Frugal innovation is drawn from Anil Gupta’s work to the develop technologies, organizational forms, and business models by and for people who generally have minimal access to productive resources. This is a five-week practicum in urban food systems, based at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), and collaboratively conducted by faculty from MSU and LUANAR. In addition, in contrast to the more prevalent top-down models of innovation development, frugal innovation typically proceeds in an inclusive manner ‘from the ground up,’ and is primarily focused on solving constraints of the poor through the organization and application of readily available resources and knowledge...
Generally, students from LUANAR and MSU would work together to identify and propose solutions to constraints in urban food exchange and provisioning, and would do so in collaboration with those who do this work in Lilongwe. The collaboration would enhance MSU students to appreciate urban food environments in the global south, as well as the complexity of working in them, while students from LUANAR will enhance their skills in formulating local level solutions for improved urban food system and contribute to national development agenda. Together the LUANAR and MSU students would gain an understanding of collaborative, inclusive, and integrated approaches to development. This activity intends to build the capacity of MSU and LUANAR faculty in providing experiential learning opportunities in a context that deliberately addresses rapidly changing food environments. Collaborative development and implementation of the Frugal Innovation Practicum (FIP) between LUANAR and GCFSI-MSU represents a good fit for several reasons:
- MSU and LUANAR have a strong history of mutually beneficial research and education collaborations over the years, which provides a strong foundation for developing, piloting, and refining new opportunities that strengthen both institutions.
- MSU and LUANAR have mutually stated goals of improving interdisciplinary education for students in the context of rapidly changing food environments. Urban food systems are changing rapidly and those changes are not being well-addressed by research nor by policy-makers. This activity provides an opening for engaging students, faculty, and policy-makers.
- LUANAR has expressed a need to provide its students with more experiential learning opportunities. Such opportunities are often missing in African universities, and building LUANAR’s capacity to deliver such training represents an important institutional advancement.
- LUANAR has incorporated public private partnership and graduate entrepreneurial programs into its curricula, which are building the capacity of students to create employment, improve household food security and be involved in national challenges that include food insecurity.
The FIP represents another avenue for building this capacity. Expected outcomes The main beneficiaries of this activity are students, but there are important outcomes for faculty and for both institutions. Frugal Innovation Practicum serves to establish a foundation and baseline for future courses. The focus in the first practicum will be on innovations in urban markets. Future iterations could take on other issues related to urban food provisioning and exchange, including urban livestock management, urban agriculture, rural-urban transfers, food processing, and home-based food enterprises. For MSU, the goal is to institutionalize this program as a yearly Study Abroad. Post-FIP, the outcomes will be incorporating student feedback and faculty learning into a revised iteration of the FIP and submit it to the Study Abroad office for approval. The practicum also offers an unparalleled opportunity for students to engage in a hands-on experience to engage with real-world development issues, and to collaborate with and learn from people in the communities most affected by economic marginalization. Such a practicum offers the opportunity to develop a number of ‘core competencies’ identified by GCFSI
- Knowledge and Intercultural Understanding: Students will develop appreciation for different ways of seeing and doing, and learn that definitions and enactments of well-being are cultural products, not universal ones. The mix of in-class theory and field practice helps students to reinforce knowledge gained in a classroom setting, as well as enhances their ability to critically assess it. In addition, students will gain experience in techniques to engage communities in processes designed to promote inclusive development.
- Communication: Students will learn how to communicate with different audiences by tailoring messages accordingly, listening, and speaking and writing clearly. In addition, the final project requires students to translate their experiences into products that convey the lessons learned to a wider
- Entrepreneurial Skills: Because students are working in a market environment, they will develop a sense of how traders and retailers make decisions, what constraints and opportunities they face, their ability to take risk, and how business transactions take place
- Communication and Relationship Management: Students will learn how to collaborate with people from different backgrounds to reach common goals. They will learn how to solicit input from people from a wide range of backgrounds, and demonstrate a willingness to consider and value alternative viewpoints.
- Leadership; Planning and Organizing: Given the short timeline, students must develop efficient plans for designing innovations. Inherent to the process is the need to determine where and how to gather information, developing and adhering to timelines, organizing tasks, and planning and organizing final presentations. They will learn how to encourage and elicit input from all those involved.
- Creativity: Students will practice developing creative solutions to common problems, as well as learn to identify and highlight creative solutions that they see others doing
These above mentioned activities to be funded through the CABMACC programme.