Reframing technical change: Livestock Fodder Scarcity Revisited as Innovation Capacity Scarcity: Part 1. A Review of Historical and Recent Experiences

This is the first in a series of three papers that develop a conceptual framework for a project on livestock fodder innovation. Livestock is important to the livelihoods of poor people in many regions of the developing world. A generic problem found across this diverse range of production and marketing contexts is the shortage of fodder. This paper argues that to address this problem it is necessary to frame the question of fodder shortage not from the perspective of information and technological scarcity, but from the perspective of capacity scarcity in relation to fodder innovation. To support this position the paper presents case studies of experience from an earlier fodder innovation project. These cases suggest that while fodder technology is important, it is not enough. There is a large institutional dimension to bringing about innovation, particularly with respect to the effectiveness of networks and alliances needed to put technology into use.