Multi-Stakeholder Processes and Innovation Systems towards Science for impact

Multi_stakeholder processes (MSPs) have become an important phenomena in the work of many of the Science Groups and knowledge units of Wageningen UR. To realise ‘science for impact’ it is increasingly recognized that stakeholder engagement is a critical element. Much remains to be understood about their role and effectiveness in a wider context of politics, governance and societal change. There is clearly value to be gained from the efforts of Wageningen UR wide sharing and critical reflection processes. The CD&IC programme, Wageningen International, hosted a Critical Reflection Day, building on existing and past initiatives such as Own experiences, the Transition lab and deepening of Communities of Practice of action learning and ‘Telen met Toekomst’. The Critical Reflection Day was part of the three_week international course on 'Facilitating Multi_stakeholder Processes and Social Learning' attended by some 30 participants from all over the world. They facilitated and actively took part in the Critical Reflection Da

Communities of Change, Multi Stakeholder Processes, Lobby & Advocacy : More than 100 years of experience on HBC in Malawi & Zambia!

This training of four days focussed on two areas of capacity development of the home-based care (HBC) alliance in Malawi and Zambia: 1. Communities of Change (CoC) concept and practice linked to the Multi Stakeholder Process (MSP), and 2. Lobby & Advocacy (L&A). Since June 2010 Cordaid started together with the Centre of Development Innovation (CDI) a learning and development process on the Communities of Change concept and practice linked to the Multi Stakeholder Process with around 75 persons of her staff. In order to share and deepen the development of the COC & MSP concepts and practice further with the partners in the field, Cordaid organised this training. An effective working Alliance/CoC is a condition for effective lobby and advocacy. Therefore the CoC - MSP part of the training was directly linked to the part on lobby and advocacy. The lobby and advocacy trajectory had been started already three years ago with an initial training (also in Malawi) specifically on lobby and advocacy for home based care representatives of eight countries in Africa, amongst other Malawi and Zambia. The current training on lobby and advocacy is therefore also part of the follow up of that process

Strengthening Managing for Impact in Eastern and Southern Africa : Grant Completion Report

The Strengthening Managing for Impact Programme (SMIP) was a pilot initiative established to test the extent to which the use of the Managing for Impact (M4I) approach could enhance the impact of pro-poor interventions for greater development effectiveness. This programme was implemented in the Eastern and Southern Africa region (including French speaking countries) from 2006 till the end of 2009 and was largely funded by IFAD. A partnership was developed between Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation (formerly part of Wageningen International), Khanya6aicdd, IFPRI6IKCD (formerly IFPRI/ISNAR) and Haramaya University (in a joint partnership ‘Carmpolea’); and the Impact Alliance

Making evaluations matter: a practical guide for evaluators

This guide is primarily for evaluators working in the international development sector. It is also useful for commissioner of evaluations, evaluation managers and M&E officers. The guide explains how to make evaluations more useful. It helps to better understand conceptual issues and appreciate how evaluations can contribute to changing mindsets and empowering stakeholders. On a practical level, the guide presents core guiding principles and pointers on how to design and facilitate evaluations that matter. Furthermore, it shows how to get primary intended users and other key stakeholders to contribute effectively to the evaluation proces

Report of the workshop on MSP and Transitions CDI & WLR : 7-9 February 2011, De Bosrand, Ede

WLR and CDI organised in 2011 a training on MSP and Transitions in order to deepen each other’s knowledge and share the ideas underlying the change processes they work in. The training was divided in two parts with the focus on MSP framework, Process model, Power and Conflict and Transitions in the first part. The second part was more devoted to the Theories of Change, the actual stakeholder management and the M&E of these change processes

Les 25 Résolutions de Konni

Niger is the largest exporter of onions in West Africa. More than 100.000 Nigerian peasants cultivate onions. For them and all the other operators within the chain (intermediaries, tradesmen, shipping agents), the onion is an important source of income. SNV Niger, and Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation in the Netherlands, in collaboration with FCMN Niya and Agri-Bilan, initiated an action research titled “Peeling the onion”. The goal of this action-research is to identify possibilities of collective action for all the actors in the value chain of the onion. The research focusses on ‘leverages’ to induce changes which make the onion subsector in one time more competitive, inclusive and sustainable. After this first phase, we shared our results during this participative workshop in Birni Konni in the area of Tahoua. Moreover one stimulated the dialogue between the various actors within the value chain of the onion resulting in the 25 resolutions of Konni! This report is the result of this workshop and dialogues

Milking to potential : Strategic framework for dairy sector development in emerging economies

In emerging economies population growth occurs together with an increase in income per capita. In many of these economies dairy sector development is recognized as a crucial element to underpin the ongoing growth process. This paper provides an approach to achieve dairy sector development. The central framework of this approach consists of five steps. The first step is to organize stakeholders who are motivated to build a dairy sector development strategy. The second step is to make an analysis of (a) the present situation of the broader context around the sector, (b) the dairy chain and (c) farming systems. This analysis is the base for the diagnosis in the third step that results in opportunities and constraints for sector development. The fourth step for the stakeholders involved is to choose goals. The final step is to identify interventions to achieve these objectives. When working from constraints and opportunities towards goals and interventions, the stakeholders will have to deal with many dilemmas experienced in dairy development. These dilemmas are discussed in this paper, together with some lessons learned during the implementation of development activities in the past. The major dilemmas have to do with markets, sizes of farms and dairy plants, dairy farm management, cooperatives, milk quality, and training of skills and entrepreneurship

The impact of UTZ certification of cocoa in the Ivory Coast 2008 to 2013

In 2008, various value chain partners in Ivory Coast adopted the UTZ Code of Conduct and became UTZ certified to enhance sustainability in the cocoa supply chain. As part of the certification programme, cooperatives and are receiving training on farm management organisational capacity building. This brochure paints a picture of the situation on farms by mid-2013. It provides information about how the UTZ Certified cocoa programme in Ivory Coast is helping farmers to increase their knowledge and use good agricultural practices (GAPs) in line with the UTZ Certified Code of Conduct. The lessons learned from these results will be used to improve the quality of the programme

Impact of UTZ Certification of cocoa in Ivory Coast. Assessment framework and baseline

Since 2008 UTZ Certified has implemented a programme in Ivory Coast to enhance sustainability in the cocoa supply chain through the implementation of the UTZ Code of Conduct. The programme has supported farmers to become organised into cooperatives, receiving training on farm management and organisational capacity building, and become certified. Starting off with four cooperatives, two traders and Solidaridad as partners, it has grown into a large scale programme. By June 2012 86 cooperatives were certified, 44,624 farmers reached, and 128,582 tons of certified cocoa had been produced from an estimated farm area of 219,100 hectares. Eight traders and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) are now partners, who are implementing certification as part of broader activities to support cocoa farmers, their cooperatives and communities. As of June 2013, a further 103 cooperatives were in the process of certification. This report serves two purposes: it provides a baseline of farm-level situation as of mid-2013, which can be used to measure changes in indicators in future impact assessments. It also provides an initial assessment of impacts by comparing different groups of cocoa farmers. It provides information about the inclusiveness of the UTZ Certified cocoa programme in Ivory Coast. It evaluates how certification and related activities have affected farmers’ knowledge and implementation of good agricultural practices, social and environmental issues in line with the UTZ Certified Code of Conduct and assesses the added value of certification. Lessons learned are drawn from the results, feeding recommendations to improve the quality and effectiveness of the programme

Eplucher l'Oignon : Pour une filière oignon nigérienne compétitive et inclusive

Perceptual learning is associated with experience-based changes in stimulus salience. Here, we use a novel procedure to show that learning a new association between a self-label and a neutral stimulus produces fast alterations in social salience measured by interference when targets associated with other people have to be selected in the presence of self-associated distractors. Participants associated neutral shapes with either themselves or a friend, over a short run of training trials. Subsequently, the shapes had to be identified in hierarchical (global-local) forms. The data show that giving a shape greater personal significance by associating it with the self had effects on visual selection equivalent to altering perceptual salience. Similar to previously observed effects linked to when perceptually salient distractors are ignored, effects of a self-associated distractor also increased activation in the left intraparietal cortex sulcus. The results show that self-associations to sensory stimuli rapidly modulate neural responses in a manner similar to changes in perceptual saliency. The self-association procedure provides a new way to understand how personal significance affects behavior