Assessing the status of innovation platforms in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda: Report 2021

Abstract

The study characterized existing innovation platforms (IPs) in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, assessed their functionality, and identified the stakeholder groups taking part in them. It used a consultative, qualitative case-study design. The authors assessed 102 IPs and selected three for detailed documentation: Huguka Mudende IP (Rubavu, Rwanda), the Soroti Sweet Potato Producers and Processors Association (Serere, Uganda), and the Bungoma South Farmers Innovation Platform SIMLESA (BUSOFIPS, Kenya). Findings were validated at a virtual meeting with 18 participants. The study found that IPs foster collaboration among diverse actors and have helped smallholder farmers raise on-farm production and productivity. It recommends that governments adopt IPs as a framework for improving farmers' market participation, that a policy brief on the IP approach be produced, and that policies encourage private-sector partnership with IPs