privately. Alternative approaches outside the CDM are discussed, including those that build on recent decisions taken by governments in Copenhagen and Cancun.
This report is organized into nine chapters. Chapter one provides the introduction to the report. Chapter two presents alternative approaches to agribusiness development and chapter three discusses the role of agribusiness incubators. Chapter four discusses the challenges of agribusiness incubators and chapter five presents a typology of agribusiness incubators. Chapter six elaborates on the evolution of incubators over time. Chapter seven presents the analysis of impact and cost-benefits. Chapter eight summarizes good practices and lessons learned. Chapter nine presents the recommendations.
Carbon accounting and labeling are new instruments of supply chain management and, in some cases, of regulation that may affect trade from developing counties. These instruments are used to analyze and present information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from supply chains with the hope that they will help bring about reductions of GHGs. The designers of these schemes are caught in a dilemma: on one hand they have to respond to policy and corporate agendas to create new ways of responding to climate change challenges, while on the other they rely on very rudimentary knowledge about the actual GHG emissions emanating from the varied production systems that occur around the globe. This is because the underlying science of GHG emissions from agricultural systems is only partially developed; this is particularly true for supply chains that include activities in developing countries (Edwards-Jones et al., 2009). As a result of the pressures placed on designers and users of carbon accounting and labeling instruments, who are predominantly based in industrialized countries, there is a risk that carbon accounting and labeling instruments will not adequately represent production systems in developing countries. This report seeks to examine the potential for emerging carbon accounting and labeling schemes to accurately represent the production systems in developing countries. In order to achieve this it includes analyses of typical problems that may occur if the characteristics of developing countries' production systems are not taken into account properly. By doing this, the report provides relevant and necessary scientific data that illustrate potential problem areas that, if not addressed, may lead to developing-country carbon efficiencies not being given proper credit.
The brochure summarizes main features and goals of the EU funded CDAIS project, jointly implemented by FAO and AGRINATURA to support the Action Plan of the Tropical Agriculture Platform.
The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.
AARINENA was established to strengthen cooperation among national, regional and international agricultural research institutions and centers to ultimately support the agricultural sector in its member countries. Women farmers significantly contribute to the agricultural development in the WANA region, but often remain invisible in agricultural research and knowledge transfer. To assess the role that female farmers play in the agricultural systems in the countries of the WANA region and to better understand the level of services that are directed towards them, AARINENA has commissioned this study on women’s empowerment in agriculture. The study included a desk review of available resources and field studies in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia representing three of WANAs five sub-regions (Nile Valley & Red Sea, Mashreq and Mahgreb). The study findings are compiled in a report that provides a thorough review of available information and data as well as recommendations for policy makers and practitioners in research and extension organizations.
This document is on the Programma sull'Innovazione e lo Sviluppo Agroindustriale (PISA), which is an international program whose general objective is to support innovative projects of agroindustrial development aimed at generating value-added and employment in the rural sector of developing countries. This program builds on the work that Italy and the Regione Toscana have developed with Colombia and other Latin American and Caribbean countries in recent years (in the development of the RESECA-Colombia Project since 1998), as well as on the work that stakeholders of agricultural development have been doing in the context of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).1 The importance of these issues has been identified by all the Regional/Sub-regional Fora in the regional priority setting exercise that the GFAR has been supporting in collaboration with TAC during the last year. In order to address the issue of value-added, the projects that will be supported will go beyond agricultural technological research to include post-harvest and processing aspects, and they will be based on a commodity-chain ("filière") approach. This international program will be implemented through specific Projects that will be presented by NARS institutions in the developing world. Three such projects are presented in sections 3, 4 and 5 of this document.
This PROLINNOVA report to the 3rd GFAR Programme-Committee meeting is composed of two parts.
The past 1 entitles ‘ PROLINNOVA genesis and growth’ describes historical background and
PROLINOVA in general while the part 2 entitles ‘2007 accomplishments’ narrates specific
accomplishments of PROLINNOVA during the period January-November 2007 . Further, the annex 1
lists contact addresses.
This presentation was realized for the GFAR workshop on "Adoption of ICT Enabled Information Systems for Agricultural Development and Rural Viability" (at IAALD-AFITA-WCCA World Congress, 2008). It presents lessons learned through linking research to extension, including examples from projects in Nigeria, Colombia, Uganda ,Costa Rica, Egypt and Bhutan.
This workshop paper relates to the consultation organized by the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR), FAO of the UN (FAO), Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions APAARI), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Consultation held at ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India, in December 2009. The paper focuses on the application of the ICTS in agriculture and agricultural development and includes the summary of workshop outputs and pre-workshop Think Pieces.
Starting with background information, the report presents a summary of the plenary presentations of the workshop, which includes a brief on the post-conflict and protracted crisis environment in the 15 participating countries (Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan). Some countries like Afghanistan qualified all in one as conflict, post-conflict and protracted crisis country. Other countries subscribed to various shades in the continuum ranging from normalcy and conflict/crisis situations. The causes of conflicts in these countries vary but include mainly historical ethnic animosity, internal political subjugation, international political alliances, inept governance, economic disparities, discriminatory policies, and control of resources. A section is thereafter dedicated to process steps that eventually led to the final action plan. An immediate outcome of the final action plan was a synthesis paper presented to the High Level Expert Forum: Addressing Food Insecurity in Protracted Crises jointly convened by the Committee on World Food Security and FAO on September 13 -14 in Rome, Italy.
This report describes issues presented and discussed at a workshop held in Rwanda from 6 - 8 September 2012, focused on strengthening capacity in agricultural innovation in post-conflict and protracted crisis (2PC) countries. It was the first workshop of its kind that attempted to bring participants from 2PC countries around the globe to rally around a common cause. The participants came from 14 countries either emerging from or undergoing recurrent violent conflicts in Africa and Asia: Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Current situations in these countries variously fall somewhere within the continuum of normalcy to conflict or crisis. Some countries like Afghanistan have undergone a succession of conflict, postconflict and protracted crisis conditions. The causes of conflicts in these countries vary but include historical ethnic animosities, internal political disputes and oppression, international political tensions, inept governance, economic disparities, discriminatory policies towards some groups, and abusive control of resources. the report includes the Intended Outcomes of The Kigali Movement by 2014.
The three system CGIAR research programs on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics, Dryland Systems and Aquatic Agricultural Systems have included “capacity to innovate” as an intermediate development outcome in their respective theories of change. The wording of the intermediate development outcome is “increased systems capacity to innovate and contribute to improved livelihoods of low-income agricultural communities.” This note captures the CGIAR's collective thinking about this intermediate development outcome from a systems perspective to clarify it and inspire other programs.
This report assesses trends in investments and human resource capacity in agricultural R&D in countries in West Asia and North Africa (WANA), focusing on developments during 2009–2012. The analysis is based on information from a set of country factsheets prepared by the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) program of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), using comprehensive datasets derived from primary surveys targeting over 300 agencies in 11 countries during 2013–2014. Accounting for about two-thirds of the region’s total agricultural gross domestic product (AgGDP), the 11 sample countries do not provide a complete overview of agricultural R&D expenditures and staffing in the region as a whole. Yet, these countries are representative of the region’s diversity in terms of income level, country size, and agroclimatic characteristics. As private-sector data were not available in all sample countries, the data presented in this report only include agricultural R&D performed by government and higher education agencies. Data on the contributions of international agricultural R&D agencies operating in the subregion, such as the centers of the CGIAR Consortium, have also been excluded.
CDAIS is a global partnership that aims to strengthen the capacity of countries and key stakeholders to innovate in the context of complex agricultural systems, to improve rural livelihoods. The goal of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project is to promote innovation that meets the needs of small farmers, small and medium-sized agribusiness, and consumers. To do so, it is bringing together key stakeholders in agricultural innovation systems around selected niche partnerships in eight pilot countries, assessing their needs and elaborating and implementing national capacity development plans. Globally, CDAIS will use the lessons learnt in those countries to support the global Tropical Agriculture Platform to promote, coordinate and evaluate capacity development to strengthen demand-driven agricultural innovation as a catalyst of sustainable agricultural growth. Launched in 2015, the initiative is being implemented by Agrinatura, a grouping of European universities and research organizations supporting agricultural development and FAO in close collaboration with national partners, with the financial support of the European Union (EU). The present report offers a global overview of the activities carried out at global and country level in 2016. It also offers shared perspectives and jointly developed approaches.
The information provided in this report has been compiled by Agrinatura, thanks to the contribution of FAO, CDAIS Country Teams, and National Innovation Facilitators.
This concept note has been developed within the context of the EU-funded CDAIS project, which is jointly implemented by AGRINATURA-EEIG and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support the TAP Action Plan in eight pilot countries in Africa (Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda), Asia (Bangladesh, Laos) and Central America (Guatemala, Honduras) .
The CDAIS Marketplaces aim at brokering partnerships for effective capacity development for agricultural innovation. The marketplace is therefore conceived by the CDAIS project as part of an inclusive, country-led process involving the principal partners in agricultural innovation from public institutions and the private sector, civil society and farmers’ organizations to facilitate the matching of initiatives of capacity development for agricultural innovation systems (capacity development supply) with the real capacity development needs of the major agricultural innovation actors (capacity development demand).
In particular, the national CDAIS Marketplace in each CDAIS country is a one-day event that benefits from the preparatory contacts between relevant actors and the National CDAIS team. It relies on lessons learnt from the capacity needs assessment process and builds towards a national platform on agriculture capacities to innovate.
This concept note further explains concepts and objectives of the CDAIS Marketplaces.
The CCAFS (CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security) annual report for 2016 describes impact through policies and partnerships, capacity development and innovative communication, breakthrough science and innovation and integrating gender and youth. It features regional highlights and publications, and lists the people involved, financial summary, and our donors.
Processes of designing for systemic innovation for sustainable development (SD) through the lens of three long-term case studies are reported. All case studies, which originated from the SLIM (Social Learning for the Integrated Management and Sustainable Use of Water at Catchment Scale) Project, funded within the EU Fifth Framework Program (2001–2004), constitute inquiry pathways that are explored using a critical incident approach. The initial starting conditions for each inquiry pathway are compared; significant pathway dependencies are identified which foster the development of social learning processes locally, but constrain their uptake and embedding across the wider system of interest. In the first case study, in England & Wales, promising developments in the application of social learning approaches to river basin planning over an initial 3-year period were subsequently marginalised, only to resurface towards the end of the 10-year period of study. In the second, South African case study, significant spaces for social learning and innovation in integrated water resources management were opened up over a five year period but closed down again, primarily as the result of lack of policy support by national government. The third, Italian, case study was designed to assess options for adapting to climate change by opening up new learning spaces between researchers, stakeholders and policy makers. A case for investing in local level systemic innovation through social-learning praxis design approaches and in learning processes around well contextualised case-studies is supported. However, concomitant investment by policy makers in social learning as an alternative, but complementary, governance mechanism for systemic innovation for SD is needed.
This document on Good Practices in Extension Research and Evaluation is developed as a hands on reference manual to help young researchers, research students, and field extension functionaries in choosing the right research methods for conducting quality research and evaluation in extension. This manual has been compiled by the resource persons who participated in the Workshop on ‘Good
Practices in Extension Research and Evaluation’ jointly organised by the ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy (CRISP), Agricultural Extension in South Asia (AESA), ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (ICAR-CTCRI), and the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) at NAARM,
Hyderabad (India), during 29 November-2 December 2016. This manual builds on the experiences derived from organising this workshop and the feedback received during the workshop.
Organic farming is recognized as one source for innovation helping agriculture to develop sustainably. However, the understanding of innovation in agriculture is characterized by technical optimism, relying mainly on new inputs and technologies originating from research. The paper uses the alternative framework of innovation systems describing innovation as the outcome of stakeholder interaction and examples from the SOLID (Sustainable Organic Low-Input Dairying) project to discuss the role of farmers, researchers and knowledge exchange for innovation. The authors used a farmer-led participatory approach to identify problems of organic and low-input dairy farming in Europe and develop and evaluate innovative practices.
This report provides summary findings and conclusions from a set of five case studies examining the scaling up of pro-poor agricultural innovations through commercial pathways in developing countries. The E3 Analytics and Evaluation Project conducted the studies and prepared this synthesis report on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Food Security (USAID/BFS), as part of the Bureau’s efforts to scale up the impact of the Feed the Future initiative. The study’s findings also draw on the results of a one-day workshop at which the Project team presented the case studies and preliminary findings to a group of agriculture and scaling experts. USAID/BFS commissioned this study to produce lessons and, ultimately, guidance for the Agency including its country Missions about what types of innovations and which country contexts are best suited for scaling up through commercial pathways, and to identify the activities, strategies, and support necessary to facilitate successful scaling.
Case Studies:
Presentation by David Neven, Senior Economist at FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), for the Global Forum for innovations in agriculture (Abu Dhabi, 20-21 March 2017), an event to present solutions and inspire debate across all types of food production. Held in strategic partnership with the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and supported by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the GFIA conference featured speakers from around the world tackling five key challenges: climate-resilient crops; growing the aquaculture industry; future-proofing animal health; smallholder farmer development; and sustainable animal production.
This working paper has been prepared as background for the inclusive agribusiness work stream of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development’s (GDPRD). The paper outlines the concept of inclusive business and its application to the agri-food sector, maps the current state of play and explores implications for donors and the GDPRD.
IFPRI’s flagship report reviews the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2016, and highlights challenges and opportunities for 2017 at the global and regional levels. This year’s report looks at the impact of rapid urban growth on food security and nutrition, and considers how food systems can be reshaped to benefit both urban and rural populations. Drawing on recent research, IFPRI researchers and other distinguished food policy experts consider a range of timely questions:
■ What do we know about the impacts of urbanization on hunger and nutrition?
■ What are our greatest research and data needs for better policy making that will ensure food security and improve diets for growing
urban populations?
■ How can we better connect rural smallholders to urban food consumers to ensure that smallholders benefit from expanding urban food markets?
■ Why do city environments drive a nutrition transition toward poorer diets, and what policies can improve the nutrition environment?
■ How are urban areas reshaping agricultural value chains for staple crops and benefiting small farmers?
■ What role do informal markets play in feeding cities, and how can they be better governed to increase urban food security?
The 2017 Global Food Policy Report also presents data tables and visualizations for several key food policy indicators, including country-
level data on hunger, agricultural spending and research investment, and projections for future agricultural production and consumption. In addition to illustrative figures, tables, and a timeline of food policy events in 2016, the report includes the results of a global opinion poll on urbanization and the current state of food policy.
The capacity scoring questionnaire is an instrument that can be used when assessing the systems capacities of innovation partnerships or organizations in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and monitor change over time. It thus supports the design and implementation of successful capacity development interventions for agricultural innovation. This questionnaire has been developed in two versions (Version 1 and Version 2) and has been piloted in several countries in the context of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS). The current page refers to the Version 2 of the questionnaire.
The capacity scoring questionnaire is an instrument that can be used when assessing the systems capacities of innovation partnerships or organizations in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and monitor change over time. It thus supports the design and implementation of successful capacity development interventions for agricultural innovation. This questionnaire has been developed in two versions (Version 1 and Version 2) and has been piloted in several countries in the context of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS). The current page refers to the Version 1 of the questionnaire.
This report from the Korea Center for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET) and PORTIA has been published as a result of the 6th Gender Summit (Seoul, 2015) and aims to help improve efficacy of the measures used to implement the SDGs, including their cross cutting impacts, by identifying that all sources and conditions of inequality in the lives of girls, boys, women, and men. It cites substantial research evidence, with 170 examples, to show that -gender considerations must be more deeply and broadly integrated into science knowledge and technologies supporting measures to achieve the SDG. Future versions of this report will continue to identify additional resources. It also lists over 150 examples of research topics recommended by experts as in of further investigation.
In this book, the authors assessed the role of biotechnology innovation for sustainable development in emerging and developing economies. This book compiles studies that each illustrate the potential, demonstrated value and challenges of biotechnology applications for sustainable agricultural innovation and/or industrial development in a national, regional and international context. This book was written in the frame of the International Industrial Biotechnology Network (IIBN), a joint initiative between UNIDO and IPBO (International Plant Biotechnology Outreach) supported by the Flemish government (EWI). IIBN coordinated by IPBO fosters the development of sustainable applications of agricultural and industrial biotechnology in developing and emerging economies through international cooperation.
FAO has been promoting the use of ICTs in agriculture and has focused on ICT innovation for improving agricultural production and enhancing value chains. This publication is an effort to share success stories on the use of ICTs for agriculture and rural development. This publication showcases a few case studies where innovative use of emerging technologies together with capacity development has brought about rich dividends. Digital Green’s experiences in knowledge sharing among rural communities to Nano Ganesh’s innovative use of technology in switching on irrigation pumps have the potential to contribute significantly to the livelihoods of farming communities.
The 2016 Rural Development Report focuses on inclusive rural transformation as a central element of the global efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger, and build inclusive and sustainable societies for all. It analyses global, regional and national pathways of rural transformation, and suggests four categories into which most countries and regions fall, each with distinct objectives for rural development strategies to promote inclusive rural transformation: to adapt, to amplify, to accelerate, and a combination of them. The report presents policy and programme implications in various regions and thematic areas of intervention, based on both rigorous analysis and IFAD’s 40 years of experience investing in rural people and enabling inclusive and sustainable transformation of rural areas.
Rationale Documentation is a vital part of CDAIS project’ objective to test the theory of change in pilot countries because it will enable to record the process of capacity development in agricultural innovation systems. At the same time, documentation will help CDAIS in delivering on public information targets, complying with requirements of its main donor and provide material for communication for development. This document aims to support country project managers and CDAIS country teams in documenting CDAIS activities with a view to record the project and maximize outputs for public information and communication for development.
The CDAIS Communication strategy for 2015-2018 aims to contribute to CDAIS project's core objective of making agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agribusiness and consumers. For more information on CDAIS, see: https://www.fao.org/in-action/tropical-agriculture-platform/cdais-project...
The 2016 Global Agricultural Productivity Report advocates policies and innovations in five key areas to help the agriculture and food sectors manage uncertain seasons of fluctuating business cycles and climate change, while fostering competitiveness today and sustainable growth tomorrow. Policy 1: Invest in Public Agricultural Research, Development and Extension Policy 2: Embrace, Customize and Disseminate Science-based and Information Technologies Policy 3: Enhance Private Sector Involvement in Agriculture and Infrastructure Development Policy 4: Cultivate Partnerships for Sustainable Agricultural Growth and Improved Nutrition Policy 5: Expand Regional and Global Agricultural Trade and Harmonize Standards.
The paper, prepared for the "High Level Policy Dialogue on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific" (Bangkok Thailand; 8-9 December 2015), presents the Common Framework on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS).The framework is a core component of the Action Plan of the TAP, a G20 Initiative, aiming to increase coherence and effectiveness of capacity development for agricultural innovation that lead to sustainable change and impact at scale. The framework developed with contributions by TAP Partners including APAARI consists of a conceptual background document and a practical guide for the operationalization of the framework.
This flyer summarizes the key-findings from the e-conference (19 April-13 May 2016) and the international symposium (21 June 2016) both organized by the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) and supported by the United States in the framework of the USA-Brazil agreement to promote, via TAP, the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The agreement pays particular attention to innovation system for food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture.
Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become proactive and to engage with research and extension providers. The systematic review covered three modalities of disbursing these grants to smallholder farmers and their organisations: vouchers, competitive grants and farmer-led innovation support funds. The synthesis covers, among others, innovation grant systems in Malawi (Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme), Latin America (several Challenge Funds for Farmer Groups), Uganda (National Agricultural Advisory Services ), and Colombia (Local Agricultural Research Committees - CIAL). This research was funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The research was commissioned as part of a joint call for systematic reviews with the Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie).
This evaluation examined the support the European Commission’s DG for Development and International Cooperation (DEVCO) provided to Research and Innovation (R&I) in partner countries during the last EU budget period (2007-2013). The objectives of the evaluation were to provide an overall judgment on the extent to which the EU development co-operation policy has adopted a strategic approach to support R&I and whether the approach was appropriate to enhance capacity to reach development objectives.
This paper illustrates already practiced models and strategies of high impact innovations around the world with particular respect to India. The shown examples of innovative businesses were selected based on four criteria reflecting their innovative character. Firstly, innovations need to fulfil a value for the life of people which exceeds the mere use of the product. Secondly, it requires good quality products or service for an affordable price even for lower income groups. Thirdly, resources need to be used in an efficient manner and lastly, innovations need to be scalable and easy to replicate in different local conditions. The paper is a collaboration between the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and the MSME Umbrella Programme GIZ India.
This study examines the role of public–private partnerships in international agricultural research. It is intended to provide policymakers, researchers, and business decisionmakers with an understanding of how such partnerships operate, how they promote the exchange of knowledge and technology, and how they contribute to poverty reduction. In doing so, the study focuses on three key issues: whether public– private partnerships contribute to reducing the cost of research, whether they add value to research by facilitating innovation, and whether they enhance the impact of research on smallholders and other marginalized groups. The study examines 75 projects undertaken by the research centers and programs of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in partnership with various types of private firms. Data for this study were obtained during the first half of 2006 from an analysis of documents, semi-structured interviews with key informants, and a survey of CGIAR centers. The resulting analysis provides a characterization of public–private partnerships in the CGIAR and describes the factors that contribute to their success.
This paper addresses questions over the function and institutional arrangements of climate finance from an innovation systems perspective. It examines the barriers that prevent developing countries from transitioning to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies, and the interventions necessary to overcome those barriers. It finds that the barriers to innovation and economic change are much more pervasive than a lack of incentives.
The purpose of this issues paper is to provide an overview of the issues, numbers, disputes, and approaches so that contributors to SOW11 can share a common framework and consider how the innovations they describe fit into the larger international discourse. The paper is structured as follows: • Section 2 describes diverse perspectives on food security that emphasize global supply chains to feed middle-class populations in cities; smallholder farmers who still supply much of the world; and smallholder farmers who are relatively disengaged in commercial markets. • Section 3 discusses the “landscape” of agricultural innovations and lays out three major challenges for SOW11 authors to evaluate. • Sections 4, 5, and 6 describe these challenges in greater detail: working around the conflicting policy perspectives on the causes and solutions to hunger and global food security; integrating the food security agenda with the climate and ecosystem restoration agendas; and empowering farmers and communities at risk of food insecurity and hunger. • Section 7 proposes some key questions and approaches that SOW11 authors may want to consider to address these challenges. • Annex I (see separate document) presents some basic facts about hunger and food insecurity, agricultural production patterns, and the environmental threats and impacts of agriculture that can help put the issues in context.
Presented at the ‘Building Livelihoods Resilience in a Changing Climate’ conference, Kuala Lumpur, 3-5th March 2011, this paper focuses on the Local Adaptive Capacity framework (LAC), developed under the Africa Climate Change Alliance Project (ACCRA), as an innovative initiative that attempts to move towards a better understanding of its core features through isolating five characteristics of adaptive capacity. Demonstrated through findings from field research across three African countries (Ethiopia, Mozambique and Uganda), this paper argues that frameworks for understanding and supporting adaptive capacity at the local level need to move away from focusing only on what communities have that enable them to adapt- such as its various economic, social, human, natural and physical capitals- to a greater acknowledgement of what a community does that enables it to adapt- such as fostering innovation; promoting forward-looking flexible governance; and re-defining maladapative norms, behaviours and institutions. By departing from traditional asset-based frameworks for conceptualising local adaptive capacity, the study highlights the important role that various intangible and dynamic processes, such as flexibility, innovation, and entitlements play in supporting capacity at the community level. Lastly, this paper explores how the LAC can be used to assess the important role that interventions not necessarily associated with climate change can play in helping a community’s capacity to adaptive to climate variability and change. In doing so the paper makes a number of recommendations for researchers, policy makers and development practitioners alike, in helping to move towards a framework for understanding of adaptive capacity at the local level with aim the ultimate aim of supporting interventions that help to enhance it.
The paper explores the implications of rural livelihood diversity for agricultural innovation policies. It summarises literature on the nature of rural poverty, with particular emphasis on the relative roles of farm and non-farm income. It also reviews the various roles, direct and indirect, that agricultural innovation can play in rural poverty reduction. Finally, it uses an agricultural knowledge and information systems (AKIS) perspective to argue for a differentiated approach to targeting agricultural innovations, based on an analysis of rural assets.
This paper provides a review of agronomic management practices supporting sustainable crop production systems and intensification, and testifying to developments in the selection of crops and cultivars. The paper also describes crop farming systems taking a predominantly ecosystem approach and it discusses the scientific application of this approach for the management of pest and weed populations. In addition, it reviews the improvements in fertilizer and nutrient management which are at the basis of productivity growth and it describes the benefits and drawbacks of irrigation technologies. Finally, it suggests a way forward based on seven changes in agricultural development that heighten the need to examine how innovation occurs in the agricultural sector.
This article starts by describing the evolution of innovation in agricultural research and cooperation for development, including an historical overview of agricultural research for development from green revolution to the re-discover of traditional knowledge. Then the authors analyze participation in innovation processes and make a comparison of innovation systems and platforms targeting the agri-food sector in developing countries. A particular focus is reserved to the European regional networks and to the experience of the USAID Middle East Water and Livelihoods Initiative. Finally, a series of recommendations for the way forward are drawn.
The purposes of this course are to review the major reforms being considered internationally that aim to change the policy and institutional structure and operations of public sector agricultural extension systems, and to examine the advantages and disadvantages of each of these reforms as illustrated by the selected case studies. Aside from the introductory chapter, the course is organized into nine modules, which are conceived as part of a larger framework. This framework is formulated into two main parts. The first part is comprised of the background module and the five reforms, namely decentralization, privatization, cost recovery, participatory extension and demand-led extension. The second part centres on the role of government and other extension stakeholders, and the responsibilities of government vis-à-vis the public agricultural extension services and the overall pluralistic extension system. The Module 6 is particulary relevant to TAPipedia focus on Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS): it examines the concept of AIS and its implications for linkage among agriculturally related institutions.
This policy brief consolidates lessons learned from an in-depth literature review on small-scale farmer (SSF) innovation systems and a two-day expert consultation on the same topic, hosted in Geneva by Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in May 2015. This review draws together published literature on the evolution of the concept, how on-farm innovation systems function in practice, and the roles of outside actors in supporting them. The key message is that SSF innovation systems are unique relative to more ‘formal’ agricultural innovation systems, which inspires a reconsideration of the types of policies that are put in place to encourage innovation in agriculture.
This report provides a synthesis of all findings and information generated through a “stocktaking” process that involved a desk study of Prolinnova documents and evaluation reports, a questionnaire to 40 staff members of international organizations in agricultural research and development (ARD), self-assessment by the Country Platforms (CPs) and backstopping visits to five CPs. In 2014, the Prolinnova network saw a need to re-strategise in a changing context, and started this process by reviewing the activities it had undertaken and assessing its own functioning. This process of “stocktaking” generated insights into the network’s accomplishments between 2003 and 2013, seen in relation to the financial resources that were available, at both international and country level. The exercise also helped the CPs to re-strategise their work and partnerships for the coming years and to formulate and share lessons, conclusions and recommendations for strengthening global multistakeholder partnerships in ARD within and beyond the network.
This book represents the proceedings of the FAO international technical conference dedicated to Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries (ABDC-10) that took place in Guadalajara, Mexico on 1-4 March 2010. A major objective of the conference was to take stock of the application of biotechnologies across the different food and agricultural sectors in developing countries, in order to learn from the past and to identify options for the future to face the challenges of food insecurity, climate change and natural resource degradation. The proceedings are organized in two main sections. The first section contains ten chapters with an extensive series of FAO background documents prepared before ABDC-10. They focus on the current status and options for biotechnologies in developing countries in crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries/aquaculture and food processing/safety, as well as on related policy issues and options, in particular about targeting agricultural biotechnologies to the poor; enabling research and development (R&D) for agricultural biotechnologies; and ensuring access to the benefits of R&D. The second section contains five chapters dedicated to the outcomes of ABDC-10, namely the reports from 27 parallel sessions of sectoral, cross-sectoral and regional interest, most of which were organized by different intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and regional fora; keynote presentations; and the conference report adopted by delegates in Guadalajara on the final day.
In order to realize the potential of agricultural innovation in family farming, national priorities of sustainably increasing food production and productivity, and reducing hunger and poverty, require rural knowledge institutions to be stronger and communication processes to be improved. This brief synthesizes the focus of FAO’s research and extension branch on transforming agricultural innovation systems of member countries. It works to develop an enabling environment and to enhance national agriculture research institutions and rural extension and communication for development services by providing policy advice and technical assistance projects/programmes, and by promoting studies and policy dialogue.
This paper examines the role of postsecondary agricultural education and training (AET) in sub-Saharan Africa in the context of the region’s agricultural innovation systems. Specifically, the paper looks at how AET in sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to agricultural development by strengthening innovative capacity, or the ability of individuals and organisations to introduce new products and processes that are socially or economically relevant, particularly with respect to smallholder farmers who represent the largest group of agricultural producers in the region. The paper argues that while AET is conventionally viewed in terms of its role in building human and scientific capital, its also has a vital role to play in building the capacity of organisations and individuals to transmit and adapt new applications of existing information, new products and processes, and new organisational cultures and behaviours. The paper emphasizes the importance of improving AET systems by strengthening the innovative capabilities of AET organisations and professionals; changing organisational cultures, behaviours, and incentives; and building innovation networks and linkages. Specific recommendations in support of this include aligning the mandates of AET organisations with national development aspirations by promoting new educational programs that are more strategically attuned to the different needs of society; inducing change in the cultures of AET organisations through the introduction of educational programs and linkages beyond the formal AET system; and strengthening individual and organisational capacity by improving the incentives to forge stronger linkages between AET and diverse user communities, knowledge sources, and private industry.
This paper was prepared to present at the Farmer First Revisited: 20 Years On conference at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK, December, 2007. Its focus is the challenge of strengthening agricultural innovation systems. The paper prefaces this discussion by reflecting on an apparent paradox. While agricultural innovation has never been better studied and understood, many of our ideas about innovation have failed to fundamentally change the institutional and policy setting of public and private investment intended to promote innovation for development. The paper asks “students of innovation” why a virtual spiral of innovation practice and policy learning has not emerged. The paper then locates the current interest in innovation systems in the evolving and contested approaches to agricultural development, noting that this is characterised by a long history of false dichotomies. The contingencies of the emerging agricultural scenario will demand the more networked modes of collective intelligence and innovation that are embodied in the innovation systems concept. The paper argues, however, that the innovation systems idea should be viewed as a metaphor for innovation diversity, rather than another competing innovation narrative. The way forward, it is suggested, is to create a united front of different collective intelligence-based innovation narratives to kick-start the virtuous spiral of innovation practice and policy learning. This is needed to strengthen agricultural innovation systems and thus achieve developmental goals. The paper argues that it is the responsibility of all us “students of innovation” to argue for this space for diversity to flourish and to help consolidate and promote what is known about agricultural innovation. If we are not more successful in stimulating institutional and policy change we will still be debating these issues 20 years hence.
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve this Africa has to define agriculture as a force in economic growth by: advancing scientific and technological research; investing in infrastructure; fostering higher technical training; and creating regional markets. To govern the transformation Africa must foster the emergence of a new crop of entrepreneurial leaders dedicated to the continent's economic improvement. The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 examines the critical linkages between agriculture and economic growth. Chapter 2 reviews the implications of advances in science
and technology for Africa’s agriculture. Chapter 3 provides a conceptual framework for defining agricultural innovation in a systemic context. Chapter 4 outlines the critical linkages between infrastructure and agricultural innovation. The role of education in fostering agricultural innovation is the subject of Chapter 5. Chapter 6 presents the importance of entrepreneurship in agricultural innovation. The final chapter outlines regional approaches for fostering agricultural innovation.
This paper reviews the NIS literature chronologically, showing how this shift in emphasis has diminished somewhat the importance of both institutions, particularly governments, and the political processes of institutional capacity building. In doing so, the paper suggests that more recent literature on intermediaries such as industry associations may offer valuable insights to how institutional capacity building occurs and how it might be directed, particularly in the context of developing countries where governance capacities are often lacking, contributing to less effective innovation systems, stagnant economies, and unequal development.
LenCD has prepared a joint statement on results and capacity development (presented in this publication), which stresses that meaningful, sustainable results are premised on proper investments in capacity development and that these results materialize at different levels and at different times, along countries’ development trajectory. To provide evidence in support of this statement, LenCD launched a call for submission of stories. The 15 stories featured in this publication have been selected by a fourmember review panel, through a rigorous appraisal process of over 40 stories, received as a response to the LenCD call. The stories have been contributed by different countries and development partners and cover 14 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America. The stories showcase how endogenous investments in capacity development have led, over time, to produce short, medium and long-term sustainable results.
This brief deals with the importance of power and representation within in innovation platforms. The brief is part of the series of ‘practice briefs’ intended to help guide agricultural research practitioners who seek to support and implement innovation platforms. A contribution to the CGIAR Humidtropics research program, the development of the briefs was led by the International Livestock Research Institute; they draw on experiences of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, several CGIAR centres and partner organizations.
Four types of scaling are discussed in this brief. The first two focus on ways individual technologies or interventions are taken to scale through platforms. The third is when a platform adjusts to address different scales. The fourth is when the innovation platform approach is replicated. This brief is part of the series of ‘practice briefs’ intended to help guide agricultural research practitioners who seek to support and implement innovation platforms. A contribution to the CGIAR Humidtropics research program, the development of the briefs was led by the International Livestock Research Institute; they draw on experiences of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, several CGIAR centres and partner organizations.
Innovation platforms are widely used in agricultural research to connect different stakeholders to achieve common goals. This brief deals with the gender dimension in innovation platform and is part of the series of ‘practice briefs’ intended to help guide agricultural research practitioners who seek to support and implement innovation platforms. A contribution to the CGIAR Humidtropics research program, the development of the briefs was led by the International Livestock Research Institute; they draw on experiences of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, several CGIAR centres and partner organizations.
This paper briefly analyse the genesis, development and change in public sector-led extension approaches in India showing its temporal pattern, emerging innovations in extension approaches and the way forward. It discusses decentralized, community based, pluralistic extension approaches and their opportunities as well as limitations in changing agricultural and natural resources scenario. The paper gives emphasis on the public sector-led agricultural extension approaches being tried in India and the lessons learnt which may have relevance in planning and implementing future agricultural extension initiatives in other developing and underdeveloped countries.
One option for practically applying innovation systems thinking involves the establishment of innovation platforms (IPs). Such platforms are designed to bring together a variety of different stakeholders to exchange knowledge and resources and take action to solve common problems. Yet relatively little is known about how IPs operate in practice, particularly how power dynamics influence platform processes.This paper focuses on a research-for-development project in the Ethiopian highlands which established three IPs for improved natural resource management. The ‘power cube’ is used to retrospectively analyse the spaces, forms and levels of power within these platforms and the impact on platform processes and resulting interventions. The overall aim is to highlight the importance of power issues in order to better assess the strengths and limitations of IPs as a model for inclusive innovation.
Various authors have identified the potential relevance of innovation system approaches for inclusive innovation, that is, the means by which new goods and services are developed for and by the poor. However, it is still a question how best to operationalize this. Innovation platforms (IPs) represent an example of putting an inclusive innovation system approach into practice by bringing different types of stakeholders together to address issues of mutual concern and interest with a specific focus on the marginalized poor. This paper explores the formation and functioning of IPs with the aim of providing lessons on the conditions and factors that play a role in making them effective. The study shows the importance of social organization, representation, and incentives to ensure a true participatory innovation process, which is based on demand and embedded in the context. Critical to this is a flexible planning process stimulating incremental change through so-called innovation bundles (i.e. combinations of technological, organizational, and institutional innovations) and reflexive learning (systematically challenging constraining factors). Furthermore, local institutions embedded in norms and values are crucial to understand people's decisions. Due to weak linkages between value chain actors, innovation brokers have a vital role in facilitating the innovation process. Overall, IPs are a promising model for inclusive innovation, but they require a careful assessment of and adjustment to the institutional context.
This paper is an attempt to take stock of the authors' work. In Section 2, the authors reflect upon the emergence and fairly rapid diffusion of the concept ‘national system of innovation’ as well as related concepts. In Section 3, they describe how the Aalborg-version of the concept evolved by a combination of ideas that moved from production structure towards including all elements and relationships contributing to innovation and competence building. In Section 4, they discuss the challenges involved both in a theoretical deepening of a fairly narrow version of the concept and in the movement toward the broader approach and in adapting the concept for the analysis of poor countries.
Historically, farmers have been some of the most innovative people in the world. However, agriculture lags behind other sectors in its uptake of new information technologies for the control and automation of farming systems. In spite of decades of research into innovation, generally we still do not have a good understanding as to why this is the case. This paper reviews two theories of innovation and offers a new approach to thinking about agricultural ICT (e-Agriculture). It firstly explores the problem of ICT adoption in agriculture. It also proposes new dimensions of a theory of e-Agriculture adoption and innovation. The paper thereby opens up an avenue of research for control and automation systems theory and practice, which informs policy in respect of e-readiness of farmers and the wider rural community both at a national level and an international level
There are divergent views on what capacity development might mean in relation to agricultural biotechnology. The core of this debate is whether this should involve the development of human capital and research infrastructure, or whether it should encompass a wider range of activities which also include developing the capacity to use knowledge productively. This paper uses the innovation systems concept to shed light on this discussion, arguing that it is innovation capacity rather than science and technology capacity that has to be developed. It then presents six examples of different capacity development approaches. It concludes by suggesting that policy needs to take a multidimensional approach to capacity development in line with innovation systems perspective. But it also argues that policy needs to recognise the need to develop the capacity of diversity of innovation systems and that a key part of the capacity development task is to bring about the integration of these different systems at strategic points in time
This presentation argues the need of green growth in agriculture, analyzes features of the innovation systems and ends with some policies practices. The presentation has been prepared for "Innovation and Modernising the Rural Economy", OECD’s 8th Rural Development Policy Conference, 3-5 October 2012 (Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation).
Agricultural education, research, and extension can contribute substantially to reducing rural poverty in the developing world. However, evidence suggests that their contributions are falling short in Sub-Saharan Africa. The entry of new actors, technologies, and market forces, when combined with new economic and demographic pressures, suggests the need for more innovative and less linear approaches to promoting a technological transformation of smallholder agriculture. This paper explores methodologies that can help improve the study of agricultural innovation processes and their role in transforming agriculture. We examine methods that address three key issues: (a) how agents interact in the production, exchange, and use of knowledge and information; (b) how agents respond individually and collectively to technological, institutional, or organizational opportunities and constraints; and (c) how policy changes can enhance the welfare effects of these interactions and responses. Methods include social network analysis, innovation histories, cross-country comparisons, and game-theory modeling.
The purpose of this paper is to map some elements that can contribute to an IFAD strategy to stimulate and support pro-poor innovations. It is an initial or exploratory document that hopefully will add to an ongoing and necessary debate, and is not intended as a final position paper. The document is organized as follows. After the Introduction (Section 1), the Section 2 presents an outline of the innovation systems framework, adapted to the present discussion on rural development work such as that promoted by IFAD, in contrast to its more frequent use in the context of debates on science and technology. Section 3 discusses some important trends and changes in rural innovation systems, from the perspective of rural poverty reduction and rural development. Section 4 highlights some opportunities for pro-poor innovation, according to a framework that takes into consideration the heterogeneity of rural poverty. Section 5 concludes by asking a number of questions, with the expectation that they may contribute to a debate on what it is that IFAD can do to be more effective in promoting pro-poor rural innovation systems.
This paper draws lessons from selected country experiences of adaptation and innovation in pursuit of food security goals. It reviews three cases of systems of innovation operating in contrasting regional, socio-economic and agro-ecological contexts, in terms of four features of innovation systems more likely to build, sustain or enhance food security in situations of rapid change: (i) recognition of the multifunctionality of agriculture and opportunities to realize multiple benefits; (ii) access to diversity as the basis for flexibility and resilience; (iii) concern for enhancing capacity of decision makers at all levels; and (iv) continuity of effort aimed at securing the well-being of those who depend on agriculture. Finally, implications for policymakers and other stakeholders in agricultural innovation systems are presented.
The Sourcebook is the outcome of joint planning, continued interest in gender and agriculture, and concerted efforts by the World Bank, FAO, and IFAD. The purpose of the Sourcebook is to act as a guide for practitioners and technical staff inaddressing gender issues and integrating gender-responsive actions in the design and implementation of agricultural projects and programs. It speaks not with gender specialists on how to improve their skills but rather reaches out to technical experts to guide them in thinking through how to integrate gender dimensions into their operations. The Sourcebook aims to deliver practical advice, guidelines, principles, and descriptions and illustrations of approaches that have worked so far to achieve the goal of effective gender mainstreaming in the agricultural operations of development agencies. This book is considered an important tool to facilitate the operationalization and implementation of the report’s key principles on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
This paper offers a perspective on the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System. The first chapter gives an introduction to the subject and explains the role of SCAR and of the Strategic Working Group AKIS. The second chapter investigates the AKIS and their role in innovation, including the policy context of the European Innovation Partnership “Agricultural productivity and sustainability”. Chapter 3 discusses the relation in a globalised world between Agricultural Research (AR) and Agricultural Research for Development (ARD). This is followed by two chapters that focus on ICT-trends: chapter 4 discusses ICT in the food chain and its implications for research and innovation. It is followed by a chapter on E-science to see how ICT and “Big Data” could support the interactive innovation model. These trends are one of the inputs for a scenario analysis in chapter 6 on the future developments in AKIS. Chapter 7 focuses on policy recommendations for AKIS and especially on its advisory services. The report ends with recommendations for the SCAR (EU and Member States) and the AKIS stakeholders. This chapter also functions as a summary of the findings of the Strategic Working Group.
In the framework of a wide Foresight process, launched by the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) and aiming to identify possible scenarios for European agriculture in a 20-year perspective, DG RTD/E of the European Commission established a high-level Consultancy Expert Group (CEG) that analysed and synthesised foresight information in order to provide research policy orientations, tacking stock of the report from the first Foresight Expert Group (FEG) published in February 2007. This second exercise resulted in a report that has been based on a scanning of foresight studies and reviews of challenges to European agriculture in a global context as well as an analysis of priority research areas. The CEG report should feed into the SCAR Foresight Monitoring and Signalling Mechanism, which aims at providing, at regular intervals, early signals and warnings about emerging and new problems that we may face in the years to come, and to suggest ways of tackling them. This approach was strongly encouraged by the Commission’s Communication “Towards a coherent strategy for a European Agricultural Research Agenda”.
This paper explores the use of actor-oriented approaches in natural resource-based development. It begins by reviewing the need to bring an analysis of actor linkages, coalitions and information flows higher on the agenda in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Various tools which could assist in doing this are introduced and their use is illustrated in case studies of natural resource-based research and development (R&D) projects in Nepal and Bangladesh.
Research, extension, and advisory services are some of the most knowledge-intensive elements of agricultural innovation systems. They are also among the heaviest users of information communication technologies (ICTs). This module introduces ICT developments in the wider innovation and knowledge systems as well as explores drivers of ICT use in research and extension
The World Bank, in collaboration with the e-Agriculture community and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), hold a series of two week online forums. These e-forums stem from the launch of the World Bank's ICT in Agriculture e-Sourcebook (2011) and the growing demand for knowledge on how to use ICT to improve agricultural productivity and raise smallholder incomes.The Summary presents the discussion during the e-forum held on 4th September 2012.
The paper uses a stochastic frontier analysis of production functions to estimate the level of technical efficiency in agriculture for a panel of 29 developing countries in Africa and Asia between 1994 and 2000. In addition, the paper examines how different components of an agricultural innovation system interact to determine the estimated technical inefficiencies.The paper has been presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Birmingham, AL, February 4-7, 2012.
Feeding an additional three billion people over the next four decades, along with providing food security for another one billion people that are currently hungry or malnourished, is a huge challenge. Meeting those goals in a context of land and water scarcity, climate change, and declining crop yields will require another giant leap in agricultural innovation. The aim of this paper is to stimulate a dialogue on what new approaches might be needed to meet these needs and how innovative funding mechanisms could play a role. In particular, could “pull mechanisms,” where donors stimulate demand for new technologies, be a useful complement to traditional “push mechanisms,” where donors provide funding to increase the supply of research and development (R&D). With a pull mechanism, donors seek to engage the private sector, which is almost entirely absent today in developing country R&D for agriculture, and they pay only when specified outcomes are delivered and adopted.
Traditional approaches to innovation systems policymaking and governance often focus exclusively on the central provision of services, regulations, fiscal measures, and subsidies. This study, however, considers that innovation systems policymaking and governance also has to do with the structures and procedures decision makers set up to provide incentives for innovating agents and the interaction and collaboration among them, thus enabling innovation. The report presents results from a study that analyzed to what extent the Bolivian Agricultural Technology System (SIBTA), as part of the country’s agricultural innovation system, has complied with a set of governance principles—including participation of stakeholders (especially small farmers) in decision making, transparency and openness, responsiveness and accountability, consensus orientation and coherence, and strategic vision—and compares those principles with benchmarks of innovation systems governance in five other developing countries. Data in Bolivia were collected by means of an expert consultation and interviews with a wide range of key actors and stakeholders from various organizations involved in agricultural innovation in the system.
Rural Advisory Services (RAS) are increasingly recognised as critical to agricultural and rural development. They provide rural communities with wide range of skills and knowledge and facilitate their interactions among the different actors to help them access support and services required for improving their livelihoods. Family Farmers are one of the important clients of RAS as they are the most predominant type of farmers worldwide. This policy document results from several initiatives held during IYFF 2014: the FAO-GFRAS side event organized at the 5th GFRAS Annual Meeting in Buenos Aires on ‘RAS for family farms’, the side event during the Global Dialogue on Family Farming at FAO HQ and the FAO e-conference on ‘Tailoring RAS to family farms’. The results of these events are the basics of this policy document. It looks at what are the specific needs of family farms and the response needed by RAS.
This book documents a unique series of 19 case studies where agricultural biotechnologies were used to serve the needs of smallholders in developing countries. They cover different regions, production systems, species and underlying socio-economic conditions in the crop (seven case studies), livestock (seven) and aquaculture/fisheries (five) sectors. Most of the case studies involve a single crop, livestock or fish species and a single biotechnology. The biotechnologies covered include some that are considered quite traditional, such as fermentation and artificial insemination, as well as other more modern ones, such as the use of DNA-based approaches to detect pathogens. Prepared by scientists and researchers who were directly involved in the initiatives, the authors were able to provide an insider’s guide to the background, achievements, obstacles, challenges and lessons learned from each case study. The final chapter of the book summarizes the background, challenges, results and lessons learned from the 19 case studies.
This paper has been prepared under the guidelines provided by the TAP Secretariat at the FAO, as a contribution to the G20 initiative TAP, which includes near 40 partners and is facilitated by FAO. Its purpose is to provide a Regional synthesis report on capacity needs assessment for agricultural innovation, with capacity gaps identified and analyzed, including recommendations to strengthen agricultural innovation systems (AIS) and draft policy recommendations to address the capacity gaps.
This paper provides background information and introduce the topics of the conference "Innovation systems for food security and nutrition: understanding the capacities needed". Organized by the Tropical Agriculture Platform, the conference aimes at bringing together the issues of capacity development, agricultural innovation, and food security and nutrition with the objective of developing recommendations for policy-making.
Based on three regional needs assessments, a strategic Action Plan has been formulated and adopted by the Partner Assembly of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), held in China in September 2013. It defines the outcomes, outputs and activities of TAP, which are considered instrumental for facilitating effective and sustainable Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems in tropical areas.
This document provides an overview of the Tropical Agriculture Platform and highlights its main goals and activities.
Approved by TAP partners, the TAP Work Plan 2016 describes the activities to be carried out in 2016 to achieve TAP's objective of promoting more coherent and effective capacity development interventions for agricultural innovation.
The brochure summarizes main features and goals of the EU funded CDAIS project, jointly implemented by FAO and AGRINATURA to support the TAP Action Plan.
This flyer provides an overview of the TAP Common Framework on Capacity Development (CD) for Agriculture Innovation System (AIS). The objective of the Common Framework is to consolidate the different approaches to CD for AIS, and make interventions more coherent and effective. Approved by TAP Partners in January 2016, the Common Framework is now being validated in 8 pilot countries in Africa, Asia and Central America.
This Charter defines the general conditions and obligations of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) and its Partners, and sets forth the governance structure for voluntary cooperation by TAP Partners.
CABI’s Plantwise programme runs local plant clinics in 24 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America where trained ‘plant doctors’ provide on-the-spot diagnosis and advice for farmers who bring samples to the clinics. A database that records each consultation and shares knowledge across clinics and countries continually builds the ability of the programme to respond to farmers’ needs. The programme embodies key principles of an innovation systems approach. Systems diagnosis, building networks and linkages, balancing supply push with demand pull, strengthening the role of intermediaries, and experimenting and learning are among the features which ensure the programme continually evolves to meet emerging needs and challenges. As well as providing a valuable service to smallholder farmers, enriching their ability to address production constraints, the sharing of lessons among stakeholders is having a positive overall effect on national plant health systems.
This paper presents an overview of current opportunities and challenges facing efforts to increase the impact of rural and agricultural extension. The starting point for this analysis is in recognition that the days when agricultural extension was synonymous with the work of public sector agencies are over. The extension services described here may just as likely consist of an input vendor advising a farmer about what seed to plant, a television station broadcasting a weather forecast, a supermarket advising traders about what standards are required for the vegetables they purchase or a farmer organization lobbying for research that reflects the demands of its members for new technologies. Mobilizing the potential of extension is about enhancing this broad and complex flow of information and advice in the agrifood sector. This paper outlines the potential role of extension in achieving the aims of the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative, which has mobilized a massive international commitment to enhancing food security.
The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) is a research in development program which aims to foster innovation to respond to community needs, and through networking and social learning to bring about development outcomes and impact at scale. It aims to reach the poorest and most vulnerable communities that are dependent upon aquatic agricultural systems. AAS uses monitoring and evaluation to track progress along identified impact pathways for accountability and learning. This report presents an evaluation of the recommended method for selecting communities during the participatory planning process, referred to as AAS “hub rollout,” in the first year of program implementation.
This synthesis report presents the outputs of the workshop organised by CTA at its headquarters in Wageningen, The Netherlands, 15-17 July 2008. The outputs are presented in two main parts, each corresponding to one of the workshop objectives, and ends with a section on the way forward as suggested by the workshop participants. It also includes a first attempt to come to a consolidated generic framework on AIS performance indicators, based on the outputs of the different working groups. This is improved on the basis of feedback from workshop participants and their partners in ACP-countries and Europe during subsequent meetings and support for case studies on monitoring and evaluating contributions to innovation performance. The workshop involved 22 experts from 11 ACP countries, France and The Netherlands. CTA plans to organise follow-up workshops and support case studies to develop the process.
Based on eleven case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, this report describes farmer-led research findings and their dissemination, and analyzes available evidence on the impact of farmer-led approaches to agricultural research and development on rural livelihoods, local capacity to innovate and adapt, and influence on governmental institutions of agricultural research and development. It draws lessons for pursuing this type of approach and for future partnerships between actors in both formal and informal agricultural research and development who seek common goals in serving smallholder communities
The Worldwide Extension Study provides empirical data on the human and financial resources of agricultural extension and advisory systems worldwide, as well as other important information on: the primary extension service providers in each country (e.g.: public, private and/or non-governmental); which types and groups of farmers are the primary target groups (e.g.: large, medium, and/or small-scale farmers, including rural women) for each extension organization; how each organization’s resources are allocated to key extension and advisory service functions; each organization’s information and communication technology resources and capacity; and what role, if any, different categories of farmers play in setting extension’s priorities and/or assessing performance.The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), working in collaboration with the University of Illinois (UIUC), FAO, and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), developed the Worldwide Extension Study database as part of the assessment of the status of agricultural extension and advisory services worldwide between 2009-2013.
The IFAD Innovation Strategy does not set new objectives for staff, but rather defines what is needed to create an innovation-friendly environment and to support staff in achieving the expected results.To strengthen its innovative capabilities and become a better catalyst of pro-poor innovation, IFAD will focus on four clusters of activities: (i) Building capabilities and understanding of challenges requiring innovation; (ii) Nurturing partnerships and facilitating an innovation network; (iii) Embedding rigorous innovation processes and the related risk management into IFAD’s core business practices; (iv) Facilitating a more supportive organizational environment for innovation.
The aim of this report is to provide a detailed review of documented social learning processes for climate changeand natural resource managementas described in peer-reviewed literature. Particular focus is on identifying (1) lessons and principles, (2) tools and approaches, (3) evaluation of social learning, as well as (4) concrete examples of impacts that social learning has contributed to. This paper has sought to contribute to reflections on the role that social learning might play and the impacts it might have in supporting decision making on climate change, agriculture and food security.
Given the diversity and context-specificity of innovation systems approaches, in March 2007 the World Bank organized a workshop in which about 80 experts (representing donor agencies, development and related agencies, academia, and the World Bank) took stock of recent experiences with innovation systems in agriculture and reconsidered strategies for their future development. This paper summarizes the workshop findings and uses them to develop and discuss key issues in applying the innovation systems concept. The workshop’s recommendations, including next steps for the wider
innovation systems community, are also presented.
This Economic and Sector Work paper, “Enhancing Agricultural Innovation: How to Go Beyond the Strengthening of Research Systems,” was initiated as a result of the international workshop, “Development of Research Systems to Support the Changing Agricultural Sector,” organized by the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank in June 2004 in Washington, DC. One of the main conclusions of the workshop was that “strengthened research systems may increase the supply of new knowledge and new technologies, but such strengthening may not necessarily correlate very well with the capacity to innovate and adopt innovations throughout the agricultural sector, and thereby with economic growth.” This paper uses an innovation systems perspective to explore which other interventions may be required.
This paper explores the application of the innovation systems framework to the design and construction of national agricultural innovation indicators. Optimally, these indicators could be used to gauge and benchmark national performance in developing more responsive, dynamic, and innovative agricultural sectors in developing countries. The paper develops a conceptual framework that ties the innovation systems framework to the agricultura sector; reviews how the framework has been used to develop innovation indicators in other fields; discusses a set of potential innovation indicators for developing-country agriculture; and identifies potential data sources and methods for constructing different types of indicators.
Analysis of the role of Global Value Chains (GVC) in accessing knowledge and enhancing learning and innovation. Global Value Chains, Innovation Systems, Governance, Foreign Direct Investment, Learning, Upgrading, Productivity. Three main conclusions emerge from the analytical framework and evidence presented in this paper. First, learning mechanisms can vary widely within the various forms of governance of GVCs; second, as innovations systems are “opened” to foreign sources of knowledge, the relationship between GVCs and ISs is nonlinear and endogenous, allowing all actors involved to benefit; third, the internal governance of a GVC is a dynamic phenomenon that is subject to continuous adjustments and changes, and the nature of the innovation system affects this co-evolution
This is the final report of the fifth regional consultative forum meeting of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) convened in Hyderabad, India from 19 to 21 June 2014. It was attended by 85 participants from 17 countries and 28 national, regional and inter governmental partner organizations and projects. Forum participants came to the meeting to develop and reach consensus on ways of implementing policies and action plans designed to address the major challenges confronting the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the region. Issues discussed included blue growth for the responsible management of fisheries and aquaculture in Asia-Pacific, lessons learned and future directions of the marine environmental and fisheries initiatives in Asia, and promoting sustainable intensification of aquaculture for food and nutritional security in Asia-Pacific. Recommendations of the meeting are included in the report.
Participatory communication in development aims to facilitate the integration of interpersonal communication methods with conventional and new media channels, with the focus on encouraging all stakeholders to participate in the process. The growth of internet-based technologies has created new opportunities for facilitating this participation and enhancing the ability of resource-poor communities to access information and support and to share experiences and knowledge. Drawing on the principles of participatory communication and harnessing the potential of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) to strengthen communication among the stakeholders in agricultural and rural development, the Rural and Agricultural Development Communication Network (RADCON) was launched in Egypt in 2004. It built on the experience of the Virtual Extension and Research Communication Network (VERCON), initiated in 2000 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Resources in Egypt in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
This report is based on the outputs of a one week Exposure and Exchange Programme (EEP) in India hosted by the Self-employed Women’s Association (SEWA) with African women leaders of producer organizations from West and Central Africa. This report critically evaluates the SEWA model and draws conclusions relevant to African women producers organizations to better meet the challenges of raising Africa’s agricultural potential, improve incomes for small farmers, and ensure greater food security.
The Foresight project Global Food and Farming Futures final report provides an overview of the evidence and discusses the challenges and choices for policy makers and others whose interests relate to all areas that interact with the food system.
