Dynamics of Rural Innovation – a Primer for Emerging Professionals
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Jim Woodhill Jim Woodhill (eds.) Rhiannon Pyburn and Feeding the world in a sustainable and fair way is the challenge that a new generation of agricultural professionals must face. This will Dynamics of Rural Innovation demand not just technological solutions but a whole package of social, A PRIMER FOR EMERGING PROFESSIONALS economic, market and political innovations. Central to the challenge is enabling people and organisations with different perspectives and different interests to work creatively together. All this demands new ways of thinking and new sets of competencies. Rhiannon Pyburn and Jim Woodhill (eds.) Dynamics of Rural Innovation This book offers young professionals and students insight into the A PRIMER theory and practice of ‘innovation systems’. It covers important background and concepts, the ‘how to’ of facilitating innovation, and the role of the broader context. The book is about the dynamics of rural innovation – how to work with the changing nature of both the FOR context and people involved in rural innovation processes and how to EMERGING facilitate networks of stakeholders to stimulate innovation. The aim is to support agricultural and rural development professionals, especially young ones, as enablers and facilitators of stakeholder-led innovation. Inspirational stories illustrate how different people – from farmers PROFESSIONALS to extension of cers, business leaders, traders, NGO staff, and policy makers – have collaborated to make new and successful things happen. The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) and Wageningen University’s Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) bring more than 30 years of experience working with partners in developing countries on agricultural innovation processes and social learning. This book capitalises on these experiences and brings together both conceptual thinkers and practitioners in the writing process to articulate lessons. The book is targeted towards undergraduate (BSc) and masters (MSc) level students in Africa as well as development practitioners aspiring to use innovation systems thinking in their work. ISBN 978-9460221491 9 789460 221491 2670.Bw.Bk.dev.'Dyn of rural' 20c.def_Dynamic 24-11-14 13:16 Pagina 1 Dynamics of Rural Innovation A primer for emerging professionals Rhiannon Pyburn and Jim Woodhill (eds.) 2670.Bw.Bk.dev.'Dyn of rural' 20c.def_Dynamic 24-11-14 13:16 Pagina 2 Royal Tropical Institute Coordination Development Policy and Practice Rhiannon Pyburn (Royal Tropical Institute) PO Box 95001 Content editing 1090 HA Amsterdam, The Netherlands Rhiannon Pyburn and Jim Woodhill www.kit.nl/sed Writeshop facilitation Centre for Development Innovation Rhiannon Pyburn Wageningen University and Research Centre Jim Woodhill http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/ Herman Brouwer Research-Institutes/centre-for-development-innovation.htm Marianne van Dorp Willem Heemskerk Cecile Kusters Suzanne Nederlof Bertus Wennink Cover Photo Yann Arthus-Bertrand Art work Mark de Koning Copy editing Susanna Thorp and Olivia Frost WRENmedia www.wrenmedia.co.uk Graphic design Wil Agaatsz Grafisch bureau Agaatsz, Meppel, The Netherlands Cover design Ad van Helmond Publishing and distribution Ron Smit, LM Publishers [email protected] This publication or parts of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, provided that copyright holders are duly acknowledged. It can be downloaded for free from www.kit.nl. © 2014, Royal Tropical Institute ISBN: 978-9460221491 Correct citation: Pyburn, R. and J. Woodhill (eds.) 2014. Dynamics of Rural Innovation – A primer for emerging professionals. LM Publishers, Arnhem 2670.Bw.Bk.dev.'Dyn of rural' 20c.def_Dynamic 24-11-14 13:16 Pagina 3 About the Royal Tropical Institute The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam is an independent centre of knowledge and expertise in the area of sustainable international development, founded in 1910. KIT aims to improve livelihoods in low- and middle-income countries through social and gender equity and sustainable economic development. KIT’s 30 professional advisors work with public and private sector partners internationally to find sustainable solutions to the devel opment challenges they face related to inclusive value chains, sustainable agribusiness development, rural innovation, land tenure, food and nutrition security, and gender and rights. KIT works in the global south with extensive networks of partners and clients. KIT acts as a bridge between different kinds of knowledge-holders situated in academia, policy and practice. The Institute works with partners to co-create knowledge and generate new insights that improve efficiency and the effectiveness of organizations, enhancing impact. To support improved performance and impact, KIT brings key competencies including contempo rary and relevant global knowledge and thinking, access to international networks and innovations, and applied research capacity. KIT has demonstrated experience in effectively translating and communicating knowledge to different audiences including policy-makers, academics, government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and practitioners in the field of development. All this is done with the aim of improving businesses and organizations, and supporting evidence-based decisions-making both in policy and in practice. About the Centre for Development Innovation With over 20 years of experience in providing innovative agri-food, environmental and international development services, the Centre for Development Innovation (CDI, part of Wageningen University and Research Centre - UR) has an international reputation as a leading organization bridging science and society. CDI works with field practitioners, the public sector and businesses to develop responses to cope with an increasingly complex and unpredictable world. By helping clients achieve better outcomes, CDI not only contributes to the sustainability of their organizations but also addresses broader global challenges, such as access to natural resources, protecting biodiversity, enhancing food security, and strength - ening local communities. Working in countries with developing and transitional economies, CDI supports the development of capacities, strategies, and learning processes needed to be creative, adaptive and responsive in such a rapidly changing environment. CDI offers services in six core fields of expertise with a group of over 40 staff that help connect clients to Wageningen UR’s latest knowledge and expertise. CDI supports clients through processes of society-wide learning and innovation in the inter-related areas of: secure and healthy food; sustainable markets; adaptive agriculture; conflict, disaster and reconstruction; and eco - system governance. 3 2670.Bw.Bk.dev.'Dyn of rural' 20c.def_Dynamic 24-11-14 13:16 Pagina 4 Dynamics of Rural Innovation Writeshop participants The Innovation Dynamics writeshop took place in January 2010 in the Netherlands. It involved 13 external authors, four KIT advisors, four CDI experts, two editors, an artist and on-site secretarial support. Coordination and facilitation Rhiannon Pyburn Jim Woodhill Theme facilitators Herman Brouwer Marianne van Dorp Willem Heemskerk Cecile Kusters Suzanne Nederlof Bertus Wennink Chapter contributors Roger Day Bart Dooreneweert Richard Hawkins Jacob Kampen Laurens Klerkx Matieyedou Konlambique Sarah Manyanja Hannington Odame Shuan SadreGhazi Mtisi Sobona Noel Ujenza Kelly Wanda English editors Sara van Otterloo Sarah Simpson Secretarial support Bart Claessen Callista Disselhof Jenny Postema Artist Mark de Koning 4 2670.Bw.Bk.dev.'Dyn of rural' 20c.def_Dynamic 24-11-14 13:16 Pagina 5 Contents Acknowledgements 6 Chapter 1: Dynamics of rural innovation 7 Chapter 2: Innovating innovation 15 Part 1 From Principles to Practice 32 Chapter 3: Putting innovation system approaches into practice 36 Chapter 4: Where’s the innovation? 43 Chapter 5: Innovation systems and policy learning 50 Chapter 6: How innovation networks interact with their environment 59 Chapter 7: Learning to innovate 67 Chapter 8: Gender dimensions of agricultural innovation 74 From Principles to Practice, in brief 87 Part 2 Getting the Process Right 90 Chapter 9: Partnership and value creation in a private sector innovation initiative 98 Chapter 10: Facilitating farmer-market linkages through agri-business clusters 104 Chapter 11: Multi-actor collaboration in value chains: an avenue to innovation? 110 Chapter 12: Making interaction work: intermediaries as catalysts to innovation 116 Chapter 13: Monitoring and evaluation for rural innovation processes 125 Chapter 14: Monitoring and evaluation for competitive intelligence 136 Getting the Process Right, at a glance 142 Part 3 Dealing with the Context 144 Chapter 15: Promoting research-informed policy and practice 157 Chapter 16: Funding social-environmental business start-ups 165 Chapter 17: Ups and downs of cassava processing development in Uganda 173 Chapter 18: Financing for sustained innovation in sub-Saharan African agriculture 179 Chapter 19: Developing a maize value chain in Ghana 186 Chapter 20: Successful innovation: what made it possible? 192 Dealing with the Context “cheat sheet” 203 Chapter 21: Conclusions 204 Recommended reading 212 Internet resources 220 University and organizational contact list 221 Glossary of key terms 223 Some definitions of innovation as food for thought 230 Book contributors 234 5 2670.Bw.Bk.dev.'Dyn of rural' 20c.def_Dynamic 24-11-14 13:16 Pagina 6 Dynamics of Rural Innovation Acknowledgements