Innovation platform

Innovation Platforms On this page you find the following information about Innovation Plat forms (IPs):

• Conceptual background on what IPs are
• Documentation about the way they were conceptualized and implemented in practice in each of the program's regions: Ethiopian Highlands, East and Southern Africa, West Africa.

One blog post about the general theory and practice (as of February 2015) can be useful reading, program-wide: Innovation platforms in Africa RISING: Theory and practice.

Conceptual background: What is Innovation Platform (IP)?

An innovation platform is a forum for learning, action and change. It is a group of individuals (who often represent different organisations) with different backgrounds and interests. These individuals may include: farmers, agricultural input suppliers, traders, food processors, researchers, government officials, etc. These members come together to diagnose problems, identify opportunities and find ways to achieve their goals. Platforms should also enable diverging interests to come to the fore so that compromises can be developed. Activities may be designed and implemented with the involvement of all platform members, or they may be used to or coordinate activities by individual members or groups of members (Homann-Kee Tui et. al. 2013).

IPs have recently become a popular approach in research for development programmes. The popularity of IPs reflects a shift away from technology transfer modes of intervention to focus on co-generation of knowledge. Innovation platforms seek to build innovation capacity, by bringing stakeholders together for dialogue and joint action. Within agriculture, IPs can be useful to explore strategies that can boost productivity, sustainably manage natural resources, improve value chains, or influence policies; these strategies often include biophysical, socioeconomic and political elements, and concern various formal and informal institutions (Homann-Kee Tui et al. 2013). By bringing together actors from various sectors and from different administrative levels, and by acknowledging and making use of their diverse capacity (knowledge, skills, capabilities, interests, resources), IPs may be able to identify and address existing barriers or challenges to innovation and/or take advantage of potential opportunities.

There are twelve practice briefs on IP produced with a support from Humidtropics program with experts from different countries and programs. Please follow this link to read more on 12 topics all about IP from its definition up to its impact: [[1]]

These ‘practice briefs’ are intended to help guide agricultural research practitioners who seek to support and implement innovation platforms. A contribution to the CGIAR Humidtropics research program, the development of the briefs was led by the International Livestock Research Institute; they draw on experiences of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, several CGIAR centres and partner organizations.

Read more information about innovation platforms in the NBDC (CPWF)...

...In the Ethiopian Highlands

Briefs

• Local innovation platforms to enhance system integration and take innovations to scale in Africa RISING Ethiopia

Blog posts and photo trip reports

• RISING voices: Temesgen Alene, Africa RISING Research site coordinator for Basona Worena Woreda in Ethiopia
• Capturing most significant change stories from the Africa RISING project in Ethiopia
• Social learning for farming systems – Insights from Africa RISING in Ethiopia
• Africa RISING Ethiopia local partners join hands to scale farmer-preferred technologies
• Ethiopia innovation platform meeting reports document progress and partnerships
• Measuring innovation platform contributions through participatory monitoring and evaluation
• Innovation platforms – scaling research findings in Lemo, Ethiopia
• Innovation platforms in Africa RISING: Theory and practice
• Guidelines to establish innovation platforms with Africa RISING partners in Ethiopia
• Farmer research groups central to Africa RISING approach in Ethiopia
• Building local capacity to innovate: tools, methods and approaches for effective innovation platforms in Ethiopia
• Training on commodity-based innovation platforms enhances understanding of concepts key to Africa RISING success
• Innovation platforms established in Basona Worena woreda
• Africa RISING project in the Ethiopian highlands establishes strategic and operational innovation platforms
• Africa RISING establishes local innovation platforms in the Ethiopia highlands
• Innovation platforms to improve the productivity of mixed farming systems in Ethiopia
• Innovation Platforms established by Africa RISING in Sinana woreda, Ethiopia
• Photofilm documents establishment of innovation platforms in Lemo woreda in Ethiopia
• Innovation Platforms established by Africa RISING in Maichew Woreda, Ethiopia

Photos

See [https:www.flickr.com/search/?w=76528887@N03&q=innovation%20platforms| this selection of tagged pictures] and the album 'innovation platform' on the Africa RISING Flickr photo collection: [[2]]

Innovation platform guidelines, papers and training reports

• Innovation platforms to improve the productivity of mixed farming systems in Ethiopia
• Manual for innovation platform facilitators
• Building partnerships: Establishing Woreda, Kebele and farmer-based innovation platforms
• Guidelines on establishing innovation platforms for Africa RISING partners in Ethiopia
• Building local capacity to innovate: tools, methods and approaches for effective innovation platforms in Ethiopia (December 2014)
• Innovation platform facilitation, coordination and monitoring & evaluation training: Report of a workshop, Addis Ababa (5-7 September 2014)
• Training on commodity-based innovation platforms enhances understanding of concepts key to Africa RISING success (August 2014)

Woreda / kebele innovation platform meeting reports and stories

General

• Innovation platforms to improve the productivity of mixed farming systems in Ethiopia (May 2014)
• Report on Africa RISING strategic and operational innovation platform establishment workshops in Basona Worena, Endamehoni, Lemo and Sinana woredas, Ethiopia (April 2014)

Basona Worena woreda (Amhara)

• Basona Worena woreda 4th IP activity report (June 2016)
• Basona Worena woreda 3rd IP meeting report Basona Worena woreda 3rd IP activity report (12 June 2015)
• Basona Worena woreda 2nd IP meeting report Basona Worena woreda 2nd IP activity report (7 February 2015)
• Basona Worena Endamehoni Lemo and Sinana 1st IP activity report (April 2014) - Launch event!
• Basona Worena woreda 1st IP activity report: :nnovation platforms established in Basona Worena woreda (blog post - July 2014)
• Basona Worena field day report (??)
• Basona Worena field day activity report (11-12 November 2014)
• Kebele reports:

Goshe Bado kebele 1st operational IP and FRG meeting report (01 February 2015) Gudo Beret kebele 2nd operational IP meeting report (April 2015)

Endamehoni woreda (Tigray) -

Read the Endamehoni phase 1 summary report (February 2016)

• Endamehoni woreda 4th IP activity report (16 June 2016)
• Endamehoni woreda 3rd IP activity report (7-8 June 2015)
• Endamehoni woreda 2nd IP meeting and farmer field day report Endamehoni woreda 2nd IP activity report (3 November 2014)
• Basona Worena Endamehoni Lemo and Sinana 1st IP activity report (April 2014) - Launch event!
• Endamehoni woreda 1st IP activity report: Innovation Platforms established by Africa RISING in Maichew Woreda, Ethiopia (blog post - March 2014)
• Endamehoni field day activity report (2 October 2015)
• Endamehoni field day activity report (2 November 2014)
• Kebele reports:

Tsibet kebele FRG and 2nd Operational IP meeting report (October 2014)

Lemo woreda (SNNPR)

• Lemo woreda 4th IP activity report (20 June 2016)
• Lemo woreda 3rd IP meeting report Lemo woreda 3rd IP activity report (2-3 June 2015)
• Lemo woreda 2nd IP activity report (2 Feb. 2015)
• Report of the second Seleme (Lemo) woreda strategic innovation platform meeting (19 Feb. 2015) & Lemo woreda 2nd seleme Strategic IP meeting report (March 2015)
• Basona Worena Endamehoni Lemo and Sinana 1st IP activity report (April 2014) - Launch event!
• Innovation platforms – scaling research findings in Lemo, Ethiopia (February 2015)
• Lemo field day activity report (24 July 2014)
• Photofilm documents establishment of innovation platforms in Lemo woreda in Ethiopia (March 2014)
• Kebele reports:

Jewe Kebele FRG and 2nd Operational IP meeting Report (February 2015) Layignaw Gana FRG and 2nd Operational IP meeting Report (??)

Sinana woreda (Oromia)

• Sinana woreda 4th IP activity report (29 June 2016)
• Sinana woreda 3rd IP meeting report Sinana woreda 3rd IP (technical committee) meeting (28 March 2015)
• Sinana woreda 2nd IP activity report (14 Dec. 2014)
• Sinana woreda establishment report And Basona Worena Endamehoni Lemo and Sinana 1st IP activity report (April 2014) - Launch event!
• About the Sinana woreda innovation Platforms established by Africa RISING (April 2014)
• Kebele reports:

Report of the second Ilu-Sanbitu kebele operational innovation platform meeting / Ilu-sanbitu kebele 2nd Operational IP meeting report (15 March 2015) Report of the second Selka Kebele operational innovation platform meeting / Selka-Kebele 2nd Operational IP meeting report (16 March 2015) Sinana Woreda Farmers Field Day (13 December 2014)

Regular Ethiopia IP team meetings

Since February 2015, a small team focusing on IPs in Ethiopia (Alan Duncan, Elias Damtew, Ewen Le Borgne, Kindu Mekonnen, Simret Yasabu, Zelalem Lema) is meeting nearly every month to discuss progress, process, issues, ways to improve this work.

• IP Ethiopia team meeting 16 April 2015
• IP Ethiopia team meeting 25 February 2015

Ideas to discuss at upcoming meetings:

• How about involving Jason Sircely in our meetings (apparently he works a lot on IPs too)
• What to make of the relative lack of conceptual foundations for IPs in Africa RISING? What would be welcome contributions (publications) to bridge this gap?
• How to connect AR with social learning work from CCAFS/CCSL?

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of IPs in Ethiopia

The M&E work on IPs in Ethiopia is conceptualized in the Participatory monitoring and evaluation framework to measure Africa RISING innovation platform contributions to project outcomes in the Ethiopian highlands. This M&E framework considers monitoring at three areas of IPs: establishment, functioning and outcomes. It features various tools to capture relevant data about these areas of M&E:

1. Annex 1: IP establishment form (tool 1)
2. Annex 2: IP registers (tool 2a)
3. Annex 3: Activity report (tool 2b)
4. Annex 4: Training evaluation form (tool 4)
5. Annex 5: IP member evaluation tool (tool 3)
6. Annex 6: Stakeholder interaction tool (tool 5)
7. Annex 7: Most Significant change story form (tool 6)

Data collected is made available via Google Drive folders (for people who are specifically granted access). Other IP M&E data is available on this page.

...in East and Southern Africa

Innovation Platform meetings

• 22 Oct2014 - Minutes Babati R4D Platform Annual General Meeting I Swahili I English
• 14-15 Aug2014 - Ntcheu & Dedza R4D Platform Workshops
• [https:cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/67778| 10-11 April, 2014 ]- Babati District R4D Platform Inaugural Workshop ([https:cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/67778| Report])
• 27 Feb 2014 - Kongwa-Kiteto Innovation Platform Launch Report)

Posters

• Babati District R4D Platform
• Improving Agricultural problem diagnosis and R4D targeting through multi-stakeholders innovation platform

PowerPoint presentations

• Agricultural Innovation Systems: ‘Introduction 100,001’
• Babati District Research–for–Development (R4D) Platform in Tanzania
• Opportunities for adoption and institutional innovation
• Agro-ecological intensification through action research with smallholder farmers in Malawi: R4D Platforms (R4D in IPs)

Reports

• Report of the Babati District R4D Platform Inaugural Workshop
• Report of the Kongwa Kiteto action sites innovation platform launch
• The Africa RISING research sites in Tanzania: Opportunities and challenges to sustainable intensification and institutional innovation
• Research on institutional innovation and scaling issues in Africa RISING

Blog posts

• Tanzania’s Babati District R4D platform sets priorities for 2015 (February 2015)
• R4D platform promotes technology adoption in Babati District, Tanzania (January 2015)
• Research for farmers, by farmers: Highlights of Africa RISING farmer-scientists feedback meetings in Tanzania’s Babati District (January 2015)
• Babati R4D platform: Great expectations (May 2014)
• Africa RISING establishes a partnership platform to facilitate uptake and adoption of innovations by farmers in Babati District, Tanzania (May 2014)

...in West Africa

Innovation platform meetings

2015

• 21 May 2015 - Bougouni Innovation Platform meeting
• 19 May 2015 - Koutiala Innovation Platform meeting
• 21 January 2015 - Savelugu District (Northern Region, Ghana) R4D platform launch
• 20 January 2015 - Tolon District (Northern Region, Ghana) R4D platform launch

2014

• 18 December 2014 - Bongo District (Upper East Region, Ghana) R4D platform launch
• 16 December 2014 - Kassena Nankana East District (Upper East Region, Ghana) R4D platform launch

Reports

• Sustainable intensification of cereal-based farming systems in Ghana’s Guinea Savanna: Constraints and opportunities identified with local communities
• Report of community analyses for sustainable intensification of cereal-based farming system in the Sudano-Sahelian zone in Ghana

Blog posts

• Innovation platforms and technology parks to boost technology uptake launched in southern Mali
• Africa RISING fairs boost farmer awareness and access to inputs in Mali