Innovation challenges , constraints and opportunities for the rural poor

FOREWORD Innovation is the theme of the 2006 Governing Council, in recognition of the importance of innovation to the successful achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and poverty eradication. With the resources from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), implementation of the IFAD Initiative for Mainstreaming of Innovation started in February 2005. IFAD's Action Plan for Development Effectiveness also focuses on innovation. IFAD has a key role to play in supporting efforts by developing countries to reduce poverty and promote sustainable livelihoods. The achievement of these goals requires not only doing more and improving existing programs, but also doing things differently. Innovation plays a key role in this. IFAD commissioned two rural development experts to write background papers exploring new challenges and opportunities as well as identifying innovative rural development practices, interventions, institutions, partnerships and processes to address these new challenges. Dr. Nigel Poole's paper explores and appraises the latest practices in innovation. He also draws upon presentations made in the recent IMI Innovation Workshop held on 15-17 November 2005 in Rome. Workshop participants included researchers and project staff, as well as representatives of NGOs, farmers' organisations, regional development organisations and UN agencies. We trust that this paper together with Dr. Julio Berdegué's paper and the accompanying Issues Paper, will provide the basis for a fruitful and thoughtful discussion on innovation challenges for rural development and the kind of challenge this poses for IFAD. His research centres on the management and commercialization of natural resources; agri-food market systems and institutional analysis; environmental pollution and public and private food safety standards. He has experience in the socioeconomic development of Latin American indigenous communities, as well as research experience in several other regions of the world. His work has addressed policy and research agendas of government departments such as the Department for The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official views or policies of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, except as explicitly stated. This paper has been prepared for IFAD towards the end of the current Strategic Framework (2002-2006) with the aim to enhance the effectiveness of IFAD's contribution to meeting international commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The paper is to serve as an informal background document for the coming IFAD Governing Council meeting (15-16 February 2006). The organisational context is the Initiative for Mainstreaming Innovation (IMI), the …