Updated: June 2009

Prolinnova is piloting a new mechanism to make funds for agricultural research and development accessible to farmer experimenters and local agencies supporting them. The Local Innovation Support Funds (LISFs), as described in IK Notes 85 (PDF File; size : 33 KB), will be managed and used by farmers and community-based organisations (CBOs), with initial support by local NGOs. The LISFs will give farmers some flexibility and independence in doing their own research that is relevant to solve local problems and that takes into consideration their values and knowledge, as well as in hiring external support to their research. The LISFs, if successful, will be extremely important to guarantee the long-term sustainability of farmer-led Participatory Innovation Development (PID) through the institutionalisation of supportive funding.

The pilots are presently in their second phase. The first phase (FAIR 1 - Farmer Access to Innovation Resources) (Word Document: size : 59 KB) was one of 12 winners in the DURAS (Promoting Sustainable Development in Agricultural Research Systems) Competitive Grant Scheme. Under FAIR 1, action research on setting up and managing LISFs was carried out in Cambodia, Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda. FAIR 1 was coordinated and managed by the Farmer Support Group (FSG), the coordinating NGO for Prolinnova–South Africa. At the end of the pilot, finalised on 1 May 2008, a synthesis paper was written drawing on the initial results, challenges encountered and ways of organising the programme in the countries involved. Prolinnova Working Paper #24: FAIR: Synthesis of Lessons Learnt (PDF file; size : 1.21MB)

FAIR 2 has (FAIR 2 Proposal) (PDF File; size : 195 KB) started on 1 April 2008, and is being implemented in eight countries: in addition to Cambodia, Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda, also Nepal, Kenya, Ghana (North) and Tanzania have joined the initiative. The programme is coordinated by the Prolinnova Secretariat at ETC EcoCulture, The Netherlands. FAIR 2 will focus on improving the understanding of the functioning of the pilots and the effectiveness and impact of these LISFs as a mechanism to accelerate local innovation, and will mainstream the results and findings.

More specifically, it will have the following components and activities:

1. Implementation and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of LISF pilots in the eight countries. A comprehensive M&E framework already developed in Phase I will be used to capture key findings across the countries and to document the process and results. Regular virtual as well as face-to-face meetings are foreseen between all involved parties to review progress and to adapt and realign programme strategies.
2. Capacity building of stakeholders at all levels including staff of the institutions involved and individuals/groups handling the LISFs at the local level: This includes in-country training activities in the design and management of LISFs and in the M&E framework and tools. Training will be complemented by on-the-job support and backstopping through annual visits to the eight countries by international resource staff.
3. Sharing results of the pilots: This includes analysis and articulation of findings in forms, appropriate for dialoguing with regular R&D institutions and policymakers. Through these activities, the programme hopes to create awareness and gain acceptance for the LISF approach among relevant institutions and thereby to mobilise (financial) support to ensure longer-term sustainability of the LISFs.

In each country, in addition to the coordinating NGO, associated partners from different stakeholder groups contribute to the design, implementation and monitoring of the pilot LISFs. Backstopping support is being provided by ETC EcoCulture and its partners within the Prolinnova International Support Team.

For more information, contact Mariana Wongtschowski (m.wongts AT etcnl.nl), Laurens van Veldhuizen (l.van.veldhuizen AT etcnl.nl) or the contact organisations for the involved country programmes.