Brigid Letty, a member of the Prolinnova International Support Team, participated recently in a number of events organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The first of these was the Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation, which was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 29 September to 1 October 2025. Brigid represented the global Prolinnova network in a panel discussion on the second day, titled ‘Successful institutional and social innovations’. She provided input about how multistakeholder and participatory processes contribute to fostering innovation in small-scale livestock production. Brigid participated online in another panel discussion on 15 October, titled ‘Scaling together: FAO’s evolving role in innovation for impact’. This was part of FAO’s Science and Innovation Forum. Her input drew largely on her experiences in Prolinnova around ensuring that agrifood innovation systems are truly inclusive, and scaling the development impact of innovation by focussing on scaling the ethos of innovation, rather than just scaling particular innovations.
Daudi Ssentonga, Prolinnova–Uganda, participated physically in the Science and Innovation Forum, attending not only the session in which Brigid was a panelist but also the Innovation Awards event, focused on innovation related to Farmer Field Schools, where he made a brief input on community innovation – highlighting some specific examples of innovations documented under Prolinnova–Uganda and –Kenya and their impact on the resilience of agrifood systems. He also remarked on support systems that help farmers to turn their ideas into practical solutions – emphasising the critical role played by local/community advisors, researchers and local NGOs and community members in the success of local innovation. A report by Daudi on the event and associated activities is available here.
