Institutional innovations are critical for effective performance of agricultural research centres in natural resource management projects that often include multiple and diverse stakeholders with contrasting objectives and activities. This report shows how institutional histories of projects can be used as tools to help reveal institutional innovations thereby promoting Institutional Learning And Change (ILAC). This report extends an earlier work on using institutional histories over a thirty-year period to understand research practice at an international agricultural research centre, by focusing on applying institutional insights to a current project of the agroecosystems group of ICRISAT with an Indian ‘unconventional’ donor. It draws out lessons for scaling-up of activities in multi-partner initiatives. The report also explores the use of actor-oriented tools for project management and recommends its use to enable collective reflection on partnerships in review and planning meetings of projects. The learning from the historical study and the application of institutional histories in an ongoing project together reveal interesting insights on international agricultural research centres and their efforts towards a transition into learning organizations.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), working in collaboration with the University of Illinois (UIUC), FAO, and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), developed the Worldwide Extension Study database as part of the assessment of the status...
This Guide is prepared based on the concepts, principles and practices of the innovation systems, with particular reference to integrated agricultural research for development (IAR4D) which uses innovation platforms (IPs) in agriculture value chains and food systems. The contents of...
The paper reports on the results of the international workshop, “Development of Research Systems to Support the Changing Agricultural Sector,” organized by the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank in June 2004 in Washington, DC. The emphasis...
This brief explains about a three-year research project (2006-09), conducted by the Center for International Forestry Research in the lower Mekong River countries (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam). The best practices in design and implementation were identified through a broad review of...
The GFA ITAACC final workshop in Nairobi was attended by more than 80 people comprising representatives of farmer organizations, NGOs, government, private sector and research institutions. The workshop proved to be an excellent platform for actors in the innovation system to...
