This document discusses the SERVInnov project, which aims to strengthen innovation support services to enhance sustainable food production in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project recognizes the diversity of multi-actor innovation communities in African agriculture but finds that existing innovation support services are fragmented and not fully accessible. Through participatory research, the project will map innovation support services, analyze networks of services and providers, and assess how to better match services to stakeholders' needs across different phases of innovation processes. Preliminary results show support services are concentrated in development phases for both social and technical innovations, but social innovations attract more services overall. The project seeks to ultimately increase the effectiveness of innovation support services across sectors and value chains.

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SERVInnov Project: Strengthening
innovation support SERVices to enhance
INNOVations for sustainable food production
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Department of Communication and Advisory Services in Rural
Areas
Hycenth Tim Ndah (UHOH), Andrea Knierim (UHOH), Sarah Crestin-Billet (UHOH), Maria
Gerster-Bentaya (UHOH), Sarah Audouin (CIRAD), Aurélie Toillier (FAO-CIRAD), Narilala
Randrianarison (ESSA), Ludovic Temple (CIRAD), Ousmane Traoré (Cedres), Thomas Michel
(IECD), Guillaume Fongang (Un-Dschang), Harilala Andriamaniraka (ESSA), Ranoasy
Andriamparany (FIFATA), Max Olupot (AFAAS), Syndhia Mathé (coord) (CIRAD)
Network meeting on Africa Research, UHOH
30.09.21

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 There exist a wide diversity of multi-actor innovation communities in
agriculture and agri-food systems exist in Sub-Saharan Africa;
 need for tailor-made support in order to strengthen and
accelerate their innovative “initiatives” or “projects” towards
inclusive and sustainable development
 Pluralism of service providers exist;
 but existing Innovation Support Services are fragmented, and
not sufficiently accessible to these communities.
Working hypothesis:
 Strengthening the provision of Innovation Support Services,
could help to foster successful innovations for sustainable food
production
(TAP 2016, Mathe et al. 2016, Faure et al. 2019).
Knowledge gaps
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Department of Communication and Advisory Services in Rural Areas

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SERVInnov’s Research questions and focus
Research areas:
• innovation support services vs phases and types of innovations
• Performance of innovation support services and providers
• Innovation support services and inclusion
• Organisational capacity of service providers
• Alignment and networks of service providers
Research questions:
• what innovation support services are most appropriate and best
match innovative stakeholders’ needs in the different phases of
innovation processes?
• how can innovation support providers be motivated, supported and
coordinated to effectively increase innovations in agriculture and
agri-food systems?
(Kilelu et al 2014, Mathé et al 2016; Labarthe and Laurent 2011, Knierim et al 2015, Faure et al 2019))
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Department of Communication and Advisory Services in Rural Areas

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An applied participatory (interactive)
approach at different levels
 Mapping innovation Support Services for
each Innovation sub-systems
 Carrying out network analysis of services and
providers
 Designing, a self-assessment tool of
organizational capacities to deliver on
demand, accessible and suitable services
 Generating historical timelines of innovation
processes
 Using multi-criteria assessment to analyse
service situations’, performance, inclusion
and networks,
 Based on participatorily defined indicators
Recommendations
Individual,
systems’
level
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Department of Communication and Advisory Services in Rural Areas
….increase effectiveness of innovation support services at all
levels across food systems and along value chains

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 Intensity of services along innovation
phases unique patter for both ST and SO
innovations:
 high concentration of services at the
development phases,
 followed by initiation phase
 while dissemination phases received much
less services
 Density of services across innovation types
SO innovations have attracted more services
activities compared with ST innovations:
 technical training” service activities are
observed more for ST innovations,
 improving access to resource service
activities are mobilised more for SO
innovations
Exemplary results: Services mobilized across types (SO, ST)
and phases of innovations
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Department of Communication and Advisory Services in Rural Areas
Ndah HT. et al. (2021) Diversity of innovation support service-situations for agri-food innovations in the global South - selected
findings from cases in Cameroon and Madagascar, 25th European Seminar on Extension and Education (ESEE), 25th
European Seminar on Extension and Education (ESEE), 21-23 June 202, Teagasc, Ireland.

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Thank you for your attention
Contact: h.ndah@uni-hohenheim.de
https://servinnov.cirad.fr/
https://www.facebook.com/ServInnovproject
Twitter @ServInnovP
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Department of Communication and Advisory Services in Rural Areas