Kenyan farmer uses mosquito netting to protect her crops from insect pests.
Guatemalan extension agents learn how to use rapid diagnostic techniques to identify Phytophthora spp.
Nepalese entrepreneur preserves seeds for sale to smallholder growers.
Objectives:
- To enable and promote adoption of horticultural technologies
- To provide training programs for professionals, on-site and across the region
- To encourage entrepreneurs to utilize and manufacture innovative technologies
- To serve as repositories and dissemination points for knowledge
- To facilitate human capacity building
- To undertake appropriate research
- To promote economically and environmentally sustainable agricultural production among small- to medium-sized farms, especially those managed by women.
Regional Centers of Innovation
In collaboration with partner institutions, Horticulture CRSP is developing Regional Centers of Innovation in Southeast Asia, Central America and East Africa.
The centers will bring together key regional players to improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers and small businesses in the regions' developing countries, while building capacity at the host institutions.
Primary goals shared between each of the Regional Centers of Innovation are:
- Researching, innovating and disseminating horticultural technologies
- Training farmers, horticultural stakeholders, extension agents and researchers
- Building capacity among local institutions
The Regional Centers of Innovation fact sheet (PDF) summarizes information about the three centers in a single page.
Locations
Horticulture CRSP is currently working to open three Regional Centers of Innovation:
- Regional Center of Innovation at Zamorano, Honduras
The Horticulture CRSP Regional Center of Innovation at Zamorano held its inauguration Sept. 28, 2012 in Honduras. Additional event details about the inauguration and the center itself are available online. - Regional Center of Innovation at Kasetsart University, Thailand
The Horticulture CRSP Regional Center of Innovation at Kasetsart University held its opening celebration in February 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. - Regional Center of Innovation at Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kenya
The Horticulture CRSP Regional Center of Innovation at KARI will be housed at a new facility run jointly with the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), called the Practical Training Center. The center is expected to open in 2013.
Activities
The centers will integrate into Horticulture CRSP programs by connecting with partners, stakeholders and infrastructure at national research institutes and universities. This will enable an exchange of activities and information focused on the region's horticulture, including:
- Collaborators will showcase and test innovative technologies in the region. Typical activities related to these technologies may include:
- Identifying the technologies that the center's personnel think are relevant to local cultural, economic and agroecological conditions
- Analyzing the economic feasibility of the selected technologies
- Adapting selected technologies to local conditions
- Testing locally developed innovation
- Sharing technologies and innovation between centers
- Horticulture CRSP team and partners will conduct workshops to extend training programs and make direct local impacts. Workshops with private industry and horticultural stakeholders might address:
- Identifying potential investors and entrepreneurs to scale up new technologies
- Promoting adoption of technologies with presentations to farmer/market groups, and providing information about companies that are or could be marketing the technologies
- Sharing and soliciting information for information management activities
- Training for local researchers, extension personnel, farmers, private industry and others — with programs conducted by Horticulture CRSP collaborators and PIs
- Providing training for horticultural professionals and practitioners, from the host country and the region, in best horticultural practices, showcasing Horticulture CRSP technologies
- Participating in webinars with U.S. land-grant universities and other partners, e.g. training sessions on postharvest handling techniques, or consultations from extension specialists
- Horticulture CRSP projects in the region can learn from the results of the center's adaptive research. This learning will provide feedback by:
- Developing relevant curricula and training materials on seed systems, production, postharvest handling, processing, value chains and marketing systems
- Supporting new partnerships and building upon existing horticultural networks
- Providing short training courses for the region at the centers and at other regional locations
