Post on 12-Mar-2020
IFAD-IDRC
Summary Progress Report
(July 2010 – March 2011)
Prepared by Álvaro Paz
Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 1
THE PROGRAM ............................................................................................................................ 1
Analytic underpinnings ............................................................................................................... 1
Purpose, objectives and outcomes .............................................................................................. 1
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY ............................................................................................... 2
Implementation strategy.............................................................................................................. 2
PROJECTS AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ............................................................................... 5
Identification and development of projects and research activities ............................................ 5
Projects and research activities ................................................................................................... 5
Scaling Up the CLAR Mechanism ......................................................................................... 5
InnovaTRC .............................................................................................................................. 6
ValorIC ................................................................................................................................... 7
Scaling Up Rural Enterprise Partnerships............................................................................... 8
Scaling Up Technology-based Rural Innovations. ................................................................. 8
Scaling Up the Learning Route Approach. Executed by PROCASUR, Latin America. ........ 9
Thematic areas .......................................................................................................................... 10
Location .................................................................................................................................... 12
EARLY FINDINGS...................................................................................................................... 13
CONCLUDING REMARKS ........................................................................................................ 14
Acronyms and Organizations
AGROCENTRAL Central de Cooperativas Agrícolas de Chuquisaca – Bolivia (Agricultural cooperative
organization of Chuquisaca)
AGRORURAL Programa de Desarrollo Productivo Agrario Rural – Ministerio de Agricultura de Perú
(Program for Agricultural Production and Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture of
Peru) www.agrorural.gob.pe
CAN Secretaría General de la Comunidad Andina (Andean Community General Secretariat)
http://www.comunidadandina.org/
CAD Canadian Dollars
CIDRE Institución financiera de desarrollo (Bolivian Financial Development Institution)
www.cidre.org.bo
CLAR Comité Local de Asignación de Recursos (Local Resource Allocation Committee)
DTR-IC Enfoque de Desarrollo Territorial Rural con Identidad Cultural (Cultural Identity-Based
Rural Territorial Development Approach)
http://www.rimisp.org/proyectos/index_proy.php?id_proyecto=188
IDRC International Development Research Centre www.idrc.ca
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development www.ifad.org
IEP Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (Institute of Peruvian Studies) www.iep.org.pe
LAC Latin America and the Caribbean
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
MINCETUR Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo de Perú (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism,
Peru) www.mincetur.gob.pe
NEC-PDSS Proyecto de desarrollo de la Sierra Sur (Sierra Sur Development Project)
www.sierrasur.gob.pe
NESsT: Non-profit Enterprise and Self-sustainability Team www.nesst.org
PROCOMPITE Public resource allocation initiative aimed at promoting productive competitiveness, enacted
by the Parliament of Peru (Act 29337)
PROCASUR Corporación PROCASUR (PROCASUR Corporation) www.procasur.org
PROSAT Prosat Foundation (Technical Assistance sponsor)
REMURPE Red de Municipalidades Urbanas y Rurales del Perú (Urban and Rural Municipal Network of
Peru) www.remurpe.org.pe
RIMISP Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural (Latin American Centre for Rural
Development) www.rimisp.org
SOCODEVI Société de coopération pour le développement international www.socodevi.org
UNEC Unidad de Negocios de Especias y Condimentos (Spices Business Unit)
Executive Summary
Innovations developed by local communities in Latin America were thought to have no place
amid the economic and institutional transformation of rural settings. More often than not,
mainstream top-down development initiatives have not taken into account local innovative ideas.
Conversely, some non-orthodox rural development projects in the region (e.g. IFAD-funded
initiatives) have found that local communities can act as “melting pots”, where local knowledge,
stemming from the rich cultural inheritance of rural communities, combines with “formal”
knowledge in order to produce powerful innovative alternatives and reduce poverty at the local
level. Nevertheless, little is known about these innovations, the people who made them possible,
the way knowledge is spread, and how they could be scaled up to achieve greater impact. Some
examples of these innovations are the following:
Microfinance: collective lending, micro-insurance
Agriculture: low-cost pressurized irrigation systems, collective marketing of organic produce
Institutions: local governance mechanisms, participatory approaches to natural resource
management
Health care services: low-cost incubators for rural hospitals, waste management systems.
Non-agricultural rural businesses: innovations in rural community tourism services
Energy: micro hydro-electric generators
Technology: efficient rural stoves and heating systems
Rural innovations are of special importance, since they take advantage of opportunities, reduce
economic risk and empower poor populations to take charge of their own development. If
expanded, multiplied and adequately mainstreamed, they could represent an alternative for
reducing rural poverty in the region.
However, the courses to be followed and the processes involved are largely unknown. This has
major policy implications: successful innovations –no matter how good their small scale
performance– will only have limited overall effects upon poverty reduction unless they are
scaled up and impact a large number of poor families.
The Scaling Up Rural Innovations Program (hereinafter the Program) seeks to understand
how innovations that have proven to be effective in local settings can be further disseminated
and widely adopted. The Program also aims at contributing to the understanding of innovation
processes and the role of local knowledge in economic development.
At present, the Program is supporting 6 action-research projects:
1. Scaling Up the CLAR Mechanism. An imaginative resource-allocation mechanism has been
jointly developed by local communities and development practitioners from IFAD-supported
projects in rural areas of Peru. The mechanism, called Resource Allocation Local Committee,
assigns public resources to development initiatives in rural municipalities, thus ensuring
participation, fairness and transparency. A network of municipalities in Peru (REMURPE) has
teamed up with a leading national rural development program (AGRORURAL) and a well-
known research institution (The Instituto de Estudios Peruanos) to expand the use of the
mechanism to about 200 rural municipalities over the country. The project is conducting
research on how institutional innovations can enhance the effectiveness of public investment.
2. InnovaTRC. Rural tourism is increasingly becoming an important economic activity in rural
communities of Peru. The Peruvian Ministry of Tourism (MINCETUR), together with a local
university (Universidad del Pacífico) have devised a contest mechanism –the InnovaTRC
contest– to identify and foster the adoption of best practices and innovations developed by
local tourism entrepreneurs among about 200 rural community tourism ventures in the
country. The Program is funding the contest and analyzing its effectiveness in disseminating
innovations. The InnovaTRC contest will likely be included as part of the country’s national
tourism public policies.
3. ValorIC. Cultural identity is an asset that is ever present among many poor rural families in
Latin America. RIMISP, together with its partners in Bolivia and Peru, have developed an
innovative approach to foster non-agricultural livelihoods based on cultural identity. This
approach is being applied and field-tested in 5 rural territories in both countries. The Andean
Community of Nations has officially included this approach in its rural development policies.
4. Scaling Up Rural Enterprise Partnerships. Rural cooperatives and associations in Bolivia
have little access to capital resources for funding their endeavours. The project is linking up
rural cooperatives and associations with private capital investors to create well-funded
sustainable rural business partnerships. About 149 rural cooperatives and associations will
likely benefit from the outcomes of this project. The Minister of Finance is interested in
fostering these kinds of partnerships in rural settings, as part of the country’s national public
investment policies.
5. Scaling Up Technology-based Rural Innovations. Local Knowledge, when paired with
technological innovations, can produce meaningful solutions to social problems in rural
communities. This project is scaling up several technology-based local innovations in Peru,
Ecuador and Brazil. Based on the global experience of the project executor (NESsT), a
mechanism to build entrepreneurial skills among innovators and further link them with
research and academic institutions is being developed and assessed. Project results will be
channelled towards national innovation and science councils in the region.
6. Scaling Up the Learning Route Approach. Knowledge exchange is key to foster local
innovation. The Learning Route Approach develops local capabilities to promote innovation
by exchanging knowledge among peers. This project is researching the effects of this
approach on local innovation in 50 cases throughout Latin America. PROCASUR, the
organization that is executing the project, will use the results to enhance the approach and
have it scaled up to Africa and Asia
The abovementioned projects have produced interesting initial findings, namely:
A purposeful combination of local and external knowledge is key for producing effective
innovations. These innovations are carried out by innovators that, besides from being creative
and ingenious, need to possess entrepreneurial skills in order to combine different types of
knowledge to develop effective innovations.
Rural innovation can come from outside rural contexts. Ideas and knowledge originating
from outside community boundaries can generate local innovative processes, which highlights
the importance of exposing local innovators to outer knowledge and experiences, and linking
them with researchers and academic experts. Temporary migration, trips abroad and targeted
knowledge-exchange activities may have an important effect in promoting local innovation
and scaling up processes.
Early evidence shows that innovations emerge as either unintended by-products of ongoing
rural development activities and processes, or as intended products of local innovators who
are interested in finding a solution to a pressing local problem. In either case, innovations are
not the result of an explicitly planed process.
Preliminary findings show that scaling up successful innovations (i.e., innovations that have
proven to be effective at the local/pilot level) is usually not the result of a natural process.
More often than not, effective innovations are not spontaneously disseminated or spread.
Furthermore, in most cases innovators and entrepreneurs need to step up and purposefully
lead the scaling up process.
Local innovations can be scaled up and can influence public policy. Several projects
supported by the Program are scaling up local innovations that are positively affecting public
policies. Providing an assessment of how these processes unfold is a key activity of the
Program.
A comprehensive approach is needed to foster and scale up local innovations. Specific
support mechanisms are required. Some of the projects have found that setting up
organizational networks helps build sustainable support systems for local innovation
purposes.
Local innovation and scaling up are not new issues in the rural development community. Yet,
they are still poorly understood processes. The knowledge being produced by the Program will
help to gain understanding on the process of scaling up innovations. The Program will also
produce knowledge about how to manage both the enabling and hindering factors that affect
scaling up processes.
The Program findings are contributing to the growing research on how local economies that
thrive outside formal sectors (i.e., rural and peri-urban economies) can develop by using
their own inventiveness and local culture. These findings will provide valuable knowledge
about how to design comprehensive innovation policies and foster development in poor local
communities, usually excluded from mainstream development processes.
The Program is now focusing on synthesizing and communicating the results from Program-
supported projects. Local and national policymakers are the target audience, as well as
researchers and development practitioners in the region.
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THE PROGRAM
Analytic underpinnings The Scaling up Rural Innovations Program (hereinafter, the Program) understands rural
innovations as those creative solutions to problems and imaginative strategies that take
advantage of new opportunities in the rural areas1 of a region. Rural innovations are thought to
be the result of combining local knowledge and local assets with outside ideas and technologies.
Thus, this knowledge and asset combination becomes an innovation –a new way of doing
things– through practice, experimentation and adaptation, mostly through local innovators and
entrepreneurs, as well as rural micro-enterprises, but also supported by other public and private
agents, such as researchers, policymakers and development practitioners. These agents and their
interactions/networks, together with local institutions in a particular socio-technical context can
be referred to as local innovations systems.
The Program defines Scaling up rural innovations as the process of expanding, disseminating
and promoting the adoption and widespread use of innovations. The former aims at increasing
the positive effects and impact of innovations, but also cross-pollinating with other ideas in
different contexts, and producing new innovations. Scaling up involves moving from a micro
scale, often limited to a small number of communities and sectors, to larger geographic areas and
populations. This process not only includes specific scaling up activities, but also the
development and creation of the conditions that enable innovations to consolidate and thrive in
different contexts.
Purpose, objectives and outcomes The purpose of the Program is to understand how rural innovations that are successful in a
limited scale can be disseminated and widely adopted, as well as to determine the underlying
factors that either promote or hinder this process. The ultimate goal is to gain deeper knowledge
and understanding as to why certain communities or groups are able to innovate successfully, as
well as how the scaling up of innovation processes takes place within and among different
innovations systems.
The Program has three specific objectives:
- To identify and gain a deeper understanding of scaling up of innovations that have helped
leverage the strategies and assets of the rural poor, and present sound empirical evidence of
their effects on individuals, groups and territories.
- To develop and test better ways to disseminate, value and use the knowledge acquired through
these innovations, to further develop stakeholders' innovation skills and strengthen
partnerships among them, as well as with other external actors who help leverage and
institutionalize up scaling processes.
1 The term “rural” is broadly defined: Rural areas/territories include the entire rural landscape; agrarian areas, small
towns located in the countryside, and also the urban-rural links that usually exist between rural areas and large cities.
2
- To experiment and develop specific approaches, mechanisms and tools to influence the design
and implementation of decentralized public policies and investment aimed at expanding the
innovation capacity of rural communities and organizations.
The Program has the following expected outcomes:
- Rural innovations oriented towards the valorization of the assets of the poor have begun to be
used by public and private development projects and initiatives, including those driven by the
poor populations themselves and their organizations.
- New evidence on the validity of rural innovations and possible ways to have them scaled up
in development debates and decision-making, all of which will enrich and update
development approaches and policy proposals.
The empirical knowledge produced by the Program will be shared, understood and spread in
broader domains and among a wider range of stakeholders, thus making a meaningful
contribution to rural development public policies in the region. This knowledge will also be the
basis for building bridges between LAC and other regions, where local innovations and their
alternatives for up scaling can contribute to further rural development in impoverished areas.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
Implementation strategy The abovementioned activities are being deployed following an implementation strategy, which
is consistent with IDRC’s business model and its institutional framework. The strategy is based
on three principles:
- “Bundling” activities into mid-sized projects (CAD 100,000 – CAD 300,000) with a focus
on specific thematic and regional needs and opportunities. They are to be carried out by a
range of stakeholders, such as strategic partners, universities, regional research centres,
private enterprises, and other organizations committed to rural development and poverty
reduction, with proven management and research capabilities.
- A systems approach to rural innovation and scaling up processes, so that projects not only
encompass innovations, innovators and local knowledge, but also take into account the role of
entrepreneurs and the institutional and organizational context.
- Building on ongoing processes and taking advantage of existing capabilities within
development and research organizations, public development initiatives, local innovators and
entrepreneurs in the region.
Based on the abovementioned principles, the Program has defined the following strategic
activities that are being undertaken by the projects supported by the Program, namely:
- Identifying, describing and mapping rural innovations and the local knowledge associated
thereto, within specific development areas or sectors.
- Developing and assessing support mechanisms, as well as approaches and strategies to
develop, value and scale up rural innovations.
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- Networking among stakeholders at the local, national and/or regional level to foster scaling up
rural innovations.
- Developing and enabling institutional and organizational contexts in geographical and/or
thematic areas to promote the creation, development and scaling up of relevant innovations.
- Providing direct support to scaling up processes, which include innovation and
entrepreneurial capacity-building at individual, community and local organizational levels.
- Developing and implementing knowledge-sharing mechanisms (learning routes as well as
other knowledge-sharing approaches) to disseminate innovations and foster innovative
activities in other locations.
- Explicitly engaging policymakers at the local, national and regional levels to address
innovation and scaling up issues pertaining to specific thematic areas.
Besides from the projects supported by the Program, a series of supplementary research and
synthesis activities are being developed. These activities will increase the coherence of the
Program by bringing together researchers from the various projects to foster cross-cutting
research and knowledge-sharing activities. In addition to such supplementary research activities,
a communications website is to be developed by the end of June 2011.
A graphic representation of the implementation strategy can be found below (Figure 1). The
diagram shows the relationship among the strategic activities that each of the Program projects
will undertake, as well as the Program outputs, outcomes and main objectives. It should be noted
that each of the projects supported by the Program will undertake –in varying degrees and with a
different focus– all of the strategic activities described above and shown in Figure 1. Therefore,
all of the projects will contribute to the production of program outputs and outcomes.
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Figure 1. Implementation strategy
Rural innovations start
to be used by public
and private
development projects
and initiatives
Evidence about the
validity of rural
innovations and the
possible ways to scale
these up Is produced
Program
Outcomes
Program
Objectives
Program
outputsProjects strategic
activities
Meetings with
IDRC and IFAD
Analyticall
documents
Workshops
with experts
Innovation &
knowledge maps
Innovation
competitions
Media and dissemination
actitivies
Learning
Routes
Young
innovators
meetings
To develop and test ways to
disseminate, value and use innovations,
and develop stakeholders' innovation
capabilities and strengthen
partnerships.
To experiment and develop
approaches, mechanisms to influence
public policies aimed at expanding the
innovation capacity of rural
communities and organizations
To identify and understand
the scaling up of
innovations and present
empirical evidence of their
effects
Identification and mapping
of rural innovations
Support to scaling up
processes
Development and assessment
of support mechanisms
Knowledge exchange
mechanisms
Developing
enabling contexts
Networking among
stakeholders
Engaging
policymakers
Supplementary
research, synthesis
and communication
activities
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PROJECTS AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Identification and development of projects and research activities The projects and activities that are currently being supported by the Program were developed in
three stages:
Stage 1: During 2010, potential partners for project development were identified. Project
proposals were submitted by these partners during 2010. Three project proposals were further
approved and became operational by late 2010.
Stage 2: An open call was launched in October 2010, and a large number of proposals were
received by December 2010, out of which two were selected for funding, whereas the third one
was forwarded to another IDRC initiative for further assessment.
Stage 3: A new project was identified, developed and approved by the end of 2010. During the
same period a series of supplementary research, synthesis and communications activities were
devised.
The main challenges of building the Program portfolio were: (i) finding eligible grantees in the
region that were both interested in scaling up rural innovations and met the administrative
requirements for receiving IDRC grants; ii) developing proposals that would further contribute to
the Program objectives and that would also be in line with the proponent organizations’
objectives and interests, iii) developing a relevant project portfolio in a timely manner, since the
Program had a specific deadline to be met.
Projects and research activities The Program supports six projects, one supplementary research activity and one communications
activity. These projects and activities have been developed following the Program
implementation strategy (described above).
Scaling Up the CLAR Mechanism The project is being executed by REMURPE, AGRORURAL and IEP in Peru. Budget:
CAD146,600. The project started in June 2010 and will be completed by June 2012. The project
is scaling up the Comité Local de Asignación de Recursos (Resource allocation local committee
– CLAR in Spanish). The CLAR mechanism is considered to be an important institutional
innovation. This mechanism is suited for resource allocation processes at the local level; it
fosters the empowerment of local actors, competition and equal distribution of resources among
rural poor communities.
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Building upon previous efforts to scale up the CLAR undertaken by IFAD-funded projects in
Peru, 8 rural municipalities throughout the country are piloting the mechanism, and about 200
municipalities are expected to adopt it during 2012. The mechanism dovetails with the
PROCOMPITE law, a national initiative that will channel over US$30 million (most of them
will likely come from an IFAD country loan) to rural municipalities. Research-based
recommendations to enhance national public resource allocation procedures are currently being
developed by the project and will be proposed to high level national policymakers.
InnovaTRC Executed by MINCETUR and Universidad del Pacífico in Peru. Budget: CAD97,100. The
project started in September 2010 and is expected to end by October 2011. This project is testing
a competition and awards mechanism – the InnovaTRC contest– which identifies, documents,
and promotes innovations in rural community tourism.
Box 2. Rural community tourism: sharing day-to-day activities with local communities.
Many tourists visiting the rural areas of Latin America are not only interested in sightseeing or outdoors activities, they also what to “connect” with rural communities.
Rural tourism focuses on providing the visitor a “living experience” of the rural world; this includes staying in rural families’ homes, and participating in communities’ day-to-day activities.
In Peru, several rural tourism ventures have developed innovative
ways to provide tourists with high quality services, rural activities, and novel ways to manage community ventures. These innovations, if widely disseminated could benefit other rural tourism initiatives in the country.
Box 1. How does a CLAR work?
- A local municipality, together with local communities, agree to allocate a certain amount of public resources to tackle a specific issue or develop a business sector (natural resource management, handcrafts, seed production, etc.)
- All communities in the municipality have the opportunity to submit project proposals, in a format they fill comfortable with. The most popular format among Andean communities are the so called “talking maps” (mapas parlantes – in Spanish). This maps show the current situation (of the community, of the business) and the desired future situation.
- Decision makers and community authorities’ asses the different proposals and select the best ones. The number of proposals to be funded depends on the available resources at that time.
- The resources to execute the project are directly transferred to the local communities. The communities themselves take charge of the project.
- When the project is completed the community renders a formal financial report to the municipal government and presents the results of their endeavour. Again, maps are commonly used for this matter.
The CLAR has increased the effectiveness of public investment at several municipalities in the southernmost regions of Peru. If scaled up, about 200 rural municipalities could benefit from this innovative mechanism.
Picture 1. The woman in the picture is using a map to explain how they will benefit from an increase in milk production if the community’s project is approved and developed. Sibayo, Arequipa. Peru
Picture 2. Huáscar Huandy tourism association. Tourists are having breakfast with a local family. Cordillera Blanca, Ancash. Peru.
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Sixty rural community tourism innovations and best practices have been identified so far, out of
which 10 will be selected through a competitive process (June 2011) and will be supported, so
that they can be further developed and scaled up. Outstanding innovations will be duly
awarded. The scaling up of these innovations is expected to positively affect 200 rural
community tourism ventures in the country. Besides from scaling up specific rural tourism
innovations, the competitive mechanism (contest) is in itself an innovation; it is not only a prize
awarding procedure, but also functions as a dissemination mechanism, to foster further
innovations in the sector. The InnovaTRC contest has been adopted as part of MINCETUR’s
national policies.
ValorIC Executed by RIMISP, PROSAT and NEC-PDSS in Peru and Bolivia. Budget: CAD149,800. The
project started on July 2010 and is expected to be completed by July 2012. The Project is scaling
up the Cultural Identity-Based Rural Territorial Development Approach. This approach fosters
the valorization of cultural and natural assets in impoverished rural territories, for further
developing poor rural communities.
The project has developed an approach that is being scaled up at the local level in 5
municipalities (2 in Peru and 3 in Bolivia). Innovative tourism services and alternatives for the
inclusion of cultural identity in local products is being fostered in the territories where the
approach is being applied. The approach has also proved of interest for the Comunidad Andina
(CAN) and has been included as part of its regional policies, and is now being applied by the
CAN in 4 regions of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
Box 3. Cultural Identity: an untapped asset to develop value added livelihoods in rural settings.
Meals, handcrafts and products made by rural families in Latin America are commonly based on communities’ cultural heritage and local knowledge. This feature can be used to develop poor families´ livelihoods. For that matter, cultural identity has to be explicitly recognized as an asset by local communities.
Using a combination local capacity building, networking, awareness campaigns and territorial branding, the cultural identity-based rural development approach fosters the development of innovative livelihoods in rural impoverished territories. Since cultural identity is an untapped asset, the scaling up of this model can have an important effect in the development of rural areas in the region.
Picture 3. Lunch being prepared in Uriondo,Tarija. Bolivia. The “soltero” (singles’ dish) is a traditional dish made of fresh onions, tomatoes, cheese and boiled potatoes. It is popular among people who live in the nearby city of Tarija and enjoy spending the weekend in the countryside. Being prepared by locals in an authentic rural setting adds value to this kinds of products and services
8
Scaling Up Rural Enterprise Partnerships. Executed by CIDRE, Universidad Privada Boliviana and the Fundación Valles in Bolivia.
Budget: CAD232,600. The project started in January 2011 and will be completed by July 2012.
This project is scaling up an innovative rural enterprise model that has proven successful in a few
cases in Bolivia. The model links up rural smallholders with capital investors and creates well-
funded sustainable enterprise partnerships, allowing smallholders to access competitive markets
and receive timely technical assistance.
The most innovative feature of this model is the comprehensive approach to develop and support
rural enterprises. Also, technical and managerial assistance is provided throughout the business
chain (production, transformation, value-adding and marketing), together with capital resources
to fund the venture, and “reputation assets” to build trust among parties and consolidate the
partnership. The project has developed a financial risk assessment tool, particularly suited for
rural endeavours, which is being field-tested in 5 rural enterprises. This tool is key to foster
investment capital towards rural enterprises. A total of 149 micro enterprises related to 4
agrichains (quinoa, faba beans, peanuts and spices) have been identified as potential partners for
the 4 rural enterprise partnerships to be fostered by the project. The Minister of Finance and
Economy is interested in the new financial tool being developed by the project.
Scaling Up Technology-based Rural Innovations. Executed by NESsT in Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. Budget: CAD264,100. It started in January
2011 and is expected to end by July 2012. The project is scaling up technology-based
innovations that combine local inventiveness with science and engineering, to produce
innovations that focus on solving practical problems.
Box 4. Rural Enterprise Partnerships in the Bolivian oregano agri-chain.
Poor smallholders in Padilla, Bolivia have increased their family income in about 100% by growing high quality oregano.
This is the result of an enterprise partnership between a producers association (AGROCENTRAL) a national NGO (Fundación Valles) and a Canadian NGO (SOCODEVI). The partners established a private company called UNEC (Spices Business Unit, in Spanish). The company collects, dries, packs and exports the produce to high value markets in Latin America. Fundación Valles provides technical and managerial assistance.
This model is not contract-farming: Besides selling fresh oregano to UNEC, farmers are also shareholders entitled to a third part of the company’s revenues.
This partnership model is an innovative and effective way to link smallholders to high value markets and create sustainable business partnerships. The model can be replicated among other smallholder associations in the region.
Picture 4. Fresh oregano being harvested in Padilla. The produce is derived to UNEC for processing
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So far, 25 innovations developed by local entrepreneurs have been identified in Peru, Ecuador
and North-western Brazil. At least 8 of them will be scaled up by the project during the first half
of 2012. NESsT has developed an effective support mechanism to scale up technology-based
innovations. The mechanism is based on developing entrepreneurial skills of local innovators
and linking them with research and academic institutions. In order to enhance this mechanism,
the project is assessing entrepreneurial support mechanisms that foster innovation at the local
level. Up to now, 28 different entrepreneurial and innovation support mechanisms/approaches
have been identified in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, and will be assessed by the
project by the end of 2011.
Scaling Up the Learning Route Approach. Executed by PROCASUR, Latin America. Budget: CAD 220,000. The project started in April 2011 and is expected to end by May 2012.
The project is researching and scaling up the Learning Route Approach. This approach focuses
on strengthening local capabilities to promote innovation by exchanging knowledge among peers
in order to foster innovation and enhance rural livelihoods. Up to date, a review of PROCASUR
datasets on learning routes’ participants has been undertaken.
Box 5. Practical solutions
Freeze-dried potato is a major staple food in the Andes. The traditional production technique involves stepping into buckets of frozen potatoes filled with water, in order to peel the frozen potatoes. This is an excruciating task mainly carried on by women.
A local innovator from Apurimac – Peru has developed a machine that peels frozen potatoes. The machine combines traditional production techniques with modern food processing technology. The innovation is at the pilot stage and will soon enter a commercial stage
Picture 5. Walter Utani collecting a batch of potatoes peeled with the machine he invented.
Box 6. Knowledge exchange among peers.
Much can be learned from peers. The Learning Route Approach has shown that informal interactions among people interested in the same theme or issue greatly improves the innovative capabilities of each member of the group.
The Learning Route approach brings farmers to in-the-field experiences (in this case, a successful organic coffee plantation) and encourages discussions among peers. This approach to knowledge exchange can is a powerful tool to disseminate innovations.
Picture 6. “Ruteros” (the participants of a learning route) of the Bicultural learning route carried on in Bolivia by PROCASUR visiting an organic coffee processing facility
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Thematic areas Program projects cover a wide range of rural development thematic areas. These areas closely
relate to those previously identified in the Program grant design document. They are:
- Valuation of pro-poor assets. Pro-poor assets are tangible and intangible resources and
factors to which the rural poor have privileged access (i.e., biodiversity resources, cultural
identity and landscape).
- Improving financial and non-financial rural services. Rural financial services include
micro-lending, savings accounts, insurance and financial tools to bring capital investments to
rural areas. Non-financial services include technical assistance, entrepreneurial support, legal
advice and information services.
- Developing rural enterprises. Rural enterprises include: cooperatives, farmers associations
and micro enterprises, among others.
- Enhancing rural development approaches and mechanisms. Rural development
approaches that address the new contexts and challenges arising from rural areas.
- Developing institutions for the poor and citizens’ rights. These institutions cover the
following areas: citizens’ rights, property rights enforcement, equal access of women and
youth to public decision-making, among others.
Table 2 depicts the themes covered by the Program projects. Projects are shown in the first
column, while thematic areas are shown in the first row. It should be noted that all of the projects
included in Table 2 will contribute to “enhancing rural development approaches and
mechanisms”, while the objectives of “improving financial and non-financial rural services” and
“developing institutions for the poor” will only be addressed by 2 projects.
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Table 2. Thematic areas covered by the projects
Thematic area
Project Valuation of local assets (tangible
and intangible) & Knowledge
Improving financial & non-financial rural
services Developing rural enterprises
Enhancing rural development approaches and mechanisms
Developing institutions for the poor & Citizenship
Scaling Up the CLAR mechanism
Enhancement of an allocation mechanism to channel resources (i.e. public resources for local projects)
Improvement of transparency, equity and participation of local communities in decision-making
InnovaTRC: Scaling Up Innovations in Rural Community Tourism
Development and support to innovative activities based on local assets such as biodiversity and culture
Support to local rural tourism initiatives. For example: lodging and
guiding services
Development of an incentive mechanism to disseminate innovations (i.e. rural tourism innovation contests)
ValorIC: Scaling Up the DTR-IC Approach
Development and support to innovative activities that build on local cultural assets
Support to tourist-oriented, lodging, local food and handcraft
businesses
Refinement of the cultural identity-based rural development approach developed by RIMISP
Scaling Up Rural Transformation Societies.
Development of a financial instrument to fund rural enterprises and cooperatives
Support to rural enterprises involved in agrichains such as the oregano and the Quinoa chains in Bolivia
Development of an approach to incorporate managerial skills in rural enterprises, such as marketing of agricultural produce
Financial regulations and policies to foster capital investments to
rural enterprises
Scaling Up Technology-based Rural Innovations.
Development of innovations based on technology customized to local contexts, such as rural stoves and small coffee-processing machines
Capacity-building for entrepreneurial activities (i.e. cost analysis and accounting)
Refinement of a support mechanism to foster technology-based innovations
Scaling Up the Learning Route Approach.
Refinement of a knowledge exchange mechanism to foster local innovation
Note: supplementary research activities and communications cross over all the above mentioned thematic areas and projects.
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Location The Program is of a regional nature, in the sense that its findings will appeal to a wide variety of
audiences in several Latin American countries. However, Program operations are concentrated in
the Andes region, with additional activities in Brazil. Figure 2 shows the overall location of
project activities in the region. Most of the activities are being carried out in Peru and Bolivia. In
some cases (for example, the southern areas of Peru), a number of activities are being developed
by different projects in the same location.
Figure 2. Location of project activities in the region
Scaling Up the Learning Route
Approach
Latinamerica
ValorIC:
-Tarija, Bolivia (3 areas)
-Arequipa, Peru (2 areas)
InnovaTRC:
-Puno -Apurimac
-Arequipa -Ancash
-Madre de Dios -Tumbes
-Cuzco -Arequipa
-San Martín
Scaling Up Technology Based
innovations
-Cuzco -Puno
-Lima -Cajamarca
-Quito (Ecuador) -Fortaleza (Brasil)
Scaling Up the CLAR Mechanism:
-Puno -Cuzco
-Arequipa -Cajamarca
-Piura -Huancavelica
-San Martín -Apurimac
Scaling Up Rural Enterprise
Parnerships
-Cochabamba -Chuquisaca
- La Paz -Potosí
Note: Each coloured spot shows the location in which a project is or will be developing activities. In some cases, these activities are relatively large interventions (i.e., in the ValorIC locations), while in other cases they are specific activities (i.e., in the InnovaTRC locations).
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EARLY FINDINGS The Program has completed its second period and is commencing its third period. So far, some
early findings that show progress towards the Program objectives can be drawn from the project
activities. It is worth noting that these findings are preliminary and not conclusive. However,
they are good starting point for discussing and analysing the scaling up of rural innovations.
Following is a description of the initial findings associated to each of the Program objectives.
Most of the innovations that are being scaled up by the Program’s projects have both local and
external knowledge (i.e., science and technology) as their key elements. However, their mere
presence is not enough to create an innovation; a purposeful combination of both kinds of
knowledge is needed to foster innovative and up scaling processes. Moreover, the combination
needs to be fit for the specific contexts and settings in which the innovation proves relevant.
Some of the projects supported by the Program are using combinations of local and external
knowledge to add value to pro-poor assets and produce innovative livelihoods for the rural
poor. These experiences will be helpful for understanding how the assets of the rural poor can be
used creatively to reduce rural poverty.
Rural innovation can come from outside rural contexts. Some ideas stem from academic
settings or from the development community, and subsequently find their way into the rural
domain. Later on they are adapted by local innovators and entrepreneurs to further produce
effective innovations. The same applies to the local knowledge developed in a particular location
that will further “travel” to other locations and eventually inspire new innovations. The former
highlights the importance of connecting local communities to outer knowledge and
experiences. Internet access effectively connects communities to the global information
network. Also, traveling to other countries and visiting similar initiatives outside the locality has
an inspiring effect on local innovators. Some of the innovations supported by the projects show
that some innovative ideas are brought to the community by temporary migrants and outsiders
who settle in the community. Purposeful knowledge-sharing activities (i.e.; learning routes) have
similar effects on local innovators.
Innovation is an ongoing social process. All the projects supported by the Program show that
they are not stand alone projects that begun with the Program´s funding; they are part of an
ongoing complex social processes. “Successful innovations” are constantly being produced by
these processes. Therefore, the resulting innovations do not scale up per se; it is the whole
process that expands and develops (scales up); increasing the density and quality of the
networks linking up with new actors, mediators and knowledge intermediaries, incorporating
knowledge form varied sources and “evolving” to produce ever-changing innovations.
Therefore, innovations are usually not the result of an explicitly planned, externally promoted
“innovation” process o project.
Local innovators and local talents play an important role in most of the innovations being
scaled up by the projects. However, entrepreneurial skills prove key to effectively develop and
scale up innovations; thus meaning that innovators and local talents may need to acquire
entrepreneurial skills to scale up innovations, whether by developing entrepreneurial capabilities
or by partnering up with entrepreneurs. Linking local innovators with academic experts is also
an effective way to strengthen innovators’ capabilities. Local innovators usually lack access to
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scientific knowledge, which could help them improve and scale up their innovations. Traditional
training approaches (i.e., formal academic training) are not suitable for local innovators, who
usually lack formal education.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
- Effective local innovations to reduce poverty in rural communities do not only arise from rural
settings; innovations generated in peri-urban communities and innovations generated in urban
settings with a “rural focus” also have the potential to tackle current rural poverty problems.
During the following period the Program will identify future research opportunities with a
particular focus on the urban-rural links that foster local innovations and innovations stemming
from peri-urban communities.
- Demographic and institutional changes are re-shaping the economic outlook of rural areas.
Rural youth is being particularly affected. However, they are constantly finding new venues of
opportunity; most of these opportunities are related to migrating to the cities and/or engaging in
innovative informal economic activities. ¿How can innovative livelihoods being developed by
rural youth be fostered and scaled up? This is interesting research theme that falls beyond the
current scope of the Program.
- Early findings confirm rural innovation is not a theme of interest per se; stakeholders in
different sectors are interested in sector-specific innovations. Therefore, policy
recommendations that will be produced by the Program will be tailored to meet sector specific
demands.
- Rural innovation and scaling up are not new themes in the rural development community.
However, it is still a poorly understood process. Many donors, development agencies and
national development organizations involved in rural development, poverty reduction and food
security are increasingly looking for ways to capitalize on their local or pilot success cases,
which usually revolve around some kind of collective or individual innovation process. The
knowledge being produced by the Program could provide answers about how foster scaling up
of innovations stemming from rural development initiatives or individual innovators.
- National policymakers in the region are interested in the results being produced by the
Program. Early evidence shows that scaling up rural innovations is an effective way to bring
local innovative ideas to the attention of national policymakers. During the next period, the
Program will identify and assess the best ways to engage policymakers and deliver sound,
practical and effective policy recommendations that answer to their needs.