SERVInnov Project: Strengthening innovation support SERVices to enhance INNOVations for sustainable food production, ensuring well-being of rural populations and reducing environmental degradation and resource depletion

The overall aim of SERVInnov is to strengthen, multiply and promulgate innovations which have significant positive impacts on food and nutrition security through improvement of agriculture and agrifood systems. Innovations within agriculture and across food systems are crucial in facilitating the private sectors’ (from smallholder to big companies) moves in realizing economic growth and inclusive development. In order to substantiate improved innovation processes, SERVInnov will characterize and assess successful innovation support services and their suppliers to define condition of their performance, promulgation, and scaling. Research works show that innovations emerge particularly in multi-stakeholder contexts associated with an enabling environment. These stakeholders are contributors or beneficiaries (or both) of the innovation. The contributors are suppliers of innovation support services (ISS). ISS are immaterial and result from the interaction (activities) between suppliers and beneficiaries in order to solve a problematic situation within the innovation process. Services cover fostering technical and social design, enabling the appropriation and use of innovations, facilitating access to resources, helping to transform the environment and strengthening the capacities to innovate. ISS are key components to boost agricultural innovations. SERVInnov will characterize ISS at national levels in three countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Madagascar, and within innovation case studies related to agriculture, sustainable intensification and agrifood system improvement. The approach allows 1) firstly to identify strengths and weaknesses of innovation support services regarding innovation challenges in the country and 2) secondly to explore with innovation support suppliers and politics how gaps in the supply can be filled through the development of new skills/profession or through a better arrangement of existing innovation services.

Partners:

1. Centre de Cooperation International en Recherché Agronomique pour le Development (CIRAD) – France, Synthia Mathe
2. University of Hohenheim (UHOH) – Germany, Andrea Knierim
3. University of Dschang (UDs) – Cameroon, Guillaume Fongang
4. Centre d'Etudes, de Documentation et de Recherche économiques et socials (CEDRES) – France, Idrissa Ouedrago
5. Université d’Antananarivo, école Supérieure des sciences agronomiques (ESSA) – Madagascar, Harilala Andriamaniraka
6. European Institute for Cooperation and Development (IECD) – Cameroon, Patrice Noa
7. FIkambanana FAmpivoarana ny TAntsaha (FIFATA) – Madagascar, Ranoasy Andriampara
8. African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) – Uganda, Max Olupot
9. Solidarity Development Professionals (GRET) – France, Martine François