Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Innovation Systems (RAAIS) is a participatory, diagnostic tool for integrated analysis of complex agricultural problems and capacity to innovate. RAAIS facilitates the analysis of interactions between: (1) different dimensions, levels and stakeholder dynamics of complex agricultural problems, (2) innovation capacity in the agricultural system, and (3) the existence and performance of the agricultural innovation support system. RAAIS has been developed and tested to identify and analyze opportunities for dealing with parasitic weeds in rainfed rice production in Tanzania and Benin. An upgraded version of RAAIS has been adopted by Humidtropics as a participatory tool that can identify specific and generic entry points for innovation to address complex agricultural problems in the humid tropics.
What is RAAIS?
RAAIS is a multi-method tool that combines qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques (workshops, interviews, questionnaires, secondary data analysis) which allows for critical triangulation and validation of data. RAAIS facilitates interaction and negotiation between different groups of stakeholders in collecting and analyzing data (e.g. farmers, NGO/civil society, private sector, government and researchers). RAAIS workshops can be organized with Research for development (R4D) Platform or Innovation Platform members to identify entry points for innovation.
When to use RAAIS?
- To identify and analyze complex agricultural problems with stakeholders.
- To identify entry points for innovation in research for development contexts.
- As participatory methodology for data collection in a multi-stakeholder research environment.
- To develop research and development approaches that are credible, legitimate and relevant for different stakeholder groups.
What is available?
- Workshop facilitation guide (in English and French)
- Workshop guide for note-taking (English)
- Spreadsheet templates for workshop data analysis (English)
Where has RAAIS been used?
Humidtropics uses RAAIS workshops to identify entry points for innovation. Workshops have been organized across the Program’s Action Sites sites in Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Cameroun and China.
Two research papers have been published in Agricultural Systems
The research paper: “Schut, M., Klerkx, L., Rodenburg, J., Kayeke, J., Raboanarielina, C., Hinnou, L.C., Adegbola, P.Y., van Ast, A., Bastiaans, L., 2014. RAAIS: Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Innovation Systems (Part I). A diagnostic tool for integrated analysis of complex problems and innovation capacity†provides insight in the theoretical embedding of RAAIS and elaborates on its conceptual and methodological framework. It also reflects on the testing of RAAIS in Tanzania and Benin, and provides recommendations for improvement. The paper has been published open access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X14001115
The results from testing the framework in Tanzania to analyze parasitic weed problems in rice are published in a companion paper: “Schut, M., Rodenburg, J., Klerkx, L., Kayeke, J., van Ast, A., Bastiaans, L., 2014. RAAIS: Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Innovation Systems (Part II). Integrated analysis of parasitic weed problems in rice in Tanzaniaâ€. This paper can also be found online: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X14001255
Blog and photos by Marc Schut, Social Scientist, IITA/WUR. Blog edited by Valérie Poiré, Communication Officer, Humidtropics.