Agricultural innovations produced by research projects without interaction with potential end users often fail to match the real-life complexities of local farmers. To overcome this lack of fit between scientifically generated innovations and local realities, the interdisciplinary research project'Economic and Ecological Restructuring of Land and Water in the Region Khorezm, Uzbekistan' initiated a participatory approach to innovation development and diffusion together with local stakeholders. From early 2008 until early 2011, selected agricultural innovations, developed by the project and identified as'plausible promises', were tested jointly by teams of local farmers, water managers and researchers under real-life settings. This chapter outlines the transdisciplinary innovation research experience, coined'Follow the Innovation' by the team. It discusses the challenges faced in this process of joint experimentation and learning as well as the lessons learnt with regard to the innovations and the participatory innovation processes.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737002974.341Altmetric score:
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Publication year
2015
Authors
Hornidge A-K; Ul Hassan M M; Van Veldhuizen L
Language
English
Keywords
innovation, economic restructuring, research, land, water
Geographic
Uzbekistan
