Pipelines, partnerships and platforms

Pipelines, partnerships and platforms: Different ways of organizing agricultural innovationOrganising Innovation for Impact at Scale

Dr Andy Hall • CSIRO Research Group Leader – Global Agriculture Innovation Dynamics11 November 2015

Objective• Understand the nature of innovation as a wider process than research.

• Understand that innovation takes different forms.

• Understand that there are different ways of organizing innovation each

with its own set of tools.

• Understand how to select an approach appropriate to a task and the

challenges that might be encountered.

Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall2 |

Innovation: meaning• The process of creating and putting into use combinations of knowledge from many

different sources

• This knowledge may be brand-new, but usually it is new combinations of existing knowledge

• Not research or technology, but might involve both.

• To be termed innovation, the use of this knowledge has to be novel to the farmer or the firm, neighbours and competitors, but not necessarily new globally

• Invention, on the other hand, is the creation of new knowledge new to the world, usually by research organisations, but also by artisans and others

3 | Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall

What does innovation look like?• Technological innovation: Farmers adopting

a new crop variety, a new agronomic practice, or animal feeding regime. • Organizational innovation: farmers work

collectively to market produce.• Institutional innovation. Researchers form

new partnerships with farmers and companies to deliver solutions that give income and profits


What does innovation look like?• Business innovation: companies develop new products and service

or new ways of delivering these that create profit and other value.

• Value chain innovation: Value chain actors use new ways to

procure, add value or market products.

• Policy innovation: regulations, rules and incentives that add value

to social and economic activity. Food standards, pesticide approvals,

new ways of financing farming and business investment.


Why are we interested in agricultural innovation and not just research?

• Increasing results orientation among funders of research

• Shelves of technology, poor uptake, weak demand orientation

• Increasingly complex agenda, food, environment, poverty reduction, fuel,

changing consumer demands

• New players and more prominence for the private sector

• Improved understanding of how ideas and technology come into use


How do we organize for innovation?

• There are broadly 2 views.

• A technology transfer pipeline view

• A “systems” views that suggests different types of

innovation need to be coupled together.

• Neither can be universally correct

• No blueprint.

• Approach needs to be tailored to task at hand.


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Learning loops

Different modes of agricultural innovation

• Research to farmer technology transfer

• Farmer participatory technology development

• Commercialization of public research by the private sector

• Partnering with the private sector in value chain innovation.

• Solving complex development challenges through multi-stakeholder

platforms 15 | Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall

16 •

1. Research to farmer technology transfer

Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall


• Tools: Disciplinary and commodity based research. Demonstration plots and related extension methods.

• Role of research: Knowledge discovery and technology development.

• Necessary conditions. Well functioning extensions services, effective markets and policies can help with technology spread/scaling, mechanisms for articulating farmer demand for technology.



• Strengths: Familiar and easily understood. Works well for inputs

(seeds, fertilizer, crop protection and animal health). Simple M&E

• Weaknesses. Necessary conditions usually missing or weak. Supply led

leads to miss-match of technology to farmers needs. Technology supply

not linked to output market access. Poor linkages to other sources of

technology nationally and globally.18 | Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall

19 •

2. Farmer participatory technology development



• Tools: participatory diagnostic appraisal and evaluation,

client-orientated breeding, joining farmers experiments,

farmer field schools.

• Role of research: scientific resource in farmers experiments.

• Necessary conditions: Professional transformation of

researchers, decentralization of research organizations, large

carder of para-researchers, collaboration with community

based organizations.



• Strengths: helps match farmer needs to research priorities; make use of existing

farmer ideas and technology; works well for NRM that needs community

collaboration; technology development, adaptation and adoption take place at the

same time.

• Weakness: Necessary conditions missing or weak. Researchers need capacity

building. Unclear how to spread innovation beyond pilots. Dominated by social

scientists. Undervalue the discovery role of research.


22 •

3. Commercialization of public research by the private sector


3. Commercialization of public research by the private sector• Tools: technology licensing, strategic alliances

and partnership, contract research.

• Role of research: service provider of technology

and R&D capability.

• Necessary conditions: Effective markets and

policy and regulatory frameworks. Alignment of

public and private sector goals.


3. Commercialization of public research by the private sector

• Strengths: Works well for inputs (seeds, fertilizer, crop protection and

animal health); private delivery systems effective and efficient with large

reach. Valuable when private sector has weak R&D capability. Simple M&E.

• Weaknesses: Limited range of research products fit the model; doesn’t work

well for information packages/ advice. Targets farmers that can pay, can

miss the poor. Mechanism to align public and private goals often missing


25 •

4. Partnering with the private sector in value chain innovation



• Tools: partnerships with inclusive businesses and producer

organizations, farmers groups, local level innovation platforms.

• Role of research: Service provider of technology and technical and

socio-economic expertise; convener of innovation platforms.

• Necessary conditions: Social organization of farmers often with help

from NGO’s. Strong brokering and facilitation of stakeholder

engagement and communication. Resources to action opportunities

and create solutions. Learning based M&E systems.26 | Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall


• Strengths. Good for connecting pre-and post-harvest solutions and opportunities. Links access to

technology with access to markets. Strengthens relationships needed to address future solutions and

opportunities. Takes advantage of inclusive business motivations. Identifies new research priorities.

• Weaknesses: Poorly implemented. Miss-understood as tool for transferring existing technologies from

research. Governance and elite capture. Difficult to hold the attention of the private sector and

becomes farmers group. Ineffective links to policy changes needed to enable innovation. Unclear

how effective platforms can be scaled.


28 •

5. Solving complex development challenges through multi-stakeholder platforms



• Tools: multi-level innovation platforms; innovation brokers;

partnerships with mission orientated organizations backbone

organizations and alliances.

• Role of research: Trusted advisor, service provider, strategic

partners, discovery research

• Necessary conditions. Governance and financing

arrangements, coherence between on the ground action and

policy engagement and change.29 | Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall


• Strengths: Creates a structure for research to contribute to development challenges

where systemic change is required for technology adoption (health and nutrition,

sustainable food systems)

• Weaknesses: Only few examples of success (e.g. GAIN). Challenges in developing

effective and transparent M&E systems. Who funds basic research capacity building?


Summary

• Innovation is about new uses of ideas not invention.

• Important because its how impact is achieved

• Innovation is not just technological change.

• Many ways of organizing innovation each with its own tools.

• There are challenges with all types of approaches to innovation.

• The key is to select the approach that best suits the task at hand.31 | Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall

Presentation title • Presenter name

References

• World Bank 2012 and Klerkx, Hall, and Leeuwis. (2009) Agricultural Innovation Systems: An Investment Sourcebook. Washington, DChttp://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/335807-1330620492317/9780821386842.pdf

• A.Hall, J.Dijkman & R.Sulaiman. (2010) Research Into Use: Investigating the Relationship between Agricultural Research and Innovation. UNU-MERIT Working Papers ISSN 1871-9872http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2010/wp2010-044.pdf

32 •

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/335807-1330620492317/9780821386842.pdf




http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2010/wp2010-044.pdf



33 •

Working in partnerships … who & how should they be included?


34 • Different ways of organising agriculture innovation• Dr Andy Hall

ExerciseBreak in to 3 groups.

- In Group 1 discuss and identify 5 partners agricultural scientists should work with

and why? On one card write a type of the partners a reason why its valuable to

work with them.

- In Group 2 discuss and identify 5 different problems / need of the different

partners. On one card write a problem you are working on and list the partners you

need to work with to resolve this problem

- In Group 3 discuss and identify 5 problems you are working on and the model of

innovation you would use for dealing with the problem. On a card write a problem

and the model you would use.

Andy Hall, CSIROLevel 1 Ecosystem Science Building, Black Mountain Laboratories, Clunies Ross Rd, Acton, ACT 2602TEL. +61 477 735 [email protected]

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Thank you