About Prolinnova

 

 

PROmoting Local INNOVAtion in ecologically oriented agriculture and NRM

In several countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, diverse organisations have joined forces to promote local innovation in agriculture and natural resource management (NRM). After analysing their own experiences in agricultural research and development (ARD), they have formed Country/Regional Platforms (CPs/RPs), designed their own programme and agreed on joint international activities for mutual learning and policy dialogue. This Global Partnership Programme (GPP) is a Community of Practice that is built from the bottom up, in the spirit of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).

Prolinnova is an NGO-initiated multistakeholder programme to promote local innovation in ecologically oriented agriculture and natural resource management (NRM). The focus is on recognising the dynamics of indigenous knowledge (IK) and enhancing capacities of farmers (including forest dwellers, pastoralists and fisherfolk) to adjust to change – to develop their own site-appropriate systems and institutions of resource management so as to gain food security, sustain their livelihoods and safeguard the environment. The essence of sustainability lies in the capacity to adapt.

The programme builds on and scales up farmer-led approaches to development that start with finding out how farmers do informal experiments to develop and test new ideas for better use of natural resources. Understanding the rationale behind local innovation transforms how research and extension agents view local people. This experience stimulates interest on both sides to enter into joint action.

Welcome to PROLINNOVA–Cameroon – new member of the international network!

At the Prolinnova Oversight Group (POG) meeting in Tanzania in late March 2011, an application from the recently formed National Steering Committee (NSC) for Prolinnova–Cameroon was approved. This new member of the international Prolinnova  network seeks to develop Cameroonian agriculture by integrating endogenous solutions into rural development policies and strategies. It is putting in place a framework for spreading local innovations and for continuous cooperation between smallholders, agricultural advisors and research scientists in research and development. Its activities will include identifying local innovations, giving training in participatory innovation development (PID), facilitating PID, organising exchange of experiences and spreading the results in various forms. Funding for the activities will be sought in-country (e.g. among the member organisations and from donors operating at national or sub-national level) as well as from international donors.

Each member organisation of the NSC is working with farming communities, including farmer innovators. These organisations are:

  • COSADER (NGO Collective for Rural Development and Food Security), an NGO concerned with rural development;
  • CRAFEJE (Cercle de Recherche et d’Appui à l’Entreprenariat des Femmes et des Jeunes), an NGO working with women and youth in research and training;
  • ODECO (Organisation de Développement d’Etude et de Formation et de Conseil), an NGO that focuses on environmental protection and the marketing of agricultural products;
  • AIDER (Association des Ingénieurs du Développement Rural), a CSO of professionals in rural development, involved especially in strengthening the capacities of smallholders;
  • IRAD (National Institute for Agricultural Research and Development), which is part of the Cameroonian Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation; and
  • CAPEF (Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forests), an organisation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.


The overall coordinator of Prolinnova–Cameroon is Ms Christine Andela of COSADER. Plans are underway for expansion of the platform to include other members.

Initiative to set up PROLINNOVA–India

At the Prolinnova Oversight Group (POG) meeting in Tanzania in late March 2011, a proposal from INHERE (Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education) was accepted to initiate a Prolinnova platform in India. INHERE will carry out a series of multi-stakeholder consultations for developing regional collaborative action plans to promote agricultural research and innovation for development in different agro-ecological zones of India. It seeks full participation and voice for smallholders in research and policymaking on agriculture, leading to prosperity for resource-poor agriculture producers. This means recognition of their knowledge and innovation efforts, proper use of public funds and increase in net income of poor producers. Workshops in different zones of the country will be held to create awareness of farmer innovation and to initiate multi-stakeholder collaboration to promote farmer-led participatory innovation development (PID) based on issues of relevance and interest to smallholders in the respective zones. Lead organisations of the core groups in each zone that are facilitating this collaboration will come together to form a task force at national level.

Prolinnova contribution to 2011 State of the World

In the book 2011 State of the World: Innovations that nourish the planet recently published by the Wordwatch Institute in Washington DC, Prolinnova contributed a chapter on ‘Farmers take the lead in research and development’ (authors: Brigid Letty, Qureish Noordin, Saidou Magagi and Ann Waters-Bayer).

Pastoralist Innovation: Prolinnova at Future of Pastoralism conference

Some results of Prolinnova’s exploratory study into local innovation in the face of climate change were presented by Yohannes GebreMichael (University of Addis Ababa) from Prolinnova-Ethiopia at the recent conference on “The Future of Pastoralism in Africa”, held 21–23 March 2011 at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Empowering women livestock-keepers to make decisions!

A member of the Prolinnova International Support Team, Ann Waters-Bayer (ETC Netherlands, Leusden), was a speaker at the "Workshop on Gender and Market Oriented Agriculture (AgriGender2011): From Research to Practice" that the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hosted on its campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in early February. At the workshop, she made a presentation co-authored with Brigid Letty (Natural Resources Institute, Pietermaritzburg), member of the Prolinnova Oversight Group (POG) and coordinator of the Prolinnova network in South Africa. In their paper, which was also recently published in the book "The Role of Livestock in Developing Communities", they describe ways to promote gender equality and to empower women through livestock development, including co-management of Local Innovation Support Funds to promote local farmer-led experimentation and innovation.

Results of Prolinnova mainstreaming efforts at international level studied!

Ann Hollemann, a researcher linked to the Centre for International Studies of the Free University of Amsterdam , just finalised her mostly web-based study to explore the extent to which Prolinnova type of concepts and approaches (IK, LI and PID related) are referred to in academic studies as well as in projects and websites of international development organisations. She also interviewed 10 representatives of such organisations. This study was a follow-up to a similar study undertaken in 2006. Comparing present findings with those in 2006 would tell us, so we hoped, whether efforts of Prolinnova and its allies to lobby at the international level had had any impact.

U of Mekelle / Prolinnova–Ethiopia at AgKnowledge Share Fair!

Beyene Tedla from the Local Seed Business (LSB) Project at Mekelle University in Tigray, Ethiopia, attended the AgKnowledge Share Fair organised by ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute) in Addis Ababa in late October 2010. There, he took part in various focus groups, such as on collaborative writing, social media, documenting farmers’ knowledge, and women and knowledge. At the Fair, he shared information from various University initiatives, not only LSB but also Women Learning Women, Women and Food Science, and the work of the College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, as well as information on the work of Prolinnova–Ethiopia. And now, after his return, Beyene is sharing with us his enthusiastic report about the “one of a kind” networking and learning event, with several photos, so that we can get a colourful idea of what happened during the Share Fair.

More information about the Fair can also be found under http://www.sharefair.net

Booklet on farmer-led joint research published!

This is the third in a series of booklets that collect experiences of Prolinnova partners from diverse countries in promoting participatory agricultural research and development in ways that enhance local innovation capacities. The nine case studies in the booklet describe how Prolinnova partners have tried to bring different stakeholders – scientists, extensionists, development agents and others – to support farmers in further improving or adapting innovations. Based on these experiences, the booklet draws some important lessons for ensuring that farmers take the lead in multi-stakeholder processes of agricultural research and development. The booklet can be downloaded at:

(Prolinnova publication 2010)

Inception workshop to build Prolinnova-Cameroon from 23-24 September 2010!

On 23-24 September 2010, 41 participants (15 women and 26 men) gathered in Yaoundé in a workshop for the launching and planning  of the platform for local farmer-led innovation. The key outcomes of the workshop were:

  • The NGO COSADER has been nominated as spearhead of the platform.
  • A  reflection group with 5 NGOs was formed around COSADER. The other members of the group are AIDER, ODECO, IRAD, CAPEF and CRAFEJE.
  • The Cameroon plan of action was adopted.
  • A declaration named a “Yaounde statement” was adopted.
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