Innovation Marketplace 2004 Catalyzes Capital Ideas

Development is a complex business, and it is not every day that an innovative idea wins top honors and a wager with a Minister. Yet, this is precisely what happened. Silverio Gonzalez, a researcher with FEDEPLATANO, a Colombian NGO, is working on Moko disease in bananas, a staple food for poor people. Fully confident that the efforts of FEDEPLATANO and its partners could help win the war against Moko disease, Gonzalez placed a bet with the Colombian Minister of Agriculture: if his entry won a prize in the CGIAR Innovation Marketplace competition, the Government would also provide support.

Jonathan Wadsworth, DfID, congratulates Silverio Gonzalez winner of the Innovation Marketplace Outstanding Innovative Partnership Program Award.

The rest, as they say, is history. FEDEPLATANO's entry won the "Outstanding Innovative Partnership Program Award" with a cash prize of $10,000. And in a fortuitous ending to the story, no sooner was the prize announced, Gonzalez rushed off to claim his bet from the Minister who was also attending AGM'04. The Colombian Government is contributing more than 320,000 pesos for FEDEPLATANO to continue its scientific research on developing measures to control Moko disease. Furthermore, mayors of two Colombian cities are also offering support. FEDEPLATANO collaborates with CIAT and CORPOICA (Colombian Institute of Agricultural Research) in its work.

The Innovation Marketplace is in its second year of operation, highlighting innovative projects by civil society organizations that involve collaborative work leading to adoption or adaptation of CGIAR and national institutes' research. The 2004 jury comprised of Sebastiao Barbosa (EMBRAPA, Brazil), Usha Barwale-Zehr (Mahyco Foundation, India), Franklin Moore (USAID), and Jonathan Wadsworth (DfID, UK).

The second award, "Outstanding Potential Innovative Partnership Program Award" was given to CICAFOC (Coordinadora Indígena Campesina de Agro-foresteria Comunitaria de Centroamérica, or Regional Indigenous Agroforestry Council) for strengthening management capabilities of community-based forestry organizations in Central America and Brazil. CICAFOC works in partnership with CIFOR and the Association of Forest Communities of Petén (ACOFOP, in northern Guatemala) and the Campesino a Campesino movement (PcaC in Siuna, northern Nicaragua). Through participatory research, these organizations have developed a vision of self-sustainability which will enable them to take control of their livelihoods and better manage their forest resources. Ruben Pasos Cedeños (CICAFOC) and Marcedonio Cortave (ACOFOP) were thrilled to receive the prize which consists of a scroll and cash award of $10,000.

Ruben Pasos Cedenos, winner of the Innovation Marketplace Outstanding Potential Innovative Partnership Program.

This year's "People's Choice Award" was just that-chosen and voted for by the AGM participants. It went to CIRNMA, a project that works in partnership with CIP and INIA (Peru) for combining biological and socioeconomic research methods to develop new farming technologies that use fewer inputs and are suited to the ecologies of hilly Andean regions. "People just don't realize how their choice will make an impact on efforts to reduce poverty in Puno, the Peruvian Andes," said Roberto Valdivia, CIRNMA representative, summarizing the importance of the Innovation Marketplace as catalyst for new ideas to combat poverty. CIRNMA received a cash prize of $10,000.

Chosen by AGM participants: Roberto Valdivia, winner of the People's Choice Award.

At an informal "Farmers Exchange," Innovation Marketplace exhibitors, participants from the Farmers' Dialogue, and representatives of partner organizations met over lunch to share insights and learn from each others' experiences.

"I appreciated the opportunity to participate in the Innovation Marketplace," commented Domingo Totasig from Cotopaxi, Ecuador. "Even though my entry did not win a prize, I was glad to have been able to explain my work to over 800 people." These comments were echoed by Nyine Bitahwa of Uganda, a winner from last year's Innovation Marketplace: "The knowledge partnership between scientists and indigenous people will go a long way in solving problems of underdevelopment, in Africa and beyond."

The 2004 Innovation Marketplace cycle was coordinated by RIMISP, a prominent Chilean NGO based in Santiago. Three science writers have been commissioned to document and disseminate prize winners' success stories.

For more information on RIMISP, click here: www.rimisp.org