Innovation Platforms as a Tool for Small Holder DairyDevelopment: A Case from Uttarakhand, IndiaThanammalRavichandran, Nils Teufel, Alan DuncanInternational Livestock Research Institute

Overview
•Introduction
•Project/study objective
•Materials and methods
•Storylines
•Conclusion

Introduction
•Agriculture and innovation is a key for sustainable agricultural growth to reduce poverty (Thomas and Slater, 2006)
•There has been a shift from linear technology transfer toenabling innovate
•The Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) approach stimulates innovations through(World bank, 2006)
–Process of networking
–Interactive learning
–Negotiation among heterogeneous actors
•TheInnovation Platform (IP) approach is gaining ground in in many organisations and also within ILRI projects
•Members come together (Duncan 2011)
–to diagnose problems,
–identify opportunities and find ways to achieve their goals,
–design and implement activities as a platform, or
–coordinate activities by group or individual members

Project/ study objective
Institutional strengthening
Productivity enhancement
Knowledge sharing
Project Objectives
Process of IP functioning
Conflict management
Qualitative assessment of innovation
Study objectives

Materials and methods
•Study area
–Uttarakhand, 2 districts
–2 village clustersin each district identified for feed IPs
–In each district Feed IPs combined into 1 Dairy Value Chain (DVC) IP
•Data collection
–IP meeting documentationSince Dec 2012
–Innovation “story lines” qualitative narrative of the innovations and its management over a time
(Greenhalghet al., 2006)

Project area

Results

IP and issues
Dairy value chain IP
State dairy co- operative
National NGO (BAIF), agriculture research institute
IFAD
Producers
Animal husbandry department
Private
Incentive?
Pushing
technology
Rigid rules?
Weak voice
Conflicts?

Story line-Bageshwar
Constraints identification
Jeganath SHG federation dairy co-operative
Crossbred cows/ AI
Feed trough/chaff cutter
Concentrates
Dual purpose crops
Napier/berseem

Bageshwar-Actors role
Constraints identification
Jeganath SHG federation dairy co-operative
Crossbred cows/ AI
Feed trough/chaff cutter
Concentrates
Dual purpose crops
Napier/berseem
NABARD/AH
support-credit
Private milk trader
Failure of state cooperative
Low price for milk
Private feed company

Bageshwar-output
Constraints identification
Jeganath SHG federation dairy co-operative
Crossbred cows/ AI
Feed trough/chaff cutter
Concentrates
Dual purpose crops
Napier/berseem
Issues prioritized
New marketing channel
Better price
Breed improvement
Feed improvement
More milk production

Conflicts-Sult
Constraints identification
Link with state dairy co- operative
Crossbred cows/ AI
Feed trough/chaff cutter
Concentrates
Payment issues of state cooperative
AH support-credit
Religious beliefs
“Don’t sell milk”
Distant of government
office
Lack of confidence
Issues
Innovative champions
Meeting in villages
Dairy failure study
ILRI/Anchal
Management

Impact of innovations
•Increased communication – demand to form IP in some new areas
•Income increase (Ex-INR 2500/HH/day in Sult village ($45), Jeganathco-operative Bageshwar-$20000/year
•New employment opportunity (13-Bageshwar, 7-Sult)
•Women empowerment (head load by woman, raising voice)

Conclusion
•Linking to better market is the first change in dairy development
•Different innovations emerges with context of situations
•Breed and feed improvement follows with better marketing arrangement
•Conflict management is key for innovation development in IP process
•Storyline is effective tool for first hand qualitative assessment of IP impacts