Stories of Change, Book 2

This second Stories of Change book explores how DeSIRA projects contribute to agrifood system (AFS) transformation by fostering innovation, filling critical gaps, and building conditions for long-term impact. It examines:

• The transformative potential of changes initiated by DeSIRA projects within agricultural innovation systems.
• How innovations were selected, owned, and scaled to address sustainability challenges.
• Key enablers, including research-stakeholder collaboration, transdisciplinary approaches, adaptive management, market viability, and policy engagement.

The book presents real-world cases showing how project teams forged networks, sustained innovations beyond project lifetimes, and supported system-wide transitions. It highlights strategies for scaling, ensuring that innovations not only respond to current needs but also remain future-proof, adaptable, and impactful at multiple levels.

PART 1: Social innovations in the individuals–communitiesorganisations continuum

STORY 1: Breaking traditional roles: the “model couple” approach to promote gender equality in the sunflower value chain in Tanzania (FO-RI)

STORY 2: Joining the pen with the plough: transdisciplinary collaboration and learning in mangrove swamp rice farming in Guinea-Bissau (MALMON)

STORY 3: Building a local One Health approach: participatory evaluation in a living lab (Santés & Territoires)

STORY 4: Community leadership and agroforestry systems in Colombia: a commitment to forest conservation from a social perspective (IDeas)

STORY 5: What is behind the dynamism in the Central American Dry Corridor? Multistrata agroforestry in action (AGRO-INNOVA)

PART 2: Innovations in practices, technologies and supply chains

STORY 6: Hitting a sweet spot in salty water: introducing Artemia culture in the salt ponds of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh (Artemia4Bangladesh)

STORY 7: Cultivating fields of possibility enabling the agroecological transition of market vegetables production in Côte d’Ivoire (MARIGO)

STORY 8: Sustaining Mongolia’s traditional herding practices through innovation and collaboration (STREAM)

STORY 9: Unlocking sustainable farming: a blended approach to agroecology in Peru and Ethiopia (TRANSITIONS PSii)

STORY 10: Transforming agropastoral livelihoods in Kenya: a community-driven story of resilience and change (ICSIAPL)

PART 3: Innovations at policy level and policy innovations

STORY 11: Pastoral organisations taskforce: a political advocacy tool for livestock farming in the Sahel (PRISMA)

STORY 12: Cadmium-free cacao: co-developing maps for decision making in the Andean region (Clima LoCa)

STORY 13: ASSET: building momentum together – the road towards ASEAN policy guidelines on agroecology transitions (ASSET)

STORY 14: Toward governance of the national agricultural innovation system in Burkina Faso (CC-SNIA)

STORY 15: Roots of resilience: empowering farmers through agroecology to heal Ethiopia’s soils (ProSilience)