Study on the East Africa Dairy Development project provides insights into agricultural innovation processes

Milk reception at Nyala dairy plant in Kenya (photo credit: East Africa Dairy Development project)

A new study on agricultural innovation systems takes an in-depth look at the East Africa Dairy Development project and its innovative approach to enhancing dairy farmers' access to inputs, credit and animal health services.

The study, published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Agricultural Systems, was lead authored by Catherine Kilelu, a PhD student at Wageningen University who was hosted at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as a graduate fellow.

Started in January 2008, the East Africa Dairy Development project is working in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda to transform the lives of 179,000 families (about 1 million people) by doubling household dairy income in 10 years through integrated interventions in dairy production, market access and knowledge application.

The project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by Heifer International, African Breeders Services - Total Cattle Management, TechnoServe, the World Agroforestry Centre and ILRI.

Kabiyet Financial Services Association, a farmer-owned village bank, was set up through the East Africa Dairy Development project as an innovative way to enhance dairy farmers' access to financing (photo credit: East Africa Dairy Development Project).

The project helped set up dairy farmer business associations with milk chilling plants. These serve as local business hubs where farmers can easily access credit, farm inputs, artificial insemination services, animal feeds as well as training on dairy production.

Following are the key highlights of the study:

• Innovation platforms support co-evolution of innovation.
• Innovation platforms can be considered sets of intermediaries.
• Dynamism and unpredictability of innovation requires platforms to be adaptive.
• Feedback and learning in platforms needs to be better monitored.
• Agricultural innovation policies should be better tailored to co-evolution.

Access the abstract here (subscription required for full-text)

Citation
Kilelu CW, Klerkx L and Leeuwis C. 2013. Unravelling the role of innovation platforms in supporting co-evolution of innovation: Contributions and tensions in a smallholder dairy development programme. Agricultural Systems 118: 65-77.

Study calls for integrated use of innovation systems in agricultural research for development

A pineapple farmer in Ntungamo District, Uganda. The Ntungamo Pineapple Innovation Platform is one of three case studies highlighted in a new journal article on innovation platforms for agricultural research for development (photo credit: Neil Palmer, CIAT).

A journal article published in the May 2012 issue of the International Journal of Agriculture and Forestry calls for a coordinated agricultural research and development strategy that links innovation platforms at continental, sub-regional, national and grassroots levels. This, the paper argues, would represent the best practices for comprehensive use of the innovation system approach.

The paper used three case studies from the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program to examine strategies and approaches for the successful use of the innovation system approach in agricultural research for development.

Co-author Pamela Pali is a monitoring and evaluation specialist with the Poverty, Gender and Impact team at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya.

Co-author Jemimah Njuki, sociologist and gender specialist, is the former leader of ILRI's Poverty, Gender and Impact team. She left ILRI at the end of March 2012 and now works with CARE International. From her base in Tanzania, she heads a new program on smallholder women in agriculture called PATHWAYS which is being implemented in both Africa and Asia.

Access the full text article

Citation
Nyikahadzoi K, Pali P, Fatunbi AO, Olarinde LO, Njuki J and Adekunle AO. 2012. Stakeholder participation in innovation platform and implications for Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D). International Journal of Agriculture and Forestry 2(3): 92-100.

The imGoats project reflects on use of Outcome Mapping and innovation platforms to improve goat value chains

Group discussions at the imGoats project learning and reflection workshop, Udaipur, India, 2-6 July 2012 (photo credit: ILRI/Tezira Lore).

The imGoats project seeks to investigate how best goat value chains can be used to increase food security and reduce poverty among smallholders in semi-arid regions in India and Mozambique.

On 2-6 July 2012, the project teams from both countries met in Udaipur, India to take part in a learning and reflection workshop on the activities achieved so far and the work still remaining.

The five-day, intensive workshop gave the participants ample opportunity to discuss and share progress achieved by the teams in Rajasthan and Jharkhand in India and Vilanculos in Mozambique in order to learn from each other's experiences in using Outcome Mapping and innovation platforms to improve the functioning of goat value chains.

In addition, the teams were able to review their communication plans and refine their strategies towards identifying the communication outputs to be produced and activities to be undertaken in the final six months of the project.

"The agenda of the workshop was very dense but it is heartening to see that all the teams have made good progress. Outcome Mapping has helped us to adapt our planning and improve our work. The session on innovation platforms was useful for sharing experiences and frustrations, too, and how to overcome these," said imGoats project coordinator Saskia Hendrickx of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) at the close of the workshop.

"We have six months left and a lot to do but there is a good team spirit and we can make it," Hendrickx added.

For more information about the workshop, check out the session notes on the imGoats wiki or read some reflections by ILRI postdoctoral scientists Birgit Boogard and Ramkumar Bendapudi on their experiences with the use of Outcome Mapping and innovation platforms in India and Mozambique. Also check out the workshop photos on Flickr.

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Funded by the European Commission - International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAD), the imGoats project is led by researchers from ILRI in collaboration with the BAIF Development Research Foundation in India and CARE International in Mozambique. For more information, visit imgoats.org.

New project adopts innovation and value chain approaches to enhance livestock feeds in India and Tanzania

Fodder market in India: Research by ILRI and CIAT aims to enhance  dairy-based livelihoods in India and Tanzania through feed innovations and value chain approaches (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

Lack of access to adequate high-quality livestock feed is a key constraint towards improved milk yields and hence dairy income for smallholder dairy producers.

As part of efforts towards addressing the problem of feed scarcity, two CGIAR centres, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), have embarked on a research initiative that will use novel systems-based approaches to enhance feeds and feeding in smallholder dairy production systems in India and Tanzania.

By adopting a value chain perspective and using innovation system principles, the project places feed in a broader context and acknowledges that enhancing feed supply involves more than just introducing or promoting feed technologies at farm level but also includes other dimensions such as animal health, livestock breeding and knowledge sharing.

The objectives of the project Enhancing dairy-based livelihoods in India and Tanzania through feed innovation and value chain development approaches (MilkIT) are three-fold:

• Institutional strengthening: To strengthen use of value chain and innovation approaches among dairy stakeholders to improve feeding strategies for dairy cows
• Productivity enhancement: To develop options for improved feeding strategies leading to yield enhancement with potential income benefits
• Knowledge sharing: To strengthen knowledge sharing mechanisms on feed development strategies at local, regional and international levels

The three-year project is embedded in the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish. It will be coordinated by ILRI with CIAT acting as a major partner. Dr Bernard Lukuyu and Dr Amos Omore from ILRI's Markets, Gender and Livelihoods theme will make key contributions in the areas of livestock feeds and technical/institutional options for improving market access, respectively.

Already, some preliminary activities have taken place. In the latter half of 2011, a number of scoping visits were made to the two study countries to identify project sites and partners. A pre-inception planning meeting is scheduled for 24-25 January 2012 in Nairobi to officially launch the project activities. You can read about the scoping visits in this post on the ILRI Fodder Adoption blog.

For more information about this project, please contact Dr Alan Duncan (a.duncan @ cgiar.org)

Download the project brochure

ILRI project uses innovation systems approach to strengthen capacity for community-based animal health systems in Ethiopia

Cattle being watered at the Ghibe River in southwestern Ethiopia. An ILRI-led project has helped strengthen the capacity of local communities to use innovation system approaches towards better access to animal health services (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

A collaborative project led by scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has strengthened the capacity of local communities in Ethiopia’s Ghibe Valley to use innovation systems approaches to improve access to animal health systems.

The Ghibe Valley in southwestern Ethiopia is a fertile region whose rich soils and abundant water resources suggest high agricultural production potential.

However, the region is seriously affected by the deadly trypanosomosis (animal sleeping sickness), a wasting cattle disease which affects the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who depend on livestock for milk, meat and draught power.

In order to enhance the community’s access to animal disease control services, the project tested a collaborative trypanosomosis control model in three woredas (administrative units managed by local government).

The project, which was led by ILRI’s Innovation in Livestock Systems research team, used two action research approaches – asset-based community development and innovation systems – to derive lessons on how to sustainably improve livestock health service delivery and how to translate improved livestock health into increased productivity and incomes.

Thirteen trypanosomosis co-operatives were formed to link private veterinary drug suppliers to the remote communities to ensure sustainable supply of trypanocides to farmers and reduce dependence on the central government system.

The rural communities have been communicating their needs directly to the private drug suppliers in the capital city Addis Ababa and supply mechanisms have been established.

The project produced a guideline in the local Amharic language for collaborative trypanosomosis control for use by community animal health workers in various districts and regions affected by the disease.

The project also shared maps based on the tse tse fly habitat and trypanosomosis risk modelling of Ghibe Valley with the district and regional authorities for their use in targeting disease-control investments in high-risk and “hot spot” areas.

Other regions which face trypanosomosis challenge have been informed of the utility of such information and analysis for directing investments for effective trypanosomosis control.

These interventions have resulted in significant changes in land use and land cover, increased cultivation of staple crops and healthier, more productive cattle.

The four-year project, which ended in August 2011, was funded by the Comart Foundation.

For more information, please contact Dr Ranjitha Puskur (r.puskur @ cgiar.org) who leads ILRI's Innovation in Livestock Systems research team.

Taking stock: ILRI meeting reflects on the past, charts the next steps for livestock research for development

On 9 and 10 November 2011, the Board of Trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hosted a two-day 'liveSTOCK Exchange’ at ILRI's Addis Ababa campus to discuss and reflect on livestock research for development over the past decade and chart the way forward based on lessons learned.

The event synthesized sector and ILRI learning to help frame future directions for livestock research for development. The liveSTOCK Exchange also marked the leadership and contributions of Dr Carlos Seré who served as the Director General of ILRI from 2002 to 2011.

In October 2011, Dr Seré took up the position of Chief Development Strategist leading the Office of Strategy and Knowledge Management at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) headquarters in Rome.

As part of the debate, sharing and reflection, scientists from ILRI's Market Opportunities theme prepared four issue briefs that document the lessons learned from past research projects by the Research Theme as well as the challenges, outcomes, impact evidence, and future prospects for livestock research towards improving market opportunities for smallholder livestock producers. You may access the issue briefs from the links below:

• The interface of market access and SPS requirements: Lessons from recent ILRI research in Africa
• Animal-source foods in the developing world: demand for quality and safety
• Changing approaches to pro-poor livestock market development: Innovation and upgrading in the value chain
• Smallholder competitiveness and market-driven technology uptake

Also check out this presentation: Livestock market opportunities for the poor, that formed the framework for discussion and debate.

To read more about the liveSTOCK Exchange, please visit http://clippings.ilri.org/tag/livestockx/ and the liveSTOCK Exchange wiki.

Goat value chain actors in India and Mozambique hold innovation platform meetings

Small-scale goat production and marketing are important sources of livelihood for poor livestock keepers in the arid and semi-arid regions of India and Mozambique.

The Market Opportunities theme of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is leading a project in collaboration with BAIF Development Research Foundation in India and CARE International, Mozambique towards increasing incomes and food security in a sustainable manner by enhancing pro-poor small ruminant value chains in India and Mozambique.

The project Small ruminant value chains as platforms for reducing poverty and increasing food security in India and Mozambique (imGoats in short), which is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), got underway in February 2011.

It uses an innovation systems approach aimed at transforming informal subsistence-level goat production to a viable, profitable model while preserving community and national resource systems. In addition to goat keepers, project beneficiaries include small-scale traders and providers of inputs and animal health services.

Project partners in India and Mozambique recently facilitated inaugural innovation platform meetings in Inhassoro, Mozambique (May 2011) and Jhadol, Udaipur, India (July 2011). Innovation platforms offer an opportunity for the different actors in the goat value chain to gather and exchange knowledge and share experiences towards improving goat production and marketing processes for the benefit of all.

During the innovation platform meetings, participants shared the challenges and constraints they face during goat production/marketing and discussed possible solutions and priority areas for action towards addressing the constraints.

For more details about the imGoats project and to read the meeting reports, please visit http://imgoats.org or contact Dr Ranjitha Puskur of ILRI (r.puskur @ cgiar.org).

New Agriculturist features Fodder Innovation Project

The July 2010 issue of the online magazine New Agriculturist features the Fodder Innovation Project which is using an innovation systems approach to reposition research towards a focus on building alliances and networks that strengthen innovation processes.

The project is being implemented in India and Nigeria in collaboration with the United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). It is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Here is the link to the article, Learning for change: a logical approach for fodder innovation?

Innovation platforms boost livestock value chains in Mozambique

A novel approach to enhancing livestock commercialization is helping to improve market participation by smallholder livestock keepers in semi-arid Mozambique.

The Innovation Platform (IP) approach uses value chain analysis to identify challenges and constraints to livestock production and marketing. Based on these, opportunities to overcome the bottlenecks are then sought.

By collectively engaging all value chain actors, the IP approach strengthens linkages among sector stakeholders thus helping to enhance efficiency through better alignment of livestock production and market requirements. In addition, improved flow of market information results in reduced transaction costs and greater market efficiency.

The Livestock and Livelihoods (LILI) project (Livestock and Livelihoods: Improving market participation of small-scale livestock producers), implemented from 2007, used the IP approach to contribute towards achieving the project's objectives.

These objectives were to: (1) improve market participation of small-scale goat and cattle keepers in semi-arid regions of Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe; (2) evaluate constraints to and opportunities for commercialization of smallholder production of goats and cattle; (3) test and evaluate alternative livestock marketing and input delivery systems; (4) assess the impact of market-led technology change on household incomes; and (5) establish an effective communication strategy to facilitate networking and exchange of information among sector stakeholders.

The LILI project was collaboratively undertaken by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the National Agricultural Research Institute of Mozambique (IIAM), the Matopos Research Station of Zimbabwe and the Namibian National Farmers' Union (NNFU). 

Some of the experiences of implementing the IP approach in the LILI project are documented in an April 2010 report, The innovation platform in Mozambique: Evidence from Chicualacuala and Changara, by Dr Manuel Filipe, a scientist formerly with ILRI's Market Opportunities research theme.

"The Innovation Platform can be a platform for constructive debate and problem solving," Dr Filipe notes in his report. "The market actors as well as the local authorities have embraced it and it is being used as an entry point for other initiatives such as training and planning, among others," he adds.

The LILI project was funded by the European Union and supported by the Southern African Development Community.

Download the report

Citation
Filipe M. 2010. The innovation platform in Mozambique: Evidence from Chicualacuala and Changara. Project report. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi. 18pp.