Andrew Hall

Why Research Partnerships Really Matter: Innovation Theory, Institutional Arrangements and Implications for Developing New Technology for the Poor

Abstract This paper explores the conceptual basis for existing and emergent institutional patterns in the context of partnership approaches to technology development. Drawing examples from recent studies of private enterprise activity in India smallholder horticulture, it suggests that agricultural innovation as a process involves a wider range of organizational types than the conventional policy focus on public sector research organizations would tend to suggest. It uses the concept of a “national innovation system” to argue that a partnership approach is adopted as a core methodology for engaging science and technology development with the livelihood demands of the poor.

Strengthening agricultural innovation capacity: are innovation brokers the answer?

In the case of a drive for a male-die-side ejector slidably disposed in a slide of a mechanical metal-forming press having an angle lever which is pivotably disposed at the slide, one leg of the lever acting upon the end of the ejector facing way from the male die and the other leg thereof being acted upon by a control cam which is driven in a timed manner and being held in contact with this control cam, a free adjustability of the moving characteristics of the ejector is achieved in that the control cam is provided at a control carriage which is slidable in a guide fixed at the frame in parallel to the moving direction of the slide, and at which a control connecting rod is applied in a bearing, this control connecting rod, at one end, being disposed eccentrically on a shaft serving also as the drive of the slide.

Beyond knowledge brokerage: An exploratory study of innovation intermediaries in an evolving smallholder agricultural system in Kenya

The recognition that innovation occurs in networks of heterogeneous actors and requires broad systemic support beyond knowledge brokering has resulted in a changing landscape in the intermediary domain in the increasingly market-driven agricultural sector in developing countries. This paper presents findings of an explorative case study that looked at 22 organizations identified as fulfilling an intermediary role in the Kenyan agricultural sector. The results show that these organizations fulfill functions that are not limited to distribution of knowledge and putting it into use but also include fostering integration and interaction among the diverse actors engaged in innovation networks and working on technological, organizational, and institutional innovation. Further, the study has identified various organizational arrangements of innovation intermediaries, with some organizations fulfilling a specialized innovation brokering role and other intermediaries taking on brokering as a side activity, while substantively contributing to the innovation process. On the basis of these findings, we identify a typology of four innovation intermediation arrangements including technology broker, systemic broker, enterprise development support, and input access support. The results indicate that innovation brokering is a pervasive task in supporting innovation and will require policy support to embed it in innovation support arrangements, but without prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach.

Coping with change, complexity and diversity in agriculture -- the case of rhizobium inoculants in Thailand

Abstract In recent years the accepted organizational pattern of relations between science and production has begun increasingly to be called in question. In the area of peasant agriculture, this generally takes the form of a critique of a system based upon centralized research institutes and hierarchically administered extension agencies. This paper explores this theme by means of an empirical study of the impact of rhizobium inoculant technology on selected areas of peasant agriculture in Thailand. The paper shows that this (core) scientifically derived technology has had widely different effects in different locations, and that these involve complex interactions with different biological systems. The evidence suggests that there are independent knowledge systems possessed by farmers who combine this knowledge innovatively with the core technology to produce outcomes that vary over time and space. The case, in common with many others, indicates also that core scientists are reluctant to accept technological complexity, preferring instead to leave responsibility for application to the extension system, even when it is clear that more research may be necessary.

Necessary, But Not Sufficient: Critiquing the Role of Information and Communication Technology in Putting Knowledge into Use

Abstract Purpose: This article reviews the experience of ICT applications as a tool for putting research derived knowledge into use for innovation in South Asia. Design/methodology/approach: The article uses the contemporary understanding of communication and innovation in reviewing the experience of ICTs in putting new knowledge into use in South Asia. Findings: The findings from this study suggest that ICTs in general have not contributed effectively to the challenge of putting new knowledge into use as they are mostly used to support traditional communication tasks — such as information dissemination and training. The article argues that this under-utilisation of the potential of ICTs could be due to: a lack of appreciation of the new communication-intermediation tasks required for innovation, underestimation of the roles of intermediaries and their capacities for innovation and lack of networks needed for communities to make use of the information provided through ICTs. Practical implications: Although the understanding of communication, innovation and extension has changed substantially in the past two decades, there is still a big gap between theory and practice. This article contends that this gap needs to be bridged if ICTs are to effectively contribute to putting new knowledge into use. Originality/value: The article manifests the necessity for ICT based initiatives to be embedded into the renewed understanding of communication and innovation and it moves ICT related debates from merely a success story to a pragmatic world of communication and innovation process.

Extension Policy at the National Level in Asia

Abstract Extension is clearly facing challenging times in Asia. This paper draws together experiences from across Asia to explore extension policy and the extension policy process. The paper argues that extension policy needs to tackle two major sets of issues. The first concerns the content in view of the broader role extension needs to play in the present context of agriculture systems. The second issue concerns the nature of the policy process itself. Instead of prescribing reforms, the policy process should ideally facilitate continuous incremental change through experimentation, reflection and learning. Four cases are presented to illustrate the challenges involved in developing and implementing extension policy. The experiences indicate that reform processes only informed by prescriptions generated centrally or from outside are bound to fail. The message for extension policy in Asia is that the process of reform must be lead from within. The paper stresses the need for undertaking an institutional analysis of historical and current approaches of implementing different extension approaches and developing capacity within the country on experimenting with different approaches and evaluating them. These learning based approaches should inform policy development. However the existing culture of extension organisations may prevent the emergence of learning based approaches to invigorate extension. Changing these cultures may yet be the biggest challenge of all for reforming extension.

Post-Harvest Innovation Systems in South Asia: Research as Capacity Development and its Prospects for Impact on the Poor in Developing Countries

Post-harvest R&D could make a valuable contribution to pro-poor rural development. Evidence suggests, however, that technological innovations need to be supplemented by institutional innovations that encourage broader participation from researchers, entrepreneurs and users of the technology. Furthermore, greater attention will need to be given to the wider institutional context in which innovation takes place. This paper presents the concept of a post-harvest innovation system as a way of exploring these issues and explains the capacity-development view of research that this perspective brings. Examples of post-harvest innovation systems are presented to illustrate the critical importance of partnerships and the influence of the institutional context on the outcome of research. Ways of implementing this in research programmes are then discussed.

Tacit Knowledge and Innovation Capacity: Evidence from the Indian Livestock Sector

To cope and compete in this rapidly changing world, organisations need to access and apply new knowledge. While explicit knowledge is important, what is often critical is an organisations ability to create access, share and apply the tacit or un-codified knowledge that exists among its members, its network and the wider innovation system of which it is a part. This paper explores the role of tacit knowledge in livestock sector innovation capacity though the case of Visakha Dairy, one of the most progressive producer-owned milk marketing companies in India. Analysis of two episodes in Visakhas evolution illustrates how it used tacit knowledge to innovate around challenges. The paper concludes that while tacit knowledge is a major resource that organisations rely on to cope with change, it does not follow that knowledge management approaches that centre on codifying this knowledge are the way forward. Instead, it suggest that better management of the learning processes, through which tacit knowledge is generated, would be a more useful contribution to innovation and innovation capacity – in other words, a shift from knowledge management to learning management.