The document outlines a stakeholders meeting discussing the establishment of an innovation platform in Zambia focused on enhancing the aquaculture sector. The platform aims to unite various stakeholders, including farmers and private sector representatives, to identify and address common challenges, ultimately benefiting smallholder farmers. Key themes for discussion include the focus areas of the platform and the inclusion of diverse actors, particularly women and youth, to sustain interest and participation.

1. Fish Innovation Platform
Presenter Netsayi Noris Mudege (Senior Scientist)
Stakeholders meeting, Zambia, (Zoom)
15 October 2020

2. What are innovation Platforms
Innovation platforms bring together different stakeholders in any
sector
• Identify solutions to common problems
• To achieve common goals
• To ensure that the interests of various groups and stakeholders
are taken into account

3. Innovation Platform for the project
• To bring private and public actors
together to determine efficient and
sustainable strategies to reach
smallholder farmers through the
IBEMs and scale their investments.

4. Who can be members of the innovation platform
• Level1: Aquaculture farmers roundtables to express their
interests, opportunities and constraints to guide activities that
are intended to benefit them (planning quarterly meetings)
• Level 2: Farmer representatives, private sector can benefit from
this innovation platform as it aims to boost the aquaculture
sector and make it a profitable area for investment

5. What can an innovation platform focus on
• Platform members can decide what the innovation platform
should focus on.
• Depends of problem what common problems have been
identified and need to be solved
• Innovation Platforms are dynamic

6. • Facilitate dialogue among
stakeholders (sharing needs
and requirements)
• Can identify bottlenecks and
develop solutions
• Facilitate sharing of ideas by
weaker actors on an equal
basis (women, smallholder
farmers)
Benefits of an
innovation Platform

7. Constraints
• Can be costly to facilitate (Quarterly meetings)
• Success depends on trust and willingness among members to
contribute
• Achieving outputs may take longer that the duration of the
project
• ‘Tangible outputs are needed to sustain the members’ interest
and commitment to the innovation process’ (Tui, et al., 2013)

8. Breakout groups
• Do you think in Zambia we need an innovation platform focusing on the fish
value chain? Explain your answers
• What should the innovation platform focus on?
• What themes are important to you/others in your position?
• Which actors should be members of the platform?
• How should smallholder farmers, private sector plays, government agencies be
included in the platform
• How can the innovation platform ensure the participation of women and young
people

9. Funding
The project is funded by the GIZ
Implementation Period: May
2019 to May 2022