RIFS Positive Innovations

Overview

Innovation is at the heart of food system transformation. This workstream focuses on co-creating and testing positive innovations with Community Interest Groups (CIGs)—local groups of farmers, entrepreneurs, and community members who are actively engaged in improving their food systems.

Rather than imposing external solutions, we work alongside communities to identify challenges, brainstorm locally-appropriate innovations, and test them in real-world conditions. Successful innovations are documented and shared for scaling across the region.

Innovation Areas

Objectives

• Establish and support Community Interest Groups (CIGs) as innovation hubs in target communities
• Co-create and test at least 10 positive innovations addressing local food system challenges
• Document and share successful innovations for peer learning and scaling
• Build local capacity for participatory innovation and experimentation
• Create linkages between CIGs, researchers, and extension services

The CIG Model

Community Interest Groups are the backbone of this workstream. Each CIG consists of 15-30 community members who share a common interest in improving a specific aspect of their food system. WNIH provides facilitation, technical support, and seed funding for innovation experiments.