Partnerships and Institutional arrangements for Innovation, Scaling and Impact

Anne Rietveld and Nelson Mango

Overview

• Two presentations by Sinclair and Julienne

1. Systems Science at the scale of Impact: reconciling bottom up participation with the production of widely applicable research output

2. A paradigm shift in agricultural research for development: Innovation Platforms as vehicles for change and impact

Key elements from the first Keynote address

• What should we scale up? Technology or the delivery mechanisms?

• Promote livelihood system at scale that takes into account the interlocking and interactions of livelihoods.

• The greatest challenge is how to scale systems approaches as there are variations and a whole host of factors at different scales. Biophysical, socio-cultural, policies etc

Key elements from the presentations …..

• We’re lacking an overview of available intervention options available in different contexts.

• In order to predict what might work the scaling up equitation should not be Genome*environment = production but

• Option*context=performance

• We need to match technologies to specific local circumstances and work both from top-down to get to scale and bottom-up to identify the appropriate options.

• The question is how do we empower millions of farmers?

Key elements from the second Keynote address

• The IAR4D concept appraises agriculture as a system that is made of many sub-systems that must work together to foster development

• Uses both the system and the commodity approach

• Uses Innovation Platform (IP) as its operational instrument.

Key elements from the presentations

• IP is a forum for a group of relevant actors along the value chains of specific commodity or system of production that influence the chain to interact and provide solutions to jointly identified constraints on the platform.

• CORAF has used IAR4D approach to achieve greater impact at scale.

• Facilitated 212 IPs, improvements mainly in yields, new planting materials, income and influenced policy change in Burkina Faso, Gambia, and Sierra Leone

Key issues and lessons from discussions on the 1st Keynote address

• There are different scaling domains such as the socio-economic domain and the bio-physical.

• We need to collect evidence on what works where.

• We need models that relate to system interventions in smallholder settings

• Institutional and process constraints that have not enabled scaling of livelihood systems to take place as presented.

Key issues and lessons from the 2nd Keynote Address

• Gender issues in the IPs is not only about numbers orthe presence of women in the IPs but their effectiveparticipation and involvement in decision-making versusmen.

• The impact of the IPs in the intervention areas shouldalso be measured in terms of nutrition security.

• Facilitation of the IP process still remains a key challengein value chains and food systems. CORAF has put inplace competent and skilled trainers to train and coachIP facilitators.

Take home messages from the two presentations

• Research outputs needs to impact millions of people and hectares.

• Key steps in scaling intervention options requires optimizing the system and not only one of its component

• We need overview of what interventions work in which contexts.

Take home messages

• CORAF recommends the use IAR4D to catalyze processes that hastens the simultaneous generation and adoption of technologies and innovations including practice and polies in agriculture value chains, food systems and natural resource management, using multi-stakeholder innovation platforms.

Thank you for your attention