Agricultural innovation platform formation: process and lessons from Lake Kivu Pilot Learning site

Agricultural research and development approaches in sub Saharan Africa have been evolving to strengthen and make agriculture more competitive and sustainable. As such, Agricultural Innovation Platforms (AIPs), although they have a long successful history in the industrial and commercial setting, have recently been introduced for testing in the agricultural development context of Integrated Agricultural Research for development (IAR4D) by sub Saharan Africa Challenge programme (SSACP) in smallholder farming communities. They serve as ground for sharing, creation and identification of knowledge gaps relevant to planning explicit systemic innovation agricultural development strategies. This paper presents process pertaining to “good practices” for organising and forming AIPs in the context of SSACP in the Lake Kivu Pilot Learning Site (LKPLS). The lesson and experiences are shared across seven stages, namely; team and resource mobilisation, contextualisation of the process of AIP formation, derivation of principles for AIP formation, elaboration of guidelines/steps to be followed in initiating AIPs, orientation/ consultation with local administration, and AIP initiation and formation. Through AIP implementation, it has been realised that AIP formation process incorporates all essential ingredients for successful innovation process at once, cultivating a niche for local innovators. It was also realised that AIPs in different locations due to difference in challenges and vision and composition of actors. The form and nature of AIP formation process depends on the conceptual and local context, socio-economic, culture, biophysical and political environment in which it is being formed.

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