Embedding Agricultural Research in a System of Innovation

Andy HallLINK Coordinator, UNU-MERIT

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Main Messages• The recognition of two theories about how to promote

innovation• The first relies on transferring knowledge, technology and

information• The second relies on a social process of interactive learning• Both are important, but the dynamics of ‘new agriculture’

demand a more dynamic, interactive approach• Suggests that research increasingly needs to be situated in a

boarder set of relationships within a system of innovation• Implications for the way research organisations operate and

the ways capacities for innovation and impact can be built• What do the critics say?

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Why are we interested in Innovation?

• Innovation: The process of creating and putting into use combinations of knowledge from different sources

• Putting knowledge into use adds value to existing resources and creates IMPACT

• Research creates knowledge and technology• The process of innovation goes further and also includes

putting that knowledge into use• But how can innovation be promoted?

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Theories on how to promote Innovation

Linear Systems

Sources of ideas Centralised, scientific research

Multiple sources including research

Communication Research-to-“extension”-to-farmer

Structured around action

Assumptions on how impact is achieved

Diffusion processes organised by extension/ the market

Interactive learning give rise to concerted action

Assumptions about the nature of knowledge

Generic/ a-contextual

Knowledge is universally valid and can be transferred

Specific/ contextual

Knowledge only has meaning in its domain of existence

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Where do Systems Views of Innovation come from?

• Stephen Biggs — Multiple sources of agricultural innovation

• The Dutch School — Agricultural extension origins. Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (AKIS), Niels Roling. Also Paul Engel and others. Focus on actors in the rural domain

• National Systems of Innovation — Innovation networks. Freeman, Lundval and others. SPRU, UNU-INTECH and many others

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

National Systems of Innovation• Empirically-based — Observations of successful industrial

economies• • Innovation not related to levels of R&D investment, per se• • Success comes from patterns of organisation and ways of working

that support an interactive process of knowledge sharing and learning

• In practice — There are partnerships between public research and private enterprise, creating both technological and institutional change

• A key feature of interactive learning processes is the ability of these arrangements to adapt rapidly to changing market, policy and technological conditions

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Why are these Systems Views of Innovation becoming important to Agricultural Research?

– Mandate articulated in impact terms: • economic growth, poverty reduction and environment, and

the complexity of these impact domains

– The emergence of a new, post-Green Revolution Agriculture

– New agriculture in situated in a global context that is evolving very rapidly with many different players

– Requires rapid response and adaptation to this complex and changing context

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

New Agriculture

• Sectors– Livestock and aquaculture– Flowers, horticulture, medicinal plants– Agro-processing, bio-fuels, fibers, forest products

• Drivers– Access to regional and global markets– New technology– Changing consumer preferences associated with rising incomes

and urbanisation– Industrialisation of the food chain and the emergence of

international value chains

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Features of the New, Post-Green Revolution Agriculture

– Reaches the poor through non-food routes– Many different players involved, particularly the private

sector– Embedded in the global context of trade rules, consumer

demands and competition and as a result changes very rapidly in unpredictable ways

– Innovation to cope with the global context requires knowledge from many different branches of science as well as management and empirical knowledge

– Requires unprecedented rates of innovation to cope with the rapidly-evolving context

– But this needs continuous incremental innovation more than revolutionary innovation

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

What is an innovation system?

• Definition: A system of innovation is all the actors and their interactions involved in the production, use of knowledge, and the institutional and policy context that shapes the processes of interacting, knowledge-sharing and learning

• It is a way of organising thinking on ways of promoting innovation in complex, continuously-changing environments with many actors and where straightforward technology transfer approaches are unlikely to work

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Basic Innovation Systems Principles

• Research as part of a wider process of innovation• Innovation requires interaction and this is only productive if

it is supported by the right sort of relationships• Interaction is not only important for problem-solving, but also

to identify and respond to new challenges and opportunities. Interaction helps rapid response

• The process of interacting and innovating is shaped by the context – the way organisations work, national and regional characteristics and the policy environment

• It’s a social process. Participating in the creation and use of knowledge gives lessons on how to do this better

• Learning causes the evolution of patterns of interaction and ways of working.

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Most Important Principle• The capacity to innovate is a combination of:

– Skills• Scientific, Entrepreneurial, Managerial and others

– Patterns of interaction• Partnerships, alliances and networks

– Ways of working • Routines, organisational culture, traditional practices

– Policies • Clusters of supportive policies and the nature of the policy process

– Learning • The ability to continuously learn how to use knowledge more

effectively at the organisational level, at the sector level and at the national level

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

What does this mean for Research Organisations?

1. Centrality of partnerships2. Network development3. Development of a stakeholder dialogue4. *Setting and implementing priorities5. *New agenda of systems of capacity development6. *New Research 7. *New Roles 8. Explicit efforts to reassess roles9. *New organisational culture and ILAC10. *New skills and disciplinary mixes

*Elaborated further

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

• Governance– Situating research organisations in a broader set of relationships brings with it

an expectation of participation in initiatives to address the concerns of these stakeholders

• Priority setting– The network becomes an important mechanism for setting priorities and these

are likely to be dynamic and evolving and relate to specific stakeholder domains

• Local vs. Central– Potential tension exists between research systems, strategic priorities and

local stakeholders’ immediate, new or unexpected priorities• New role of priorities

– Centrally-defined priorities start to resemble broad framework for action• Implementation of priorities

– Requires the creation of broad-based consortia around these thematic priorities and a continuous process of evaluating their relevance and the effectiveness of processes in addressing them. Priorities and approaches in a system of innovation are always contestable

4. Setting and Implementing Priorities

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

• Beyond knowledge inputs– It is not just knowledge and technology inputs that are needed,

but also important are the processes necessary to make knowledge available and to enable its use

• Systems strengthening – Research organisations operating in a system of innovation

need to work in ways that contribute to strengthening these processes and the wider system

• Nature of capacity– New linkages, new institutions (i.e., new forms of behaviour,

routines, norms) as well as new enabling environments policy)• Challenges

– Raises questions about when linear-like approaches are more effective and when systems-like approaches are more effective. And how to make decisions about the nature of the capacities that have to be strengthened

5. New Agenda of Systems Capacity Development

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

• Investigating how to strengthen Innovation Systems Capacity in appropriate ways needs to be part of the research task

• Not as a specialist social science or policy research endeavour, but as core element of research in different technological sectors seeking to bring about innovation and impact

• The main way of investigating this is through an action research methodology whereby new capacities are developed experimentally and lessons learnt

• This may involve doing developmental-like activities in order to learn lessons on how to deploy science and other knowledge more effectively

• These lessons are international public goods• Will only produce IPGs if processes and capacities are

investigated rigorously

6. New Research Agenda

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

• Research role will remain important, although this will have to contribute to institutional change as well as technological change

• Knowledge brokers ensuring that reliable knowledge and

information is available to each other where it is needed • Catalytic role stimulating networking where it is needed • Network participants to access knowledge from others or to

ensure that knowledge produced is accessible by others • Context-specific roles. These roles are determined by particular

contexts and fields of action and all are legitimate roles for research organisations, contributing to developing the capacity of the innovation system in which they are embedded

7. New Roles

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

8. New Organisational Culture and ILAC

• Elements of this culture include:– Openness to partnership– Consensus and dialogue– A willingness to respect the views of stakeholders– A willingness to participate in knowledge-sharing and

exchange– A recognition that ways of working and institutional

arrangements are inherently experimental with the scope for continuous improvement

– The recognition that innovation can involve technology transfer

– Participatory development– Interactive learning

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

8. ILAC (contd.)

• Institutional learning and change– i.e., incrementally changing habits and practices to

better achieve a goal is an incremental process of reflection and learning and is central to building the capacity of organisations and the systems to innovate

– The process of helping evolves the way research organisations work

– Implies new professional and project evaluation criteria

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

• Soft skills will be required to work in new ways – Partnering skills

– Facilitation skills

– Reflection and learning skills

– Networking skills

• Scientists with research skills relating to understanding innovation process and capacities

10. New Skills and Disciplinary Mixes

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

What the critics say

• Linear approach not that bad. It worked well in the past and actually (!) research organisations don’t work like that, anyway

• It’s nothing new. We are already doing that• Innovation doesn’t sound much like research so

doesn’t distract us from our main work• It’s expensive• It doesn’t produce (international) public goods• It’s about innovation and not development, so will it

reduce poverty?

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

Learning INnovation KnowledgePolicy-relevant Resources for Rural Innovation

LINK is a specialist network of regional innovation policy studies hubs established by the United Nations University-MERIT (UNU-MERIT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

(FAO) to strengthen the interface between rural innovation studies, policy and practice and to promote North-South and South-South

learning on rural innovation.