Messages and meaning - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 213

Innovation platforms are an effective mechanism for engagement
Platforms are variously known as engagement platforms, multi-stakeholder
platforms or innovation platforms. In general terms, an engagement platform
is an opportunity for individuals and people representing organizations with
different backgrounds and interests to come together to diagnose problems,
identify opportunities and implement solutions (Chapter 7).
Innovation platforms provide spaces for a wide range of stakeholders to
exchange knowledge, learn, and develop joint initiatives to solve agricultural
development challenges. Successful innovation can only happen when stake-
holders have an interest in working together to acquire knowledge and find
solutions. The research community cannot bring about innovation on its own
(Volta). They facilitate engagement to assess options and opportunities and
enable farmers to identify and choose the best options for themselves. They
help reduce the cost of searching for and reaching markets (Limpopo).

1 The most successful engagement platforms are self-reliant, demand driven,

evolve over time and embrace multiple perspectives.

2 They build on what is already there rather than set up new platforms and

systems.

3 Engagement platforms are not neutral mechanisms. They aim to promote

change so they are disruptive by nature. Power relationships influence the
course of dialogue and negotiation.

4 Engagement platforms can be useful vehicles for exploring strategies to

boost productivity, improve natural resources management, strengthen
value chains and adapt to climate change.

5 Establishing engagement platforms at several levels is one way to stimulate

vertical and horizontal coordination for greater impact.

6 Platforms can empower local actors to hold higher levels of government to

account.

7 Markets provide clear incentives for investments in production.

The Volta team observed that, “successful integrated water resources man-
agement depends on interactions between multiple actors at different scales,
which are often beyond everyday considerations.” They also noted that “the
companion modeling approach is a good framework to highlight interactions
between actors and allows for a collective decision-making process to unfold.”
The Mekong team also noted that “Multi-stakeholder platforms are a viable
decision-making mechanism on hydropower issues,” while the Andes team
observed that “Fair and equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms are designed and
implemented when all stakeholders are provided with all the necessary
information.”