Scaling Agricultural Innovations
through Onsite ITEC Training
Programs in Abuja, Nigeria
Background
Given the multiple crises that are brewing globally – climate change, food and nutritional insecurity, water scarcity, land degradation, unemployment – agricultural innovations that have shown impact need to be scaled up so that a transformative change can be achieved alongside technological and social resilience. The process of scaling up innovation thus involves identifying context-specific and appropriate innovation bundles, co-designing effective scaling strategies in a partnership mode for achieving the desired impact. As reiterated above, the process is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach and requires flexibility, shared understanding and vision, adaptation, and continuous learning.
Numerous technological, knowledge, methodological, and process-oriented agricultural solutions have been piloted in India and upscaled in several agroecological contexts within India. These innovations are successful because they adopt a multifaceted approach that considers technical solutions and social dynamics. This proposal is built based on the learnings from these successes, analyzing what works and what doesn't in scaling innovations.
The proposed onsite training program in a partnership mode will focus on:
- Identifying and adapting innovations that address the specific needs and challenges within a particular context, such as climate-resilience and water-efficient techniques
- Consider the local context and the socio-cultural dynamics prevailing in the selected geographies
- Consider not just technological innovations but also policy changes, institutional reforms, and changes in business models. Thus, different actors will be involved in this process – the government, international research for development actors, the private sector, and the donor community
Appropriate scaling pathways, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, continuous engagement, and inclusive, meaningful participation of all stakeholders along the entire continuum from research to delivery will be ensured.
Training Objectives
The primary objective of this onsite ITEC training program is to facilitate South-South collaboration by transferring practical and proven agricultural innovations from India and ICRISAT to partner countries. The training is designed not only to build technical capacity but also to initiate regional dialogue for long-term collaboration and technology adoption in the Global South-South region.
- Facilitate the demonstration and dissemination of 6–8 scalable agricultural technologies relevant to the Latin American, Asian, and African partner countries.
- Through hands-on learning and multi-stakeholder interaction, enable a deep understanding of key challenges and opportunities pertaining to agricultural innovations in the targeted countries.
- Engage high-level stakeholders across the agricultural system, including policymakers, senior researchers, directors, technical experts, and professionals in the agriculture domain, for a focused dialogue to evaluate the relevance, adaptability, and potential integration of Indian agricultural technologies within their national contexts.
- Strengthen institutional networks to promote future collaboration, technology adaptation, and co-development in the Global South.
- Lay the groundwork for follow-up exposure visits to India for selected participants of the on-site ITEC program to observe full-scale deployment of Indian agri-technologies and deepen institutional partnerships.