CAPACITY TO INNOVATE What does that mean?? Contact: Dr. Peter Bezkorowajnyj, Project Manager, Fodder Innovation Project, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) c/o ICRISAT, Patancheru –502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India. Phone: +91 40 30713653, Fax: +91 40 3071 3074, E-mail: [email protected] , Web: cgiar.org/ilri. Dr. Dannie Romney, Enabling Innovations Acting Theme Leader, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), PO Box 30709 Nairobi, Kenya. Phone: +254 20 422 3000, Fax: +254 20 422 3001, E-mail: [email protected] , Web: cgiar.org/ilri. BUT What happens if… I could go to the gov’t official for advice but I don’t know him very well – besides, he doesn’t understand my situation. I could go to my neighbor – he knows a trader with whom I can discuss other possible markets. Is there any other way to get that information? I could ask for a loan to buy fingerlings and start my own business, but there is no loan available to buy the feed. I could ask the village committee to invite the various gov’t departments for discussions but the officials don’t talk to each other. I could interact with the researcher who visits but he’s just interested in me growing mushrooms. How do you go about it? Where to go? Who to talk with? I could follow national market prices but how? So, you can catch, store, sell fish in new ways or even forget fishing and do something new - INNOVATION ! But… Fix it if materials are available Purchase another if capital is available Learn new ways if training is available Technical problems are encountered… Continue anyway if there are ways of not getting caught Protest if the support is available Become independent if the expertise is available or… Policies are changed… Sell elsewhere if alternative market is available Trade locally if other food items available Learn ways to store if knowledge is available or… Market prices fall… Give a man a fish… … you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish… …you feed him for a lifetime? He is the 5th farmer today to ask about fish prices - I should set up a service and charge an annual fee for market prices And… Will this change how things are done? If so - How? Why? Instead of meeting in the village every week, lets meet in town with the government officials - that should link us directly with resources and make our job easier I should start spending more time In the villages to understand better what the farmers are doing - I do want to make a difference as Director of the Department I should introduce him to the traders I meet with regularly - maybe he will stop coming over and bothering me all the time We should raise the issue of loans for fish feed at the next board meeting - the increase in potential customers should impress head office I should start working with the Department of Fisheries on this - probably get a research grant So, using something old in new ways, or applying something new to successfully produce a positive social and economic outcome is INNOVATION This is embedded in a network of those interacting to produce, distribute and use the knowledge to do so -an INNOVATION SYSTEM Improving interactions between the actors in the system changes the habits and practices, facilitates learning, contributes to knowledge and builds “CAPACITY TO INNOVATE”