Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Keskin, Ekin
Author-Email: keskin@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Learning, Innovation and Knowledge (LINK), UNU-MERIT
Author-Name: Steglich, Mirjam
Author-Email: steglich@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Learning, Innovation and Knowledge (LINK), UNU-MERIT
Author-Name: Dijkman, Jeroen
Author-Email: Jeroen.dijkman@fao.org
Author-Workplace-Name: FAO, and Learning, Innovation and Knowledge (LINK), UNU-MERIT
Author-Name: Hall, Andy
Author-Email: hall@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Learning, Innovation and Knowledge (LINK), UNU-MERIT
Title: Private Capacity and Public Failure: Contours of Livestock Innovation Response 
	 Capacity in Kenya
Abstract: Globalization, urbanization and new market demands - together with 
	 ever-increasing quality and safety requirements - are putting 
	 significantly greater pressures on agrifood stakeholders in the world. 
	 The ability to respond to new challenges and opportunities is important 
	 not just for producers but also for industries in developing countries. 
	 This paper aims to present what "innovation response capacity" entails, 
	 especially for natural resourcebased industries in a developing country 
	 context. It will also provide an analytical framework that draws 
	 elements from agricultural innovation capacity and the innovation 
	 systems framework. This is provided through case study research 
	 conducted in Kenya by exploring two livestock product companies: 
	 Farmer's Choice and Kenchic. The cases show how companies had worked 
	 around the problem of weak interaction with the various livestockrelated 	
	 agencies of the public sector by developing links with international 
	 sources of knowledge and technology. This allowed the sector to respond 
	 rapidly to different challenges. While the country's historical 
	 development explains this pattern of innovation response capacity, 
	 public policy appears to be failing in its role of nurturing and 
	 contributing to the capacities needed for development in emerging 
	 economies, such as that of Kenya.
Classification-JEL: O31, N57, Q16
Keywords: Livestock, agriculture, innovation, innovation response capacity, Kenya 
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2008
Number: 068
File-URL: http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2008/wp2008-068.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2008068