Asia / Asie

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Towards a more effective innovation promotion : learning lessons from the Bio-N fertilizer experience; a policy brief
(2011-04)
Concerted efforts to reorient farmers’ perceptions about the positive effects of biofertilizers on productivity and income are needed, as farmers have typically been conditioned to the advantages of chemical input– intensive green revolution technology. Many farmers revealed that they did not know how to use Bio-N, and discarded the Bio-N packets given to them; they were not provided with information or training about the innovation. Policy recommendations are made in this brief towards harnessing BioN’s poverty alleviation, food security and climate change adaptation potentials, and helping create an enabling environment for better operation and collaboration between innovation system domain actors.
Socialisation of solid waste management in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(2011)
As the country experiences rapid economic growth and burgeoning urban population, an increasing amount of solid waste is generated in every major city especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Physical limitations are obstacles to efficient waste collection: in Ho Chi Minh City, almost three quarters of households are located in narrow alleys, to which large vehicles cannot gain access. Small, independent collectors are able to collect the waste, creating employment for 3,000 people. Community groups can play an important role in the accountability of infrastructure institutions through consumer participation or through participation in monitoring and evaluation.
Has it worked for women? : entrepreneurship and skills development at schools
(LEAD Pakistan, Islamabad, PK, 2011-03) Idris, Iffat
Entrepreneurship and Skills Development through School-based Enterprises : Has it worked for women?; Panel Discussion on “Gender and Entrepreneurship - Exploring the Potential of Self Sufficient schools as a model of Entrepreneurship, Skills Development and Income Generation”
(LEAD Pakistan, Islamabad, PK, 2010-09) Nisar Bhutta, Gulnaz
LEAD Pakistan is a think tank, inspiring sustainable development across diverse sectors, with a focus on environment, climate change and development issues. This report provides an update on LEAD initiatives in education with a brief review of panel discussions regarding business development training.
Entrepreneurship and Skills Development through School-Based Enterprises : Has it worked for women?; Workshop on Self-sufficient schools - a new model of entrepreneurship, skills development and income generation’
(LEAD Pakistan, Islamabad, PK, 2010-09) Nisar Bhutta, Gulnaz
In many developing countries, including Pakistan, Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) is under-valued, under-prioritised and therefore under-funded, leaving little room for institutes to experiment with new methodologies for design and delivery of training. LEAD Pakistan is conducting research on a ‘self-sufficient’ school model, and to identify potential partners to develop a business plan. After learning about successes in Paraguay, workshops were held in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad with invited stakeholders and possible partners to discuss facilitation of the school-based enterprise model of education.
Industralization and development in Asean countries : challenges and prospects
(2009)
R&D commercialization challenges for developing countries : the case of Malaysia
(2010) Govindaraju, Chandran
This paper attempts to draw some lessons for the R&D commercialization efforts of developing countries by analyzing the current policies, institutions and programs and the success of commercialization activities in Malaysia. The paper also illustrates the potential barriers of commercialization. The findings suggest that a more proactive approach is needed in any attempt of commercialization in developing countries. Crucial factors limiting commercialization success includes availability of commercialization funds, greater government, industry and university linkages, better internal structure and intellectual property management systems and effective institutional supports.
Financing innovation : the experience of Malaysia
(2011) Thiruchelvam, K.; Chandran, V.G.R.; Ng Boon Kwee; Wong Chan Yuan; Chee Kin Sam
This report describes various financing schemes in place to promote science, technology and innovation (STI) in Malaysia. The country has introduced a range of schemes embracing grants, fiscal incentives, loans, and venture capital to support innovation since the 1980s. However, an effective national innovation system (NIS) needs policies for innovation, and more importantly, innovations in policy-making itself. The paper reviews incentives towards innovation, entrepreneurial activity, and innovation financing. Key findings on grants, fiscal incentives, loans, venture capital industry and institutional issues are presented.
Towards effective policies for innovation financing in Asia : country report - Taiwan
(2011)
Taking advantage of its intensive innovation network, Taiwan is able to enjoy comparatively high performance in R&D efficiency, to learn quickly from its leaders in specific technological areas, to develop solid industry clusters, and to be endowed with vibrant entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on the role played by financial programmes in Taiwan’s national innovation system (NIS), in order to understand the mechanism of its NIS, to look at policy choice of innovation financing, and to explore the roles played by relevant stakeholders (mainly various government sponsored research institutes).
Public innovation financing schemes in Singapore
(Entrepreneurship Centre, National University of Singapore, 2011) Wong, Poh-Kam; Singh, Annette
This report shows how the Singapore government has played a key role in the development of the national innovation system (NIS), not least through its innovation financing schemes. The paper discusses various public innovation financing schemes available in Singapore in the context of the developing national innovation system (NIS). It provides details of most aspects of innovation systems, institutional frameworks and financial schemes in operation in the country. As a whole, technology commercialization schemes are the most recent, with technology commercialization receiving more emphasis from the mid-2000s.
Enabling poverty relevant bio-fertilizer innovation systems : lessons from India
(STADD Consulting, 2011)
This paper provides an overview of the bio-fertilizers and innovation system (BfIS). It analyses BfIS to identify missing linkages and to present positive lessons from local efforts in India. Literature on innovation systems points out that pro-poor innovation in rural areas is most likely to occur through small-scale ventures and entrepreneurs. Bio-fertilizer innovation is cheap and safe for farmers, and provides increased scope for local employment, involving decentralized rural infrastructure, and skills and capacities to address soil fertility. The paper concludes with specific intervention points and policy recommendations to enable poverty relevant Bio-fertilizers Innovation Systems in India.
Lazy Gardens : a sustainability experiment in the uplands of Northern Thailand
(Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, TH, 2010) Lebel, Louis; Rattanawilailak, Songphonsak; Lebel, Phimphakan
A lazy garden uses an available plot of land – usually, but not always, located in upland secondary forests or old swidden fallows – to cultivate a garden of vegetables, trees and other crops without using expensive fossil‐fuel or chemical inputs. A key objective and outcome is to make the farm and household more resilient. The innovation started among a group of Karen farmers in an upland valley in northern Thailand. Using a modified systems innovation framework was helpful to understanding problems in scaling‐up and the agency of leading farmers as proponents of the innovation. Viable niches for upland farms are hard to find in the context of the dominant socio‐technical regime geared towards conventional high‐input agriculture and, in the uplands, policy‐driven land‐use constraints. Lazy gardens are a sustainability experiment in the process of establishing itself as an alternative technological niche for upland areas. A few key individuals have had some success in building learning networks and wider alliances around the experiment. They have done this by articulating the benefits of the approach as well as appealing to environmental values, and less successfully, non‐market philosophies like self‐sufficiency. Although the niche is far from becoming a challenge to the regime there is potential that aggregation with other alternative niches could lead to some adjustment or comprises that give more space for livelihood activities of people living in the uplands. The demise of swidden rotational land‐use systems for a variety of reasons including the precepts of socio‐technical regime provides a specific window of opportunity for these alternative niches.
Lazy garden bio-innovation as a resilience-building strategy in the uplands of Northern Thailand
(Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, TH, 2010)
Lazy gardens are a bio‐innovation of Karen farmers living in an upland valley in northern Thailand. The lazy garden approach is to use an available plot of land – usually, but not always, located in upland secondary forests or old swidden fallows – to cultivate a garden of vegetables, trees and other crops in a multi‐strata and spatially complex layout without using expensive chemical inputs. The innovation builds on technical expertise in traditional practices of planting in and managing fallows in swidden cultivation systems. It is supported by social practices of sharing plant materials and cultural teachings about working with natural processes. Lazy gardens are typically part of a composite farming system that often includes paddy and may also include upland rice fields. Within the study area lazy gardens are owned by both better‐off and poorer‐households. Having sufficient land and labor was a more important considerations then wealth. Farmers have lazy gardens to help build resilience of their households to failures of cash crops, commodity market shocks, both as a source of food for direct consumption and as a source of supplementary income. Lazy gardens appear to improve livelihood security of poor households while having a low impact on the environment and thus represent a potentially important bio‐innovation.
Enabling poverty relevance of Azospirillum bio-innovation : lessons from eco-enterprises in Tamil Nadu, India
(Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), 2012) Sangar, Sunita; Singh, Wafa
Poor farmers needs have not been reflected in policies and programs for biofertilizers in Tamil Nadu, a bio-innovation which benefits farmers as well as researchers and manufacturers in terms of cost, environmental safety and sustainability. This paper, while analysing the Azospirillum bio-innovation system, brings out positive lessons from some local efforts in the State, towards bringing a pro-poor focus to public sector research and development. Balanced and conjunctive use of organic (bio-fertilisers) and inorganic fertilisers has been promoted for building up soil health and agricultural productivity in the state, and can build capacity through pro-poor initiatives.
Surge of high-input vegetable production in Northern Thailand : is the innovation pro-poor and gender sensitive?
(Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Chiang Mai University, TH, 2010)
The increasing urban demand for vegetables in Thailand has been met through peri-urban areas in the central plains, northern valleys and highland rural areas. Use of modern technology like improved varieties, fertilizer, pesticides, growth hormones, and modern cultivation practices is the common feature of commercial vegetable production in recent periods. Improved varieties of the vegetable crops are considered as the important bioinnovation that affects the livelihood and health aspects of the farmers. This paper focuses on various aspects related to the adoption of improved/hybrid varieties of vegetable crops in northern Thailand. We analyzed the effect of hybrid varieties on household income, self-employment and human health aspect. The analysis focused on the specific effects on women and poor farmers looking on whether they were also benefited equally from the adoption of the innovation. The paper is based on the study of commercial vegetable production areas around Chiang Mai city covering two research sites: Mae Wang and Saraphi. Mae Wang is one of the rapidly transforming areas in Chiang Mai valley that provide the situation of fast growing commercial vegetable cultivation mostly in rural settings. Saraphi is the adjoining district to the Chiang Mai city that represents peri-urban commercial vegetable production both conventional as well as pesticide free vegetable production areas. Farmers are getting higher household income from the adoption of improved/hybrid varieties of the vegetable crops. In many cases local farmers have been able to embrace vegetable cultivation as self-employment opportunity as well. Since people are well aware about the negative effects of excessive chemical use in the commercial production the production of vegetable without pesticide use is on rise in the selected study areas. But, interestingly, the farm-gate and market price was almost similar in with or without pesticide use. However, the non-pesticide farmers confirmed that they still chose to produce without pesticide because they save their money from medical payment and this means to higher income. There is not much difference in involvement of women and men farmers in different production activities. It varies on case basis. However, still there is less say of women farmers in marketing and deciding the use of income from the vegetable sell. The possible increased work burden of women farmers due to commercial vegetable has still got very less attention. Another crucial aspect in promotion of commercial production is the proper marketing management. Production areas near the Chiang Mai city are in relatively better situation for getting proper market and price for their produce. But the irony is that organic vegetable producers, despite working in groups, are not involved in organized marketing efforts and thus not been able to tap the market demand and better price for their pesticide free production.
ITN APN International Conference of Innovation and Sustainability Transitions in Asia, 9-11 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, organized by University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur : conference report
(AIT, 2009)
The conference focused on the nature and role of sustainable system innovation in transforming Asian development pathways in fields such as energy, mobility, sanitation, nutrition, and housing in urban and rural areas. Papers revealed that unless specific measures to address poverty are included as part of initiatives, the pro-poor potential of bio-innovation is unlikely to be fully realized. A single bio-innovation will rarely be enough on its own to bring about a wider system transition, but it can help create sufficient political and social space for the poor to access new livelihood opportunities.
Report on Stakeholders Roundtable Meeting, 30 November, 2010, Image Hotel, Narayangarh, Chitwan, Nepal on ‘Small Scale Aquaculture Initiative in Nepal : Understanding Gender implications and Sustainability of the approach’
(Forum for Rural Welfare and Agricultural Reform for Development-Nepal, 2012)
The research focused on analyzing the impact of a pilot project named ‘Women in Aquaculture’, which was implemented in Chitwan and Nawalparasi district of Nepal with the aim to enhance the involvement of women farmers in small-scale aquaculture activities. 40 participants shared their experiences and expertise towards recommendations for scaling up of enterprises.
Improving the small-scale aquaculture to enhance the livelihood of rural farmers
(Asian Institute of Technology, TH, 2012)
Involvement of farmers in small-scale aquaculture activity has significantly improved the nutritional status of the farm family members. Many farmers are interested to scale-up their aquaculture venture. However, insufficient technical capacity, investment potential and to some extent, poor connection to the market has hindered commercialization of aquaculture. Information and communication is needed to provide relevant information for harnessing possible opportunities in fish farming. Thus, effective coordination among the government agencies, academic and research institutions such as Fisheries Departments, District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), NGOs, and Women Fisheries groups should be strengthened.
Policy interventions required for greater benefits of Bt cotton to the rural poor in China : based on the outcomes of a small grant project funded by IDRC/AIT "Enabling Bio-innovations for Poverty Alleviation in Asia"; policy brief
(CABI, 2011)
Cotton is an important cash crop in China, among six genetically modified (GM) crops approved for commercial production, with Bt (insect resistant biological pesticide) cotton grown by about 7 million small and resource poor farmers. However, with decreasing populations of bollworm, and reduction of pesticide sprays, insect population structure has changed significantly. For instance mirids occupy the niche left by bollworm, becoming a major pest in cotton fields. As Bt cotton adoption is more market driven than policy driven, a pro-poor policy will encourage farmer training for innovation, seed selection, pest management, and useful cultivation technologies through agricultural extension services.
Workshop on Biochar – Production and Uses Organised by the UK Biochar Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Monday 22nd - Tuesday 23rd November 2010
(University of Edinburgh, 2010)
The workshop is organized as a part of the ‘Enabling Bio-innovations for Poverty Alleviation in Asia Project’, conducted by the University of Edinburgh. Biochar is the result of heating biomass (including wood and agricultural residues) in a zero to low oxygen environment to produce a charcoal type material, which can also be used as a soil amendment. Workshop presentations are covered in this report, featuring examples of biochar stoves and converters, where gasification cook stoves can produce biochar potentially at 25-30% conversion rate, as well as the use of biochar for fertilizer.

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