Learn more about the Special Issue here.
Inclusive innovation remains a complex and contentious topic, characterized by inherent ambiguity. In our editorial, which introduces a special issue of Agricultural Systems dedicated to this topic, we introduce 17 papers ranging from emerging theories to those grappling with the messy realities when trying to put such theories into practice.
Despite its importance, concrete applications of inclusive innovation within agriculture and food systems are still poorly documented and understood. This was highlighted by the Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC) in 2021, following its review of proposals for the new CGIAR pooled funding research Initiatives. The ISDC’s examination underscored several pivotal questions, including:
- How will this research lead to innovations?
- How will these innovations lead to the desired impact at scale?
- What type of impact is anticipated, and will this impact be just, socially appropriate, environmentally and economically sustainable?
- What do we even mean by “innovation” beyond the purely technological advances?
- Who are the partners who must be involved in the research and development process?
- Have they been included and if so, in what capacity?
- What accounts for inclusiveness and why is this important?
- How was the research conceptualized and who was involved in the design process?
These questions were the key motivator behind this special issue. While producing a high-quality special issue was paramount, we, the guest editors, had an equally important objective, namely, to encourage diverse authorships of underrepresented researchers and provide open-access fee support for those in need. We acknowledged from the start that a special issue on inclusivity would lack legitimacy without true diversity among authors as well as its guest editors. To ensure that the open call for expressions of interest (EoI) was widely promoted, we developed a robust outreach campaign. The EOI call was global and not limited to CGIAR researchers.
Through an almost two-year process from conceptualization to publication—with the support from more than 50 peer-reviewers—the special issue has 70% early career scientists as corresponding authors, 46% female and 54% male (Figure 1). Corresponding authors come from 13 countries while all authors represented 29 countries (Figure 2).
Fig. 1: Author Demographics from Accepted EoIs to published papers
Fig. 2: Country and regions of accepted Expressions of Interest, published Corresponding Authors and Published all authors
Paper topics were as diverse as their authors ranging from artificial intelligence to linguistics to how we evaluate inclusivity. We are proud of the final product and assert that this special issue constitutes a step towards more rigorous theoretical frameworks and implementing them effectively.
We invite you to explore the special issue and hope it triggers many more conversations about inclusive innovation in agriculture and food systems. To spark more dialogue and engagement, the 2024 ISDC Science Forum, rescheduled as a hybrid side event during CGIAR’s Scaling Week in Nairobi, will also cover this topic.
Specifically, the Science Forum will highlight four papers with presentations:
- Abera et al. argue that institutional change strategies are a cornerstone for inclusive and effective AR4D and recommend that the CGIAR needs to overtly develop such strategies.
- Schut et al. provide some concrete recommendations for CGIAR. They suggest that using an innovation portfolio management based on scaling readiness principles could enhance the effectiveness and performance of the CGIAR research portfolio.
- Song et al. examine the nexus between climate change and farm-herder conflicts in Africa. They suggest and conclude that such conflicts are significantly more fatal in districts with linguistic diversity, especially during droughts.
- McGuire et al. outline seven Equity Principles for Social Transformation (EPs) to guide transformations in agriculture and food systems: recognizing agricultural research for development power dynamics; defining goals, anti-goals, and for whom; building global “horizontal” partnerships; acknowledging social differences among innovation users and non-users; curating innovation appropriately; assessing impact and developing systems capacity.
Space is limited for in-person attendance in Nairobi. If interested, please contact isdc@cgiar.org by 15 November. Register to attend the event online here.
