Title: Building on the positive: an actor innovation systems approach to finding and promoting pro poor natural resources institutional and technical innovations

Authors: Stephen Biggs

Addresses: School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7 TJ, UK

Abstract: This paper argues that if policies and programmes for the promotion of rural and agricultural technological and institutional innovations are restricted to the framework of the linear |pipeline| model of R&D and extension, then many opportunities for reducing rural poverty and improving social inclusion in a cost-effective way will be missed. The paper argues that a holistic |actor innovations systems| approach is a more useful framework for understanding past innovation and diffusion processes and for planning purposes. In particular, the innovations systems framework can be used to find and understand local and national |positive deviance| situations where pro-poor innovation processes are already taking place, and it can provide a framework for building on these experiences.

Keywords: actor innovation systems; positive deviance; poverty reduction; R&D; social inclusion; research and development; rural technology; agricultural technology; technological innovation; institutional innovation; rural poverty; social inclusion; pro-poor innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2007.012701

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2007 Vol.6 No.2, pp.144 - 164

Published online: 09 Mar 2007 *

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