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.

Synthesis report on piloting LISFs in 8 countries in Africa and Asia

The synthesis report on Farmer Access to Innovation Resources: Findings and lessons learnt on facilitating Local Innovation Support Funds has now been published by Prolinnova. It describes the process and results of the action research in eight countries in Africa and Asia to answer the following central questions:

  1. Can the LISF be an effective farmer-led funding mechanism?
  2. Is the LISF a cost-efficient funding mechanism?
  3. What could be sustainable institutional arrangements with farmer co-management?

It also brings the main results of the participatory impact assessment and draws lessons for scaling up this approach to changing the power balance in decision-making about decentralised agricultural research and development. Further information about piloting LISFs can be found here. 

Fair and workshop recognising farmer innovation in eastern Africa

The EU-funded project JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture (JOLISAA); Prolinnova; the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the AusAID-funded project Food System Innovation for Food Security (FSIFS) held an international workshop on Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa (AISA) in the last week of May 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. Experiences from various institutions and initiatives were shared to gain a better understanding of multi-stakeholder innovation processes in agriculture, with a focus on recognising the role of smallholders – both men and women – in innovation. The workshop helped develop messages for research, practice and policy about strengthening innovation processes in smallholder agriculture.

Prolinnova–Kenya at Dublin conference on climate justice

In mid-April 2013, three members of theProlinnova–Kenya platform – Simon Masila, a smallholder farmer innovator from Machakos; Chris Macoloo, World Neighbours Regional Associate President for Africa; and Teresiah Ng’ang’a,Prolinnova–Kenya coordinator – took part in the international conference in Dublin on “Hunger–Nutrition–Climate Justice: Putting People at the Heart of Global Development”. This was convened by the Government of Ireland and the Mary Robinson Foundation in partnership with the World Food Programme and the international research programme CCAFS (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security). It brought together about 300 people ranging from global thought leaders to local people from marginalised communities.

Prolinnova-Uganda Local Innovation Support Fund (LISF) model: an implementer’s guide

Prolinnova-Uganda would like to share her experience of piloting Local Innovation Support Funds (LISFs). The guide has been drawn from experience of four years (2007-2011) of piloting and has been compiled to inform and guide institutions and organisations that would want to support innovation processes with such a funding mechanism.

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Re-imagining Agricultural Research in Development at WorldFish

On 29–31 January 2013, the CGIAR Research Programme on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) held a dialogue on “Re-imagining Agricultural Research in Development”. It invited about 45 researchers, practitioners and policymakers in agricultural research and development (ARD) for the 3-day dialogue at the WorldFish centre in Penang, Malaysia. Ann Waters-Bayer, ETC Foundation, a member of the Prolinnova International Support Team, took part on behalf of the Prolinnova network.

Strategy for upscaling Local Innovation Support Funds (LISFs) in Ghana and Ethiopia

Under the transition phase of FAIR (Farmer Access to Innovation Resources), multistakeholder Country Platforms that have been piloting LISFs have analysed their experiences and have developed LISF models that they consider suitable for the specific context of their respective countries. They have also developed strategies for scaling up the LISF The first reports have been finalised - watch this space for more:

LISF model and upscaling scenarios for Ghana by Franklin Avornyo (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Animal Research Institute), Zimi Alhassan (Ministry of Food and Agriculture) and Joseph Nchor (Association of Church-based Development Projects) 

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Climate change, innovation and gender

Prolinnova and the CGIAR Research Program on CCAFS (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) are collaborating in exploring the linkages between innovation and climate-change mitigation and adaptation through a gender lens. This work involves a workshop to be held in Cambodia in April 2013 plus follow-on collaboration to support women smallholder farmers' innovation in several countries.

International Farmer Innovation Day: Prolinnova-India

The International Farmer Innovation Day was celebrated by Prolinnova-India on 29 November 2012 at Chinoni campus of INHERE. Mr Manoj Singh Gosai, Agriculture Development Officer (ADO), Chaukhutia, Distt Almora, presided over the meeting, which was facilitated by Mr Girish Chandra Pant, INHERE. Government officials, farmers and NGO members participated in the day-long meeting to understand innovation, its need and sensitivity to recognising and promoting innovation by farmers.

The participants were introduced to the International Farmer Innovation Day and its celebration by the Country Platforms in the Prolinnova global network seeking to given recognition to the contribution of farmers to agricultural research and knowledge creation.

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