Manual for innovation platform facilitators in Africa. RISING Ethiopia sites

The Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program, supported by the United States Agency for International Development, aims to create opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base.
Experiences show that the effectiveness of innovation platforms (IPs) in achieving the stated outcomes depend much more on the facilitators. IPs often go through different phases that include initiation, management and sustainability. IP members have to be guided through each of these phases. These requires a range of skills, some interpersonal and others more technical in nature. These training notes present key issues and principles of facilitation that are important for Technical Group (TG) members. It also discusses issues related to facilitation as a key function for IP related to skills and principles as well as tips required for facilitators.