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Since 2017, in line with COAG’s recommendation, the Research and Extension Unit engaged in the development of a participatory AIS assessment framework including a customizable toolbox for countries with a totally new capacity development perspective. The assessment framework is meant for actors of the national agricultural innovation systems, i.e. research, extension and advisory services, innovation support service providers and universities, policy and decision makers, or development organizations, with a mandate or willingness to catalyze system innovation processes and to identify entry points for developing capacities to innovate in a a sector, a value chain, a territory or at country level. The expected outputs and outcomes of the assessment are: a) to inform and provide evidence-based practical guidance to policy and decision makers to identify concrete actions and investments geared towards strengthening of the AIS, and simultaneously b) to enhance capacities of relevant actors to effectively engage in these actions. Considering high level of complexity and diversity of agricultural innovation systems and CD needs, the assessment implementers need to be guided to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data and information to generate evidence for assisting decision-making and advocacy in their specific context. To meet these objectives, a preliminary assessment framework was developed to be tested and enriched by pilot countries. This document provides the key concepts, the foundations of analytical and operational assessment frameworks and guiding principles for country assessment teams in piloting countries. It contributes to FAO’s Strategic Objective 2 - Increase and improve provision of goods and services from agriculture, forestry and fisheries in a sustainable manner.
Managing the ability of agriculture to meet rising global demand and to respond to the changes and opportunities will require good policy, sustained investments, and innovation - not business as usual. Investments in public Research and Development, extension, education, and their links with one another have elicited high returns and pro-poor growth, but these investments alone will not elicit innovation at the pace or on the scale required by the intensifying and proliferating challenges confronting agriculture. Experience indicates that aside from a strong capacity in Research and Development, the ability to innovate is often related to collective action, coordination, the exchange of knowledge among diverse actors, the incentives and resources available to form partnerships and develop businesses, and conditions that make it possible for farmers or entrepreneurs to use the innovations. While consensus is developing about what is meant by 'innovation' and 'innovation system', no detailed blueprint exists for making agricultural innovation happen at a given time, in a given place, for a given result. The AIS approach that looks at these multiple conditions and relationships that promote innovation in agriculture, has however moved from a concept to a sub-discipline with principles of analysis and action. AIS investments must be specific to the context, responding to the stage of development in a particular country and agricultural sector, especially the AIS. This sourcebook contributes to identifying, designing, and implementing the investments, approaches, and complementary interventions that appear most likely to strengthen AIS and to promote agricultural innovation and equitable growth. It emphasizes the lessons learned, benefits and impacts, implementation issues, and prospects for replicating or expanding successful practices. The information in this sourcebook derives from approaches that have been tested at different scales in different contexts. It reflects the experiences and evolving understanding of numerous individuals and organizations concerned with agricultural innovation, including the World Bank. This information is targeted to the key operational staff in international and regional development agencies and national governments who design and implement lending projects and to the practitioners who design thematic programs and technical assistance packages. The sourcebook can also be an important resource for the research community and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
This document intends to provide an analysis of the outcomes of the application of the TAP Common Framework in the eight countries of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project. The TAP Common Framework (TAP CF) was developed at the global level as an initial activity of the CDAIS project in order to guide capacity development (CD) and strengthening of Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). The project then tested this framework in eight pilot countries (Guatemala, Honduras, Burkina Faso, Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Lao PDR, Bangladesh). The purpose of the transversal analysis was to understand how the CDAIS approach contributed to outcomes and impacts in a diversity of contexts and to propose recommendations for upgrading the Common Framework across its theoretical and practical dimensions. The two main guiding questions were: • What made the CDAIS approach transformational (or not) in diverse contexts? • How useful, usable and used was the TAP Common Framework? The comparative analyses consisted in drawing patterns of context-mechanism-outcomes from case studies from the different countries. Insights gained from some countries were checked and complemented with the data and lessons learnt from others. Common findings were merged, and particular cases were used to expand or refine the generic theory that was built on the case-by-case approach.
An assessment of seven innovation case studies in Pakistan in 2022 found that agriculture innovation systems show limited collaboration and networking, and a supply-driven rather than market driven approach to innovation. [Author] This limits the potential for scaling innovations such as the ‘Super Seeder’, a machine that sows wheat directly in the rice stubble, replacing the common practice of burning it. [Author] The study was conducted in September and October 2022 as part of the global TAP-AIS project coordinated by FAO’s Office of Innovation and funded by the European Union’s DeSIRA initiative. [Author] The seven innovation case studies were nominated by key organizations under three thematic area: digital transformation, product innovation and service innovation. [Author] A desk review, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and a self-assessment questionnaire was used to collect data. [Author] Major gaps identified included, among others: i) Innovation actors have limited organizational support and ability to initiate collaboration and engage in networking with other actors for the purposes of market formation and scaling innovation; ii) Collaboration was not pursued for all stages of innovation, that is, from innovation development to innovation scaling; and iii) A supply-driven approach tends to be used for innovation development and scaling, rather than a market-driven approach. [Author] The results of the assessment informed the next phase of the TAP-AIS project in Pakistan in 2023–2024, which includes organizational capacity development and a policy dialogue process to strengthen innovation systems for low-cost agricultural machinery for smallholders. [Author] The work contributes to the TAP-AIS project’s main objective to strengthen capacities to innovate in national agriculture innovation systems (AIS) in the context of climate-relevant, productive, and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems. [Author]
An innovation system can be defined as a network of organizations, enterprises, and individuals demanding and supplying knowledge and bringing it into a social and economic use. This book's primary aim, therefore, is to focus on the largely unexplored operational aspects of the innvoation systems concept and to explore its potential for agriculture. 'Enhancing Agricultural Innovation' evaluates real-world innovation systems and assesses the usefulness of the concept in guiding investments to support knowledge-intensive, sustainable agricultural development. A typology of innovation systems is developed; strategies to guide investments for strengthening innovation capacity are drawn up; and concrete interventions options defined. In its conclusions, the book emphasizes the importance of mechanisms for collaboration and interaction. Intermediary organizations, innovation councils, farmer organizations, and other means to strengthen collaboration are central to creating the exchange of knowledge and perspectives that will convert knowledge into valuable new social and economic products and services.
This guide is aimed to propose a holistic, systemic, and easy-to-use methodology that is multiscalar, multisectoral, and multidimensional for the M&E of public EAS systems to help identify gaps and pathways to strengthen and reform the public EAS system. It starts with analyses of the common objectives, subject, challenges, lessons learned, and prospects of the existing M&E systems and expounds on the logical framework, rationale and objectives of the proposed M&E methodology from a multistakeholder perspective. Then it proposes M&E frameworks at the national and grassroots levels following such order as the introduction, key M&E elements, indicator framework, and operational framework. Next, it looks at the issues of data sources, data collection, and capacity building, focusing on the institutionalization of the M&E system in the public EAS. Finally, it introduces the commonly used tools and methods of data analysis, focusing on the weighting of indicators, scoring methods, and integrated analytical frameworks.
This timely Handbook presents the latest knowledge on technological innovation for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Looking beyond technical fixes, it further draws on economics, politics and sociology to explore how modern technology can contribute to effective and socially just sustainability transitions.
The Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) Guidelines were developed for assessing the impact of food and agriculture operations on the environment and people. The guiding vision of SAFA is that food and agriculture systems worldwide are characterized by all four dimensions of sustainability: good governance, environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being.
Farming Systems Research has three core characteristics: it builds on systems thinking, it depends on the close collaboration between social and biophysical sciences, and it relies on participation to build co-learning processes. Farming Systems Research posits that to contribute towards sustainable rural development, both interdisciplinary collaborations and local actor engagement are needed. Together, they allow for changes in understanding and changes in practices. This book gives an overview of the insights generated in 20 years of Farming Systems Research. It retraces the emergence and development of Farming Systems Research in Europe, summarises the state-of-the-art for key areas, and provides an outlook on new explorations, especially those tackling the dynamic nature of farming systems and their interaction with the natural environment and the context of action.
An assessment of the Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) of Rwanda’s small livestock sub-sector was conducted in 2021. This report describes the AIS of the small livestock sub-sector in terms of key functions, the underlying causes of their performance, and opportunities for improvement. It presents priorities and entry points for strengthening the AIS of the small livestock sub-sector in Rwanda, with focus on key organisations and the policy level. The assessment focused on three cases studies of innovation in the small livestock sub-sector: The Sasso dual breed chicken by Uzima Chicken Limited, with focus on small-scale farmers’ poultry production; piggery/artificial insemination by the Centre for Agriculture Enhancement (CPPA) in Kisaro, for genetic improvement in pigs for small-holder farming; and the animal feed industry by Gorilla Feed Co., Limited, a cross-cutting business for animal production in the country. The report makes nine concrete recommendations for strengthening the small livestock sub-sector regarding collaboration and coordination, capacity development and at the policy level. It identifies two national associations on which to focus the TAP-AIS projects’ capacity development phase: Rwanda Pig Farmers Association (RPFA) and Rwanda Poultry Industry Association (RPIA).