Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Klerkx, Laurens
Author-Email: Laurens.Klerkx@wur.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Communication and Innovation Studies Group, Wageningen University
Author-Name: Hall, Andy
Author-Email: hall@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT, LINK
Author-Name: Leeuwis, Cees
Author-Email: cees.leeuwis@wur.nl 
Author-Workplace-Name: Communication and Innovation Studies Group, Wageningen University
Title: Strengthening Agricultural Innovation Capacity: Are Innovation Brokers the Answer?
Abstract: This paper examines the role of innovation brokers in stimulating 
	 innovation system interaction and innovation capacity building, and 
	 illustrates this by taking the case of Dutch agriculture as an example. 
	 Subsequently, it reflects upon the potential role of innovation brokers 
	 in developing countries' agriculture. It concludes that innovation 
	 brokerage roles are likely to become relevant in emerging economies and 
	 that public or donor investment in innovation brokerage may be needed to 
	 overcome inherent tensions regarding the neutrality and funding of such 
	 players in the innovation system. The Dutch experience suggests that 
	 innovation brokers need to be contextually embedded, and are unlikely to 
	 become effective through a centrally-imposed design. Hence, we conclude 
	 that stimulating their emergence requires a policy that supports 
	 institutional learning and experimentation. In the evaluation of such 
	 experiments, it is important to note that innovation brokers tend to 
	 play intangible roles that are not easily captured through conventional 
	 indicators.
Classification-JEL: N54, O13, O31, Q13, Q16, Q18
Keywords: Agriculture, Developing Countries, The Netherlands, Innovation Broker,
	 Neutrality, Institutional Learning, Context-Specific, Innovation Systems,
	 Capacity Strengthening, Agricultural Extension
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2009
Number: 2009-019
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2009/wp2009-019.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2009019