Dealing with critical challenges in African innovation platforms: Lessons for facilitation
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Kees Swaans, Beth Cullen, Andre van Rooyen, Adewale Adekunle, Hlami Ngwenya, Zelalem Lema Moti, Suzanne Nederlof. (11/11/2016). Dealing with critical challenges in African innovation platforms: Lessons for facilitation, in "Innovation for Inclusive ValueChain Development: Successes and Challenges". Washington, United States: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Abstract
There is growing scientific recognition of innovation platforms (IPs) and the role of facilitation in catalyzing agricultural innovation (see
Klerkx and Gildemacher 2011; Hounkonnou et al. 2012; Klerkx, Mierlo, and Leeuwis 2012), with increasing documentation of
experiences from practitioners (see Hawkins et al. 2009; Nederlof, Wongtschowski, and Van der Lee 2011; Nederlof and Pyburn 2012;
Mbabu and Hall 2012). IPs have become increasingly popular, and run the risk of becoming a void concept or misunderstood—for
example, because they are taken as merely mechanisms to regulate value chains or to extend new technologies to large numbers of
farmers (PAEPARD 2013; Darbas and Sumberg 2013); still, the discussion whether or not IPs are useful and effective is a relevant
one. In this chapter, we argue that the success of an IP depends on the attitude and skills of the facilitator. Indeed, one of the most
frequent questions from practitioners is: How do we best facilitate IPs?...
