Research questions

The work undertaken by RIU Malawi can be seen as an experiment is to explore practical experience of an innovations systems approach in Malawi. It is looking to see if this approach creates more effective and efficient integrated approaches at all level in agricultural production and distribution, and to map any impact on policy or practice.

Fish farming

• How can we increase production of competitively priced fish from aquaculture for domestic market by small, medium and large scale aquaculture producers through intensification and increased aquaculture investments?
• How can financial resources be a key incentive for innovation?
• How can financial resources be increasingly used to help encourage the development of new partnerships configuration around specific problem areas and research products?
• How effective are these mechanisms in enabling innovation processes that are developmentally relevant?

Legumes

• How to strengthen decentralized innovation capacities and what are the institutional and policy regimes needed to promote such products that emerge in this way?
• How can the governance of innovation (breeders and seed inspectors) ensure that the voice of the poor is heard in agricultural science and technology planning and implementation
• What is the value of community-based seed production systemsand how can these be established and made sustainable?
• What patterns of partnership with development organisations and the private sector are required to ensure that such systems are both commercially viable and relevant to poor farmers and consumers?
• What institutional arrangements are required to make such mechanism work effectively?
• How can new client-oriented approaches to plant breeding be institutionalised in public and private arenas and what partnerships and organisational and institutional formats and arrangements are required to ensure the development of sustainable capacities in client orientated breeding?
• What communication tools need to be considered to enhance decision making at all levels in terms of decentralized legume seed multiplication?
• What patterns of networking between researchers, decision makers and others complement communication?

Cotton

• What institutional arrangements are needed to allow private sector involvement in innovation processes along the value chain?
• What motivates the private sector to be part of the innovation systems?

Livestock

• What are the new modes of innovation that are emerging as a result of the market linkages?
• Do these innovations lead to poor producers & consumers to benefit from new market opportunities?

Use of RNRRS research
Across all of the innovation platforms around 20 RNRRS research outputs are being tested. The detailed links between the RNRRS outputs and the platforms are listed in the four innovation platform sections:

• fish farming
• legumes
• cotton
• livestock

Research from other sources is also being tested, mostly research developed in Malawi