Innovation Marketplace - 2006

The purpose of the Innovation Marketplace is to acknowledge and learn from innovative collaboration between CSOs and the CGIAR.

Toward this end, in August 2006 we sent a call for applications to participate in the Innovation Marketplace to more than 700 CSOs working with CGIAR-supported Centers and Challenge Programs. At the recommendation of our CSO-CGIAR Forum Advisory Group, we invited all 46 CSOs (see list) whose applications met the eligibility criteria to attend AGM06.

Their representatives brought posters to the meeting for the purpose of sharing their collaborative experiences. All 46 posters were on display throughout AGM06. Summaries of the posters were made available in an Innovation Marketplace publication, designed as an aid to discussion during the CSO-CGIAR Forum.

Four of the participating CSOs received CGIAR awards, each with a cash prize of US$30,000, to fund further collaborative work. An expert panel made the final selection of award recipients. Its members were Franklin Moore of the US Agency for International Development (USAID); Guillermo Frias of CARE International, Peru; Ruth Haug of NORAGRIC, Norway; Raul Montemayor of the Federation of Free Farmers, the Philippines; and Nicolas Mateo of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The selection criteria used were as follows:

• Relevance of the partnership to the generation of important outputs, development outcomes and impact
• Innovative character of the partnership approach and process
• Relevance to other contexts and potential for scaling up
• Evidence of joint decision making in the partnership
• Significance of the initiative for strengthening the capacity of others

In addition, the partnership receiving the most votes cast by AGM06 participants was given the People's Choice Award (also with a cash value of $30,000). The 46 cases presented fed into small-group discussions during the CSO-CGIAR Forum.

The first Innovation Marketplace Award went to Kitengela Ilparakuo Landowners Association (KILA) and their partners at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for their project on "Better Policy and Management Options for Pastoral Lands: Assessing the Trade-offs between Pastoral Poverty Alleviation and Wildlife Conservation." Ogeli Makui received the prize on behalf of the partnership.

The jury particularly recognized:

• The strong impact of the partnership on land-use policy in Kenya, while empowering pastoralists.
• The way the partnership successfully linked and facilitated the dialogue and information sharing between communities, policy-makers and researchers.

The second Innovation Marketplace Award went to Helen Keller International their partners in the HarvestPlus Challenge Program and the International Potato Center (CIP) for their project on "Promoting Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato to Improve Child Survival and Food Security in Africa." Olivier Vebemba received the prize on behalf of the partnership.

The jury particularly recognized:

• How the partnership was innovative in strengthening food security through successfully linking agriculture with nutrition and health.
• The enormous potential for scaling up this project within the African continent and even globally.

The third Innovation Marketplace Award went to the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR) and their partners at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Gonzalo Zorrilla received the prize on behalf of the partnership.

The jury particularly recognized:

• The innovative character of this network, involving rice-producer organizations, the private sector and non-profit and governmental organizations, which contribute to a fund for promoting innovation in irrigated rice production.

The fourth Innovation Marketplace Award went to Fundacion Natura Bolivia and their partners at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) for their project on "Vertically Integrated Collaborative Action-Research on Payments-for-Environmental-Services in Bolivia." Maria Teresa Vargas received the prize on behalf of the partnership.

The jury particularly recognized:

• The innovative approach to developing new mechanisms for upstream/downstream cooperation in watershed management .
• The effective institutional linkages between the Fundacion Natura and CIFOR to the benefit of the communities living in three watersheds in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

The People's Choice Award went to the University of Vermont and their partners at the International Center for Agricultural in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) for their project on "A Decade of Synergistic Cooperation on Sunn Pest Management." University of Vermont researchers Margaret Skinner and Bruce Parker received the prize on behalf of the partnership.

The award particularly recognized:

• The project's success in improving crop production in poverty-stricken regions of the Middle East, where Sunn Pests are prevalent.
• Policy changes in Turkey, Syria, and Iran that prohibit aerial applications of pesticides to combat Sunn Pests. The three countries are now using insect-killing fungi to biologically control the destructive pests.

Click here for further details on the 46 partnerships represented in the Innovation Marketplace 2006. ( Note! this is a 159 page report )