Communication for Agricultural Innovation in Bolivia

Abstract

Sustainable agricultural innovation is a social learning process: it requires collective decisions and adaptive interactions, which gradually lead to change. Into an Agricultural Innovation System (AIS), based on dynamic networks and knowledge flows, communication plays a central role in facilitating stakeholders’ participation, negotiating between national priorities and local demands, enhancing institutional coordination and strengthening agricultural service provision. This study presents th e institutional and policy framework of the Bolivian AIS, and examines the demand–supply dynamics of agricultural information services in the country. The author assesses the methods and approaches currently used, and looks at opportunities and constraints for the development of demand-driven and participatory agricultural advisory services, based on the adoption of ComDev methods and tools.