1. What does an inventory of recent innovation experiences tell us about agricultural innovation in Africa ?
- Author
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Henri Hocdé, Joe B. Stevens, Bernard Bridier, Ann Waters-Bayer, Todd A. Crane, Nour Selemna, Simplice D. Vodouhe, Anne Floquet, Bernard Triomphe, Brigid Letty, G. Kamau, Jolanda van den Berg, T. Ng'ang'a, C.J.M. Almekinders, Innovation et Développement dans l'Agriculture et l'Agro-alimentaire (UMR Innovation), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Département Environnements et Sociétés (Cirad-ES), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Université d’Abomey-Calavi - Faculté des sciences agronomiques (UAC FSA), Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement (UMR ART-Dev), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), and Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)
- Subjects
Economic growth ,Knowledge management ,Geography, Planning and Development ,WASS ,South Africa ,Resource (project management) ,E14 - Économie et politique du développement ,Economics ,Benin ,Multiple stakeholders ,Analytical framework ,media_common ,05 social sciences ,Inventory ,Agriculture ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,[SHS.GEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography ,ComputingMilieux_GENERAL ,Technologie and Innovatie ,Knowledge Technology and Innovation ,Kennis ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,LEI NAT HULPB - Milieu ,Best practice ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Smallholders ,Agricultural education ,Context (language use) ,Petite exploitation agricole ,Education ,LEI NAT HULPB - Milieu, Natuur en Landschap ,0502 economics and business ,Innovation ,business.industry ,Timeline ,Natuur en Landschap ,Innovation system ,Kenya ,Leerstoelgroep Technologie en agrarische ontwikkeling ,Innovation processes ,Technology and Agrarian Development ,040103 agronomy & agriculture ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,business ,Kennis, Technologie and Innovatie ,050203 business & management ,Diversity (politics) - Abstract
International audience; Within the context of the FP7 JOLISAA project (JOint Learning in and about Innovation Systems in African Agriculture), an inventory of agricultural innovation experiences was developed in three African countries: Kenya, South Africa and Benin. The main objective was to assess a broad diversity of multi-stakeholder agricultural innovation processes involving smallholders. National teams used literature searches and interactions with a range of institutions and networks engaged in agricultural innovation to identify cases. Interviews with resource persons and field visits were also conducted to supplement the available / accessible documentation. The inventory was made according to a common analytical framework and guidelines inspired by the Innovation System perspective to allow for an analysis across cases and countries. The completed inventory includes 57 documented cases, covering a wide diversity of experiences, in terms of types, domains, scales and timelines of innovation. The 57 cases confirm previously documented features, such as the diversity of stakeholders involved in innovation, the diversity of innovation triggers, or also the frequent occurence of market driven innovation. It also illustrates more original features: the typically long time frames of innovation processes; the common occurrence of "innovation bundles" (a combination over time of technological, social and/or institutional innovations); and an often close relationship between innovation and externally-funded projects. National teams faced several challenges during the inventory process, including a common understanding and consistent use of key innovation-related concepts, and a difficult access to relevant information related partly to restrictions put by several case holders on sharing openly their experience. Out of the inventory, JOLISAA has selected thirteen cases which will undergo a subsequent phase of collaborative assessment. The assessment will strive to assess issues the inventory could not tackle, such as the actual roles and contributions of the various stakeholders, the dynamics of the innovation process, and the influence of the enabling environment on the innovation process and outcome.
- Published
- 2013
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