Learning

RIU Zambia has produced a new policy brief in November 2010 which is looking at the RIU approach and inviting comments on their learning to date.

RIU Zambia has been working on conservation agriculture and rice value chain improvement. In so doing they are seeking to answer the question 'what is required to get research into use in these areas?'

Some emerging lessons from RIU Zambia are:

• Engaging a wide range of stakeholders in a consultation process is a good way to come up with strong, lasting solutions
• In processes such as the conservation agriculture voucher scheme, which take a long time, linkages amongst stakeholders might break if stakeholders don't see benefits quickly. Therefore it is important to maintain the linkages and networks
• Collaboration is necessary. It should build on existing systems or structures where participants are already involved in order not to overburden people with new structure
• Drawing up joint plans helps build ownership

Publications on RIU Zambia's Conservation Agriculture Innovation Platform:

Conservation agriculture in Zambia
Femke van der Lee, F M Kayula, V Makasa and W Heemskerk
This publication explores the connections between the learning sites, the district innovation platform and the National Innovation Coalition that together form a cross-level network.

Putting heads together. Agricultural innovation platforms in practice.
Suzanne Nederlof, Mariana Wongtschowski and F M van der Lee, (eds). 2011.

Published: Bulletin 396, KIT Publishers ISBN 978 94 6022 1835114