Africa is increasingly becoming a key player in acquiring, generating and applying knowledge to development challenges. Yet more needs to be done to make technology and innovation play its part in the quest for transformation and diversification of the African economies. Strategic documents such as the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024), Livestock Development Strategy for Africa (LiDeSA) and Agenda 2063 emphasize the need for Africa to move towards a modernized and productive agricultural sector through the use of science, technology and innovation.
The need to drive the agenda on generation, adoption and upscaling of inclusive innovations in Africa is pertinent. Inclusive innovations create impact and are often considered game changers that go beyond the pure invention process. Within the livestock sector, they are known to create positive economic and social impact for users. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, adopting and uptake of digital applications that address various food systems and target low-income communities would be considered a strong entry fulcrum to push inclusive innovations.
As part of providing leadership and coordination in the sustainable development of the continent’s Animal Resources, African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources through the “Sustainable Development of Livestock for Livelihoods in Africa - Live2Africa” is calling for submission of success stories on existing inclusive innovations that have brought about tangible impacts and transformation in the various livestock value chains in Africa.
The aim of the call is to enable the sharing of experiences and impacts of select innovations that are gender sensitive, climate smart and environmentally friendly. The main objective is to allow member states to share information and create awareness on existing transformative innovations with an aim to raise adoption levels and upscale the highlighted innovations within the continent. The innovations and /or technologies should be specific to the priority regional livestock value chains namely; Poultry (Egg and Meat) Value Chain for Central and Western Africa; Dairy Value Chain for Eastern and Northern Africa; Eastern and Southern Africa - Meat and Live Animal Value chain.
The success stories submitted should be centered around livestock based systems and around four key challenges to which inclusive innovation should be enhanced: climate change; sustainable natural resource management; food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition; and job creation, with a focus on vulnerable communities including youth, women, pastoralists, etc. Focus should be on key cross-cutting innovations that address critical gaps in livestock development (e.g. gender equality, investing in youth, inclusive communities, infrastructure gaps) are The successful articles will be published in various continental knowledge and information sharing platforms and social media channels. In recognition of all successful articles, innovators will receive an award
in recognition of the innovations.
Thematic or topics of coverage:
The good or promising innovation you wish to document should be about the use of inclusive innovations for the regional livestock value chains, the calls can include (but not limited) to :-
- Livestock production and Animal health
- Climate-Smart Agriculture
- Gender in Agriculture
- Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship
- Early warning systems and resilience
- Trade and markets
- Food security, Safety and Nutrition
- Food losses and waste
- Extension systems
- Micro-finance and responsible investment
- Agricultural mechanization
- Post-harvest and food processing
Applications can be received from the following but not limited to;
Researchers; Agribusiness entrepreneurs (Start-ups, Incubators and accelerators); Academia, innovators, Youth association members, Women association members, national extension officers/agents, Veterinarians, animal production experts, animal breeders, animal geneticists, digital app innovators, (applicable across the entire value chain); marketers, small-holder farmers etc.
Template for the Call for inclusive innovations and technologies for the regional livestock value chain modules
Title The title must include the name of the innovation
Subtitle Use the subtitle to highlight the achieved impact of the innovation
Context and Problem Necessity is the mother of innovation
The drivers Issues related to climate change; sustainable natural resource management; food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition; and job creation, with a focus on youth and women.
The innovation
- Brief description of the innovation,
- Its primary users
- Component of the livestock value chain used**Degree of inclusivity of the innovation**
To what extend does the innovation;
- Cater for the needs of the typically marginalized or excluded communities that are often not part of the mainstream processes of development. E.g. women, youth, pastoralists, physically challenged- all stakeholders within the livestock sector
- Incorporate African indigenous knowledge
The impacts
Indicate the impact of the innovations;
- Contributes to food security and nutrition
- Contributes to sustainable development of Animal resources
- Contributes to improved livelihoods
- Contributes to efficiency and effectiveness
- Contributes to sustainable natural resource management.
- etc
Sustainability
- Is your innovation sustainable (socially, economically, and
- Environmentally)?
- Is the innovation socially acceptable
- Is it economically sound?
- Is it scalable?
- etc
Farmer’s story Include a short testimony of a beneficiary/user
Photo Include a photograph of innovation while in use
Word count Approximately 2500 Words
Font type and size Arial 12
Spacing 1.5”
How to apply:
Please submit your articles latest 2ndOctober 2020 to the Director of AU-IBAR, Kenindia Business Park, Museum Hill, Westlands Road, PO Box 30786-00100 Nairobi, Kenya or email at procurement@au-ibar.org and cc: khalid.seid@au-ibar.org and mary.mbole-kariuki@au-ibar.org; clearly indicating in the subject line “Call for Success stories of inclusive innovations for livestock based food systems”.