CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 Conceptual framework
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Page 30 of 231 organizational elements, institutional arrangements and policies. According to Rosenberg (1976), Dosi et al. (1988), Nelson (1996) and the World Bank (2006), distinguishing characteristics of innovations and the innovation process include:-
(i) Innovations are new creations of social and economic significance. They may be brand new, but they are more often new combinations of existing elements.
(ii) Innovation can comprise radical improvements but usually consists of many small improvements and a continuous process of upgrading.
(iii) These improvements may be of a technical, managerial, institutional (i.e. the way things are routinely done), or policy nature.
(iv) Very often innovations involve a combination of technical, institutional, and other sorts of changes.
(v) Innovation can be triggered in many ways, e.g. bottlenecks in production within a firm, changes in available technology, competitive conditions, domestic regulations and international trade rules.
(vi) For products, processes and services, innovation cal also entail value addition to improve the type and quality of the product, process and/or service.
Within the context of smallholder dairying, typical innovations include new fodder crop varieties, improved animal breeds, methods of planting or silage making, new equipment or a suit of new production practices, such as the use of Artificial Insemination (AI), embryo transfers, the Henderson Calf Rearing system and the Milk Zim Dairy Zone Model (Hanyani- Mlambo et al., 1998; Kagoro and Chatiza, 2012).
3.1.4 Technology development, innovation, adaptation and adoption processes
Technology development entails all activities and processes associated with the generation of new technology. Innovation processes are broader and include technology development processes. According to Boogaard et al. (2013), innovation processes encompasses activities and processes associated with the generation, dissemination, adaptation and use of new technical, institutional and organizational knowledge, skills, and resources to the benefit of all
Page 31 of 231 stakeholders. The perception of innovation processes has also changed from a simplistic and linear process. Leeuwis and van den Ban (2004) and Makini et al. (2013) argue that innovation processes are continuous and iterative processes, and are characterized by joint learning based on both successes and failures, reflection, experimentation and adaptation.
Related to the issues of technology development and innovation, are the concepts of adaptation and adoption. Adaptations are based on modifications of existing technologies, current techniques, traditional approaches or through the taking of new approaches depending upon the challenge being addressed or opportunity being taken advantage of. Conversely, adoption describes the decision by an economic unit to use or not use a particular innovation. Oladele (2005) defines adoption of an innovation as a decision to apply an innovation and to continue using it. Abera (2008) describes adoption as a decision to use a new technology or practice by economic units on a regular basis. Both definitions characterize adoption as a process and not an event, and highlight the essence of knowledge and information on the innovation. It is also, however, worth noting the differences between sustained adoption, as described above, and temporal adoption, hinged on short-term incentives and benefits.
3.1.5 Innovation platforms
Innovation platforms are defined as physical, virtual, or physico-virtual network of stakeholders which have been set up around a commodity or system of mutual interest to foster collaboration, partnership and mutual focus to generate innovation on the commodity or system (Adekunle and Fatunbi, 2012). Also according to Makini et al. (2013), innovation platforms form fora that consist of a broad range of stakeholders who share a common interest and come together to solve problems and develop mutually beneficial solutions. Stakeholders who may be part of an agricultural innovation platform can include farmers, researchers, extension agents, traders, processors, wholesalers, retailers, transporters, other private sector placers such as finance institutions, NGOs and policy makers at local, regional and national levels.
Page 32 of 231 3.1.6 Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the effectiveness and efficiency of productive effort by an individual, a group or a system in producing a good or service. More specifically, productivity is the measure of how specified resources are managed to accomplish timely objectives as stated in terms of quantity and quality1. Productivity may also be defined as an index that measures output (goods and services) relative to the input (labor, materials, energy, etc., used to produce the output)2. Within the context of this thesis, productivity will be analyzed largely on the basis of milk yields. While milk quality is of equal importance, the issue goes beyond the scope of this thesis.
The link between technology development, innovation and innovation platforms, and productivity hinges on the fact that productivity depends to a great extent on how successfully knowledge is generated and applied. Productivity also maintains an element of the effective use of innovation and resources to increase value-addition in the production process.
3.1.7 Viability
Viability relates to a practicable capacity for success or continuing effectiveness. In a business sense, viability refers to the ability of a business, product, or service to compete at a commercial level, while statistically viability describes the quality or probability of occurrence of a phenomena or having a reasonable chance of success. In agricultural and applied economics, viability is measured on the basis of a gross margin analysis which determines an enterprise or system’s gross margin. In turn, a gross margin is defined as return to fixed factors of production which gives a good indication of profitability and is calculated as the difference between the total value of the harvested product and the total variable costs incurred during the production process (Cavatassi et al., 2009).
1http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Pr-Sa/Productivity-Concepts-and-Measures.html#ixzz3PG5gbWme
2Ibid.
Page 33 of 231 3.1.8 Effectiveness
Effectiveness is the extent to which a development outcome is achieved through interventions, or the extent to which a programme or project achieves its planned results (goals, purposes and outputs) and contributes to outcomes (UNDP, 2002). Implicit within the effectiveness criterion is output and quality. Effectiveness should indicate the real difference made in practice by the activities implemented, the quality of the output; how far means were used to their maximum effect, and how far the intended beneficiaries really benefited from the products or services it made available.
Effectiveness, inter alia, addresses the following issues:-
(i) Extent to which implementation has been achieved against planned targets.
(ii) The quality of outputs and project delivery.
(iii) How well the partnerships worked.
And the following questions:-
(i) Are beneficiaries performing as anticipated?
(ii) Are beneficiaries performing better than those outside the programme or IP?
(iii) Is there evidence of programme/intervention impact?
(iv) What factors contributed to this?
3.2 Theoretical framework for assessing innovation platforms