Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa or AISA workshop

29-31 May 2013. JOLISAA (EC funded FP7 project: Joint learning in innovation systems in African agriculture), KARI, the PROLINNOVA network, CCAFS, and FSIFS-AusAID organised an international workshop (the Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa or AISA workshop ) during which selected participants from different horizons shared their experiences and reflect on concepts, results and lessons about agricultural innovation processes and systems involving African small holders. 

These inputs contributed to engage with policy-makers and other institutional decision-makers about implications and recommendations for policy, research and practice.

The objectives of the AISA workshop included:

•  To learn jointly about agricultural innovation processes and systems in Africa 
• To identify policy implications and develop policy-dialogue
  
  strategies and messages 
• To explore perspectives for collaborative action research on innovation in smallholder farming. 

The AISA workshop was held as part of an international week devoted to Agricultural innovation in Africa. The AISA workshop focused on active social learning among participants and tackled the following questions:

• What insights and lessons can be gained from recent experiences and initiatives to promote and support agricultural innovation involving smallholders throughout Africa? 
• How are the AIS concepts and approaches being operationalised in Africa? 
• With what successes and challenges? 
• What concrete added value do they seem to bring compared to other approaches to agricultural research and development? 
• What are some of the key implications and recommendations for the way forward in terms of policy, research and practice with regard to supporting agricultural innovation in Africa, and how can these recommendations be implemented concretely in the near future? 

To address these issues, the workshop was structured in 5 sessions:

1. Opening and facilitated participation in the Eastern Africa Farmer Innovation Fair 
2. Reflecting on conceptual issues / frameworks / approaches for assessing innovation experiences 
3. Sharing main results and lessons about innovation processes/cases (selected oral papers, posters, facilitated group and plenary sessions) 
4. Policy implications and policy-dialogue strategy and messages 
5. Identifying the way forward (World Café).

Interview avec Bernard Triomphe - CIRAD, France - lors de l'atelier: Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa, 29-31 May 2013, Nairobi, Kenya [JOLISAA (Joint learning in and about Innovation Systems in African Agriculture), a project funded under the EU FP7 KBBE program that was launched in February 2010 and will last until July 2013]

Bernard reponds aux questions suivantes:
a) Quels sont les defis de l'approche multi acteurs pour la recherche?
b) Est-ce que le projet JOLISAA a pu clarifier certaines choses?

 

Interview avec Anne Floquet - University of Abomey-Calavi, Laboratoire des Dynamiques Sociales et du Développement (LADYD), Benin - lors de l'atelier: Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa, 29-31 May 2013, Nairobi, Kenya.

Anne réponds aux questions suivantes:

• Comment peut-on identifier des innovations?
• Vous avez un exemple?
• Comment cela a été abordé par Jolisaa?
• Quels étaient vos critères d’analyse ?

Second interview with Anne Floquet - University of Abomey-Calavi, Laboratoire des Dynamiques Sociales et du Développement (LADYD) about the groundnut small scale processing industry in Benin.

Anne answers following questions:

• What is the groundnut small scale processing industry in Benin?
• Is there not an aflatoxine contamination issue?
• When will this study be available?
• What is the market potential of the groundnut fryers? 
• What is the next step to create a small and medium enterprise?

Interview with Geoffrey Kamau of KARI (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute) and co-coordinator of Prolinnova-Kenya Geoffrey answers following questions:

• Why was research focused on increased production not effective? 
• What were the lessons of the Jolisaa case studies? 
• Has KARI the capacity to accompagny an innovation into a Small and Medium Enterprise initiative? 
• What about linking with the private financial sector?

Interview with Conny Almekinders, Wageningen University.

 answers following questions:

• Where does the innovation term comes from? 
• What is innovation in your view? 
• Why do we fail to engage small and medium enterprises in the innovation approach? 
• Few researchers have a business approach about their research findings