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A recent trend in development research programmes is to devote more resources to communication in the hope that results and evidence will reach audiences who can use this for innovation and impact. In the February-March 2009 edition of the LINK News Bulletin Andy Hall cautions that while this is very welcome, it is no substitute for better linking of research to innovation in the first place.
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After the doom and the gloom that ended the last year, 2009 can't get much worse. Or can it? In the January 2009 edition of the LINK News Bulletin Kumuda Dorai gives her list of 10 things to watch out for in 2009. Some are worrying, some are cheering and there are some old perennials thrown in for good measure.
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NEW LINK DISCUSSION PAPER ON HORTICULTURE
LINK researcher Mirjam Steglich has just published a discussion paper, available for download from the UNU-MERIT website. The paper is the result of fieldwork Mirjam carried out on the horticulture industry in Kenya.
Titled "Are International Market Demands Compatible with Serving Domestic Social Needs? Challenges in Strengthening Innovation Capacity in Kenya's Horticulture Industry", the paper examines the development of the patterns of innovation capacity and discusses the implications of these for different stakeholders. The paper presents a historical overview of the development of the sector in Kenya and a case study of a prominent horticultural enterprise, Homegrown Ltd. The paper argues that the sector has been quite successful in developing innovation response capacity and this has allowed it to prosper in turbulent international markets. However, this may have had a social cost. While this private sector-led development of innovation capacity has happened without public sector support, public policy clearly has a role in skewing these patterns of capacity development so they contribute better to social development goals. Policy support of this sort is currently absent and it is difficult to see what form it might take in the political and institutional environment of Kenya. Detailed information, including abstract and full text download, is available at http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2009/wp2009-009.pdf.
FIRST FIPWiG MEETING ON FODDER SCARCITY
The first meeting of the Fodder Innovation Policy Working Group (FIPWiG) — constituted as part of LINK's Fodder Innovation Project with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) — was held in Anand, Gujarat, India on February 24, 2009. The meeting was hosted by LINK's South Asia partner CRISP (the Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy) in collaboration with India's National Dairy Development Board.
The Fodder Innovation Project — with funding from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) — is in its second phase and aims to explore the question of fodder scarcity from the perspective of local and national networks, and policies that mobilise ideas and information to improve fodder availability. For more on the project visit our Fodder Experiment webpage or the project website at www.fodderinnovation.org.
LINK-CONDESAN WORKSHOP IN PERU
LINK and its South American partner Condesan (Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina ) are collaborating on an exercise on evaluation and synthesis of rural innovation practice in policy in the Andean region. To prepare for this study, LINK and Condesan held a workshop in Lima on March 12 and 13 to develop a conceptual framework for the study, provide training to researchers and develop a work plan for the study. For more details contact m.saravia@cgiar.org.
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