Pro-Poor Value Chain Development - Capacity.org

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4. Exponential growth in information and communications technology has
transformed the ability to take advantage of knowledge developed in other
places or for other purposes;
5. The knowledge structure of the agricultural sector in many countries is changing
markedly;
6. Agricultural development is increasingly taking place in a globalised setting.
Figure 3.1: The traditional knowledge management model
(adapted from Boekhoff et al, 1998)
Strategic content
of knowledge
Purpose
Why?
Developement of knowledge
and testing
Determine necessary
knowledge
Inventory of existing
knowledge
Acquisition of
knowledge
Knowledge management:
-Steering and structuring the knowledge chain process
-Key issues: effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility
-Using different tools
Knowledge Applying of Evaluating
documentation Upscaling of
and transfer knowledge
knowledge
Can be one
with developing
knowledge
An innovation system can be defined as: “…a network of organizations, enterprises,
and individuals focused on bringing new products, new processes, and new forms
of organization into economic use, together with the institutions and policies that
affect their behaviour and performance. The innovation systems concept embraces
not only the science suppliers but the totality and interaction of actors involved in
innovation. It extends beyond the creation of knowledge to encompass the factors
affecting demand for and use of knowledge in novel and useful ways” (The World
Bank, 2006).
Value chains are complex systems (Camps and Batterink et al, 2004) characterised
by the presence of many actors and other interactive elements that influence the
dynamics of the entire system. The number and variety of linkages between these
different elements is so diverse that it is very difficult - some would argue impossible
- to predict the outcome of any intervention. Right from the outset, therefore,
BOAM adopted the concept of innovation systems as the organising principle for its
approach to facilitating knowledge development and learning in value chains. When
applied to this complex multi-actor environment, a systems perspective enables
practitioners to move away from top-down linear planning to interventions that are
more interactive, learning oriented and adaptive.