Innovation

Innovative technologies leapfrog over intermediate technologies, or create ‘disruptive’ ones, distinctively different in concept or outcome from earlier approaches. This innovation plays a key role in enhancing productivity and economic growth and development outcomes by changing the way business is conducted. Agricultural innovation seeks to identify new approaches in the production, processing, or marketing of crops to improve social and economic outcomes for farmers, households and communities.

The Feed the Future Innovation Labs for Collaborative Research and CRSPs have a history of innovative approaches related both to their research process and their research topics. The CRSP programs were pioneers in working collaboratively with developing country scientists and other stakeholders in identifying key research for development topics and have continued to build collaborations world-wide. From the start, several CRSPs sought to establish interdisciplinary teams to address both the social and the technical aspects of agricultural research. The long-term funding horizon, a hallmark of the Innovation Labs for Collaborative Research and CRSPs, has allowed them to explore new directions in their research.

Each Innovation Lab is innovating in its own way. The Horticulture Innovation Lab is seeking innovative approaches to stimulate the creation of new technologies that decrease cost and increase efficiencies in different parts of the horticultural value chain. The Livestock-Climate Change Innovation Lab and its predecessor the Global Livestock CRSP along with the AquaFish Innovation Lab have expanded the application of existing technologies such as satellites and mobile phones among new groups of users: pastoralists and fishers, both to help them track market data as well as for natural resource management. The Peanut CRSP is expanding knowledge about the known consequences of aflatoxin contamination examining how these toxic molds interact with HIV and other diseases as well as childhood malnutrition.

Resources

Title XII Report to Congress Fiscal Year 2003: Mobilizing Science and Technology for Smallholders

This report provides an opportunity to communicate the many accomplishments of USAID and our public and private partners during FY 2003, as well as to reflect […]

  • Date of Publication: 2004
  • Author(s): United States Agency for International Development / Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD)
  • Type of Document: Annual Report

CRSP:

Database:

Tailoring Contract Farming to Smallholders: Experimental Evidence on Enrollment Impact, Insurance Provision, and Communication Technologies

The research proposes three field experiments in Kenya to evaluate the potential of contract farming schemes to increase smallholder welfare. In the first intervention, a large […]

  • Start Date: 2013/06/01
  • End Date: 2017/11/30
  • Project Code: Not Available
  • Lead University:

Cow Candy vs bmr Sorghum

Video. A comparison of sorghum varieties for silage in Panama.

  • Date of Publication: 4/18/2013
  • Author(s): INTSORMIL CRSP
  • Type of Document: Media

Ensilado de maiz vs. sorgo “bmr” en America Central

Video.

  • Date of Publication: 4/8/2013
  • Author(s): INTSORMIL CRSP
  • Type of Document: Media

Responsible Aquaculture in 2050: Valuing Local Conditions and Human Innovations Will Be Key to Success

Abstract: As aquaculture production expands, we must avoid mistakes made during increasing intensification of agriculture. Understanding environmental impacts and measures to mitigate them is important for […]

  • Date of Publication: April 2013
  • Author(s): James S. Diana; Hillary S. Egna; Thierry Chopin; Mark S. Peterson; Ling Cao; Robert Pomeroy; Marc Verdegem; William T. Slack; Melba G. Bondad-Reantaso; Felipe Cabello
  • Type of Document: Scholarly Article

Technology Transfer in Uganda

Video.

  • Date of Publication: 3/13/2013
  • Author(s): INTSORMIL CRSP
  • Type of Document: Media