The document discusses Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS), defining them as networks that include various stakeholders such as organizations and individuals aimed at economic utilization of new agricultural products and processes. It highlights the role of innovation platforms in facilitating collaboration among diverse actors to identify challenges, opportunities, and implement solutions to enhance smallholder agriculture. The text also discusses functions of these platforms, such as demand articulation, institutional support, and innovation process management, while addressing the mixed perceptions regarding their effectiveness in facilitating practical change.

1. Agricultural Innovation Systems:!
‘Introduction 100,001’
Jens A. Andersson, CIMMYT!
Elias Damtew, ILRI!
Zelalem Lema, ILRI

2. An Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) is,!
! ‘…a network of organisations, enterprises, and individuals focused
on bringing new products, new processes, and new forms of
organisation into economic use, together with the institutions and
policies that affect their behaviour and performance.’ (WorldBank, 2009)

3. An Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) is,!
! ‘…a network of organisations, enterprises, and individuals focused
on bringing new products, new processes, and new forms of
organisation into economic use, together with the institutions and
policies that affect their behaviour and performance.’ (WorldBank, 2009)
donors govt. policy makers
research
!
policies
rules
processors
marketing agents
regulations
subsidies
Service
Providers
traders
CBOs Extension
NGOs
district
agr. office
agro-dealers

4. Agricultural Innovation Systems thinking: Its origins…
ToT
(1960s-)
FSR
(1980s-)
FPR
(1990s-)
Innovation
systems
researchers researchers
(+ farmers)
researchers
with farmers multiple
Technology
packages
Adjusted!
Packages!
(diagnosis)
joint
knowledge
production
Interactive,
innovation,
(co-)learning
Model:
Knowledge
base:
‘products’:
Technologies Actors / stakeholders

5. Innovation system
Farm household system
Crop-livestock system
Rufino (2004)
social processes!
power, linkages,!
(facilitation)
livelihoods,!
people
!
technologies,!
bio-physical laws
!"!!
Nested systems…

6. donors govt. policy makers
research
!
policies
rules
processors
marketing agents
regulations
subsidies
Service
Providers
traders
CBOs Extension
NGOs
district
agr. office
agro-dealers

7. What is an R4D / MS / Innovation Platform (IP)?
!
‘a multi-actor configuration deliberately set up to facilitate and
undertake various activities around identified agricultural
innovation challenges and opportunities, at different levels in
agricultural systems (e.g. village, country, sector or value chain).’ Kilelu et al (2013)!
"""""!
• is a space for learning and change !
• group of individuals (who often represent organizations)
with different backgrounds and interests: farmers, traders, food
processors, researchers, government officials, etc. !
• 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 co-ordinate
activities by individual members. (ILRI-IP practice briefs, 2013)

8. What is an R4D / MS / Innovation Platform (IP)?
• is a space for learning and change !
• a group of individuals (who often represent organizations)
with different backgrounds and interests: farmers, traders, food
processors, researchers, government officials, etc. !
• 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 co-ordinate
activities by individual members. (ILRI-IP practice briefs, 2013)
"""""!

9. Some functions of Innovation Platforms:!
!
Demand articulation – Facilitating the identification of innovation
challenges and opportunities as perceived by the different stakeholders!
!
Institutional support – Facilitating and advocating institutional change (e.g.
policy change, new business models, capacity building, etc.)!
!
Network brokering – Identifying and linking different actors (for instance,
for scaling-out)!
!
Innovation process management – Coordinating interaction and
facilitating negotiation and learning among different actors. !
!
Feedback mechanism – providing platform for evaluation and reflection
(for research interventions)
adapted from: Kilelu et al (2013)

10. Everything is a ‘platform’…
What level of operation? – local / district
Who is (not) involved? – organisational landscape, who’s interests
What is the purpose?
What is being done? – action

11. Impact of innovation platforms
Definitions
An innovation platform is a space for learning and change.
It is a group of individuals (who often represent organiza-tions)
with different backgrounds and interests: farm-ers,
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.
Key questions
Innovation platforms have become a popular way to
stimulate positive change in smallholder agriculture. In
principle, they bring together a range of stakeholders
to identify and solve common problems. They ensure
that different interests are taken into account, that
stakeholders together work out solutions (brief 1).
In practice, we discover hard truths and difficult
“Innovation platforms are the new way to do devel-opment.
Bringing different people together to jointly
deal with problems avoids scientists developing solu-tions
to problems that don’t exist. Many bottlenecks
to development are about people – unless we use
people-centred approaches we won’t overcome the
bottlenecks”
“Not another innovation platform. Innovation platforms
are a complete waste of time. All you guys do is end-lessly
talk to one another. Where is the action? What
have you achieved”?
These are two perspectives familiar to people
working with innovation platforms. In the complex
web of relationships that surround agricultural
development, innovation platforms are a good way
to get to the root of problems and can bring about
real, durable change for many people.
1"What"are"innova-on"pla0orms?
2"Innova-on"pla0orms"to"shape"na-onal"policy
3"Research"and"innova-on"pla0orms
4"Power"dynamics"and"representa-on"in"innova-5"Monitoring"innova-on"pla0orms
6"Innova-on"pla0orms"for"agricultural"value"chain"7"Communica-on"in"innova-on"pla0orms
8"Developing"innova-on"capacity"through"innova-9"Linking"ac-on"at"different"levels"through"innova-10"Facilita-ng"innova-on"pla0orms
11"Innova-on"pla0orms"to"support"natural"resource"12"Impact"of"innova-on"pla0orms"
see:"hOps://cgspace.cgiar.org

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