If agro-ecological systems are to realize their potential as sustainable alter- natives to conventional agricultural systems, innovation diffusion needs to be enhanced. We conducted surveys among 214 small-scale vegetable farmers in Benin, a food-deficit country in West Africa, on how they perceived the different attributes of eco-friendly nets (EFNs). The nets act as physical barriers against insects in vegetable production and so reduce pesticide use. Understanding farmer perceptions about new technologies helps reveal farmers’ propensity to adopt them.

The CDAIS project, funded by the EU and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO, enhances innovation in agriculture by improving the functional capacities of individuals, organizations and systems. It brings partners together and uses continuous learning cycles to address the challenges and opportunities in and around selected ‘innovation niche partnerships’ in eight pilot countries in Central America, Africa and Asia.

Rice is produced in other parts of Angola, but not in the area around Bailundo, though conditions are favourable and there is much local demand. Building on the provision of technical expertise from other organisations, CDAIS is adding capacity development of another sort, of the ‘soft skills’ required to collaborate, learn, engage and adapt. “Now we will grow rice forever” says Marcos Satuala. “This innovation has given us a great thing – a new crop for us. And with CDAIS we can learn more, and grow more, for our families and to sell.”

"CDAIS is interesting for us because it is improving how we operate”, explains Francisco Venda, president of the Sementes do Planalto seed cooperative based in Bailundo. “We work with many partners, and the new skills have proved invaluable.” Since 2016, CDAIS has been working with this group, helping them to identify and agree their priority needs, and take steps to overcoming them. But much is yet to be done, though the high levels of energy and enthusiasm will ensure that progress will continue long after the project has ended.

There was a need for change in agricultural development in Angola, and CDAIS has been appreciated. Results show positive outcomes in a number of areas, including the acceptance of the benefits of strengthening functional capacities across different levels. And, although it is still too early to see the full benefits of the approach, many involved said they would continue to apply it in their other activities. This story begins with views and experiences from rice growers and their partners, as an example of one of the three innovation niche partnerships in Angola.

There have been clear changes in Guatemala and, according to those involved, outcomes exceeded expectations. These have resulted from the strengthening of functional capacities across individual, partnership, organisational and national levels, using processes that have evolved since the CDAIS project began in 2015. Of the four selected innovation niche partnerships in the country, the conversations here explore the experiences of avocado producers in Sololá, led by AIDA, the Association for the Integral Development of the Altiplano.

The goal is to improve capacity for joint innovation, and strengthen this capacity at partnership, organizational and institutional/policy level, through an iterative process with the different stakeholders involved i.e. action and reflection, consolidation of lessons learned and re-planning. Preparatory actions must be well coordinated to ensure success and continuity of the CDAIS project.”
 

Flyer on CDAIS in Angola: seeds cooperative, rural entrepreneurship and rice development.

The CDAIS project has been an accelerator of processes, with results that have spread from community to governmental levels. Those who have been involved consider that CDAIS was a key reason for these changes, having arrived as a springboard in 2015. Of the four partnerships in Honduras, these conversations explore the experiences of potato producers in La Esperanza, Intibucá, home to almost 70% of national potato production. Since 2015, much has changed for them: from a small group of growers, eight associations have become consolidated organisations.

The policy environment for agricultural innovation in Lao PDR has never been better. Agricultural development is high on the agenda at the most senior levels of government, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry recently published a strategy framework that lays out multiple pathways for innovation. Based on the work to date, CDAIS National Innovation Facilitators are well positioned to continue shaping the agricultural innovation process long after the project ends.

For many years, rural women have been creating their own food processing companies that promote local agriculture by bringing to the market original foods in products that are accessible to urban populations. The aim of CDAIS is to support these companies’ develop- ment by strengthening their capacities to experiment and learn together, as well as to negotiate and make contracts with suppliers and traders. And Dakoupa in Bobo-Dioulasso is one of many small family businesses supported by CDAIS through the women-led agri-food processing micro-enterprise innovation partnership.