Patterns of rural innovation processes along agro-processing value chains: The case of Mopani district, South Africa

Innovation is recognized as a critical driver and component of economic growth and development. While innovation is considered crucial to solve societal problems and create opportunities in rural areas, insufficient effort has gone into examining the nature of innovation processes as they unfold in rural areas. Consequently, our understanding of the patterns of innovation by rural-based enterprises remains limited. This study uses a qualitative approach to explore the patterns of rural innovation processes within two agro-processing enterprises in South Africa’s Mopani District Municipality. Data collection was conducted on-site using semi-structured interviews with a range of interviewees located along the agro-processing value chains of the enterprises. The analysis shows that enterprises increasingly engage in adoption and adaptation of different types of innovations. These innovations complement core business operations rather than completely change them. Rural innovation is predominant in non-R&D and non-technological areas such as commodity supply arrangements, production processes and marketing strategies. Our findings provide insights into the conditions that facilitate innovation. We suggest that innovation policy should strengthen and enhance existing local innovation capacity in rural areas. Future research on the origins and nature of rural innovation in emerging enterprises could incorporate large sample data to provide additional insight.