A Tourist Guide to Systems Studies of Rural Innovation

LINK POLICY RESOURCES ON RURAL INNOVATION SERIES No. 1

The debates about science, technology and innovation (ST&I) in rural development have seen something of a renaissance in recent years. A series of high profile publications and the adoption of innovation as an organising principle for both policy and action by a number of influential bodies have generated considerable interest in the development studies, agricultural research and donor community.

This ‘Tourist Guide’ is a resource document charting the emerging landscape of systems studies on rural innovation. Note that the term ‘rural innovation’ is used rather than ‘agricultural innovation’ in recognition of the wider scope of knowledge applications that are important in contemporary rural livelihoods. There is a growing body of literature dealing with rural innovation with some research groups developing ideas over the last 20 odd years on the topic. Contemporary literature has also drawn inspiration from diverse fields of scholarship, and with these a rich diversity of interpretations and perspectives have emerged in the form of a number of distinct schools of study with their own epistemological origins. While not exhaustive, this document reviews and provides an annotated bibliography of what we consider some of the key publications contributing towards the current outlook on rural innovation. The material in the document was originally collected between December 2005 and February 2006 and updated again in 2007. We encourage readers to point out errors/ omissions and recent publications.

While a full review of the scholarship that has contributed to contemporary systems studies on rural innovation is beyond the scope of this exercise, the annotated bibliography contains selected readings on the following themes of research: Social Learning and Communication, Local Innovation Processes, Innovation Systems, Institutional Learning and Change, Market Systems and Innovation, and Science and Society.

This exercise has been carried out for the Learning INnovation and Knowledge (LINK)-programme. An initiative of UNU-MERIT and FAO, LINK is a specialist network of regional innovation policy studies hubs aimed at strengthening the interface between rural innovation studies, policy and practice and to promote North-South and South-South learning on rural innovation.