Innovation Platforms as a Tool for Small Holder Dairy

Development: A Case from Uttarakhand, India

Thanammal Ravichandran, Nils Teufel, Alan DuncanInternational Livestock Research Institute

Overview

• Introduction

• Project/study objective

• Materials and methods

• Storylines

• Conclusion

Introduction• Agriculture and innovation is a key for sustainable agricultural

growth to reduce poverty (Thomas and Slater, 2006)

• There has been a shift from linear technology transfer toenabling innovate

• The Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) approach stimulates innovations through (World bank, 2006)

– Process of networking

– Interactive learning

– Negotiation among heterogeneous actors

• The Innovation Platform (IP) approach is gaining ground in in many organisations and also within ILRI projects

• Members come together (Duncan 2011)

– to diagnose problems,

– identify opportunities and find ways to achieve their goals,

– design and implement activities as a platform, or

– coordinate activities by group or individual members

Project/ study objective

Institutional strengthening

Productivity enhancement

Knowledge sharing

Project Objectives

Process of IP functioning

Conflict management

Qualitative assessment of innovation

Study objectives

Materials and methods

• Study area

– Uttarakhand, 2 districts

– 2 village clusters in each district identified for feed IPs

– In each district Feed IPs combined into 1 Dairy Value Chain (DVC) IP

• Data collection

– IP meeting documentation Since Dec 2012

– Innovation “story lines” qualitative narrative of the innovations and its management over a time

(Greenhalgh et al., 2006)

Project area

Results

IP and issues

Dairy value chain IP

State dairy co-operative

National NGO (BAIF),

agriculture research institute

IFAD

Producers

Animal husbandry

department

Private

Incentive?Pushing technology

Rigid rules?

Weak voiceConflicts?

Story line-Bageshwar

Constraints identification

Jeganath SHG federation dairy

co-operative

Crossbred cows/ AI

Feed trough/chaff

cutter

Concentrates

Dual purpose crops

Napier/berseem

Bageshwar-Actors role

Constraints identification

Jeganath SHG federation dairy

co-operative

Crossbred cows/ AI

Feed trough/chaff

cutter

Concentrates

Dual purpose crops

Napier/berseem

NABARD/AH support-credit

Private milk trader

Failure of state cooperativeLow price for milk

Private feed company

Bageshwar-output

Constraints identification

Jeganath SHG federation dairy

co-operative

Crossbred cows/ AI

Feed trough/chaff

cutter

Concentrates

Dual purpose crops

Napier/berseem

Issues prioritized

New marketing channelBetter price

Breed improvement

Feed improvement

More milk production

Conflicts-Sult

Constraints identification

Link with state dairy co-

operative

Crossbred cows/ AI

Feed trough/chaff

cutter

Concentrates

Payment issues of state cooperative

AH support-credit

Religious beliefs“Don’t sell milk”

Distant of governmentoffice

Lack of confidenceIssues

Innovative champions Meeting in villages Dairy failure studyILRI/Anchal

Management

Impact of innovations• Increased communication –

demand to form IP in some new areas

• Income increase (Ex-INR 2500/HH/day in Sult village ($45), Jeganath co-operative Bageshwar-$20000/year

• New employment opportunity (13-Bageshwar, 7-Sult)

• Women empowerment (head load by woman, raising voice)

Conclusion

• Linking to better market is the first change in dairy development

• Different innovations emerges with context of situations

• Breed and feed improvement follows with better marketing arrangement

• Conflict management is key for innovation development in IP process

• Storyline is effective tool for first hand qualitative assessment of IP impacts