Dynamic Networks of Interactive Learning and Agricultural Research for Development. Three Critical Roles for Agricultural Advisory Services

Innovation in natural resource management and agriculture—and in agribusiness, in particular—critically depends on the ability of interlinked actors to generate and access new knowledge, and to adapt such knowledge to their own specific circumstances and in accordance with their individual and joint ambitions. Innovation emerges from innovation systems. This paper takes a closer look at innovation systems, including the various actors involved, their interrelationships, and governance mechanisms. Innovation systems operate at different levels, in terms of structure, functioning, and performance at the national level, and from two different angles: as a macrostructure that involves different functions and key organizations working on these functions, and as the composite of different innovation networks comprising individuals and local and national organizations. In addition, the notion of innovation clusters is used to characterize the network that revolves around a particular challenge (for example, in value-chain development or natural resource management) at a local or regional level. The innovation systems required to address Africa’s challenges and, in particular, to improve food security and accelerate agricultural growth effectively engage multiple actors within and beyond the agricultural sector to coordinate their learning and action. Such innovation systems nurture interactive learning, directly and indirectly—for example, by widening the windows of opportunity for all relevant actors to engage in collective learning and action. In this way, agricultural research and advisory services have important and complementary, yet distinct, roles to play in such innovation systems, to support the establishment of and facilitate the learning and action within, dynamic networks of interactive learning.